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The River House

Page 35

by Janita Cunnington


  The story of the River House is told from Laurie’s standpoint. How reliable is her view of events?

  A combination of circumstances, most of them mundane, leads to Miranda’s near-drowning. How much of what happens later is a consequence of that accident?

  What is the meaning of the mother-of-pearl token (‘This is for keeps …’) that Laurie gives Carol when they are children?

  To what extent do the people in the novel determine their own destinies? What light do Jerry’s interests and character shed on this question?

  The story spans many decades. How do the characters’ attitudes towards the natural world change during that time? Do they see the forces of nature as threatening or benign? Are their views borne out by experience?

  Near the story’s end, Laurie imagines Carol saying, ‘I was very young, Laurie.’ What does this suggest about Laurie’s attitude towards Carol?

  The theme of heroism looms large in the characters’ lives. Why?

  Another theme of the novel is isolation. What bearing does the cameo of catching eggs have on this theme? How does Laurie interpret it?

  How does the River House figure in this story?

  At the climax of the story, Laurie goes to the River House in search of Miranda. What is the significance of the bush scenes she finds painted on its walls?

  What, in the end, does Laurie salvage from the loss of so much?

  A RIVER HOUSE PLAYLIST

  Music is threaded through the novel. For readers interested in exploring this dimension, or who would enjoy a soundtrack while reading or as a background for their book club discussions, I’ve compiled the playlist over the page.

  There was music in the world Laurie was born into, but to hear it you had to listen to the wireless or make it yourself. Car radios were years off, so when you went travelling you sang.

  Born in 1945, Laurie would have heard wartime songs, swing, jazz, the beginnings of rock ’n’ roll; in the sixties folk, protest songs and the Beatles. By the seventies Laurie had babies clamouring for her attention. Though by now music was piped into every public space, she would have had less opportunity – and less inclination – to listen.

  This selection is a tiny sample of the songs Laurie would have known. There are gaping omissions – not only the music of the great composers, but also Victorian-era parlour songs and countless wildly successful hits. The fifties are over-represented, because that was the decade when Laurie was waking to the social world.

  We’ll Meet Again – Vera Lynn (1943)

  Sentimental Journey – Ella Fitzgerald, with Eddie Heywood and His Orchestra (1945)

  Near You – Andrews Sisters (1947)

  On the Road to Mandalay – Peter Dawson (recorded in 1939, but played throughout the forties and fifties)

  On Top of Old Smokey – Weavers (1951)

  Rock Around the Clock – Bill Haley & His Comets (1955)

  Just One of Those Things – Frank Sinatra (1954)

  Jamaica Farewell – Harry Belafonte (1956)

  In the Mood – Glenn Miller (recorded in 1939 but played at dances throughout the fifties)

  Broken-Hearted Melody – Sarah Vaughan (1959)

  Silver Dagger – Joan Baez (1960)

  The Times They Are A-Changin’ – Bob Dylan (1964)

  The Boxer – Simon and Garfunkel (1970)

  Blue Bayou – Linda Ronstadt (1977)

  To find this playlist on Spotify, go to:

  https://play.spotify.com/user/penguinrandomhouseaus and search for The River House. I do hope you enjoy it.

  About the author

  Janita Cunnington has been writing for much of her life, mostly under the desk – verse, stories, articles, musings – when her mind should have been on important matters. Some of her poems have been published, along with reams of public information, booklets, brochures and, with her husband, Col, a travel guide to South-East Queensland.

  Janita was born at the end of the Second World War in the small New South Wales town of Barraba. Six months later, the family moved to Brisbane to live with her paternal grandfather in his sprawling Queenslander. There she spent her idle childhood. This was the time when they holidayed at Munna Point on the Noosa River, to be idle by the sea. On the river’s wild northern shore stood a little old house. Its isolation made it an object of romance for the children on the southern shore and, in the end, the inspiration of this story.

  Janita now lives near the sea again, on lovely, salt-stung Stradbroke Island.

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted by any person or entity, including internet search engines or retailers, in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including printing, photocopying (except under the statutory exceptions provisions of the Australian Copyright Act 1968), recording, scanning or by any information storage and retrieval system without the prior written permission of Random House Australia. Any unauthorised distribution or use of this text may be a direct infringement of the author’s and publisher’s rights and those responsible may be liable in law accordingly.

  Version 1.0

  The River House

  ISBN 9780143780182

  First published by Bantam in 2016

  Copyright © Janita Cunnington 2016

  The moral right of the author has been asserted.

  A Bantam book

  Published by Random House Australia Pty Ltd

  Level 3, 100 Pacific Highway, North Sydney NSW 2060

  www.randomhouse.com.au

  Random House Books is part of the Penguin Random House group of companies whose addresses can be found at global.penguinrandomhouse.com/offices.

  National Library of Australia

  Cataloguing-in-Publication entry

  Cunnington, Janita, author

  The river house/Janita Cunnington

  ISBN 978 0 14378 018 2 (ebook)

  Family vacations – Australia – Fiction

  Vacation homes – Australia – Fiction

  Families – Fiction

  A823.4

  Cover images: river © Dragan Todorovic/Trevillion Images;

  girl © monkeybusinessimages/iStock by Getty Images

  Cover design by Christabella Designs

  Lines from ‘As I Walked Out One Evening’, from Another Time. Copyright © 1940 by W. H. Auden, renewed 1968. Reprinted by permission of Random House, an imprint and division of Penguin Random House LLC, all rights reserved, and Curtis Brown, Ltd

 

 

 


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