Jack Irish

Jack Irish, created by Peter Temple (1946-2018), has become a popular character in Australian crime fiction. Jack, a former criminal lawyer, now spends much of his time drinking and or betting on the races. He lives in Fitzroy, an inner suburb of Melbourne, and as he attempts to get his life back on track helps a friend make high quality furniture. Jack tries to stay on the right side of the law but this is not always easy as his life often becomes entangled in sorting out or solving a crime, at times involving former associates and / or horse racing.

Born in South Africa Peter Temple moved to Australia in 1980. Initially he worked as a journalist and a lecturer before turning to writing novels. He is perhaps best known for the four titles in the Jack Irish series - Bad Debts (1996), Black Tide (1999), Dead Point (2000) and White Dog (2003) but has also written other books including An Iron Rose (1998), Shooting Star (1999), In the Evil Day / Identity Theory (2002), The Broken Shore (2005) and its sequel Truth (2009). The Red Hand (a collection of mostly unpublished writing) was published in 2019. Awards won for his work include The Ned Kelly award, a Miles Franklin award and a Colin Roderick award. In 2007, The Broken Shore was also awarded the UK Crime Writers’ Association’s Duncan Lawrie Gold Dagger.

The Jack Irish books have also been adapted for television. Bad Debts, Black Point and Dead Tide were shown as telemovies on ABC TV between 2012 and 2014. Since then two six part series, entitled Jack Irish, based on the characters created by Peter Temple were shown on ABC TV in 2016 and 2018. The final four part Jack Irish series will air on ABC TV from mid-June 2021. Guy Pearce plays Jack Irish.

Acclaimed crime writer Peter Temple Dies, aged 71  Sydney Morning Herald, March 11 2018

Emma

I enjoy reading the novels of Jane Austen though it is many years since I have read Emma - it is on my list of books to read again. In 2011 we visited the Jane Austen Centre in Bath which provided an insight into life in Regency England as well as information about the life of the author. Completing the Future Learn course, Jane Austen: Myth, Reality and Global Celebrity run by the University of South Hampton, also increased my interest in and knowledge of  Jane Austen's works.

Before the cinemas closed due to the COVID-19 lockdown, we had planned to see the new film adaption of Jane Austen's novel, Emma. Several weeks later the film was available for download on television so we were then able to watch the film at home.

It was enjoyable to relax at home and escape what is ocurring in our world while entering the world of Emma Woodhouse. Emma can be described as manipulative as she meddles in the lives of family and friends. She enjoys match making and deciding how those she befriends should behave.

Jane Austen's observation and satirisation of life in a small English village, with its long held social structure, is vividly portrayed in this film as the heroine eventually realises the unintentionial damage that she is inflicting on those around her.

The film is an amusing representation of life in the early nineteenth century with its emphasis on marriage as a way to maintain or improve one's social standing in a community. Emma is a very independent young lady and it takes time for her to understand what her real role in her world shoud be.

All is True

This film was in cinemas last year but I was not able to see it at the time so I borrowed a copy from my local library. The plot of the film is based on the final years of William Shakespeare's life when he returned to his home at Stratford-upon-Avon after the Globe Theatre was destroyed by fire in London.On his return his relationship with his family members is strained, primarily due to his being an absent husband and father for much of his marriage. Shakespeare is also mourning the death of his only son, Hamnet, some years earlier.

Kenneth Branagh plays William Shakespeare, as well as producing and directing the film. Judi Dench plays Anne Shakespeare. The film was written by Ben Elton who was also responsible for the television series Upstart Crow, a satirical account of the writing of the plays (3 series from 2016).

All is True provides an interesting interpretation to part of the family life of a great, and troubled, playwright.

Miss Fisher and the Crypt of Tears

On Tuesday, as we did not have to collect grandchildren from school, we decided to go and see a film, something we have not ben able to do for some time. We decided to see Miss Fisher and the Crypt of Tears which was on at 2pm. I had watched a number of Phryne Fisher stories on the ABC and also read a number of books in the series written by Kerry Greenwood so I had a fair idea what to expect and looked forward to some light entertainment.

We arrived at the cinema complex which was very quiet and when we found our allocated seats in the large theatre it was soon obvious that we were to have an exclusive viewing of the film. As to be expected it was an entertaining, unbelievable story set overseas in England and Palestine. The Middle East scenes were shot in Morocco. After Phryne rescues a young girl from gaol in Palestine she takes her to England. The girl is determined to discover who was responsible for her mother's death and Phryne and Jack help her with her mission.

As we left the cinema I thanked my husband not only for the opportunity to escape from the realities of life for a short time but also to do so in in such an exclusive environment!

Peterloo

2019 is the 200th anniversary of the Peterloo Massacre which occurred in Manchester on St Peter's Field on 16 August 1819. Four years earlier the British army had defeated Napoleon at the Battle of Waterloo. The returning soldiers, however,  found an England where jobs were scare and wages were low. There was a shortage of grain not helped by the implementation of Corn Laws prohibiting the import of grain from other countries. Price of food was high. People were starving.

This was an environment ripe for ordinary people banding together demanding parliamentary representation for all men. Sixty thousand of men, women and children gathered at St Peter's Field to show their support for reforms improving the lifestyle of ordinary people and to listen to the guest speaker, Henry Hunt. It was a peaceful meeting but unfortunately many of the magistrates and business men in the city were unnerved by the event and the militia was called in. Eighteen people were killed and hundreds were injured.

Earlier this year Royal Holloway, University of London, ran a four week course on Future Learn - Perterloo to the Pankhursts: Radicalism and reform in the 19th century which explored how suffrage for all was obtained in Britain and examined the various political movements, plus their leaders, which enabled this to happen.

