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A Brilliant Life SHORTLISTED FOR THE 2024 MARGARET AND COLIN RODERICK LITERARY AWARD SHORTLISTED FOR THE 2024 LESLIE AND SOPHIE CAPLAN AWARD FOR JEWISH NON-FICTION SHORTLISTED FOR THE 2024 AGE NON-FICTION BOOK OF THE YEAR SHORTLISTED FOR THE 2024 ABIA MATT RICHELL AWARD FOR NEW WRITER OF THE YEAR A mother and daughter. Love. Loss. Wonder. The story of a brilliant life. Over seventy years had passed since Mira Unreich was freed from a concentration camp in Germany. On that spring day in 1945, she found herself alive, against all odds. In the decades that followed, she never explained the mystery underpinning her survival. How could Mira say that in the Holocaust 'I learned about the goodness of people'? When Mira's journalist daughter Rachelle realised time was running out for Mira, who was ill with cancer, she resolved to ask her mother questions. It would be the most important interview of her life: a chance to discover the secrets to her mother's joy, and an opportunity to fit together the jigsaw puzzle pieces of her own life. Rachelle discovered so much more than she ever expected. Mira's words would lead her along a surprising path, where she learned for the first time what a truly extraordinary life her mother had led. A Brilliant Life weaves together the past and the present to capture the powerful connection between a mother and child. It reminds us of the resilience of the soul and the ability of the heart to heal. It is an unforgettable story about fate and chance, love and grief, and the deepest kind of faith. 'A delicate, evocative story of strength and survival that turns on one of the most powerful forces in the known universe: a mother's love' JONATHAN FREEDLAND, bestselling author of The Escape Artist 'Unreich has cleverly painted her mother's story in all its shades of glory and despair; a woman who stepped into the canvas of life and painted her own bright fulfilling future' HARPER'S BAZAAR AUSTRALIA 'Mira's courage and belief in people's goodness radiates throughout this unforgettable testimony' THE AUSTRALIAN WOMEN'S WEEKLY 'An affirmation of the miraculous nature of the human mind to make sense of humanity's worst inclinations, not just survive them' RACHEL GRIFFITHS 'A loving and tender book . . . Mira's story presents a key to the future of humanity' SYDNEY MORNING HERALD 'Astonishingly compelling . . . A breathtaking masterclass on how to retain empathy, faith and optimism in the face of such unfathomable hardship' BETTER READING

A Different Kind Of Power From the former prime minister of New Zealand, then the world's youngest female head of government and just the second to give birth in office, comes a deeply personal memoir chronicling her extraordinary rise and offering inspiration to a new generation of leaders.What if we could redefine leadership? What if kindness came first? Jacinda Ardern grew up the daughter of a police officer in small-town New Zealand, but as the 40th Prime Minister of her country, she commanded global respect for her empathetic leadership that put people first. This is the remarkable story of how a Mormon girl plagued by self-doubt made political history and changed our assumptions of what a global leader can be. When Jacinda Ardern became Prime Minister at age thirty-seven, the world took notice. But it was her compassionate yet powerful response to the 2019 Christchurch mosque attacks, resulting in swift and sweeping gun control laws, that demonstrated her remarkable leadership. She guided her country through unprecedented challenges-a volcanic eruption, a major biosecurity incursion, and a global pandemic-while advancing visionary new polices to address climate change, reduce child poverty, and secure historic international trade deals. She did all this while juggling first-time motherhood in the public eye. Ardern exemplifies a new kind of leadership-proving that leaders can be caring, empathetic, and effective. She has become a global icon, and now she is ready to share her story, from the struggles to the surprises, including for the first time the full details of her decision to step down during her sixth year as Prime Minister. Through her personal experiences and reflections, Jacinda is a model for anyone who has ever doubted themselves, or has aspired to lead with compassion, conviction, and courage. A Different Kind of Power is more than a political memoir; it's an insight into how it feels to lead, ultimately asking- What if you, too, are capable of more than you ever imagined?

THE INSTANT #1 SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER From award-winning writer Nigel Slater, comes a new and exquisitely written collection of notes, memoir, stories and small moments of joy. 'Nigel Slater’s prose is the rarest delicacy of all: exquisite yet effortless, filled with heart, tenderness, yearning and humour' ELIZABETH DAY For years, Nigel Slater has kept notebooks of curiosities and wonderings, penned while at his kitchen table, soaked in a fisherman’s hut in Reykjavik, sitting calmly in a moss garden in Japan or sheltering from a blizzard in a Vienna Konditorei. These are the small moments, events and happenings that gave pleasure before they disappeared. Miso soup for breakfast, packing a suitcase for a trip and watching a butterfly settle on a carpet, hiding in plain sight. He gives short stories of feasts such as a mango eaten in monsoon rain or a dish of restorative macaroni cheese and homes in on the scent of freshly picked sweet peas and the sound of water breathing at night in Japan. This funny and sharply observed collection of the good bits of life, often things that pass many of us by, is utter joy from beginning to end. ‘I loved this. It is a secular book of hours – thoughts and pleasures beautifully cadenced and generously placed’ Edmund de Waal ‘ Nigel Slater has a magical capacity to find beauty in the smallest moments. A nourishing, sustaining book’ Olivia Laing ‘His evocative, uplifting observations are a balm for life: a prose-poem for eaters and a spiritual companion for thoughtful cooks. A true and enduring joy’ Nigella Lawson ‘You can’t always feel buoyant and grateful but noticing – and getting pleasure from – the seemingly insignificant is a good way to live. As he says, feel the “small moments of joy”’ Diana Henry

