ABOUT THE BOOKS

About the Books

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Atonement by Ian McEwen Shortlisted for the last Booker Prize, an enthralling book about war and class and childhood and the possibility of absolution. $22.95
Austerlitz by W.G. Sebald W.G. Sebald's novel Austerlitz won the Fiction award. Over thirty years, in the course of conversations that take place across Europe, a man named Jacques Austerlitz tells a nameless companion of his ongoing struggle with the riddle of his identity. Available in paperback in July.
Australia and Israel: An Ambiguous Relationship by Chanan Reich Australia and Israel have always had a close relationship or so most people believe. But does the historical record support this assumption. Chanan Reich examined the official archival records of both countries from 1915 until the aftermath of the Six-Day War of 1967 and reveals the attitudes of significant Australian political figures. He gives snapshots of the key Israelis, and highlights the bridging role of the Australian Jewish community and tells the fascinating story of a surprisingly complex and ambiguous relationship. Chanan Reich is a visiting scholar and lecturer at the Centre for the Study of Jewish Civilisation at Monash University. Now living in Israel, and having lived and worked in Australia for twenty years, he is at home in both countries.
Australian Genesis Jewish Convicts and Settlers 1788-1860 by John S. Levi & G.F.J. Bergman The Australian Jewish story, from the First Fleet to the gold rushes of the 1850s, is filled with memorable characters and gripping adventures that highlight the struggle for political emancipation and religious tolerance. This updated edition tells new stories about many of the founding families of today's Jewish community. This unique social history of Australia's Jewish population filled with many illustrations makes an ideal gift.
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Battle for Jerusalem by Lt. Gen. Modechai Gur PB $28.95 A reprint of the account of events surrounding the critical battle for Jerusalem during the 1967 MidEast War by the Israeli Chief of Staff and Field Commander of the Battle.
Berlin The Downfall 1945 by Antony Beevor An unforgettable and chilling story of the final days of the Third Reich from the best selling and award winning author of Stalingrad. Beevor uses devastating new material from Soviet as well as European and American files.
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Chains around the Grass by Naomi Ragen For Naomi Ragen fans her new book Chains around the Grass is available at Sunflower Bookshop in hardcover. We now have some limited stock of previous titles by Naomi Ragen in paperback.
Children of the Shadows: Voices of the Second Generation
Confessions of a Clay Man Igor Gelbach Before migrating to Australia in 1989, Igor Gelbach lived for some twenty years in the Soviet republic of Georgia, in a Black Sea town founded by ancient Greek mariners. The decay of this picturesque resort, playground of the privileged and haunt of the local Mafia, forms the setting for this philosophical novel against the backdrop of the decline of the Soviet empire. The novel's main character, Bronhauser struggles to make sense in a Kafkaesque world. A richly textured tale with paths that lead off to local legends as well as Russian and Jewish folklore including a trip into the story of the Golem that gives the book its title. In 1994, Gelbach was nominated for the Russian Booker Prize. He now lives and writes in Melbourne.
Cooking & Travelling in South-West France by Stephanie Alexander Stephanie immerses herself in the life of the region, speaking with small local producers and seeking out the custodians of the old cooking ways. She describes the rich food culture and shares over 80 original recipes inspired by the region, as well as recipes offered to her by the local people.
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Dirt Music by Tim Winton
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Elvis in Jerusalem: Post Zionism and the Americanization of Israel by Tom Segev In his many works of history, Tom Segev challenged the entrenched understanding of crucial moments in Israel's past. Now in a short, sharp, and timely book, Segev has turned his sights from Israeli history to confront some dearly held assumptions about the country today, in the process tipping a number of sacred cows.
