Showing results by publisher "Wavesound from W. F. Howes Ltd" in Biographies & Memoirs

This is a memoir of an unconventional childhood that explores what it means to be an only child. This audiobook is for all children who have ever felt like the fulcrum of a seesaw, the focus of all eyes and expectations, torn between love and fear, obedience and rebellion, duty and the longing to escape. Only is revelatory, lyrical and life affirming, for anyone who has felt the burden of trying to be a good daughter.

People always asked her if she was ever afraid, living out in the desert alone with all those rough and scruffy men. But Minnie Berrington was not the faint-hearted type, and never had been. Being tough came naturally to her, growing up with three brothers and a family that went from riches to ruins. Only a slip of a girl, Minnie could match any man in stamina, perseverance and strength. She arrived in Coober Pedy when camels still brought in essential supplies, and water was so scarce that no-one washed. Together with the other miners, she braved the heat, the flies and the dust.

It’s the most shocking scandal ever to reach the inner sanctum of power in the Holy See. The Vatican’s treasurer, Cardinal George Pell, was ordered to face trial in his native Australia after being charged with multiple counts of child sexual abuse. Investigative journalist Lucie Morris-Marr, who was the first reporter in the world to reveal the allegations against the cleric, attended each day of the subsequent legal case. She lifts the lid on the proceedings, which for so long were in lock down due to a controversial media black-out.

Natalie Kon-yu was nine weeks pregnant when the trembling began. Two weeks later she checked herself into a mental health unit. Though she was in crisis, the GPs, nurses and psychiatrists couldn't see beyond Natalie's precious cargo. She was made to feel that her pregnancy outweighed her mental health. This loss of agency lingered long into her early years of motherhood. In that time, she discovered that she was far from alone. In fact, her experience typifies the harsh inequalities endured by child-bearing women, as well as the devaluation of what is still perceived as ‘women's work'.

Paris. The beauty. The grime. The colors and thoughts and songs and sounds and children and dogs. The taste of strawberries, the sky, first métro, last métro, the bells, the dreams. The city of light, it seems, has its own plans for Jayne. Drawn there in an entirely unforeseen way, she finds herself in a vibrant and dizzying neighborhood, living in a former monastery, studying at a famous theatre school, falling in love with a Frenchman too beautiful to be real. She will forget her past and disappear into the culture if it kills her. And one strange night, it nearly does.

In mid-2016, Monica left Sydney, unsure of her place in Australia. As a Chinese Australian city slicker, she couldn't have felt more distant from powerful mythologies like the Digger, the Drover's Wife and Clancy of the Overflow. And more importantly, Monica wondered, how could she ever feel she truly belonged to a land that has been the spiritual domain of Indigenous Australians for over 60,000 years?

Cult hero of the Big Bash League, Brad Hogg is still in his prime almost three decades after he first played cricket. As well as playing for his country, Brad has worked in shearing sheds and on the Fremantle wharf, as a postman, football umpire, tree-lopper and roustabout, even completing a finance degree along the way. Memorable, sad and often hilarious, The Wrong 'Un is the inspirational story of one of the game's most popular players.

When Helen's partner of 15 years announced without warning that she 'needed to grow', and left in the Toyota, Helen remained in her pyjamas, ordering barbecue chicken, and crying on her cat. After disclosing her foulest thoughts on an XXX app, quitting her job, and receiving bad advice from her discount shrink, she cried again; this time on her beauty therapist, who dared her to go on 100 dates inside a year. Razor took that dare. Naked, funny, and frankly embarrassing – this is the Helen 100.

Power Play reveals the unvarnished realities of any workplace where power disparities and gender politics collide: from the unequal opportunities, casual sexism and systemic misogyny, to pressures around looks, age and family responsibilities, and the consequences of speaking out. Julia shares personal stories, practical advice, and a resounding argument for why women aren't the problem – but why more women in decision-making positions will help us find the solution.

