Deidre Rubenstein has narrated 22 audiobooks on Listento.it by 10 authors, with an average listener rating of 4.4★ across 23 ratings. The most-rated is The Women in Black.
The Women in Black
Summary
From the Booker-shortlisted-author of The Essence of the Thing comes a great novel, a lost Australian classic. Written by a superb novelist of contemporary manners, The Women in Black is a fairy tale which illuminates the extraordinariness of ordinary lives. The women in black are run off their feet, what with the Christmas rush and the summer sales that follow. But it's Sydney in the 1950s, and there's still just enough time left on a hot and frantic day to dream and scheme... By the time the last marked-down frock has been sold, most of the staff of the Ladies' Cocktail section at F. G. Goode's have been launched into slightly different careers. With the lightest touch and the most tender of comic instincts, Madeleine St. John conjures a vanished summer of innocence.
©1994 Madeleine St.John (P)2009 Bolinda
Winter Journey
Summary
Halina Shore is a Polish born forensic dentist living in Australia. When she travels to Poland to take part in the investigation of a war crime, she finds herself at the center of a bitter struggle in a community that has been divided by a grim legacy. As the investigation proceeds, her professional assignment becomes a confronting personal odyssey as the truth about her own past begins to emerge.
Inspired by a true incident that took place in Poland in 1941 but was concealed for 60 years, Diane Armstrong's gripping novel is a detective story that is part mystery, part history, and part forensic investigation. It is also a tale of love, loss, and unimaginable sacrifice.
©2005 Diana Armstrong (P)2005 Bolinda Publishing Pty Ltd.
Lacan: Bolinda Beginner Guides
Summary
Jacques Lacan was one of the most important psychoanalysts ever to have lived. Building upon the work of Sigmund Freud, he sought to refine Freudian insights with the use of linguistics and mathematics, arguing that "the structure of unconscious is like a language." He is widely misunderstood and often unfairly dismissed as impenetrable. In this clear, wide-ranging primer, Lionel Bailly demonstrates how Lacan’s ideas are still vitally relevant to contemporary issues of mental health treatment. Including coverage of developments in Lacanian psychoanalysis since his death, this is the perfect introduction to the great modern theorist.
©2009 Lionel Bailly (P)2012 Bolinda Publishing Pty Ltd
Pearl in a Cage
Summary
On a balmy midsummer's evening in 1923, a young woman - foreign, dishevelled, and heavily pregnant - is found unconscious just off the railway tracks in the tiny logging community of Woody Creek. The town midwife, Gertrude Foote, is roused from her bed when the woman is brought to her door. Try as she might, Gertrude is unable to save her, but the baby lives.
When no relatives come forth to claim the infant, Gertrude's daughter, Amber - who has recently lost a son in childbirth - and her husband, Norman, take the child in. In the ensuing weeks, Norman becomes convinced that God has sent the baby to their door, and in an act of reckless compassion and lonely desperation, he names the baby Jennifer and registers her in place of his son.
Loved by some but scorned by more, including her stepmother and sister, Jenny survives her childhood and grows into an exquisite and talented young woman. But who were her parents? And why does she so strongly resemble an old photograph of Gertrude's philandering husband?
Spanning two momentous decades and capturing rural Australia's complex and mysterious heart, Pearl in a Cage is the new novel by one of our most talented storytellers.
©2009 Joy Dettman. (P)2009 Bolinda Publishing Pty Ltd
The Collaborator
Summary
Based on astonishing true events set in the darkest days of World War II in Budapest, this is an enthralling story of heroism, vengeance, passion and betrayal. An act of heroism, the taint of collaboration, a doomed love affair and an Australian woman who travels across the world to discover the truth.... It is 1944 in Budapest, and the Germans have invaded. Miklos Nagy risks his life and confronts the dreaded Adolf Eichmann in an attempt save thousands of Hungarian Jews from the death camps. But no one could have foreseen the consequences.... It is 2005 in Sydney, and Annika Barnett sets out on a journey that takes her to Budapest and Tel Aviv to discover the truth about the mysterious man who rescued her grandmother in 1944. By the time her odyssey is over, history has been turned on its head, past and present collide and the secret that has poisoned the lives of three generations is finally revealed in a shocking climax that holds the key to their redemption.
