In Pursuit of a Dream A Time in Australia

by Brodsky, Alexandra Fanny

• ISBN13: 9781845113155
• ISBN10: 1845113152
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2007-01-23
• Publisher: Radcliffe Press

Summary

This appealing personal history combines autobiography with a picture of the international situation in the middle of the twentieth century. After some time spent visiting friends and family in war-torn France and Belgium, the author and her parents obtained passes to join her brother in Australia on a journey which was to change her life completely. Through her eyes we experience the sea voyage and Sydney life in the 1940s and gain an original perspective on Australia during this period. Her vivid descriptions clearly convey the impact of post-war migration, and the story of her subsequent return to Europe and later marriage to the Australian scientist, Henry Harris, make this a most attractive and authentic cultural history.

Author Biography

Alexandra Fanny Brodsky is a linguist with a particular interest in the European literature, history and art of the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries. She is the author of Smoke Signals and A Fragile Identity: Survival in Nazi-Occupied Belgium, both published by the Radcliffe Press. She is married to a biologist and has three children.

Table of Contents

Illustrations	vi
Acronyms and Abbreviations	vii
Chapter 1. A Civilian Setting	1
Chapter 2. The Brussels Scene	11
Chapter 3. Plans and Activities	16
Chapter 4. First Time to France	23
Chapter 5. New Friends	37
Chapter 6. A Brush with Trouble	43
Chapter 7. Beginning of a Gloomy Winter	47
Chapter 8. A Fateful Decision	52
Chapter 9. Adventurous Weeks	63
Chapter 10. Settling into Different Traditions	79
Chapter 11. The Search for Other Avenues	86
Chapter 12. The Social Sphere	90
Chapter 13. Change of Face	95
Chapter 14. Strange Complications	103
Chapter 15. A Sad Outcome	112
Chapter 16. The Prophecy in Bibka's Gift	117
Chapter 17. A Hectic Pace of Life	125
Chapter 18. A Concatenation of Events	136
Chapter 19. The Tangled Web of Conscience and Emotion	145
Chapter 20. Respite after Turmoil	151
Chapter 21. Old Friends, Old Haunts	160
Chapter 22. Formalities and Raised Hopes	173
Chapter 23. New Difficulties	179
Chapter 24. A Curious Development	188
Chapter 25. Vacillations	194
Chapter 26. Anxious Days	204
Chapter 27. The Journey Back	211
Chapter 28. The Serious Step	224
Chapter 29. First Days Together	228
Chapter 30. Prelude to Departure	258
Bibliography	267
Index	269