17.6 C
Byron Shire
March 29, 2024

An exploration of grief and healing

Latest News

Retired local professor launches book on grief

A leading international thinker and researcher in the development of innovative sport coaching and physical education teaching has returned home to Byron Bay and is launching his first non-academic book, 'Grief and Growth', on April 4 at The Book Room in Byron. 

Other News

What the duck!

Most days I ask myself ‘what the duck’ is happening here? How could Trump be president again if he...

Richmond Valley Rail Trail grand opening

The latest leg of the Northern Rivers Rail Trail opened in style on Saturday, with hundreds of two-wheeled travel enthusiasts spinning along the newly opened 13.4 kilometre section from Casino to Bentley.

Iconic Lennox beach shed upgraded –  not demolished

Lennox Park and the shelter shed has now been upgraded and reopened.

State of confusion

If any of you watched Joe Biden’s State of the Union address, you would know that it was a...

We just love him!

If you’re over 50 you might not be a fan of Tom Jones, but you can bet your mum is. If you’re under 40 you might not even know who he is, but your grandmother probably wet her pants at the mere mention of his name.

Dynamic, rustic yet polished

Animal Ventura is the brainchild of Byron Bay-based singer-songwriter Fernando Aragones. Growing up playing punk and reggae in noisy garage bands in Southern Brazil, Aragones ventured to Australia where the eclectic sounds of the Sydney music scene beckoned.

the-railwayman-s-wifeReview by Joanne Shoebridge, Morning presenter on ABC North Coast

When a single, random act changes Anikka Lachlan’s life forever, she buries herself in books.

When a war poet returns home without meaning and a doctor struggles to shoulder the burden of lives he couldn’t save, it takes time, the solace of nature and rekindled connections to mend.

Ashley Hay’s The Railwayman’s Wife is a tender inquiry into love, loss and sensitivities set in an era and a place few Australian authors have dared to venture.

The south coast, post-war, is a dream-like place of modest workers’ cottages, picket fences and well-intentioned people. The tiny coastal village of Thirroul in 1948 leaps from the pages, as fresh as a winter southerly. It hugs the coastal fringe towered over by monumental mountains and a capricious Tasman Sea, which is at once a metaphor for grief, with its immense capacity to crush, and healing, sashaying into shore and ebbing through each chapter as three characters navigate a life after loss. Hay writes with the authority of one who spent her childhood tramping the same coastal walks, imagining its industrial past, unwrapping salty battered fish from the same corner shop as her characters.

The point-of-view is mostly Ani Lachlan’s, but the perspective deftly switches to Roy McKinnon, the writer too shell-shocked to pen the horror of war in words, and Dr Frank Draper, who struggles to leave the ghosts of the dead on the battlefield. Far from being a distraction, it’s a device that allows the reader to see the characters as others see them, to appreciate the desire of others to help in an era when discretion and privacy are respected. It allows the reader to view the hidden filigree connecting the characters to each other.

The Railwayman’s Wife is far from maudlin. Hope shimmers though its pages, as the three central figures come to terms with their changed lives. Ani’s deep and requited love for her husband is unveiled in time-shifted recollections that slip into the pages easily. The war poet finds a muse and words start to form on a page at his hand once again.

In trademark fashion, Hay’s fifth novel is meticulously researched and sprinkled with interesting historical and literary detail.

I briefly questioned whether the voices of the characters were true to the era, whether the lexicon was more different or less, before realising I’ve read so little from or about that period in Australian history that I was in no position to decide.

The novel isn’t propelled by action and drama, but the story is nonetheless engrossing. The Railwayman’s Wife is a satisfying, provoking read. Ashley Hay has woven a profoundly moving exploration of grief and healing, inhabited by characters who’ll linger in your thoughts like a long-gone relative you wish you’d known.

All Writers Festival Articles


Support The Echo

Keeping the community together and the community voice loud and clear is what The Echo is about. More than ever we need your help to keep this voice alive and thriving in the community.

Like all businesses we are struggling to keep food on the table of all our local and hard working journalists, artists, sales, delivery and drudges who keep the news coming out to you both in the newspaper and online. If you can spare a few dollars a week – or maybe more – we would appreciate all the support you are able to give to keep the voice of independent, local journalism alive.

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here

Resilient Lismore’s ‘Repair to Return’ funding

On the eve of the second anniversary of the second devastating flood in 2022, Resilient Lismore has welcomed the finalisation of its funding deed with the NSW Reconstruction Authority, which will enable the continuation of its ‘Repair to Return’ program.

Editorial – Joyous propaganda! 

The NSW Labor government marked its one year in office this week with a jubilant statement of achievements issued from Macquarie Street HQ.

Man charged over domestic violence and pursuit offences – Tweed Heads

A man has been charged following a pursuit near Tweed Heads on Monday.

Where should affordable housing go in Tweed Shire?

Should affordable and social housing in the Tweed Shire be tucked away in a few discreet corners? Perhaps it should be on the block next to where you live?