©2019 Diane Armstrong (P)2019 Bolinda Publishing
Thunder and Rain
Summary
Third generation Texas Ranger Tyler Steele is the last of a dying breed - a modern-day cowboy hero living in a world that doesn't quite understand his powerful sense of right and wrong and instinct to defend those who can't defend themselves. Despite his strong moral compass, Ty has trouble seeing his greatest weakness. His hard outer shell, the one essential to his work, made him incapable of forging the emotional connection his wife, Andie, so desperately needed. Now retired, raising their son, Brodie, on his own, and at risk of losing his ranch, Ty does not know how to rebuild from the rubble of his life. The answer comes in the form of Samantha and her daughter, Hope, on the run from a seemingly inescapable situation. They are in danger, desperate, and alone. Though they are strangers, Ty knows he can help - protecting the innocent is what he does best. As his relationship with Sam and Hope unfolds, Ty realizes he must confront his true weaknesses if he wants to become the man he needs to be.
©2012 Charles Martin (P)2012 Hachette Audio
Ripples on a Pond
Summary
Woody Creek is gearing up for its centenary celebrations - but for many of its townspeople, it's just another reminder of the old days, when life was more simple, before so-called progress, technology and a growing population roared through the town, altering everything in its wake.
Not for Georgie, though. Long encumbered by responsibility for her half-sister, Margot, she's looking towards the future and more changes. Not having managed to move on from running Charlie's grocery store yet, as the clock ticks over to 1970, she's determined that the time has come.
She's not the only one of Jenny's children who's grown up and is moving on. As a six-year-old, little Jimmy Morrison was stolen from Woody Creek by his grandfather, and is now farther away than ever from his estranged birth mother and sisters. Having inherited an estate in the United Kingdom, he's determined to make a new life for himself. If only he could shake off his one terrible attachment to Australia....
For Cara, Woody Creek has been the source of the most devastating news of her life, and a terrible mistake that cannot be undone. She's vowed never to step foot into the place again. But the old timber town has a way of getting under people's skins. And as it draws the much-loved cast of Woody Creek characters back into its grip, confessions, discoveries and truths seem set to explode in the most dramatic of showdowns....
©2013 Joy Dettman (P)2013 Bolinda Publishing Pty Ltd
Mosaic
Summary
This remarkable true story begins in the Polish city of Krakow in 1890 and spans 100 years and four continents.God blessed Lieba and the devout Jewish patriarch Daniel Baldinger with 11 children. This richly textured portrait follows their lives, lives that personify the struggles and hopes of our century, down the decades, through the terrifying years of the Holocaust to the present. Mosaic is compelling storytelling at its best - from the fascinating details of Polish-Jewish culture and the rivalries and dramas of family life, to its moving account of lives torn apart by war and persecution, this an extraordinary story of a family, and of one woman's journey to reclaim her heritage.
©2002 Diane Armstrong (P)2009 Bolinda Publishing
Moth to the Flame
Summary
Jenny Morrison is bravely trying to move on with her life. Her husband missing amidst the turmoil of WWII, she takes refuge with Ray King, a slightly sinister, stuttering boy who disappeared from Woody Creek as a teenager but has now reappeared. In return for regular 'wifely duties', Ray offers Jenny and her three children sanctuary at his house in Melbourne. For a time, she is happy. But then Jenny's father - the philandering impresario Archie Foote - storms back into her world and chaos reigns again. Archie recognises Jenny's brilliance and offers her a second chance - a way to escape the domestic drudgery and finally fulfil her dream. But when you have three children, one missing husband and another with a dark secret, dreams have a habit of turning into nightmares...
©2011 Joy Dettman (P)2011 Bolinda Publishing Pty Ltd
The Watch Tower
Summary
Set in the leafy northern suburbs of Sydney during the 1940s, The Watch Tower is a novel of relentless and acute psychological power. Following their father's death, Laura and Clare are withdrawn from their elite private boarding school by their mother. As their mother slowly withdraws from them, the two are left to fend for themselves. Laura's boss, Felix, is there to help, even offering to marry Laura if she will have him. However Felix is not all that he seems, and little by little the two sisters grow complicit with his obsessions, his cruelty and his need to control.
