Showing results by narrator "Lisa Armytage" in All Categories

It is the spring of 1961, and the sleepy little town of Jingera is at its most perfect with its clear blue skies, pounding surf and breathtaking lagoon. Yet all is not so perfect behind closed doors. George Cadwallader - butcher by day and stargazer by night - is loved by everyone, except his wife. He only wants the best for his family, yet it's all falling apart. Philip Chapman is a sensitive young boy, a musical prodigy - and a target for bullies. But with his wealthy parents indifferent to his cries for help, his entire future is at risk.

The Lockdown Diaries records a year in the life of Dawn, Rod, their kids, cats and garden. We will all identify with their daily struggles with the pandemic. She takes us from the beginning of the lockdown, as we all became used to wearing masks, turned into teachers and hairdressers and found that nail technicians were like gold dust. She touches on the everyday struggles too - being apart from her six children, missing friends, and getting fat. On the plus side, Dawn has contributed to glass-bottle recycling on a global scale and performed miracles for Smirnoff shares.

After a 30-year absence Agnes is returning to Australia, the country of her birth, at the request of her aging, narcissistic mother. Having undergone a long period of psychotherapy she now entertains a hope that burning questions will be answered, haunting mysteries solved, and buried memories encouraged into the light. Something has blighted her life since childhood. Something has cast a long shadow over her existence, affecting her ability to grasp at life fully, to develop sustained relationships and to appreciate her own sense of self-worth.

Sandwiched between the needs of her elderly mother and her own family, Annie barely has time for a quick swim, let alone a leisurely chat about a long neglected tea set. But as the story unfolds, the modern world seems to fall away along with her mother's dementia, and forgotten family histories are revealed.

New South Wales, 1972. Following the death of her beloved Aunt Hilda, widow Clare Barclay inherits Bellevue, an historic property in the Blue Mountains township of Numbulla, Australia. Giving up her teaching job to move there, Clare plans to restore the house to its original glory. She also hopes to track down a box of missing documents that may shed light on why her husband Jack secretly second-mortgaged their home. Clare makes friends with the locals, including a boy named Joe. She soon hears of plans to redevelop Numbulla, and to exploit the land bordering the protected wilderness area.

Dan Ireland, a work-weary police crash investigator still hell-bent on punishing himself for his misspent youth, has ample justifications for not going home to Calingarry Crossing for the school reunion, but one very good reason why he should...Maggie Lindeman. Maggie is back in Calingarry Crossing trying to sell the family pub, while also dealing with a restless 17-year-old son, a father with dementia, a fame-obsessed musician husband back in the city and a dwindling bank account. The last thing she needs is a surprise houseguest for the summer.

Back in 1957, nine-year-old Zidra Vincent met Jim Cadwallader for the first time. Fourteen years later, their bond of friendship - forged during childhood in the beautiful coastal town of Jingera - is still strong. But is friendship all they dream of? Jim is now a respected war correspondent in Cambodia. Meanwhile, Zidra is an ambitious reporter at the SYDNEY MORNING CHRONICLE, and the seeds of a major story have just landed in her lap.

The sudden death of her refugee friend sets off a chain of events that will change Shelley’s quiet life forever. Her burning desire for the truth uncovers a web of conspiracy, danger, and corruption that reaches all the way to the top. Shelley is reluctant to jeopardize her safe career and comfortable life, but it soon becomes clear that she will have to break rules and risk everything to uncover the truth.

Bequeathed a century-old house, four estranged friends return to their hometown, Calingarry Crossing, where each must stay for a season at Dandelion House to fulfil the wishes of their benefactor, Gypsy. But coming home to the country stirs up shameful memories of the past, including the tragic end-of-school muck-up day accident twenty years earlier.