Karen Brooks The Escapades of Tribulation Johnson Harlequin Australia, HQ, July 2023.
Thank you, NetGalley, for providing me with this uncorrected proof for review.
Unlike The Good Wife of Bath where Karen Brooks’ Eleanor instantly endeared herself to me, it took me longer to warm to Tribulation. However, it was well worth taking that journey with this flawed, determined, uninhibited and courageous woman. Tribulation leaves an unloving household to live with her cousin, Aphra Behn, in London. Unknown to her exacting father, Tribulation is about to enter the home of an infamous playwright, her second home in the theatre, and another in the world of spies, intrigue and duplicity. Tribulation finds each a source of excitement, burgeoning career opportunities, love and hate, far removed from her early years as a dismissed daughter of the vicar of Chartham in Kent, and older sister, Bethan. See Books: Reviews for the complete review.
Kerry Wilkinson After the Sleepover Bookouture, Dec 2023.
Thank you, NetGalley, for providing me with this uncorrected proof for review.
Kerry Wilkinson’s After the Sleepover is a stunning continuation of Leah’s story, begun in The Night of the Sleepover. I read the novels out of sequence so in many ways was advantaged by being innocent of the ending of The night of the Sleepover, where Leah’s secret knowledge about that night was exposed. So, I began with the speculation about the person for whom Leah’s secret provided cover. This was referred to frequently in her relationships and thoughts in After the Sleepover. The novel is extremely clever in that, even if read in sequence Leah’s speculations and behaviour provide the complexity that makes a novel satisfying.
Excellent characterisation is also an important feature in both novels. Leah is complex, but so too are her companions in both novels. From the young girls with whom she was friends at school and who disappeared from the sleepover to their parents and her own, and then to the characters in the sequel. Here Leah is called upon by the mother of one of the new generation of children missing from a sleepover. Her experience, Jennifer persuades her, will help in dealing with the possibility that the mystery will not be resolved. See Books: Reviews for the complete review.
After the Covid update for Canberra: Bob McMullan- Australia to achieve membership of an African Development Bank (at last); Secret London – Horizon 22; Cindy Lou snacks and another lunch at Courgette; Kelly Marie Coyne – Growing up in Taylor Swift’s America.
Covid update for Canberra
On December 22, 2023, there were 353 new cases, bringing the total of Covid cases in Canberra to 251,000. There were 18 people with covid in hospital.
Bob McMullan writes about the Australian aid program and the African Development Bank
Australia to achieve membership of an African Development Bank (at last)
The biggest disappointment of my time with responsibility for the Australian aid program was the failure to finalise Australia’s application for membership of the African Development Bank.
The decision was made, we had the money, the legislation was drafted and approved (unanimously) by the Treaties Committee of the parliament.
But I could not persuade the Chair of the committee to give the legislation priority and it lapsed at the end of the term of parliament.
After the election in 2010 the government no longer had the majority to pass such legislation.
After the 2013 change of government the Abbott government slashed the aid program and lost interest in Africa. There was no will and no money to pursue such an application and the prospects do not look promising in the near future. The aid program remains relatively small and therefore, necessarily becomes more regionally focused.
Does this matter? I believe it does.
There are several aspects of the case for Australia’s enhanced engagement with Africa.
First, there is the underlying rationale for the aid program, the fight against global poverty. If that is even part of the case for the development program then Africa deserves attention as the continent with the highest level of poverty. Larger donors than Australia from Europe and North America have a strong focus on Africa, as they should, given their historic and geographic connections. Australia’s contributions to bilateral programs in Africa will always be relatively small but they could be significant.
Second, I can see in the future Australian expertise in agriculture, mining and water playing a very useful role in Africa. But, for the moment, we should look to multilateral institutions to provide support to the poorest people in the poorest countries.