©1966 Elizabeth Harrower (P)2018 Bolinda Publishing Pty Ltd
The Long Prospect
Summary
Sharply observed, bitter and humorous, The Long Prospect is a story of life in an Australian industrial town. Growing up neglected in a seedy boardinghouse, 12-year-old Emily Lawrence befriends Max, a middle-aged scientist who encourages her to pursue her intellectual interests. Innocent Emily will face scandal, suburban snobbery and psychological torment. Originally published in 1958, The Long Prospect was described as second only to Patrick White's Voss in postwar Australian literature.
©1958 Elizabeth Harrower (P)2018 Bolinda Publishing Pty Ltd
The Waiting Room
Summary
The Waiting Room captures the sights, sounds, accents and animosities of a country overflowing with stories. Dina is a family doctor living in the melting-pot city of Haifa, Israel. Born in Australia in a Jewish enclave of Melbourne to Holocaust survivors, Dina left behind a childhood marred by misery and the tragedies of the past to build a new life for herself in the Promised Land. After starting a family of her own, she finds her life falling apart beneath the demands of her eccentric patients, a marriage starting to fray, the ever-present threat of terrorist attack and the ghost of her mother, haunting her with memories that Dina would prefer to leave on the other side of the world. Leah Kaminsky plumbs the depths of her characters' memories, both the sweet and the heart-wrenching, reaching back in a single climactic day through six decades and across three continents to uncover a truth that could save Dina's sanity - and her life.
©2015 Leah Kaminsky (P)2015 Audible, Ltd
Trails in the Dust
Summary
The seventh book in the addictive Woody Creek series from best-selling Australian author Joy Dettman. After many tumultuous years spent grappling with the past, Jenny Hooper might have expected her latter years to be the best of her life, and they are - until tragedy strikes. Left floundering in a house full of memories, not all of them good, Jenny knows a reckoning is in order. But it won't be easy. History is beginning to repeat itself for Jenny's adopted daughter, Trudy, who finds herself trapped in an abusive relationship. Jenny and her older daughter, Georgie, can only stand by and watch as Trudy's life implodes. Meanwhile, half a world away in the UK, Cara and her husband, Morrie, nurture a devastating secret that keeps them at arm's length from Jenny. But most of all, Jenny wants to renew contact with the beloved son she lost decades before when she was at her lowest ebb. Only that, and having the chance to tell him the truth about what happened, will give her peace. But is it too late?
©2019 Joy Dettman (P)2019 Macmillan Australia Audio
The Voyage of Their Life
Summary
In August 1948, 545 passengers boarded an overcrowded, clapped-out vessel in Marseilles to face an uncertain future in Australia and New Zealand. They came from displaced persons camps in Germany, death camps in Poland, labour camps in Hungary, gulags in Siberia and stony Aegean islands. There were those who had been hunted by the Nazis and those who had welcomed them; those who had followed the Communists and those who had fled them. Diane Armstrong set sail on the Derna with her parents when she was nine years old. Like a detective searching for clues, she has located over a hundred of the passengers. Through their recollections and memorabilia, as well as archival documents, she has recreated the voyage and traced what became of their hopes and dreams. The result is the unique portrayal of a migrant ship and its passengers.
©2001 Diane Armstrong (P)2004 Bolinda Publishing Pty Ltd
Nocturne
Summary
From the best-selling author of Winter Journey, Mosaic and The Voyage of Their Life - all published in audio by Bolinda. It is Warsaw, 1939, and Elzunia is an indulged teenager who longs for a heroic life filled with romance. But the outbreak of war shatters all her dreams. As bombs fall, she meets Adam, a taciturn airman whose fate becomes entwined with hers. In despair over the occupation, Adam joins the Polish resistance, then flies bombers for the RAF. Forced into the Warsaw Ghetto, Elzunia learns that even children must create their own rules to survive. When the Ghetto defies the invaders, and later the entire city of Warsaw rises up, Elzunia finds strength in ways she never imagined. Nocturne is a powerful and inspiring testament to resilience and courage in the face of cruelty and betrayal.
