Timeline of Key Events

May, 1938 –
• Tom Westaway (a typesetter for the local newspaper, The Argus) was tragically killed, after drunkenly falling from a tram in Richmond
• The Westaway family are overwhelmed by the neighbourly gifts and condolescences and the local Catholic Church raise money to donate to help with the funeral costs
• Kip leaves school, whereas his twin brother Francis continues his education
• The elder daughter of the Westaway’s, Connie, must also leave her art school to help at home while her mother works
• The family take in a boarder, Mrs Keith, to help with the cost of being without Tom Westaway’s income
• Francis, keen to impress the local boys, accompanies them to rob an elderly lady in a rich mansion; he steals an amethyst pendant

August, 1939 –
• Kip is employed by the Hustings to care for their cart horse, Charlie
• The Husting’s son, Jack, returns home and we learn he spent some time as a stockman on a cattle station in Western Victoria
• The whispers of war looming get louder
• Mr Husting gives Kip a shilling and Connie helps Kip hide it where it will not be discovered
• Kip offends Mrs Keith, the Westaway’s boarder and she leaves in anger
• War is declared on Britain

February, 1940 –
• The first of Australian troops depart for Europe
• Jack observes Connie Westaway dancing in the backyard absent-mindedly and gives her some lemons as a gift
• Jack hears that Connie is destined to marry Mr Ward, and enlists

August, 1940 –
• The night before Jack is deployed to the war front, he and Connie make love in secret and commit to each other
• Connie gives the camera to Kip so she can farewell Jack at the train station and the soldiers help by lifting her to reach him as the train departs
• The photograph is taken, the moment is captured

January, 1941 –
• A telegram arrives with the news that Jack has died in combat, in Libya
• Connie reveals to her mother that she is pregnant but does not disclose that Jack is the father
• Jean uses the family’s savings to pay for an abortion but Connie dies as a result of a haemorrhage from the procedure
• Jean is shattered by Connie’s death and Kip must care for her, rather than go to war

November, 1946 –
• Francis works as a clerk in a city law firm
• Kip finally gets to enlist in the military, but only for the last remaining months of the war
• The war ends in Europe and then in the Pacific not long after
• Annabel, Kip’s friend from the neighbourhood, loses her job as the men come home from war and has no way to care for her alcoholic father
• Francis, whilst courting Annabel gives her the stolen amethyst pendant but she returns it after he insults her
• Kip, determined to make amends for his brother’s behaviour, buys the pendant from his brother and gifts it once more to Annabel

1955 –
• Kip and Annabel marry, shortly after her father passes away
• Kip becomes a photographer and sells his portion of the family home in Richmond to Francis, moving to Malvern with Annabel

1965 –
• Annabel gives birth to twin girls, Constance (Stanzi) and Charlotte

August, 1990 –
• Charlotte is a yoga instructor and works part-time at a health food store
• She is pregnant to her boyfriend, Craig, and uses the amethyst pendant (that was given to her by her mother, Annabel) to determine whether she should keep the baby or have it aborted
• There is a global acknowledgement that the world has changed, with the fall of the Berlin Wall and the release of Nelson Mandela from a South African prison
• Stanzi is working as a counsellor
• Francis moves into a nursing home and gifts the old Richmond family home to Charlotte and Stanzi
• Charlotte has a little boy and names him Alec

September, 2001
• Kip is still working in photography; specialising in commercial and art photography
• Stanzi is unhappy and works at a counselling centre, dealing with the anxiety of the September 11 attacks in the United States
• Stanzi lives with Charlotte and her two children in the family home on Rowena Parade, Richmond
• Stanzi has an unpleasant encounter with one of her counselling clients and seeks advice from her mother, Annabel
• Charlotte and Stanzi are planning to have the shilling framed and gift it to their father Kip

April, 2006
• Alec is 16-years-old and frustrated with his mother’s rules and demands
• Charlotte remains an environmentalist, symbolising the priorities of the future
• Annabel and Kip celebrate their 50th wedding anniversary at a gathering held at Rowena Parade, the shilling is given to Stanzi
• Alec finds a biscuit tin housing the photo Kip had taken of Connie and Jack’s farewell embrace at the train station
• Tempted to get into the car with his friends, Alec decides to return the photograph to his grandfather and this decision saves his life, while in a twist of fate, Alec’s friends are involved in a fatal car crash
• Alec appreciates family, love and connection

Chapter 1: Kip

We experience this chapter through the eyes of young Kip, misplaced but still keen to help his family. The language of a young boy, hopeful and full of imagination is evident in ‘I’m King Kong. Squashing native huts’ (p 3), typical of a small boy feeling unstoppable in the familiarity of his own street.