Third is the Indian Ocean connection. Australia’s almost exclusive East Coast policy focus can blind us to the opportunities and challenges on our West Coast, the Indian ocean. Many Indian Ocean island and coastal nations could be of significance to Australia’s diplomatic and strategic priorities in future.
There is also a significant diplomatic interest for Australia to remain engaged with Africa. In the 2012 campaign for the Security Council election, we made significant gains in support from African nations and these will be important in future similar initiatives.
The possibility of re-activating Australia’s African Development Bank (AfDB) membership application seems remote.
However, interesting developments within the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, of which Australia is a member, appear likely to lead to a mechanism to begin to fill the gap left by the failure to progress the AfDB membership application.
During the four and a half years that I represented Australia on the Board of the EBRD management, led by the President, Sir Suma Chakrabarti, began to discuss with the Board and the member countries the idea of extending the EBRD’s activities to Africa.
Understandably the response of members was cautious. The primary concern was the risk of spreading the capital of the Bank too thinly and thereby interfering with its primary purpose, the development of prosperous democracies in Eastern Europe.
Two events changed those attitudes.
First, the Arab Spring generated opportunities for Development Banks to improve the lives of people in North Africa and the Middle East.
This led initially to an extension of the bank’s region of operation to include Egypt, Morocco, Tunisia and Jordan.
The second international development was the Russian invasion of Crimea. This led to the EBRD’s abrupt termination of investment in Russia, which had been until that time its largest country of operation.
This freed up capital and required the Bank to seek new ways to utilize its resources profitably and usefully.
Since that time there has been a gradual creep of EBRD activity to Africa and the Middle East.
The bank now has Iraq, Algeria and Libya as members and has commenced operations in Lebanon and the West bank and Gaza.
At the 2023 Annual general Meeting the Bank Governors supported a cautious extension of the Bank’s activities to sub-Saharan Africa. Australia supported this resolution.
The resolution as adopted identified six sub-Saharan African countries where the EBRD assesses that its methods and models of activity would be most effective.
These countries were: Benin, Cote d’Ivoire, Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria and Senegal.
The Board of Governors of the EBRD has received and approved applications for membership from the first sub-Saharan African countries to apply: Benin and Cote d’Ivoire.
These are not yet countries in which the EBRD is authorized by the Board to operate, but they obviously all aim to become countries of operation. The EBRD website lists Egypt. Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco and Tunisia and the West Bank and Gaza as countries/ areas in which they work. Benin and Cote d’Ivoire have already requested country of operation status and I understand Iraq has also done so.
It is almost certain that all these applications will be approved.
What happens next in terms of sub-Saharan African applications will be very interesting. It is obvious that if the Benin and Cote d’Ivoire applications are successful more will follow.
Some of the potential member countries, for example Kenya, are good friends of Australia. Kenya is an Indian Ocean partner and Australia has a long history of good relations with them.
We could be actively involved in encouraging their applications for membership and country of operations status and might well invite them to join our constituency at the Bank.
By 2025 Australia will have become a member of an African development bank in spite of itself.
I hope we take advantage of the opportunities that this will generate.
The Highest Free Public Viewing Platform In Europe Is Now Open In London • Horizon 22
Horizon 22 is open now — book your free spot and hop in the elevator for a view into the panoramic skyline of central London now.
JACK SADDLER – EDITOR • 14 DECEMBER, 2023
Boasting a rather obscene number of giant buildings, it should come as no surprise that London will soon have the title of being home to the highest free viewing platform in all of Europe.
But will that lack of surprise stop us from scaling up the 58 floors of 22 Bishopsgate – the second-highest building in the city after the Shard – for a gaze out over the skyline? Almost definitely not.
Since it’s free and all, many have had the same attitude about Horizon 22, the new vantage point for stargazers and keen Instagrammers alike, which beamed up its high-speed lift (41 seconds up to the top, to be precise) back in September.
Views at Horizon 22 are panoramic and the cost is nothing, giving us one of the more cost-effective ways to dramatically plan our protection of the city as we gaze out over it. All you’ll need to spend money on is that suit and batmobile.