©2008 Diane Armstrong. (P)2009 Bolinda Publishing Pty Ltd
Pacific
Summary
An epic story of love, sacrifice and revenge swept along on the winds of war. Australian actress Samantha Lindsay is thrilled when she scores her first lead movie role in the Hollywood epic Torpedo Junction, playing a character based on World War II heroine 'Mamma Tack'. But as filming begins in Vanuatu, uncanny parallels between history and fiction emerge. Just who was the real Mamma Tack? And what mysterious forces are at play? The answers reveal not only bygone secrets but Sam's own destiny. In another era, Jane Thackeray travels from England to the far distant islands of the New Hebrides. Ensnared in the turmoil of war, Jane witnesses the devastating effect human conflict has upon an innocent race of people. There she meets Charles 'Wolf' Baker, a charismatic fighter pilot, and Jean-Francois Marat, a powerful plantation owner - and soon their lives are entwined in a maelstrom of love and hate.... From the dark days of Dunkirk to the vicious fighting that was Guadalcanal, from the sedate beauty of the English Channel ports to a tropical paradise, Pacific is Judy Nunn at her enthralling best.
©2005 Judy Nunn (P)2019 Bolinda Publishing
Thorn on the Rose
Summary
This sweeping tale confirms Joy Dettman's place as one of our most gifted storytellers. When Jenny Morrison fled Woody Creek for a new life in Melbourne she left behind a dysfunctional family, a town of small-minded gossips, and, most tragically, a newborn baby. Mustering all her strength, she resolved to put her past behind her, reclaim her identity, and pursue her dream of becoming a famous singer.... Yet just months later she is back - wiser and with an expensive new wardrobe - but with a second child growing in her belly. Cruelly labeled the ‘town slut’, she finds refuge in Gertrude, her kind-hearted, dependable granny and Woody Creek's indomitable midwife. Jenny thrives and, daring once again to dream, leaves Woody Creek for a second time and moves to Sydney, where at last it seems that the beautiful young songstress may find happiness... But can the past ever truly be buried? And will Jenny Morrison ever fulfill her destiny?
©2010 Joy Dettman (P)2011 Bolinda Publishing Pty Ltd
The Voyage of Their Lives
Summary
In August 1948, 545 passengers boarded an overcrowded, clapped-out vessel in Marseilles to face an uncertain future in Australia and New Zealand. They came from displaced persons camps in Germany, death camps in Poland, labour camps in Hungary, gulags in Siberia, and stony Agean islands. There were those who had been hunted by the Nazis and those who had welcomed them; those who had followed the Communists and those who had fled them. Diane Armstrong set sail on the Derna with her parents when she was 9 years old. Like a detective searching for clues, she has located over a hundred of the passengers. Through their recollections and memorabilia, as well as archival documents, she has recreated the voyage and traced what became of their hopes and dreams. The result is the unique portrayal of a migrant ship and its passengers.
©2001 Diane Armstrong (P)2003 Bolinda Publishing Pty Ltd
The Tying of Threads
Summary
In the final installment of Joy Dettman’s beloved Woody Creek series, we return to the small timber town where it all began. Independent and spirited, Georgie is her mother’s daughter through and through. But after a house fire takes the life of her sister, Margot, and burns her home to the ground, Georgie is lost. She flees town with nothing but a cardboard box and the determination to be somebody, anybody, else. After almost losing her adopted daughter, Cara’s view of the world has radically shifted. She’s decided that life is to be lived and love is to be cherished, even when that means crossing boundaries she’d never dreamed of. But is any love great enough to overcome an unimaginable burden of guilt and shame? With her nest empty, Jenny is more lonely than ever. Rattling around her big old house with too much time to think, she’s left to wonder: should her secrets stay buried forever or will revealing the truth set her free? As the new millennium draws ever closer and Woody Creek struggles to survive, one thing becomes clear: in order to face their futures, Jenny and her daughters must first make peace with their pasts. If it’s not too late.
©2014 Joy Dettman. The moral right of the author has been asserted. (P)2014 Bolinda Publishing Pty Ltd
Wind in the Wires
Summary
The wind is whispering in Woody Creek. Change is in the air. It's 1958 and Woody Creek is being dragged kicking and screaming into the swinging '60s. Jenny's daughters, Cara and Georgie, are now young women. They have inherited their mother's hands, but that is where their similarity ends. Raised separately, they have never met. A mistake from Cara's teenage years looms over her future, but she believes emphatically in the white-wedding and happily-ever-after myth. Georgie has seen enough of marriage and motherhood. She plans to live her life as her grandmother did, independent of a man. But life for the Morrison girls has never been easy, and once the sisters are in each other's lives, long-buried secrets are bound to be unearthed, the dramatic consequences of which no-one could have predicted....
©2012 Joy Dettman (P)2012 Bolinda Publishing Pty Ltd