Christopher Robin

Having enjoyed the Winnie the Pooh books by AA Milne - The House at Pooh Corner and Winnie the Pooh - when I was a child and having read them to my children, I borrowed the DVD of the new Disney film, Christopher Robin, which was recently shown in cinemas.

In the film Christopher Robin, now grown up, is played by Ewan McGregor. He lives with his wife and daughter  but is too busy with work to enjoy time with them. When he stays home, while the family have retreated to the cottage near the Hundred Acre Wood, Christopher Robin is surprised to find Winnie the Pooh alone in the park across the road from where he now lives. Christopher Robin decides to take the bear back to the wood and then return to London for an important meeting but a series of events occur disrupting his original plans. Needless to say Christopher Robin eventually realises that there is more to life than work.

This is meant to be a children's film but I suspect that the adults watching it may enjoy the film more than children. The film has its entertaining moments but I definitely prefer the world created in the original stories.

There have been a number of books including biographies about the life of A A Milne and his family. Another recent British film documenting the affect of the publicity surrounding the Winnie-the-Pooh books and their creator's family was Goodbye Christopher Robin (2017).

Christopher Robin gives Pooh an update - review - Sydney Morning Herald 14 September 2018
Goodbye Christopher Robin review - Sydney Morning Herald 22 November 2017

Ladies in Black

On Thursday we went to see the new Australian film, Ladies in Black. The film is based on the book originally entitled, Women in Black, written by Madeleine St John and published in 1993. The plot of the book was also used for a musical. The film was directed by Bruce Beresford.

Set in a fictional department store in Sydney the ladies in the frock departments are preparing for the pre-Christmas rush. The film focuses on the lives of three of the staff, Fay, Patty and Lisa plus Magda who runs the high-end gowns section.

The film brought back memories of growing up in Melbourne in the 1950s when travelling into the City by train was a special experience. Mum always dressed up for the occasion and we had to look neat and tidy. In Melbourne there were lots of shops.

There were the variety stores where we normally shopped. Variety stores such as Coles or Woolworths consisted of rows of inexpensive goods arranged in sections. Items were purchased from the shop assistant behind each counter. Coles Cafeteria in the Bourke Street store was the place where we always went for lunch.

The department stores - Myer, Ball and Welch, Buckley and Nunn and Georges - were special places that we visited occasionally. The staff of these stores were the 'women in black' in the film. Transportation between floors was by lifts controlled by lift operators who announced the produce on each floor as the lift doors opened. 

The department store in the film has a large Santa Claus covering many floors on the outside of the building. In Melbourne it was Foys, another department store, that had such a Santa on the outside of the building.

In Melbourne the arcades were also places to explore. Regent Place housed the Tim the Toyman store which we always visited.

In the film, Lisa has just finished school and has temporary employment at the department store as she waits for her exam results. She is befriended by Fay and Patty and gradually learns something of the world of fashion, especially when Magda takes an interest in her. Fay and Patty both have problems with relationships while Magda and her husband are refugees from Europe trying to make a new life in Australia.

The 1950s were a time of change in Australia. The film portrays a world where staff are still addressed by their title and surname. There is an awareness of status.  The 1950s were a time of European immigration when people displaced by events in Europe found a new home in Australia. The film looks at attitudes on both sides as well as the changes immigration caused in Australia. The value of education for women is also a theme. There are also comments showing the rivalry between Sydney and Melbourne.

I enjoyed watching this movie as a film but I also enjoyed the trip down memory lane that it reawoke.

Review - Ladies in Black (Sydney Morning Herald 19 September 2018)
Review - Ladies in Black (Scenestr 18 September 18 September 2018)
Article - After more than 20 years, Bruce Beresford's Ladies in Black lights up the big screen (West Australian 20 September 2018)
Article - Ladies in Black: Director Bruce Beresford recreates postwar culture of 1950s Sydney (ABC News 22 September 2018)

The Bookshop

A friend recommended books written by Penelope Fitzgerald who started her writing career in 1960. The Bookshop was first published in 1978 and was her second novel. The author's experience of having worked in a bookshop in Southwold provides the background for this book.

It was 1959 and Florence Green had lived in Hardborough on the East Anglia coast for almost ten years when she decided to open a bookshop in The Old House, a building that had been vacant for many years. It was then that Florence encountered opposition from a section of the established community - initially from the bank manager, then from Mrs Violet Gamut, a power broker in the town, who decided that The Old House should be used as a cultural centre and finally by neighbouring premises when the bookshop had partial success. However Florence did have some supporters including Mr Brundish and also eleven year old Christine who helped out in the shop. This short novel explores the challenges faced by Florence in establishing her new venture, including dealing with a poltergeist who occasionally makes his presence felt in the old building, and how she deals with them. The story is told with humour and understanding of living in a small, isolated community. A series of correspondence between Florence and a lawyer, when Violet Gamut attempts to close the business, demonstrates Florence's understanding of the situation and her place in the community.

Penelope Fitzgerald uses words economically in portraying the characters in this community, the situation in the village when the new venture is undertaken by Florence and the injustice that can occur when people try to introduce something different into an established community. Although this is a character driven book the setting of the seaside village also plays a prominent part in the unfolding of the story. In only 100 plus pages the author involves the reader in the affairs of this small community and the struggles of Florence to live life as she wishes. Parallels can also be drawn between the opposition to change in a small town, as portrayed in the novel, with opposition to change that can occur in many community groups.

The plot of this book was  turned into a film in 2018.

The Bookshop review - (The Guardian 29 June 2018)

Penelope Fitzgerald's divided village loses some bite in The Bookshop - (SMH 21 May 2018)