The Family Doctor

The Family Doctor

Debra Oswald

Debra Oswald

The Family Doctor is a compelling thriller - fast-paced, gripping and frightening. But is more than that because it is a story that draws desperately needed attention to domestic abuse in this country, to institutional indifference, to the devaluing of women's lives. The Family Doctor is a cry for change.' Sofie Laguna, Miles Franklin Award-winning author of The Eye of the Sheep and Infinite Splendours'Brilliant. So compelling on so many levels.' Chris Hammer, author of Scrublands'Debra Oswald is always deft at capturing the nuances of female friendship and romantic attraction, but this time she brings them to a pitch of pulse-racing intensity. Delving into the dark world of domestic violence and society's abject failure to protect those most vulnerable, she has produced a gripping thriller, brimming with heart and intellect.' Geraldine Brooks, author of The Secret ChordPaula is a dedicated suburban GP, who is devastated by the...
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The Whole Bright Year

The Whole Bright Year

Debra Oswald

Debra Oswald

In the summer of 1976 it's picking season on an Australian stone-fruit orchard run by Celia, a hard-working woman in her early forties. Years ago, when her husband was killed as a bystander in an armed robbery, Celia left the city and brought her newborn daughter Zoe to this farm for a secure life. Now sixteen, Zoe is a passionate, intelligent girl, chafing against her mother's protectiveness, yearning to find intensity and a bit of danger.Barging into this world as itinerant fruit-pickers come a desperate brother and sister from Sydney. The hard-bitten Sheena has kidnapped her wild, ebullient eighteen-year-old brother Kieran and dragged him out west, away from trouble in the city. Kieran and Zoe are drawn to each other the instant they meet, sparking excitement, worry, lust, trouble . . . How do we protect people we love? How do we bear watching them go out into the perilous world with no guarantee of safety or happiness? What bargains do people make with darkness in...
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Mr Bailey's Minder

Mr Bailey's Minder

Debra Oswald

Debra Oswald

A tough, funny and big-hearted play. It's about shame and judgement, about who deserves to be loved and forgiven. It looks at how people exploit each other and where they find the beauty; and the qualities of transcendence, letting go and forgiveness.
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Getting Air

Getting Air

Debra Oswald

Debra Oswald

What will it take to make the council say yes to a skatepark? Will it take a tragedy to bring the town together? Zac and Corey are best mates. They skate in deserted carparks, along the streets, wherever they can. It's so unfair that they're always getting in trouble for it. It's not as if there's anywhere else to skate. Good girl Lauren Saxelby's been hanging around, filming the skaters for some competition she wants to enter. Suddenly everyone's keen to use the video to convince the council to build a skate park. As if that would work! But Corey's been sucked in to the campaign, and he's hanging around Lauren far too much for Zac's liking. She'll never go out with Corey. He's a Matthews, so he's automatically a criminal - at least according to the gossips. Zac's not ready for what's about to happen. Sometimes you just have to let things wallop you in the guts, then find a way to get up again.
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Blue Noise

Blue Noise

Debra Oswald

Debra Oswald

Blue Noise is about people letting you down, how to survive your family and the amazing thrill of making music with your friends. Ash is drooling over his favourite guitar - the one he can't afford - when he meets Charlie Novak. One jam session later and Charlie convinces Ash to play in his band. But it'll never work. Bands never do. Erin is wandering down a corridor at school - overthinking things as usual - when she runs into Charlie. Literally. The guy is a fruit loop with his weird hair and hyperactive rantings. When Charlie invites her to be the band's keyboard player, Erin can't get a word in to say no. She's a classical pianist. It'll never work. But maybe this time things will be different. Maybe blues music is just what Ash and Erin need.
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The Peach Season

The Peach Season

Debra Oswald

Debra Oswald

After the murder of her husband, Celia has shut herself and her 16-year-old daughter Zoë away, toiling on a peach farm in the middle of nowhere. The arrival of two young people to help during picking season heralds the beginning of the end for Celia's safe existence. Peach Season is a powerful, salutary tale showing what it's like to be a young person desperate for independence, but also, crucially, what it's like to be a parent during the painful process of letting children fly the nest.
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