Cole’s Book Arcade, which at its height included a printing press, tea rooms, musical entertainments and resident monkeys, as well as thousands of books, was a vibrant and wondrous part of Melbourne life in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. The man behind it, E.W. Cole, was seen by some as a visionary, others as a dangerous crackpot spreading inflammatory ideas about equal value of religions, and of mankind, whatever their race or colour.

Lisa Lang’s novel, co-winner of the 2009 Vogel Award, depicts Cole as an energetic, optimistic eccentric driven by love for his family (his wife who, famously, was the only serious applicant to a newspaper advertisement he placed for a spouse, and their six children), desire to spread good cheer, as well as information, to the people of Melbourne, and his deep sense of justice.

The novel is a captivating ride through the booms and busts of Marvellous Melbourne, past the coming of Federation and into the Edwardian era, ending with Cole’s death in 1918 – a wonderful opportunity to learn more about the man who conceived the marvels of the arcade and about the Melbourne of his times.