Kip’s father Tom has been killed in a drunken accident and the family are striving every day to make a living. Their situation is not unlike many other families at this time when husbands and sons had been deployed to war and the remaining members of the family have to step up into other roles. The Westaways have recently taking in a lodger, Mrs Keith, and as Jean Westaway returns to work, the eldest daughter Connie is forced to leave art school so she can look after the household. As Francis is considered to be the more academic of the boys, it is Kip that gives up school and feels the pressure to do his bit and contribute to the income of the household. Life is not easy and with the rise of the strife in Europe, the economy is suffering and expenses of daily necessities are inflating.

Kip rises for work early and his excitement to visit the Hustings is indicative that in the absence of any close friends, Kip has formed an attachment to Mr Husting’s draught horse, Charlie. Mr Husting behaves in a kindly manner to the young boy, no doubt likening him with his own son Jack who had just arrived home from currently working in the country, and he gifts him a single shilling for his hard work. The anticipation of Jack’s return is shared by the neighbours who, observes Kip, are always ‘getting things ready, and putting affairs in order’ (p 8); without the proper understanding of a nation of the brink of war, this behaviour is simply puzzling to young Kip.

Kip and his brother Francis’s animosity toward one another presents itself in the form of childhood bickering as they insult each other over breakfast. Used to her brothers’ squabbling, Connie Westaway shows a warm affection particularly to Kip and argues on his behalf in sight of Ma’s clear favouritism for Francis.

Our introduction of Annabel Crouch through young Kip’s eyes is awkward and his lovesick obsession with her distracts him and he misses the opportunity to walk home with her. Moments later, Kip encounters the bullies of the neighbourhood, a group of ragtag boys led by Mac and they beat him with little provocation. Upon returning home, Kip’s elder sister Connie tends to his wounds and we first see her compassionate and selfless nature.

As a rambunctious young teenager, Kip is caught playing innocently with Mrs Keith’s underwear and having been grossly offended, Mrs Keith quits the Westaway household, leaving a large gap in the income of the household. Due to this, Connie decides there is no other option then for her to get a job. We see Connie is the backbone of the family, holding the family together as they despair over their loss.

Chapter 1 Quotes

‘Being known as a chief layabout and squanderer of opportunities in all of Richmond is a big responsibility.’ (Kip Westaway) p 9

‘I own the lanes mostly. I know the web of them, every lane in Richmond.’ (Kip Westaway) p 21

‘…our story starts with the family in somewhat reduced circumstances on account of the sudden demise of Kipper’s old man. Who dropped off the tram in Swan Street somewhat worse for a whisky or three and hit his head. Blam, splashed his brains all over the road. A sad end.’ (Pike) pp 23-4

Chapter 2: Stanzi

In the weeks following the 9/11 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Centre, Stanzi works as a counsellor in a small practice in Hawthorn. Her client is young Violet Church, a woman with what Stanzi refers to as ‘daddy issues’ (p 37) and much of the session is dominated by Stanzi’s internal monologue and musings as opposed to Violet being the focus, indicating Stanzi’s intense need for self-interrogation. In an attempt to bond with the young client and contextualise her advice, Stanzi shows Violet a shilling that her father (Kip) owned and as the session comes to a close and Violet has left, Stanzi discovers the shilling is missing.

