Showing results by publisher "Penguin Random House Australia Audio" in Literature & Fiction

The journals of the Nobel Prize-winning author, beautifully illustrated with his own paintings

It's 1969, and mankind has leapt up to the moon, but a young mother in small-town Australia can't get past the kitchen door. Louise Ashland is exhausted - her husband, Steven, is away on the road and her mother, Gladys, won't leave her alone. At least her baby, Dolores, has finally stopped screaming and is sweetly sleeping in her cot. Right where Louise left her. Or is she?

Brothers Thom and Archie are the best of friends and never disagree, until the beautiful, young and very headstrong Molly James comes into their life. Molly might be playing a game with the brothers - but when war strikes and they both join up to fight, it isn't a game anymore. Based on the true story of the author's grandfather's wartime experiences, At the Going Down of the Sun explores the intense bond between soldiers and brothers fighting in war, and a love that may tear them apart.

Adrift in outer space, a motley crew of human-made objects tell their tales, making real history sweeter and stranger. Starman, a lovelorn mannequin orbiting the Sun in his cherry-red car, pines for his creator. The first sculpture ever taken to the Moon is possessed by the spirit of Neil Armstrong. The International Space Station, awaiting deorbit and burial in a spacecraft cemetery beneath the ocean, farewells its last astronauts. A team of tamponauts sets off on a perilous mission to Mars inspired by the courage of their predecessors.

It's 1955, and four talented young women become best friends while living at the Hollywood Studio Club, the famous boarding house for movie hopefuls. Julia Newman is a rising star. For Peggy Carmichael, Julia's roommate, life is not so easy. She takes classes, auditions constantly, and grabs whatever bit-part is offered. Meanwhile Vivienne Lockhart, the most talented actress of them all, is constantly reduced to 'sexpot' roles. Finally there's aspiring scriptwriter Sadie Shore, who has little interest in the trappings of fame.

Gabrielle has inherited the ability to change the colour of her skin from her mother, Tallulah. They guard their power carefully within the walls of a home that's been bleached completely white. This is the doing of Gabrielle's father, Robert. After battling his executive-level colleagues all day at the office as a man of colour, he needs everything in his house to be white - including his wife and daughter.

In the year 1861, there were three campfires burning outside the gold mining town of Mull Creek, in the British colony of Victoria. With the announcement of the first Melbourne Cup, all three parties descend upon Melbourne town. And the thrilling horserace offers something different for each of them - a new beginning, a chance to be written into history, or a prize bigger than they could imagine. GOOD AS GOLD is a reimagining of the very first 'race that stops a nation', and a heartwarming story about triumph and the things that mean more than gold.

The island of Borneo was once the most heavily wooded in the world, and its people have always carved wood beautifully. In Killernova, grappling with his heritage, Omar Musa remixes this ancient art form with fiery poetry forged in the stars. With equal parts swagger, humour and vulnerability, Musa charts a journey through the colonial history of Southeast Asia, environmental destruction, bushfires, race in Australia, the isolation and addiction of COVID lockdown, family, lost love and, ultimately, recovery.

Skin Deep explores beauty, ageing, imperfection, health and illness, all of which are closely related to skin, and interrogates whiteness, both historically, structurally and through current notions of white fragility and victimhood. Phillipa McGuinness has interviewed plastic surgeons, dermatologists, burn survivors, beauticians, melanoma sufferers, people who suffer from body dysmorphias, victims and perpetrators of racism and all kinds of people who are and are not comfortable in their own skin to write a book where science meets art and culture, history and politics.

Anna Winter, a young woman unwittingly caught up inside a ring of sophisticated Nazi spies, chooses to flee Germany in 1933, taking her precious doll collection with her as she sets sail for Australia. Soon after her arrival she finds herself in a remote outback town, working as a nanny for the family of Tom O'Hara, owner of the Birdum Hotel. Doubling up as the local bartender and cook, Anna hides her past from the world, until a chance encounter with an eccentric stranger, Alter Mayseh, changes everything.

