Home

$27.95 (Paperback book / Flamingo / ISBN:9780732278328)

The Gift Of Speed

0732278325

Set during the glorious summer of 1960/61,The Gift of Speed chronicles the lives, fates and fortunes of a memorable group of characters in a fictitious outer-Melbourne suburb in the post-World War II era. The roads and footpaths may have been paved, the houses painted and the gardens grown – but the suburb still hovers between town and country. We catch up with Michael, 16 and obsessed with cricket; his parents, Rita and Vic, whose marriage is on the rocks; Vic’s 70-year-old mother, who comes to stay; and the mysterious factory owner who hurtles around the suburb at night in his sports car ... For one unforgettable summer, the closed community of the suburb opens up to the outside world. And it is not – as in the past – a war that allows this, but rather a carnival of cricket, music and colour. This is Steven Carroll's best book to date – a subtle, powerful novel which puts the ‘extra’ into ‘ordinary’ and celebrates what it means to be Australian.

Where Can I Get It?
Carlton Not in stock
Hawthorn Not in stock
Malvern Not in stock
Port Melbourne Not in stock
St Kilda Not in stock

All in-print titles are available to order online. Items that are currently not in-stock but are available can still be ordered. Prices are subject to change without notice. In-store availability is updated daily.

Miles Franklin Shortlist 2005

1741141478

The White Earth
Andrew Mcgahan

$29.95 (Paperback book / Allen & Unwin )

Winner of the 2005 Miles Franklin Award "The White Earth revisits the conventions of the Australian pioneering saga and the gothic novel, investing them with remarkable imaginative force and contemporary significance. On... More »

1741143691

Salt Rain
Sarah Armstrong

$21.95 (Paperback book / Allen & Unwin )

Allie's free-spirited mother, Mae, mysteriously disappears on Sydney Harbour one night, her dinghy found drifting in the darkness. Fourteen-year-old Allie is whisked away to the north, to a rainforested valley, by Julia,... More »


1843431963

Sixty Lights
Gail Jones

$29.95 (Paperback book / Vintage )

In 1860, when they are just eight and ten, Lucy Strange and her brother Thomas are orphaned. Left in the care of their uncle, the children begin slowly, frighteningly, to find their place in the difficult world. And so b... More »

0732278325

The Gift Of Speed
Steven Carroll

$27.95 (Paperback book / Flamingo )

Set during the glorious summer of 1960/61,The Gift of Speed chronicles the lives, fates and fortunes of a memorable group of characters in a fictitious outer-Melbourne suburb in the post-World War II era. The roads and f... More »


1740512642

The Submerged Cathedral
Charlotte Wood

$23.95 (Trade paperback / Vintage )

‘Set me as a seal on your heart, for love is stronger than death.’ Spanning many years, travelling across Australia’s vast continent and through some of Europe’s great cities, *The Submerged Cathedral* is a beguiling, he... More »


Steven Carroll

0732278368

The Time We Have Taken
Steven Carroll

$27.99 (Trade paperback / Harper Collins )

Winner of the 2008 Miles Franklin Literary Award.

That exotic tribe was us. And the time we have taken, our moment.'

One summer morning in 1970, Peter van Rijn, proprietor of the television and wireless shop, pronounces ... More »

Review
0732278325

The Gift Of Speed
Steven Carroll

$27.95 (Paperback book / Flamingo )

Set during the glorious summer of 1960/61,The Gift of Speed chronicles the lives, fates and fortunes of a memorable group of characters in a fictitious outer-Melbourne suburb in the post-World War II era. The roads and f... More »


073227057x

The Art Of The Engine Driver
Steven Carroll

$22.95 (Paperback book / Harper Collins )

The Art of the Engine Driver is the story of one evening in the lives of the residents of a new outer Melbourne suburb. As a mighty steam train leaves Spencer Street Station on its haul to Sydney, a family of three – Vic... More »

1741165369

The Lovers' Room
Steven Carroll

$29.95 (Paperback book / Harlequin )

"The lovers' room would always be theirs, and they would take it with them wherever they went." As the Allied forces occupy Japan at the end of World War II, an intense love affair develops between shy Australian Allen "... More »


0732278376

The Time We Have Taken
Steven Carroll

$24.99 (Paperback book / Harper Collins )

Winner of the 2008 Miles Franklin Literary Award.

That exotic tribe was us. And the time we have taken‚ our moment.

One summer morning in 1970‚ Peter van Rijn‚ proprietor of the television and wireless shop‚ pronounces... More »

Review

Copyright © 2008 Readings Pty Ltd. Site designed and developed by Inventive Labs.