Against her better judgment, Stanzi makes her way to her client’s residence in order to confront her directly about stealing the shilling. Upon meeting Violet again and being introduced to Violet’s father Len, Stanzi is convinced the girl could not have stolen the coin but before retreating, receives a scathing remark that shatters her. Without thinking, Violet celebrates her own progress within the sessions by admitting that she feels better about herself when she considers Stanzi’s weight problem. From this moment on, Jordan’s language through the internal voice of Stanzi changes and most of her thoughts stem from self-loathing and derisive comments about herself and her body. All Stanzi’s anxieties are realised through Violet and she finds herself driving back to her parents’ house in Malvern, where she knows she’ll feel love and affection. The support she receives from her mother Annabel is loving and there is a strong foundation of care and consideration.

Chapter 2 Quotes

‘I could have spent that money on a holiday…While I sit here on a Tuesday afternoon listening to her, I could be recalling two weeks of sun-kissed splendour in the Maldives…I was trying to do the right thing.’ (Stanzi Westaway) p 38

‘And I am captured, standing here, a smiling giant statue of myself carved from granite, massive hand on my bag, huge legs, half-astride, atop bulbous feet…’ (Stanzi Westaway) p 61

‘I’m not beautiful,’ I [Stanzi] say. ‘Mum and Charlotte are, but I’m not.’
He follows my eyes. ‘Fifty years of family photos, but none of Connie. If you had met her, you’d see. You look like her. Beautiful.’ (Stanzi Westaway) p 66

Chapter 3: Jack

Returning from working on his uncle’s cattle ranch, Jack Husting arrives home feeling displaced and ambivalent about his family home. The oppression of his mother’s staunch bigotry against Catholicism is suffocating and he retreats to his bedroom often to seek solace. It is from his bedroom window that Jack notices Connie who is absentmindedly dancing with a broom in her backyard, no doubt trying to relieve herself of the dull routine of running a house. His infatuation for her begins from that moment, despite seeing her as ‘the loveliest thing I’d [Jack had] ever seen’, and it is her wild disinclinations that he is attracted to.

After spending time on an open farm, Jack quickly feels the suffocation of being home and confined to a small tenement house. He goes for a walk and considers how the landscape around him is rapidly changing; its citizens moulded by the constant threat of invasion balanced precariously with the thrill of an adventure under the ‘European stars’ (p 81). Naturally, the men from the neighbourhood question Jack upon seeing him fit and healthy, demanding to know what the ‘matter with you [him]?’ that he would not readily enlist for the cause; suggesting that Jack is cowardly and that their jibes are merely offered as encouragement to coax him into enlisting.

Later on, we see this judgmental attitude mirrored in Ada Husting’s discussion on Catholics, vocalising the divide between Protestants and Roman Catholics that plagued the low to middle class.

When Mrs Stewart and her eligible daughter Emily visit, at Mrs Husting’s behest, Jack’s ambivalence to any girl other than Connie becomes evident and later that day he finds himself on the doorstep of the Westaway house, speaking easily with Connie. Despite the rumours that came via his mother, via another unreliable source, Jack makes the effort to ignore the supposed connection between Mr Ward and Connie.

Chapter 3 Quotes

‘It seems I’m the only one who notices I’ve grown… this Gulliver life fits my mood, a stranger in a strange land.’ (Jack Husting) p 72

‘For the life of me, I cannot see why people stay here. Do they not know what’s beyond the city? A few hours on the train and their chests would fill with pure air, their shoulders would settle, their hearts would be open.’ (Jack Husting) pp 73-4

‘She has the joy of the morning in her, as if she’s the only person in Melbourne who even knows it’s a new day. Hours could pass and I’d still be watching Connie Westaway dance.’ (Jack Husting) p 76

‘If we have to send boys to fight… it’s layabout boys with no responsibilities, the Kip Westaways of the world, who ought to be going.’ (Ada Husting) p 102

‘I think about living next door when news of her engagement does the rounds. Looking down from my window as she goes off to the church. Her mother shining with pride; Connie ready to take her husband’s hand and begin her big adventure.’  (Jack Husting) p 104

‘It wasn’t just any old coin. It won me my new saddle in a two-up school last winter, back on the station. That was my lucky shilling.’ (Jack Husting) p 105

Chapter 4: Charlotte

Charlotte Westaway, Stanzi’s twin, provides an exploration into the varying lifestyles afforded to women in the 1990’s. Charlotte is in direct contrast to her sister, and this chapter begins with her running a small yoga class and then starting work at a health food store. She becomes acutely aware of the concept of motherhood since discovering she is pregnant with her apathetic boyfriend Craig and her anxieties are aptly displayed in her discussions with a customer and her small daughter who shares the same name as Charlotte. Charlotte’s lukewarm attitude toward Craig speaks into the more liberal opportunities for women in terms of their sexual and reproductive rights. Although he is the father of the child inside her, she feels no immediate obligation to inform him or make any rash decisions regarding their future together.