AccessoryBehind every criminal man is a young, glamorous woman profiting from his crimes. Or, at least, so the media suggests.Felicia Djamirze is a counsellor, an advocate for women's justice, a three-time Miss Australia winner, and a convicted drug dealer. Growing up surrounded by drug abuse and crime in a rough Sydney neighborhood, she had little hope of escaping the cycle of violence and poverty. So when her looks seemed to offer her a way out, she took it - even if it involved attracting men on the wrong side of the law.Entering this shadowy world, she became both a perpetrator and a victim, an accessory and a rebel. But eventually, the law would catch up with her in a spectacular and violent fashion - and it would make her rethink everything.Written in beautiful prose with seasoned journalist Erin O'Dwyer, Accessory is a bold and searingly honest tale of an extraordinary life.

The gut-wrenching story of how one of Australia’s finest surfers overcame a brain injury and despair to win an Olympic medal. On the morning of 10 December 2015, Owen Wright entered the water at Pipeline, Hawaii, determined to become a world champion. But after being pounded by a set of monstrous waves, he ended up fighting for life and facing extensive brain trauma. In this inspirational memoir, Wright chronicles the events leading up to that fateful day, as well as the months and years that followed as he battled to regain basic functioning, and eventually the capacity to compete again at the apex of surfing.Against the Water carries the reader back to Wright’s boyhood in the tiny town of Culburra, where his father, determined to raise champions, turned family life into a kind of boot camp. While eccentric, his father’s methods bore fruit: the Wrights of Culburra would become Australian surfing royalty. Owen’s story lays bare the complex relationship with his father – the adoration, the fight for independence, the fallings out, and the reconciliations. Told in a spare, intimate style, Against the Water is the moving account of an athlete who refused to accept that his best days were behind him and raises fundamental questions around family and competition. What, ultimately, is our duty to our children? At what point does bravery become folly? And how much should we sacrifice for the sake of another? ‘Owen was a childhood phenom who grew into the ultimate family man. In between this transition, he took on the world, charged crazy waves, suffered a huge brain injury, and finished off with the all-time sporting comeback!’ Mick Fanning, three-time world champion surfer ‘Whatever it is that Owen is getting himself into, he seems to do it with little to no fear and a massive smile on his face. He’s an inspirational guy, to put it lightly. Owen is one special human!’ Liam Hemsworth, actor ‘Owen Wright has to be the most inspiring person I’ve ever met. His story is one of a childhood prodigy, to facing a near-death experience, to Australian hero . . . This book will inspire and motivate anyone who has had to face adversity whilst following their dreams.’ Kita Alexander, singer-songwriter ‘[A] true fighter’s spirit!' Luke Rockhold, UFC middleweight champion, two-time jiu-jitsu world champion, three-time strikeforce middleweight champion

Sir Alex Ferguson's compelling story is always honest and revealing he reflects on his managerial career that embraced unprecedented European success for Aberdeen and 26 triumphant seasons with Manchester United. <p></p> <p></p>Sir Alex Ferguson's best-selling autobiography has now been updated to offer reflections on events at Manchester United since his retirement as well as his teachings at the Harvard Business School, a night at the Oscars and a boat tour round the Hebrides, where he passed unrecognised.<p></p><p></p>The extra material adds fresh insights and detail on his final years as United's manager.<p></p><p></p> Both the psychology of management and the detail of football strategy at the top level can be complex matters but no-one has explained them in a more interesting and accessible way for the general reader than Sir Alex does here. <p></p> <p></p> MY AUTOBIOGRAPHY is revealing, endlessly entertaining and above all inspirational.

A profound and provocative journey through the human body from the award-winning writer, broadcaster and surgeon. A profound and provocative journey through the human body from the award-winning writer, broadcaster and surgeon. 'Exceptional, beautiful and absolutely absorbing' CHRIS VAN TULLEKEN 'A book of wonder' SARAH MOSS What does it mean to live in a body?  For Gabriel Weston, there was always something missing from the anatomy she was taught at medical school. Medicine teaches us how a body functions, but it doesn't help us navigate the reality of living in one. As she became a surgeon, a mother, and ultimately a patient herself, Weston found herself grappling with the gap between scientific knowledge and unfathomable complexity of human experience. In this captivating exploration of the body, Weston dissolves the boundaries that usually divide surgeon and patient, pushing beyond the limit of what science has to tell us about who we are. Focusing on our individual organs, not just under the intense spotlight of the operating theatre, but in the central role they play in the stories of our lives, a fuller and more human picture of our bodies emerges- more fragile, frightening and miraculous than we could have imagined. Intimate, penetrating and original, Alive is an anatomy like no other, about our bodies and bonds, the richness and brevity of existence, and the thread of mortality that connect us all.

