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AbstractHistoryArchive Description
'Set in a mining town in the Australian outback, Nights in the Asylum is the story of three people seeking shelter. Stricken with grief and guilt following the death of her daughter, Miri flees the city for the quiet calm of Havana Gardens, a once fine but now dilapidated mansion built for her grandmother. On the road, she rescues Aziz, an Afghan refugee on the run from detention; then, in the attic of the old house, Miri discovers Suzette Moran and her baby daughter hiding, and grants them refuge.
'Slowly, in the hot confined spaces of the house, the three runaways unravel their stories, but when Suzette's policeman husband comes looking for her, it sparks a chain of events that will disrupt their already fragile peace.' (Publisher's blurb)
Notes
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Dedication: For the ones I love, Christopher, Lorena, Rafael.
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Epigraph: The Photograph does not necessarily say what is no longer, but only and for certain what has been.- Roland Barthes, Camera Lucinda: Reflections on Photography.
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Epigraph:
Sometimes I forget completely
what companionship is.
Unconscious and insane, I spill sad
energy everywhere. My story
gets told in various ways: a romance,
a dirty joke, a war, a vacancy.
Divide up my forgetfulness to any number,
it will go around.
These dark suggestions that I follow,
are they a part of some plan?
Friends, be careful. Don't come near me
out of curiosity, or sympathy.- Jelalludin Rumi.
Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of
Other Formats
- Also sound recording.
Works about this Work
-
Kibble Award For Women Writers
2008
single work
essay
— Appears in: SL : State Library of New South Wales Magazine , July vol. 1 no. 1 2008; (p. 30) -
Glittering Prizes in the Red Dust
2008
single work
column
— Appears in: The Sydney Morning Herald , 7 May 2008; (p. 7) -
[Review] Nights in the Asylum
2007
single work
review
— Appears in: Wet Ink , Spring no. 8 2007; (p. 61-2)
— Review of Nights in the Asylum 2007 single work novel -
The Year's Work in Fiction
2007
single work
review
— Appears in: Westerly , November vol. 52 no. 2007; (p. 187-199)
— Review of The Best Australian Stories 2006 2006 anthology short story extract ; Love Without Hope 2007 single work novel ; India Vik 2006 selected work short story ; Glass 2006 selected work short story ; The Unknown Terrorist 2006 single work novel ; The Unexpected Elements of Love 2006 single work novel ; Nights in the Asylum 2007 single work novel ; The American Brother 2007 single work novel ; Sorry 2007 single work novel ; Swallow the Air 2003 selected work short story ; The Gospel of Gods and Crocodiles 2007 single work novel ; Careless 2006 single work novel ; Feather Man 2007 single work novel ; Carpentaria 2006 single work novel -
Asylum Seeker Dreams
2007
single work
review
— Appears in: Eureka Street , 17 April vol. 17 no. 7 2007; (p. 29-31)
— Review of Nights in the Asylum 2007 single work novel
-
Untitled
2007
single work
review
— Appears in: Bookseller + Publisher Magazine , March vol. 86 no. 7 2007; (p. 40)
— Review of Nights in the Asylum 2007 single work novel -
Conjuring Exiles
2007
single work
review
— Appears in: Australian Book Review , May no. 291 2007; (p. 45-46)
— Review of Eugene's Falls 2007 single work novel ; Nights in the Asylum 2007 single work novel -
Taking Refuge in Pictures
2007
single work
review
— Appears in: The Canberra Times , 12 May 2007; (p. 18)
— Review of Nights in the Asylum 2007 single work novel -
First Timers Go Their Own Way
2007
single work
review
— Appears in: The Age , 2 June 2007; (p. 22)
— Review of Nights in the Asylum 2007 single work novel ; The Asking Game 2002 single work novel -
For Starters, a Taste of Something Different
2007
single work
review
— Appears in: The Australian Literary Review , June vol. 2 no. 5 2007; (p. 5-6)
— Review of The Crimes of Billy Fish 2007 single work novel ; Love and the Platypus 2007 single work novel ; Turner's Paintbox 2007 single work novel ; Nights in the Asylum 2007 single work novel -
Home and Away
2007
single work
column
— Appears in: The Advertiser , 12 May 2007; (p. 11) -
Storytelling from the Heart
2007
single work
biography
— Appears in: The Sun-Herald , 13 May 2007; (p. 63) -
Glittering Prizes in the Red Dust
2008
single work
column
— Appears in: The Sydney Morning Herald , 7 May 2008; (p. 7) -
Kibble Award For Women Writers
2008
single work
essay
— Appears in: SL : State Library of New South Wales Magazine , July vol. 1 no. 1 2008; (p. 30)
Awards
- Australian Outback, Central Australia,