Reference to global events in the era, much like mention of the 9/11 attacks, helps to contextualise the historical setting and hint toward the significance of political and cultural progress. Charlotte’s environmental priorities are evident as she muses on her connection to all other living creatures and feels decidedly pessimistic about human kind.

Returning home to her nameless housemates, Charlotte performs a superstitious ritual with her mother’s (Annabel’s) amethyst pendant and toys with the idea of aborting the child within her. Despite their differences, Charlotte informs her sister immediately and the two retreat to the family home in Rowena Parade to take stock of the situation and seek solace with their parents, Annabel and Kip.

Chapter 4 Quotes

‘The woman in front of me is well dressed with sparkly stones on her fingers. The stroller is the expensive European variety. I could probably sell her anything.’ (Charlotte Westaway) p 116

‘I hold the pendant between my hands, I hold it close to my heart, I hold it above the incense burning on my dresser. I close my eyes and say a few words to the universe. I am its child. I know the universe is listening.’ (Charlotte Westaway) p 123

‘Along one wall facing the TV are four cherry-red recliners that take up the whole space, the kind where the footrest swings up when you pull a lever on the side. Why he [Francis] has four, I have no idea. Perhaps waiting for a wife and kids who never came.’ (Charlotte Westaway) p 137

Chapter 5: Francis

Francis’s way of escaping his mundane childhood is to take the pretence of the crime-busting hero known as ‘the Shadow’; reflecting his inability to comprehend his father’s recent death and the troubles within his family.

Although Francis encounters the same gang that had beaten his brother, fearing repercussions of refusal, he agrees to accompany them on their next mischief and robs an old lady’s home in Hawthorn. Francis justifies his delinquent actions by entering his fantasy world and pretending to be the elusive ‘Shadow’ searching a castle for a ‘stolen microfilm’ (p 165). In keeping the amethyst pendant that he discovered hidden in the old lady’s room, Francis introduces the next symbol that we follow throughout Jordan’s story.

Chapter 5 Quotes

‘I’m nearly thirteen and there’s no one left in the world big enough to carry me under one arm…I shut my eyes and imagine Dad’s legs just there. Like I could touch them if I just reached out my hand.’ (Francis Westaway) p 147

‘The toughest gang in Richmond! And they want me, Francis Westaway.’ (Francis Westaway) p 155

Chapter 6: Annabel

Although the war has ended, the hardship on the home front is far from over and Annabel feels the pinch of rationing and low employment rates more than ever. Upon returning from war, the men return to their jobs and the women, like Annabel are given ‘our [their] marching orders’ and dismissed from a job. As such, Annabel struggles to provide for her alcoholic father and acknowledges that his addiction is getting worse.

Francis and Annabel attend a dance together and continuous examples indicate that despite the cessation of the war, times are still tough for Annabel. Through the eyes of the other girls at the dance, we see that times are tough and Jos passes a remark about Annabel wearing the same frock on multiple occasions. By comparison, Millie or Jos are not tied to their home life as Annabel is and both hold steady jobs and are operating as independent women.

Whilst on the date, she is gifted the amethyst pendant and Francis spins her a story that he received the pendant for a good deed he performed, but when he lashes out at Annabel and insults her father, Kip intervenes and makes amends for his brother’s poor behaviour and gives her the pendant as a gift.

The romance between the pair blossoms and their future is promising.