Embers by Sandor Marai Embers is back in stock in a limited quantity. Originally published in Budapest in 1942, unknown to modern readers until last year, when it became an international bestseller, Embers is an extraordinary story of love and friendship, of fidelity, pride and betrayal. Gripping and unforgettable, it is a masterpiece. Available in paperback $19.95
Eshkolot: Essays in Memory of Rabbi Ronald Lubofsky
Everything is Illuminated by Jonathan Safran Foer The first novel by Jonathan Safran Foer is a quixotic search across a devastated landscape in the Ukraine and back into an unexpected past. If you enjoy total irreverence and a brimming imagination that turns tragedy into comedy, this novel is for you. AND it is John Safran who appears on SBS.
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Family Matters by Rohinton Mistry This is the long awaited new novel from the twice Booker Prize shortlisted author whose previous novel was A Fine Balance. Written in a beautifully affectionate tone, Family Matters has richness and compassion in a story that crosses all cultural boundaries, a story of the stresses of growing up and growing old. $29.95
Forever Eve PB $24.95 An anthology celebrating the 75th anniversary of the National Council of Jewish Women in Victoria. The short stories and poems in this volume are written by women and men, some of whom have already been published and others for the first time. All pay powerful homage to the lives of women with love and reverence.
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Gould's Book of Fish by Richard Flanagan Richard Flanagan's wonderfully inventive novel Gould's Book of Fish has just been named the best book in the South East Asia and South Pacific Region for the 2002 Commonwealth Writers' Prize.
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Hard Eight by Janet Evanovich For the many Janet Evanovich fans, her new crime book Hard Eight is now available. Sunflower Bookshop is offering 20% discount off the recommended retail price of $29.95
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In My Brother's Image by Eugene Pogany PB $26.00 A story that encapsulates the drama behind the estrangement of two brothers, each believing the other a traitor to their family's faith. This is Eugene Pogany's extraordinary story of his father and his uncle, identical twin born in Hungary of Jewish parents but raised as devout Catholics until the Second World War unravelled their family.
In sunshine or in shadow by Martin Flanagan Martin Flanagan is the author of seven books, the most recent *The Call* in 1993. He is well known as a features writer for The Age newspaper. In sunshine or in shadow, Martin Flanagan uses his evocative journalist writing style in his deeply personal memoir of growing up in Tasmania and in his reflections of the meanings of home, place, birthright and history.
In the Blue House by Meaghan Delahunt Meaghan Delahunt's first novel unravels the passions and betrayals of Leon Trotsky's refuge years in Mexico where he meets Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera. The reader is also drawn into an evocative portrayal of Russian history in the first half of the twentieth century. In the Blue House is a great read for discussion by book clubs. Special discounts can be arranged.
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Last Waltz in Vienna by George Clare George Clare was born in 1920 into a well to do bourgeois family as 'Austrians of the Jewish faith' enjoying life in the tolerant world of the Hapsburg empire. First published in 1981, Clare's book has withstood the test of time. He gives a compelling first hand account of the erosion of his family's fortunes as Vienna begins its slide into barbarism starting with the disaster of World War 1 followed by a period of exploitation of the populist anti-Semitic propaganda culminating in the Viennese adulation of Adolf Hitler in March 1938 and the ensuing Nazi brutality towards the Jewish population.
Letters to Auntie Fori by Martin Gilbert HB $49.95 An elderly Indian friend of Martin Gilbert, the renowned Oxford historian, revealed that she was actually Jewish and asked him to recommend a history of the Jews. He decided to write it for her, in letter form, week by week. This book was the result. The letters begin with Abraham's journey from Mesopotamia to Canaan and covers all the great events of Jewish history. A final section of letters describes significant aspects of Jewish faith and worship.
Life of Pi by Yann Martel After the tragic sinking of a cargo ship, one solitary lifeboat remains bobbing on the wild, blue Pacific. The crew of the surviving vessel consists of a hyena, a zebra (with a broken leg), a female orangutan, a 450 pound Royal Bengal tiger and Pi - a 16 year old Indian boy. The scene is set for one of the most extraordinary pieces of literary fiction of recent years.
