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AbstractHistoryArchive Description
What happens when the bond between mother and child is broken? When distance and circumstance make for an enforced separation?
Carol Mara explores this theme as it occurred for many families in the 1950s when the polio epidemic was sweeping across towns and cities. Iron Cradles tells the story of one family whose baby daughter, diagnosed with polio, is banished to a Sydney hospital and into isolation.
With depth of characterisation and a wonderful talent for storytelling, Carol Mara shows us a small town's attitude to the contagious disease and to the family who are now considered by many to be tainted. While the focus of Iron Cradles is the experience of the mother, Nettie, the broader social picture of Australia in the 1950s is woven skilfully into the narrative.
Iron Cradles is a thought provoking and very moving exploration of a family in crisis, of powerlessness in the face of authority and ignorance, and of finding resolution.
(Source: Booktopia)
Notes
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Dedication: For my children Richard, William (1981-1994) and Catherine.
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Epigraph: Evening star, you bring all things
Which the bright dawn has scattered:
You bring the sheep, you bring the goat,
You bring the child back to its mother.
Sappho
Affiliation Notes
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Writing Disability in Australia:
Type of disability Poliomyelitis. Type of character Primary. Point of view
Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of
Other Formats
- Also sound recording.
Works about this Work
-
[Review] Iron Cradles
1999
single work
review
— Appears in: Fiction Focus : New Titles for Teenagers , vol. 13 no. 3 1999; (p. 29-30)
— Review of Iron Cradles 1999 single work novel -
Books in Brief
1999
single work
review
— Appears in: The Australian's Review of Books , April vol. 4 no. 3 1999; (p. 25)
— Review of Iron Cradles 1999 single work novel -
Shorts
1999
single work
review
— Appears in: Australian Book Review , May no. 210 1999; (p. 46)
— Review of Iron Cradles 1999 single work novel -
Sweet and Sour Ironclad Realism
1999
single work
review
— Appears in: The Courier-Mail , 10 April 1999; (p. 9)
— Review of Iron Cradles 1999 single work novel -
In Nietzsche's Tracks
1999
single work
review
— Appears in: The Canberra Times , 3 April 1999; (p. 22)
— Review of Iron Cradles 1999 single work novel ; Last of the Sane Days 1999 single work novel
-
[Review] Iron Cradles
1999
single work
review
— Appears in: Fiction Focus : New Titles for Teenagers , vol. 13 no. 3 1999; (p. 29-30)
— Review of Iron Cradles 1999 single work novel -
Paperbacks
1999
single work
review
— Appears in: The Age , 3 April 1999; (p. 7)
— Review of Running with Light 1999 selected work poetry ; Iron Cradles 1999 single work novel -
In Nietzsche's Tracks
1999
single work
review
— Appears in: The Canberra Times , 3 April 1999; (p. 22)
— Review of Iron Cradles 1999 single work novel ; Last of the Sane Days 1999 single work novel -
Sweet and Sour Ironclad Realism
1999
single work
review
— Appears in: The Courier-Mail , 10 April 1999; (p. 9)
— Review of Iron Cradles 1999 single work novel -
Shorts
1999
single work
review
— Appears in: Australian Book Review , May no. 210 1999; (p. 46)
— Review of Iron Cradles 1999 single work novel
- Bush,
- Sydney, New South Wales,
- Country towns,
- Urban,
- 1950s