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' Shortlisted, National Book Council 'Banjo' Award 1996 Shortlisted, Fantasy Division and Horror Division, Aurealis Awards for Excellence in Australian Speculative Fiction 1995 a vivid and engrossing novel. Patricia Rolfe, Bulletin Brooks's first novel is haunting, a work of precision and delicacy, enigma and exactness. Philippa Hawker, Marie Claire brings to mind the house in Tim Winton's Cloudstreet...Resonating with lost emotional energy, sighing and sobbing to itself in the echoing silences of the night. Ian McFarlane, Canberra Times The House Of Balthus is a magical novel which has the intensity of a dream. Characters from the artist Balthus' paintings walk out of the canvas and take on a life of their own, sharing the spaces of an ancient chateau now turned apartment block in a large French provincial town. The concierge Mme Lecault watches closely her tenants, among them the Countess, the Professor, the Painter, Therese and her young lover Michael - but knows only the surface of their lives. She spends her sleepless nights talking to Mme Berry, who lives, it would appear, in another century. There is a sound of sobbing, which echoes between rooms and across.' (Publication summary)
Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of
Other Formats
- Also sound recording.
Works about this Work
-
The Image in Text
2002
single work
criticism
— Appears in: Antipodes , December vol. 16 no. 2 2002; (p. 169-170) Ahlstrom examines the interplay between paintings and the writing of David Brookes and Sue Woolfe. -
No End to Motivations: A Conversation with David Brooks
Marty Wechselblatt
(interviewer),
2002
single work
interview
— Appears in: Antipodes , June vol. 16 no. 1 2002; (p. 34-39) -
Enigma of Memory
1996
single work
review
— Appears in: The Age , 27 July 1996; (p. 8)
— Review of The House of Balthus 1995 single work novel -
Untitled
1996
single work
review
— Appears in: Westerly , Autumn vol. 41 no. 1 1996; (p. 140-142)
— Review of The House of Balthus 1995 single work novel -
Emerging from the Canvas
1996
single work
review
— Appears in: Voices , Autumn vol. 6 no. 1 1996; (p. 102-105)
— Review of The House of Balthus 1995 single work novel
-
The House of Fiction
1995
single work
review
— Appears in: Australian Book Review , October no. 175 1995; (p. 24-25)
— Review of The House of Balthus 1995 single work novel -
First Novel a Foray into Magic Realism
1995
single work
review
— Appears in: The Canberra Times , 21 October 1995; (p. C10)
— Review of The House of Balthus 1995 single work novel -
Ghosts and Angels but Little Spirit
1995
single work
review
— Appears in: The Weekend Australian , 4-5 November 1995; (p. rev 9)
— Review of The House of Balthus 1995 single work novel -
Wish Fulfulment and High Notes in Concert
1995
single work
review
— Appears in: The Sunday Age , 17 December 1995; (p. 9)
— Review of The House of Balthus 1995 single work novel -
Emerging from the Canvas
1996
single work
review
— Appears in: Voices , Autumn vol. 6 no. 1 1996; (p. 102-105)
— Review of The House of Balthus 1995 single work novel -
No End to Motivations: A Conversation with David Brooks
Marty Wechselblatt
(interviewer),
2002
single work
interview
— Appears in: Antipodes , June vol. 16 no. 1 2002; (p. 34-39) -
The Image in Text
2002
single work
criticism
— Appears in: Antipodes , December vol. 16 no. 2 2002; (p. 169-170) Ahlstrom examines the interplay between paintings and the writing of David Brookes and Sue Woolfe. -
A Cultured and Sensual Tale
1995
single work
column
biography
— Appears in: The Canberra Times , 29 October 1995; (p. 20) -
Puzzling Portrait of the Artist
1995
single work
column
— Appears in: The Bulletin , 7 November vol. 116 no. 5995 1995; (p. 96)
Awards
- 2010 shortlisted Australian Book Review Fan Poll
- 1996 shortlisted NBC Banjo Awards — NBC Banjo Award for Fiction
- 1995 shortlisted Aurealis Awards for Excellence in Australian Speculative Fiction — Fantasy Division — Best Novel
- 1995 shortlisted Aurealis Awards for Excellence in Australian Speculative Fiction — Horror Division — Best Novel
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Paris,
cFrance,cWestern Europe, Europe,