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'During World War 1 a friendship is forged on the battlefields of France between Axel and Edward, two young Englishmen. There, inspired by barrage balloons, they develop a mutual fascination that will change the course of their lives.
After the war, as Axel's passion for flight and freedom consume him, he sets off to balloon across the highlands of New Albion, a largely unexplored island north of Australia. When he fails to return, Edward travels to the island to solve the mystery of his friend's disappearance and retrace his final journey. What he finds there will haunt him for the rest of his life.
The Umbrella Club is a darkly compelling adventure into the depths of the human soul and to the frontiers of colonial exploration. In the aftermath of war, when there is nothing left to fear, sometimes the only possibility for recovery is flight.' (From the publisher's website.)
Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of
Other Formats
- Sound recording.
Works about this Work
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'The Living, Breathing Text: Adorno, Animals and Language in' the Umbrella Club
2018
single work
essay
— Appears in: Southerly , vol. 78 no. 1 2018; (p. 121-134)'I am reading David Brooks's novel 'The Umbrella Club' with the help of Adorno's dialectic method, to trace the novel's philosophical movements. Thoughts which Brooks develops in 'Derrida's Breakfast' - where he interrogates philosophy and poetry from a vegan perspective - are explored in 'The Umbrella Club'; in fiction, ideas can play. Bringing the Frankfurt School thinker into this context may help readers to appreciate the theoretical sophistication of Brooks's writings, and to see his rejection of postmodern certainties not as return to a pre-post modern stance, but as a decisive moving ahead, into a new, compassionate aesthetics which do not shy away from the complexities of the philosophical tradition. Or, a floating ahead, driven by changing winds and vagaries of landscape as balloons will, yet ultimately reaching its destination, as balloons also do, sometimes, if one is persistent. After all, 'The Umbrella Club' is a gothic 1920s adventure tale.' (Publication abstract)
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Untitled
2010
single work
review
— Appears in: Island , Spring no. 122 2010; (p. 24-27)
— Review of The Lake Woman : A Romance 2009 single work novel ; The Umbrella Club 2009 single work novel -
Well Read
2009
single work
review
— Appears in: The Advertiser , 14 November 2009; (p. 26)
— Review of Sons of the Rumour 2009 single work novel ; The Umbrella Club 2009 single work novel -
Untitled
2009
single work
review
— Appears in: Bookseller + Publisher Magazine , September vol. 89 no. 2 2009; (p. 24)
— Review of The Umbrella Club 2009 single work novel -
The Flight Club
2009
single work
column
— Appears in: The Canberra Times , 31 October 2009; (p. 13)
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Poetic Vehicle Carries Heavy Moral Freight
2009
single work
review
— Appears in: The Weekend Australian , 3-4 October 2009; (p. 27)
— Review of The Umbrella Club 2009 single work novel -
Ballooning over New Albion
2009
single work
review
— Appears in: Australian Book Review , October no. 315 2009; (p. 50)
— Review of The Umbrella Club 2009 single work novel -
Book for a Rainy Day
2009
single work
review
— Appears in: Blue Mountains Gazette , 21 October 2009; (p. 9)
— Review of The Umbrella Club 2009 single work novel -
Boy's Own Journey to the Heart of Darkness
2009
single work
review
— Appears in: The Sydney Morning Herald , 24-25 October 2009; (p. 26-27)
— Review of The Umbrella Club 2009 single work novel -
Untitled
2009
single work
review
— Appears in: Bookseller + Publisher Magazine , September vol. 89 no. 2 2009; (p. 24)
— Review of The Umbrella Club 2009 single work novel -
The Flight Club
2009
single work
column
— Appears in: The Canberra Times , 31 October 2009; (p. 13) -
'The Living, Breathing Text: Adorno, Animals and Language in' the Umbrella Club
2018
single work
essay
— Appears in: Southerly , vol. 78 no. 1 2018; (p. 121-134)'I am reading David Brooks's novel 'The Umbrella Club' with the help of Adorno's dialectic method, to trace the novel's philosophical movements. Thoughts which Brooks develops in 'Derrida's Breakfast' - where he interrogates philosophy and poetry from a vegan perspective - are explored in 'The Umbrella Club'; in fiction, ideas can play. Bringing the Frankfurt School thinker into this context may help readers to appreciate the theoretical sophistication of Brooks's writings, and to see his rejection of postmodern certainties not as return to a pre-post modern stance, but as a decisive moving ahead, into a new, compassionate aesthetics which do not shy away from the complexities of the philosophical tradition. Or, a floating ahead, driven by changing winds and vagaries of landscape as balloons will, yet ultimately reaching its destination, as balloons also do, sometimes, if one is persistent. After all, 'The Umbrella Club' is a gothic 1920s adventure tale.' (Publication abstract)