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Milwaukee by Bernice Rubens The latest novel for Bernice Rubens fans. Once again, Bernice Rubens writes in a simple prose which delves deeply into the human psyche. Her previous novel, I Dreyfus was a bestseller at Sunflower Bookshop. $21.00
Miracle of St. Anna by James McBride James McBride's powerful memoir The Colour of Water was a publishing phenomenon both in America and in Australia. In his long awaited second book, McBride turns his highly acclaimed talent as a storyteller to fiction. Inspired by a historical incident that took place in the village of St. Anna di Stazzema in Tuscany and by the experiences of the famed Buffalo Soldiers of the 92nd division in Italy during World War II, Miracle of St. Anna is a singular evocation of war, cruelty, passion, heroism, and love. It is the story of four American soldiers, the villagers among whom they take refuge, a band of partisans, and an Italian boy. Traversing class, race, and geography, Miracle of St. Anna is above all a hymn to the brotherhood of man and the power to do good that lives in each of us. Available in paperback $29.95
My Father, My Father by Bernard Marin Bernard Marin lives in Melbourne where he grew up as a typical Australian boy devoted to cricket and football. When he was almost fifty, he was struck down by crippling headaches. Slowly and reluctantly, he came to understand that his physical distress was the voice of the past demanding a listening. It was the voice of his detached father reaching out to him, fourteen years after his death. Bernard Marin begins a journey to understand who his father was and to discover his ancestors. My Father, My Father is a sincere account of a story of anguish and loss, discovery and redemption.
My Name is Red by Orhan Pamuk Orhan Pamuk, Turkey's leading novelist, is a writer celebrated around the world. In My Name is Red he has fashioned a thrilling murder mystery which is also a dazzling meditation on love and artitistic devotion. $26.00
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Pictures of Fidelman by Bernard Malamud Originally printed in 1958, this title has just been reprinted and released as a Vintage Classic $23.95
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Recollections of a Bleeding Heart: A Portrait of Paul Keating PM by Don Watson
Revenge: A Story of Hope by Laura Blumenfeld TPB $30.00 An intensely personal memoir. Blumenfeld is a Washington Post reporter who, armed with a notebook and pencil, seeks the Palestinian man who shot her father in Jerusalem 12 years earlier.
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Search for Roots A Personal Anthology by Primo Levi PB $22.00 A collection of personal reflections on writings that Primo Levi considered essential reading. All reflect Levi's deep passion for literature, his profound knowledge of science, and his survival of Auschwitz, making it a collection that is both universal and poignantly autobiographical.
Still Here by Linda Grant Linda Grant is the author of the Orange Prize winner *When I Lived in Modern Times* and is a guest of this year's Melbourne Writers' Festival. Her latest novel is set in Liverpool and tells the story of the relationship between a tough almost fifty year old woman called Alix who works for a charity that restores Jewish landmarks around the world and who is sexually attracted to Joseph, an American architect who has arrived to restore life in this decaying port of the Atlantic. Joseph also carries his own historical baggage. Still Here is not a story of love at first sight. Linda Grant is brilliant in dealing with the flawed truths of middle age and in her documenting of the Jewish community in Liverpool from a historical and contemporary perspective.
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The Art of Travel by Alain de Botton HB $29.95 Alain de Botton reflects on the work of travel writers and then adds his own observations on the ritual of travel. Alain de Botton is the author of The Consolations of Philosophy.
The Bus Driver Who Wanted to be God & other stories by Edgar Keret Edgar Keret is regarded as Israel's hippest young writer. Keret's stories are brief, intense, painfully funny, and shockingly honest. They are snapshots that illuminate with intelligence and wit, the hidden truths of life. As with the best comic authors, hilarity and anguish are the twin pillars of his work.
Telling Lies About Hitler: The Holocaust, History and the Irving Trial by Richard J. Evans In April 2000, a High Court judge in London branded the writer David Irving a racist, an anti-semite, a Holocaust denier and a falsifier of history. Irvings's attempts to silence his critics by means of a libel suit against the American historian Deborah Lipstadt was decisively rejected in a judgement later confirmed by the Court of Appeal. The key expert witness in revealing Irving's methods of historical falsification was the Cambridge historian Richard J. Evans, a specialist on modern German history and author of In Defence of History. *Telling Lies About Hitler* shows how Irving became undone in this outstanding book of the trial.