A powerful and intensely moving true-life account from two sisters who wereamong the very few children to survive Auschwitz. For readers of Lily'sPromise and The Tattooist of Auschwitz, Always Remember Your Name is anunforgettable story of the power of sisterhood, and of how a mother's lovetriumphed over impossible odds.

Should architecture be used for punishment? How might the spaces we inhabit nurture or damage us? How can we begin to start over after the worst has happened? Criminologist Yvonne Jewkes grapples with these questions every day as the world's leading expert on rehabilitative prison design; she also faces them in her personal life when her partner of 25 years leaves her in the middle of a nightmare renovation project and then lockdown sees her trapped there. Used to fighting the punitive prison system to create spaces that encourage reflection, healing, even hope for those incarcerated, she must learn to be similarly compassionate to herself, as she considers what might help someone at the lowest point in their life to rebuild. There are 11.5 million prisoners worldwide, and most of them will eventually be released back into society. Yvonne asks- 'Who would you rather have living next door to you? Or sitting on the train next to your daughter? Someone who has been treated with decency in an environment that has helped to heal them and instilled hope for their future? Or someone who has effectively been caged and dehumanised for years?' Challenging our expectations of what prisons are for, she takes us along their corridors, into cells, communal spaces, visitors' areas, and staffrooms, to the architects' studios where they are designed, and even into her own home, to show us the importance of an architecture of hope in the face of despair.   'A book full of insights to illuminate the way we look at architecture. Jewkes' beautiful descriptions not only evoke the feel of the air in a space, but also reveal the moral significance of its design. So refreshingly distinctive from other types of prison books - a beautiful meditation on the universal need for sanctuary, what it means when it is taken away from us, and the courage it takes to reclaim it.'-Andy West, author of The Life Inside 'Yvonne Jewkes takes a vital question - what are prisons for? - and turns it into a much wider and beautifully written reflection on the meaning of home. Her book is full of hard-won authority and expertise conveyed in tenderly human ways.'-Joe Moran, author of First You Write a Sentence 'If you think a book on prison architecture is not for you - think again. This book is so much more. A life affirming personal and professional narrative that teaches us all what it is like to be human - flawed, driven, and determined to survive. Jewkes impacted on my life at a moment when I didn't know I needed her.'-Professor Lady Sue Black, Baroness Black of Strome

Dual Walkley Award-winner Leigh Sales investigates how ordinary people endure the unthinkable.As a journalist, Leigh Sales often encounters people experiencing the worst moments of their lives in the full glare of the media. But one particular string of bad news stories - and a terrifying brush with her own mortality - sent her looking for answers about how vulnerable each of us is to a life-changing event. What are our chances of actually experiencing one? What do we fear most and why? And when the worst does happen, what comes next?In this wise and layered book, Leigh talks intimately with people who've faced the unimaginable.From terrorism to natural disaster to simply being in the wrong place at the wrong time. Expecting broken lives, she instead finds strength, hope, even humour.Leigh brilliantly condenses the cutting-edge research on the way the human brain processes fear and grief, and poses the questions we too often ignore out of awkwardness. Along the way, she offers an unguarded account of her own challenges and what she's learned about coping with life's unexpected blows.Warm, candid and empathetic, this book is about what happens when ordinary people, on ordinary days, are forced to suddenly find the resilience most of us don't know we have._____________'Warm, wise and humble.' ANNA FUNDER'Masterfully written, revelatory and genuinely uplifting.' BETTER READING'Asks questions most of us would only dare to think.' THE SYDNEY MORNING HERALD

From one of Australia's most brilliant writers, a dark comedy about the tangled fates of two couples and the children trapped between them'Wild applause. Brave, funny and true.' David Marr'This is the new benchmark for the quintessential Australian epic. I lost count of how many times I laughed and cried.' Grace TameMichael and Mary Shelley are Christian fanatics who loathe their fellow Australians - especially their 'reckless indulgence of alcohol and obsession with idiotic ball sports'.Lenore and Tom Blaine are working-class Queensland publicans raising a large family in a raucous, loving, sports-obsessed home.There's just one problem. Lenore and Tom are foster parents to three of Michael and Mary's children, who were removed from the Shelleys as infants. And the Shelleys are prepared to do anything to get them back. Anything.Australian Gospel is the true story of Lech Blaine's family, a stranger-than-fiction tale that is heartbreaking, hilarious and altogether astonishing.'A rollicking, insightful and moving account of the everyday heavens and hells we make for ourselves, and each other.' Sarah Krasnostein'What makes a real family? Whose rights should triumph in battles over a child? Which inheritances can we escape, and which will haunt us forever? All this is explored in an irreverently joyful family saga you'll never forget.' Charlotte Wood