Over the past two decades, we have started talking more about common mental health conditions like depression and anxiety. But complex conditions like schizophrenia, bipolar disorder and psychosis have been left behind, as have many of the people who live with these conditions or who care for them. Part memoir, part deep-dive investigation, The One Thing We've Never Spoken About is filled with rage at how our nation's public discourse, emergency services and healthcare systems continue to fail so many people.

They are the unhappy husbands, the disengaged grandfathers and the angry ‘letters to the editor’ writers. They sneer at generational change, know exactly where that bloody apostrophe should go and gather in sad groups bemoaning the modern world. They are Grumpy Old Buggers.

The Silence Between Us is a raw and original double memoir tracing a mother and daughter as they try to understand and rebuild their relationship after the daughter's suicide attempt. Because Oceane had just turned 18 when she attempts to end her life, the hospital has to respect her request: to not notify her parents. But despite the distance between them, Cécile knows something is wrong with her fiercely independent daughter. As Cécile steps in to care for Oceane, the two reckon with things left unsaid and begin to rebuild a relationship that is both fragile and beautiful.

This is a difficult piece to write. It cuts closer to the bone than most of what I have written; closer to my bones, through my blood and flesh to the bones of truth and country; there is truth here, not disguised but in the open, and that truth hurts. Colonisation in Australia is not over. Colonisation is a process, not an event - and the after-effects will continue while there are still people to remember it.

Growing Up in Country Australia is a fresh, modern look at country Australia. There are stories of joy, adventure, nostalgia, connection to nature and freedom, but also more grim tales - of drought, fires, mouse plagues and isolation. From the politics of the country school bus to the class divides between locals, from shooting foxes with Dad to giving up meat as an adult, from working on the family farm to selling up and moving to the city, the picture painted is diverse and unexpected. This is country Australia as you've never seen it before.

No one ever expected Catriona Menzies-Pike to run a marathon. She hated running and was a hopeless athlete. But a decade after her parents died suddenly, she started running and found that her grief started to move, too. Until very recently it was frowned upon for women to run long distances. Running was deemed unladylike - and probably dangerous.

A whole, beautiful life is only made possible by the wide spectrum of feelings that exist between joy and sorrow. In this insightful and warm book, writer and illustrator Mari Andrew explores all the emotions that make up a life, in the process offering insights about trauma and healing, the meaning of home and the challenges of loneliness, finding love in the most unexpected of places - from birds nesting on a sculpture to a ride on the subway - and a resounding case for why sometimes you have to put yourself in the path of magic.

As the first Muslim woman in any Australian parliament, the 100th woman in the senate and the only engineer in the senate, Mehreen has a unique and crucial perspective on our country and how things are changing for the better or worse. This is the story of a Brown, migrant Muslim woman breaking into a white man's world and striving to change it without being changed. It is an honest, no-holds-barred account of what happens when reality meets perception and when you shatter long-held stereotypes and confront a system steeped in privileged hierarchies, racism and sexism.

Spanning three generations, The Long Goodbye takes us deep into the lives of an Australian family as they survive record-breaking floods, outlast epic droughts and face the unforgiving realities of life on the land. Told with astounding lyricism, warmth and humour, this is a deeply moving memoir about the unbreakable bonds of marriage, love and family. And it poses the most heartbreaking moral dilemma of all: when a loved one is suffering, is euthanasia the answer?

Blind from birth, Graeme Innes was blessed with a family who refused to view his blindness as a handicap, instilling in him a belief in his own abilities; blessed with a determination to persevere. After a long and successful career as a lawyer, company director and Human Rights Commissioner, Graeme has written his story. Finding a Way shares his memories of love and support, challenges, failures and overcoming the discrimination so many people with disabilities face.

Detective Peter Seymour has seen every type of death imaginable in his time in the NSW Coroner's Court and, after many years in law enforcement, the tragedies are beginning to take their toll. Dealing with death day in day out becomes too much for Seymour and this seasoned veteran starts to grapple with overwhelming feelings of fear and doubt. He decides to return to the police force hoping the operational work might offer some reprieve. Fate would have it otherwise as he is thrust straight back into an intense murder investigation.