The Amber Spyglass by Phillip Pullman
The Carpet Wars by Christopher Kremmer Carpets are one of the most common objects found in western homes, but the stories behind them (religious, political, tribal) are virtually unknown and as complex and baffling as the patterns found in them. Traversing a crescent of Islamic societies in crisis, from Kashmir to Iraq, Pakistan to Tajikistan, millions of ordinary Muslims were having their lives torn apart by the volatile cocktail of Kalashnikov and Koran. A timely and controversial book, The Carpet Wars is the story of a remarkable ten-year journey across the world's most misunderstood and volatile region. Christopher Kremmer was born in Australia and is the author of the award-winning book, Stalking the Elephant Kings which unearthed the skeletons of communist rule in South East Asia.
The Dark Room by Rachel Seiffert An evocative work of fiction tracing the lives of three ordinary Germans in the 1930s, in 1945 and half a century later. Seiffert is brave in confronting contemporary German identity with an open frankness through these three stories of the past. Her writing style of simple sentences written in the present tense to give the reader a sense of the story unfolding makes for powerful reading. Highly recommended.
The Death of Vishnu by Manil Suri Blending wonderful family drama with Indian mythology and a dash of Bollywood sparkle, The Death of Vishnu is an intimate and compelling view of an unforgettable world. $19.95
The Fig Tree by Arnold Zable
The Philosopher's Dog by Raimond Gaita Filled with inspirational stories, with reflections on how we respond to everything from spiders to mountains, *The philosopher's dog* is moving, sometimes funny, and always thought-provoking. Gaita's discussion ranges from writers such as J.M. Coetzee and Hannah Arendt to philosophers such as Ludwig Wittgenstein and Rene Descartes. In offering a different way of thinking about animals, he suggests that it is love which gives us the best model for the respect we owe them. Raimond Gaita is the author of the award-winning *Romulus, My Father* and *A Common Humanity:* Thinking about Love & Truth & Justice.
The Fig Tree From the best-selling author of Cafe Scheherazade comes this tender book of haunting true stories filled with memorable people in both Australia and Greece. The Fig Tree consists of fascinating and wonderful ancestral tales of the lives of Jewish and Greek migrants to this country, of refugees and wanderers, of actors, singers and poets. These deeply felt tales of individual experience are in fact universal stories about life and love, trust and doubt, and about the bonds within each family.
The Fourth Hand by John Irving The World According to Garp, A Prayer for Owen Meany and The Cider House Rules are just some of the novels addressing social issues written by John Irving in his quirky and sharp writing style. The Fourth Hand is no exception. What if a donor's widow demands visitation rights for a hand? Part farce, part satire. Read John Irving and enjoy.
The Impressionist by Hari Kunzau Yet another impressive debut writer, Hari Kunzau has entered the field of literature with guns blazing ready to take on the big issues. Pran Nath, the central character, is the very embodiment of England's stamp on India and his journey is well worth following. Hari Kunzau will be appearing at the Melbourne Writers' Festival which runs from 23rd August to 1st September.
