The Floating Garden by Emma Ashmere
Sydney, Milsons Point, 1926. Entire streets are being demolished for the building of the Harbour Bridge. Ellis Gilbey, landlady by day, gardening writer by night, is set to lose everything. Only the faith in the book she’s writing, and hopes for a garden of her own, stave off despair. As the tight-knit community splinters and her familiar world crumbles, Ellis relives her escape to the city at sixteen, landing in the unlikely care of self-styled theosophist Minerva Stranks. When artist Rennie Howarth knocks on her door seeking refuge from a stifling upper-class life and an abusive husband, Ellis glimpses a chance to fulfil her dreams. The future looms uncertain while the past stays uncannily in pursuit.
"A charming and lyrical story of masculine ambition outwitted by feminine fruition1920s Sydney, in all her raffish grandeur, flourishes on every page." -- Mandy Sayer, author of "Love in the Years of Lunacy"
"The Floating Garden is above all a surprising love story, full of turns, transformations and slips of the heart. A wise, tender and beautifully detailed novel." -- Gail Jones, author of 'Five Bells'
"Emma Ashmere has written a compelling and lyrical novel of a rough and ready Sydney that is in the throes of rapid change; a town where the spiritual is necessary but corrupted, and where sexual lives remain hidden even from those in the grip of desire." -- Sophie Cunningham, author of 'Geography & Bird'
Emma Ashmeres subtle, wry storytelling takes the reader inside 1920s Sydney and the story of the people forgotten as one of Australias most historic events unfolds. The Floating Garden is also the story of those women who dared to want something more than society offered them. Sarah Armstrong, author of Salt Rain
"The Floating Garden is above all a surprising love story, full of turns, transformations and slips of the heart. A wise, tender and beautifully detailed novel." -- Gail Jones, author of 'Five Bells'
"Emma Ashmere has written a compelling and lyrical novel of a rough and ready Sydney that is in the throes of rapid change; a town where the spiritual is necessary but corrupted, and where sexual lives remain hidden even from those in the grip of desire." -- Sophie Cunningham, author of 'Geography & Bird'
Emma Ashmeres subtle, wry storytelling takes the reader inside 1920s Sydney and the story of the people forgotten as one of Australias most historic events unfolds. The Floating Garden is also the story of those women who dared to want something more than society offered them. Sarah Armstrong, author of Salt Rain
Emma Ashmere's short stories have appeared in various publications including The Age, Griffith Review, Sleepers Almanac, Etchings and Australian Women's Book Review. She has a Masters in Creative Writing from the University of Adelaide, and a PhD from La Trobe University in Melbourne on the use of marginalised histories in fiction. She has worked as a researcher on several books on Australian gardening history, and women and empire. She lives in northern New South Wales.
| SKU | Unavailable |
| ISBN 13 | 9781742199368 |
| ISBN 10 | 1742199364 |
| Title | The Floating Garden |
| Author | Emma Ashmere |
| Condition | Unavailable |
| Binding Type | Paperback |
| Publisher | Spinifex Press |
| Year published | 2015-09-15 |
| Number of pages | 256 |
| Prizes | Short-listed for Small Press Network MUBA Priz 2016 (Australia) |
| Cover note | Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary. |
| Note | Unavailable |