Chapter 6 Quotes

‘I’ve put so little aside it’s hardly worth hiding. A few coppers to get us through the week. Next week will have to worry about itself. At least it’s November now, heating up fast. I only need enough wood for cooking.’ (Annabel Crouch) p 178

‘This is our private dance, my father’s and mine. We know our steps by heart… soon he will say something about me being alone and what it costs me to care for him.’ (Annabel Crouch) p 179

‘The difference between generous and honourable isn’t something I’ve thought about before, but I look at Kip’s face and see that this is important.’ (Annabel Crouch) p 204

Chapter 7: Jean

The tragedy of this chapter changes the lives of the Westaway family forever and although the focus is on the impact of war on a tightknit community, it also highlights the experiences of women in wartime and how maintaining propriety can come at a great cost.

Jean works hard to keep her son Kip away from the Husting house. Having just received a telegram of their son Jack’s death overseas in Libya, she knows the grief would have overwhelmed them entirely and she reflects back to losing her own husband, Tom. Kip questions the whereabouts of Jack’s death in battle and Jean dismisses it, displaying the dismissive attitude people of the home front often had about the conflict unless they themselves had personally felt the loss. Finding a bereft Connie out in the garden, Jean does her best to comfort her but Connie’s admittance that she is pregnant only boosts Jean’s excitement at the prospect of her daughter marrying the eligible widower Mr Ward, whom she assumes is the father.

Jean is furious when Connie explains Mr Ward, her employer, is not the father and the women start discussing the options of how best to deal with it. Often, a hasty wedding could be a method of disguising the indiscretion but when Connie refuses to tell her mother the name of the man, they consider sending her away to a hostel for unmarried mothers; the secret shifted away for a period but ‘nobody fooled for one moment’ (p 219), the girl’s reputation ruined.

Jean takes it upon herself to handle Connie with tough love and explains to her the ramifications of having a child born out of wedlock; she prides herself on ‘spare[ing] her nothing’ and using all the terminology the neighbourhood will use when they hear of the disgrace. When she feels she has said all she can, one final plea to Connie that the boys, Kip and Francis, will suffer immensely from this is enough to sway her and she puts her trust in her mother to handle the pregnancy discreetly and with haste.

We learn this is not the first time Jean Westaway has used the services of Mrs Ottley, the backstreet abortionist hiding behind a reputable dress shop. Given the illegal nature of her business, Jean assumes Mrs Ottley is a pseudonym and the two share a civil interlude before agreeing on the fee. The risks of such a procedure were great. Doctors and qualified nurses were not involved in such criminal behaviour and operations instead took place in secret where poor infection control could lead to any amount of issues. In addition to this, practitioners were ill-equipped to deal with any haemorrhaging (internal bleeding) and often denied that they had been the cause of it. To Jean, and many other women of the era, it seemed a legitimate risk to take; if Connie birthed the child and raised it unmarried, the social consequences would be dire.

The affection shared between the two of them as Connie is readied on the procedure table is sweet and the unconditional love shared between the mother and young woman is a touching tribute to the devotion of the Westaway family to one another.

Before they manage to get home where Jean hopes Connie can rest and they can move on from the event, Connie bleeds out and without strength enough to lift her, Jean makes a decision to leave her weakened daughter for a moment to get help. Connie dies, alone and in the dark, waiting for her mother to return with help.

Chapter 7 Quotes

‘Mr Husting will be wishing he could have yesterday over and over again, for ever. They’ll be holding that telegram until it crinkles in their hands.’ (Jean Westaway) p 211

‘They have to get a wriggle on. Can’t have her showing. Still, at his age, a widower already, no one expects a long engagement.’ (Jean Westaway) p 216

‘Mothers need to know that butter goes on a burn and spider webs on a cut, clove oil for a toothache, cakes and tea for bereavement. And for things like this, for girls like Connie and saving her future, there’s a respectable woman who runs a business in Victoria Street.’ (Jean Westaway) pp 221-2

‘I’m only going to be gone for a minute. That’s the only reason I leave her.’ (Jean Westaway) p 239

Chapter 8: Alec

This chapter begins with the complaints of Alec, a teenage boy feeling the oppression of his single mother and the constraints her beliefs enforce on him. Amplifying his frustration, Alec holds little respect for his mother and her current situation – ‘Ipso facto, two children, no boyfriend’, and fails to subscribe to her method of mothering, which ironically is not as liberal as we might have assumed from someone such as Charlotte.