2020 began with fire storms raging through the country, followed by floods and then a global pandemic that has changed how Australians think, feel and live. We all experienced this year differently, but one thing rings true for all us: this is a year we won't forget. This anthology brings together original work from a diverse collection of Australian voices, from writers to scientists, journalists to historians, all expressing what 2020 meant to them.

Four years on from the devastating loss of their first child, Lauren and Alex De Vale are finally the proud parents of new baby, Charlotte. However as Lauren - who struggled to bond with her late son - returns to work, she is riddled with anxiety. She knows all too well that one little mistake can lead to tragedy. What if something terrible happens to Charlotte while she's not there?

Limelight is a unique collection of slam poetry paired with inspirational writing techniques. With over 30 original poems in different forms, the audiobook features the viral video sensation 'Australian Air', which has been viewed 3.5 million times via Facebook. Solli's work tackles current social concerns for his generation, such as sustainability and social equality, all the while amplifying his uplifting message of hope. The audiobook includes several introductory chapters looking at traditional poetry forms and slam poetry, as well as tips on developing writing ideas and performing.

It's 2016. Lance Alcocke, sole heir to an iron ore fortune, 40-ish bachelor, has just lost control of his life's work. His newly opened mine, Madeleine's Monster, named after his pioneering, iron-fisted grandmother, was supposed to be a workers' paradise in the Pilbara. But the Monster can't cover its costs, and Lance's Korean financiers are trying to steal his company out from under him. They've appointed administrators to APC Minerals, and Lance's 1,200 workers have lost their jobs.

A man grows tired of his open-plan office and builds a fort made of stationery. A woman's euphoria at finally achieving Desktop Zero is quickly replaced with despair. A group of copywriters dream of being poets, and a disillusioned sales executive overthinks his think piece. In the mind-bendingly upside-down world of Sadvertising, iPhones have feelings, brands come to life, creative directors disappear into parallel universes and lowly freelancers become immortal.

In 1683 life is gruelling for the young women in Amsterdam's civic orphanage. The sole light in Johanna Timmerman's existence is her forbidden love for Frans, an orphan in the boys' section who has a smile like sunshine. Then he is gone. Floriane Peronneau's privileged world is pleasant and fulfilling until she discovers that it is all built on lies. Far from being the devoted gentleman he seems, her husband, Claes, is a womanising degenerate who has led them to the edge of ruin. And the forces are closing in on him.

Amelia stands beside a highway in the Australian desert, alone except for her dog and the occasional road train that speeds past her raised thumb. After her mother's funeral, Amelia was confronted by Zach and reminded of the relationship they had when she was a teenager. She feels complicit and remains unable to process what happened. So she ran. Her best friend, Sid, is Zach's cousin and the one person in the world she can depend upon.

Gwendolyn and Estella have always been as close as sisters can be. Growing up in a wealthy, powerful and sometimes treacherous family, they've relied on each other for support and confidence. Now, though, Gwendolyn is lying in a coma, the sole survivor of Estella's poisoning of their whole family. What in their dark and complicated past has brought them to this point? As Gwendolyn struggles to regain consciousness, she desperately retraces her memories, trying to uncover the moment that led to this brutal act.

Lincoln Locke's 15-year-old life is turned upside down when he's thrust into bachelor-pad living with his father, after his parents' marriage breaks up, and into an exclusive new school. Crestfield Academy offers Lincoln a new set of peers - the crème de la crème of gifted individuals, who also happen to be financially loaded - and a place on the swim relay team with a bunch of thugs in Speedos. Homunculus, the little voice inside his head, doesn't make life any easier; nor does Lincoln's growing awareness of a genetic anomaly that threatens to humiliate him at every turn.

England, 1961. Samuel's mother has been away for 113 days. Now it's just Samuel and Ruth, the housekeeper, alone in the once-great house. His mother is abroad, purportedly tending to her late husband's faltering business. Samuel yearns for her return but knows she must have had her reasons for leaving in the middle of the night, without saying good-bye. Although Samuel receives occasional postcards from his mother, her absence weighs heavily on his mind.