Marie-Louise Walker has narrated 8 audiobooks on Listento.it by 7 authors. The most-rated is Quarterly Essay 32.
The Almost Perfect Lover
Summary
Maddy Tyler, a sophisticated art gallery owner, is driven, overworked and cynical about love. When a sudden crisis makes her re-evaluate her life, she impulsively buys a weekend retreat in the country.
Fraser O'Neill, her rural neighbour, is an easy-going widower of simple tastes and quite definitely not Maddy's 'type'. Still, a comfortable weekend affair is another story...and Maddy of course will be in control.
But nothing is ever that simple, and Maddy is forced to face the demons of her past and make a heartbreaking choice that will rock everything she thought certain.
©1996 Jennifer Bacia (P)2002 Bolinda Publishing Pty Ltd
Last Tango In Toulouse
Summary
The year of her 50th birthday, Mary Moody ran away from home, family, and work for six months to live in a remote French village. Her book is about these experiences, Au Revoir, struck a chord with tens of thousands of readers across Australia. Yet those experiences were to mark a beginning rather than an end. To her surprise, Mary found herself grappling with the intense emotion of an affair, and its consequences on her marriage and family. Amid this turmoil, Mary also rediscovered a sister not seen by the family for nearly 50 years. Last Tango in Toulouse is Mary’s compelling account of these tumultuous upheavals in her life, and an affirmation of the power of family in overcoming the greatest challenges. Written with humour, warmth and passion, and an often searing honesty, Last Tango in Toulouse shows that life really can begin again at 50.
©2003 Mary Moody (P)2012 Bolinda Publishing Pty Ltd
Bad Behaviour
Summary
Zoë is living a conventional suburban life in Fremantle. She works, she gardens and she loves her supportive husband Archie and their three children. But the arrival of a new woman into her son Daniel's life unsettles Zoë. Suddenly she is feeling angry and hurt, and is lashing out at those closest to her.
In Sussex, England, Julia is feeling nostalgic as she nurses her best friend through the last painful stages of cancer. Her enthusiastic but dithering husband Tom is trying to convince Julia to slow down. Although she knows Tom means well, Julia cannot help but feel frustrated that he is pushing her into old age before she is ready. But she knows she is lucky to have him. She so nearly didn't....
These two women's lives have been shaped by the decisions they made back in 1968 – when they were young, idealistic and naïve. In a world that was a whirl of politics and protest, consciousness raising and sexual liberation, Zoë and Julia were looking for love, truth and their own happy endings. They soon discover that life is rarely that simple, as their bad behaviour leads them down paths that they can never turn back from.
©2009 Liz Byrski (P)2009 Bolinda Publishing Pty Ltd
Never Tell Me Never
Summary
On an afternoon bike ride in the Blue Mountains Janine Shepherd's life was altered irrevocably. When the champion cross country skier in training for the Winter Olympics was hit by a truck, doctors warned her parents that she was not expected to survive. Even if she recovered, she would never walk again. Coming to terms with her shattered Olympic dreams, Janine focused every sinew of her being on healing. Her fighting spirit was rekindled watching small planes flying overhead. She said to herself, 'If I can't walk, I'll fly.' And fly she did.
©1994 Janine Shepherd (P)1999 Bolinda Publishing Pty Ltd
Quarterly Essay 22
Summary
From the Hillsong Church to the Family First Party, Australia appears to be experiencing an evangelical revival. In the second Quarterly Essay for 2006, Amanda Lohrey investigates that revival - its shape and scope, and what it means for the mainstream churches and the nation's politics. She talks to young believers and analyses the machinations of the Christian Right. She discusses, with humour and insight, the appeal of the megachurch, the changing image of Jesus and the political theories of George Pell and Peter Jensen. "Voting for Jesus" is also an essay about the use and abuse of religion in party politics. Examining the success of Family First, Lohrey argues that Christians in politics have far less influence than they would like - the government uses them when convenient and otherwise disregards them. Blending individual interviews with political argument, she makes a subtle case for the blessings of secularism and the variety of spiritual encounters it makes possible.
©2006 Amanda Lohrey (P)2011 Bolinda Publishing Pty Ltd
Table for Three
Summary
Marnie, Tina and Lee are in their 20s when they share a house in Bondi. Each is running away from something: Marnie, wild, privileged and impetuous, is escaping from the stifling conservatism of Melbourne - and a father who will mark her relationship with men forever. Tina, driven to leave Brisbane and her migrant background, promises herself she'll own a home on the harbour by the time she's 30. But what if the price of success is too high? Lee dreams of showbiz fame to save her from suffocating life in the suburbs of Newcastle. When her dream is cut short, her daughter is meant to live it for her. A quarter of a century later, the three friends learn that dreams come with no guarantees, and the city is a much more dangerous place....
©2003 Jennifer Bacia (P)2004 Bolinda Publishing Pty Ltd
Quarterly Essay 34: Stop at Nothing: The Life and Adventures of Malcolm Turnbull
Summary
Based on extensive interviews with Turnbull as well as those who have worked with him, this is an essay full of revelations. Crabb delves into young Malcolm's university exploits - which included co-authoring a musical with Bob Ellis - and his remarkable relationship with Kerry Packer, the man for whom he was at first a prized attack dog, and then a mortal enemy. She asks whether Turnbull - colourful, aggressive, humorous and ruthless - has what it takes to re-invigorate the Australian Liberal Party in the wake of John Howard. She discusses his vexed relationship with Kevin Rudd, and the looming presence of Peter Costello. This is a scintillating portrait by one of the country's most incisive reporters.
©2006 Annabel Crabb (P)2012 Bolinda Publishing Pty Ltd
Quarterly Essay 32
Summary
Where were you when America elected Barack Obama? Kate Jennings was in New York, eyes wide open, completing her take on an amazing time: "the run-up to the election... a time when every day felt like a year and we became slightly crazed from worry but also mesmerised, unable to switch off the cable news stations, obsessively tracking the DOW, VIX, LIBOR spreads, polls in red states. So much at stake." American Revolution is a dazzling and perceptive look at the United States between hope and despair: an election-year kaleidoscope. Jennings describes how and why the US economy fell off a cliff and how an apparently endless run of primaries and an increasingly rancorous campaign culminated in a world-changing victory. She surveys the characters - Obama, Palin, McCain and the Clintons - and conveys the concepts - derivatives, bailouts and moral hazard. This is an essay that shows America in fascinating flux: it is witty and poetic, acute and evocative.
©2008 Kate Jennings (P)2011 Bolinda Publishing Pty Ltd.