We learn in this chapter, that Stanzi and Charlotte have teamed up to co-parent Alec and Libby and manage the modern parental expectations well, by ‘fill[ing] every gap’ and ‘answer[ing] every question’ which only serves to aggravate Alec even more.

Alec’s grandparents Annabel and Kip arrive for an anniversary dinner with their Uncle Frank, and although Alec doesn’t seem to mind his relatives, he continues to consider what other boys his age would be doing tonight.

Being asked to go to the car and fetch Kip’s glasses, Alec finds a present from his grandparents that seem to ease some of his frustration, as it is something he has wanted for a while, a Nintendo DS. Afraid that Charlotte will not permit the gift, Alec tries to hide it but comes across a biscuit tin buried in the backyard and is immediately hooked.

Upon opening the biscuit tin with the family, an old photograph that has been lovingly stashed in there shocks Kip to the point of collapse. Once he recovers, he exposes the truth about what happened to Connie and the unwanted pregnancy. He expresses his eternal gratitude to Alec for ‘given[ing] my [his] sister back’ and explains that he had known about Connie’s pregnancy and that it was the deceased Jack Husting that was the father before anyone else. Connie had confided in him and in a moment of regret he warns Alec about the brevity of life and family. Alec reflects on the affection he feels for his grandfather and when he realises that the photo has been left behind, feels obliged to return it to him.

On the way there, Alec is presented with an opportunity to go on a spontaneous road trip with his friends. They pull up in a car and although Alec is tempted, he refuses and continues to the nursing home to return the photo. He spends some time with Annabel and Kip and upon talking to his grandfather, surmises that ‘he’s ace’ and they reminisce long into the night.

Upon returning home, Charlotte is manic and explains that a huge car accident on the Monash Freeway has claimed the lives of two young boys, Alec’s age. Upon realising that those dead, now being discussed on the news program, are the mates that offered to take him on their road trip, Alec feels numb.

Chapter 8 Quotes

‘Soon I’ll have my learner’s, then in a couple of years, hello freedom. I’ll be off like a shot, just watch me.’ (Alec Westaway) p 243

‘This waiting for my life to start, it’s driving me mental.’ (Alec Westaway) p 244

‘Alec. He’s [Kip] old. What if he dies tonight? What if this was the last time you ever saw him and you had a chance to do something kind for someone who’s done so much for you, and you didn’t take it? How would you live with yourself?’ (Charlotte Westaway) p 264

‘Before long, Grandma goes to bed and I sit up with Grandpa, just talking. He tells me about the old days, about some horse he used to have, about the trouble Uncle Frank got up to when he was my age, but he also asks a lot of questions about school and art. He’s ace, actually. He understands what it’s like for a brother to be outnumbered by women. The whole time he’s talking, he has the photo of Connie in his hands. He never once puts her down.’ (Alec Westaway) pp 272-3

Chapter 9: Connie

In the final chapter, we finally hear from the voiceless character of Connie and the final moments she spends with Jack. After spotting him outside in the dark while the rest of the house is asleep, she meets up with him and she reminds him that he’s being deployed to the war front in the morning. There is a sense of frivolity between them and they make passionate love in the neighbourhood stables.

Connie brings Kip to the train station to see Jack off. A man, who having felt pity for her saying goodbye to her lover, lifts Connie carefully and she and Jack are able to kiss once more. Kip, holding the camera that Connie had taken from the newspaper office, takes the shot and commits the memory.

The chapter ends bitter-sweetly, with Connie content that she’s shared a night with Jack and looking forward to the future. Her untimely death is only a matter of time away.

Chapter 9 Quotes

‘It seems that all my life I’ve had nothing I’ve desired and I’ve given up having no desires at all. Now I know what it feels like to want and I will give anything to have it.’ (Connie Westaway) p 285

‘It’d be some pretty poor kind of love if I didn’t want what was best for you,’ he says. (Jack Husting) pp 287-8

‘And here is the most wonderful thing of all. I have had one night with the man of my heart and, just this once, I have had something that I wanted. Whatever happens, I will keep this night stored away…’ (Connie Westaway) p 293