How do I visit Horizon 22?
If you’re already itching to get up 254 metres high, then you can book your free ticket to the platform now. Bookings at Horizon 22 began last week, and you’ll be able to secure your place on the newest free viewing platform on the block.
It’s set to rival the likes of Sky Garden, which is known to be full to the brim with free bookings, so be sure to keep that in mind when planning your visit; the demand is likely to be high.
Views from 58 levels up at Horizon 22 will be available seven days a week, all year round (excluding Christmas Day, Boxing Day and New Year’s Eve), and a small number of walk-in spots will also be made available each day.
Horizon 22 is open now, with bookings here . It will be open between 10am-6pm on weekdays, 10am-5pm on Saturdays, and 10am-4pm on Sundays and Bank Holidays.
Cindy Lou snacks before shopping
EQ Canberra Centre
All I wanted was a simple sandwich and found it at the newly opened EQ in the Canberra Centre. The service was pleasant and very prompt, and the food exactly what was wanted on this occasion. Water is available, which is always a nice touch if the morning coffee has been enough. EQ has comfortable enough seating, although if you find the piecing cries of joy of children at the nearby play centre do ask for a table at a distance. On the morning I was there children played peacefully and table 4 right next to the play area was fine. The Italian chicken wrap, toasted as offered, was just right – the chicken was generous, the wrap just crisp enough, and the salad in the wrap was pleasant. Pies and sausage rolls are served without an accompanying salad which could be a problem for some, and a delight for others! The sweet pastries were tempting, but this time the chicken wrap was more than adequate. The prices were very reasonable.
Literary Hub
Growing Up in Taylor Swift’s America
Kelly Marie Coyne on Women Writers, Role Models, and Miss Americana
By Kelly Marie Coyne December 14, 2023.
I was teaching “American Women Writers” at Georgetown last fall when my students proposed adding Taylor Swift to the syllabus. Like most of the humanities courses I teach, it was mostly composed of white women—there wasn’t a single man enrolled. The course drew on writing from the 20th century to today—Sylvia Plath, Toni Morrison, Carmen Maria Machado—to discuss the intertwinement of national and personal identity. I was most interested in asking my students how American culture prescribes an “ideal” life path for women: first comes love, then comes marriage, then comes a baby in the baby carriage.
I wanted my students to consider this life path as a genre. They were game. Only, they called for a more expansive canon. Midway through the semester, one student wanted to add Beyoncé Knowles-Carter to the lineage. Perhaps unsurprisingly, the next wanted to add Taylor Swift.
Teaching towering artists of contemporary culture like Knowles and Swift is no small feat for anyone. It’s an even greater one if you’re a member of their target audiences and have attended their concerts as a fan. Their work refuses to stay in the lane of two, or three, or even four genres; it also transcends different forms of visual and literary culture. They’re both talented artists and strategic businesswomen.
As a PhD student in visual culture, I TA’ed multiple courses that taught Knowles. They taught me how to orient her work within a history of visual culture—for instance, by placing “Lemonade,” her visual album, within the Southern Gothic lineage.Does Swift represent the “ideal” American life path of romantic love, marriage, and parenthood? Or might we trace a different course underlying her oeuvre? See Television,Film and Popular Culture: Comments for the complete article.
Courgette again for lunch
Another lunch at Courgette, with a couple of changes to our menus – I tried the quail (really worth trying, succulent, great accompaniments, nice size) and the tuna dish was replaced with a veritable medley of seafood- a huge prawn, whiting fillets, a mussel and shaved octopus. Creme brulee was ordered instead of last week’s cherry ice-cream. The expected topping to be cracked was absent – a bit of a disappointment, but the only one. Once again, great food from an interesting menu, lovely service, comfortable seating and tables at a pleasant distance apart made this an enjoyable experience.
Robin's Room 