The Same Sea by Amos Oz In this deceptively light and easily read novel, Amos Oz scores an impressive and moving victory for the myths and poetry of de-deified Jewish culture. Mixing poetry with prose and language from the Song of Songs with images from the Gospels in a series of first-person letters and confessions, Amos Oz tells the story of ordinary people in an extraordinary manner. $21.95
The Wooden Leg of Inspector Anders By Marshall Browne Local crime writer Marshall Browne's The Wooden Leg of Inspector Anders was shortlisted in the mystery/thriller category of the 2002 Los Angeles Times Book Prize. Available in paperback $19.65
Tikvah In this thoughtful and diverse collection, more than forty of America's most distinguished children's book creators, including fourteen award winning illustrators and other Honor artists from America, share their reflections on human rights. Through words and pictures, they examine past, present, and future to foster a kinder, more tolerant world. Available in hardcover $32.95 or in paperback $20.95
True History of the Kelly Gang by Peter Carey Peter Carey's True History of the Kelly Gang has received the South Australian Premier's Award at the Adelaide Writers' Festival. This win completes a year in which this novel has won the Booker Prize, the Commonwealth Writers' Prize, the Courier-Mail Book of the Year, and the fiction categories of the Victorian and Queensland Premier's Literary Awards and the Age Book of the Year award. Available in paperback $22.95
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Uncle Tungsten by Oliver Sacks Oliver Sacks' childhood memoir, Uncle Tungsten, took the Non-Fiction prize and is available at Sunflower Bookshop. Sacks is the author of The Man Who Mistook his Wife for a Hat and Awakenings. Uncle Tungsten tells the tale of his boyhood introduction into chemistry, the start of a lifelong romance with science.
Unless by Carol Shields The latest from the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Stone Diaries. A compassionate novel told through the mother's voice of a family coping with the sudden, inexplicable estrangement of a beloved daughter.
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When You Wake and Find Me Gone by Maureen McCarthy PB $19.95 When Kit's sister becomes critically ill, her life changes dramatically. A sweeping story of self-discovery set against the background of Northern Ireland from the best selling author of Queen Kat and Chain of Hearts.
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KIDS BOOKS
Artemis Fowl The Artic Incident by Eoin Colfer the second book in the popular trilogy by Eoin Colfer.
Forest by Sonya Hartnett PB $19.95 A haunting story about a cat called Kian that was born and bred in urban Sydney. When his master dies, he is abandoned in the forest with two other baby kittens. They survive against all odds in the bush dominated by feral animals and begin their long journey home back to the city . Forest is the latest winner of the Older Readers category in the Children Book Council awards announced recently. Sonya Hartnett uses beautiful prose to tell her story and alerts readers to the havoc created by introduced species into the natural bushland.
Frankel Mouse & the Bestish Lair by Odo Hirsch
How to Teach Kids to Cook by Gabriel Gate PB $19.95 This is really a book for the parents with lots of advice from the inimitable Gabriel Gate. Teach your kids to become healthy eaters and independent and confident cooks with lots of tips and great family recipes.
Just Disgusting! The latest book by Andy Griffiths PB $12.95 Andy Griffiths is the Australian author of crazy stories for kids. This book is the latest in the 'JUST' series after Just Annoying! Just Stupid! Just Crazy! www.andygriffiths.com.au will give you details of all of Andy Griffiths books titles.
Molly Moon's incredible Book of Hypnotism by Georgie Byng PB $14.95 Meet Molly Moon, a brilliant new character in children's literature. Molly has spent her life in a miserable orphanage run by a horrible Miss Adderson. When Molly finds a book on hypnotism, life will never be the same as good overcomes evil with a little bit of magic. Suitable for 8 years and over.
The Amber Spyglass by Phillip Pullman The first children's book to win the Whitbread Book of the Year. This award is given to the best book published in the United Kingdom during the year. Phillip Pullman's previous books in this series Northern Lights and The Subtle Knife have already dazzled children and adults alike. The Amber Spyglass is the last book in a dark and complex fantasy trilogy which focuses on the corruption of the church and abuse of power. Northern Lights should be read first.
The Boy Who Lost His Face by Louis Sachar An earlier wildly funny and thought-provoking book written by the best-selling author of Holes. Once again Sachar uses myths and curses within his narrative to capture the imagination of young readers on the sense of self worth. A great recommendation for children 'who don't like books'.
The slightly true story of Cedar B. Hartley (who planned to live an unusual life) by Martine Murray Highlighted in a previous newsletter for a picture book called A Mouse Called Moose, Martine Murray has written a novel suitable for the upper primary and lower secondary school age group. It's great - it's chatty in an almost diary format - the thoughts are as vital to the story as the story itself. Available in paperback $14.95

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