How Beautiful Are Thy Feet

How Beautiful Are Thy Feet

Alan Marshall

Literature & Fiction / Nonfiction

A compassionate story of workers in a shoe factory during the DepressionA thousand pairs a day...' - this is the rhythm ruling the lives of workers in a Melbourne shoe factory in the 1930s, a rhythm devouring their youth, their laughter, their hopes for the future.For those enmeshed in the life of the Modern Shoe Co. - the crippled accountant, the vindictive foreman, the inept management unable to stem the slide to financial disaster, the kind-hearted forewoman and the pathetically young girls in their first job - there is also a rhythm of love and camaraderie, of intrigue and hate, of exploitation and grinding poverty.
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I Can Jump Puddles

I Can Jump Puddles

Alan Marshall

Literature & Fiction / Nonfiction

It amazed me that they would imagine I would never walk again. I knew what I was going to do. I was going to break in wild horses and yell 'Ho! Ho!' and wave my hat in the air, and I was going to write a book like The Coral Island. Every so often, there comes a story so brilliant and lively and moving that it cannot be left in the past. Rediscover the magic of our country's most memorable children's books in the Penguin Australia Children's Classics series of stories too precious to leave behind.
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Hammers Over the Anvil

Hammers Over the Anvil

Alan Marshall

Literature & Fiction / Nonfiction

A string of vignettes and short stories of life in a Victorian country township, told in the voice of the author as a boy.Alan Marshall grew up observing and recording life in a Victorian country town, writing about it with humour and compassion.In this collection of short stories we watch the young Alan growing up in country Turalla. Crippled by polio at an early age, he has to use crutches, knowing that he'll never be able to pursue his great love-horse-riding. His disability does not stop the young boy from roaming the countryside with his mate Joe, however, all the time scribbling in his notebook about the intriguing lives of the people he meets, and trying to make sense of the world around him.
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Whispering in the Wind

Whispering in the Wind

Alan Marshall

Literature & Fiction / Nonfiction

Peter sets out into the Australian bush on his pony that leaps like lightning to find a princess to rescue from a dragon—something only a brave and good person can attempt. Along the way he meets a trusty companion, a kangaroo with a bottomless pouch, and together they follow the directions of the helpful Willy Willy Man across the landscape. With a trip to the moon with the Pale Witch to sweep it clear of Russian and American cameras, a journey across the Plain of Clutching Grass, a visit to a giant's castle and a battle with the Doubt Cats, Peter's bravery and kindness are put to the test.This humorous and enchanting Australian fairy tale will enthrall readers of all ages.Alan Marshall, born in 1902, was an Australian writer, story teller, humanist and social documenter. Marshall received the Australian Literature Society Short Story Award three times. He died in 1984.
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The Strange Death of Edmund Godfrey

The Strange Death of Edmund Godfrey

Alan Marshall

Literature & Fiction / Nonfiction

On the evening of 17 October 1678 the body of Sir Edmund Berry Godfrey, a Westminster Justice of the Peace, was discovered in a ditch near Primrose Hill. He had been pierced with his own sword and apparently strangled. His death led to a widespread popular hysteria about a 'Popish Plot'. Although a magistrate famous for his fierce rectitude, Godfrey was closely involved with the alternative healer and 'stroker', Valentine Greatrakes and also played a part in many plots and intrigues centred on the uninhibited court of Charles II and Restoration London. His death brought to a head a series of rumours about Catholic plots to kill Charles II and install his brother, James, Duke of York, on the throne. Identified as the victim of a Jesuit hit-man, Godfrey became overnight a Protestant martyr and cult figure.
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This Is the Grass

This Is the Grass

Alan Marshall

Literature & Fiction / Nonfiction

The sequel to Alan Marshall's I Can Jump Puddles.This is the Grass is Alan Marshall's moving sequel to the much-loved Australian classic I Can Jump Puddles. First published in 1962, it tells the story of Marshall's adolescence, as he searches for work amid the rough and tumble of 1920s Melbourne. From Wallaby Creek in Donvale Shire where he boards with hard-drinking bushmen, to the slums of East Melbourne, his recollections bring to life a cast of colourful characters, each with his private tragedy. His narrative, encompassing the lived experience of ordinary men and women, is infused with Marshall's deep sense of humanity. Like its famous prequel, This is the Grass is a novel of immense courage, conveying rich insights into little-known aspects of Australia's past.
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In Mine Own Heart

In Mine Own Heart

Alan Marshall

Literature & Fiction / Nonfiction

The moving account of Alan Marshall's attempts to establish himself as a writer during the Depression.There lay over Melbourne, as over all Australia, a mass hopelessness that touched everyone, even those who felt secure. It was impossible to escape being affected by it.In the third book of Alan Marshall's three-part autobiography, his own struggle to assert himself socially and professionally despite his disability, becomes overwhelmed by the Depression that gradually engulfs those around him.Resilient now to disabling circumstances, Alan Marshall survives a sacking, a bankruptcy and a short-lived venture as an apartment proprietor. Escaping Melbourne's oppressive influence, he wanders the roads to the north, finding rich experience in his encounters with vagabonds and sideshow folk.Told with gentle humour and moving sympathy, his story leaves one with a vivid picture of grim times and admiration for a remarkable man.
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The Complete Stories of Alan Marshall

The Complete Stories of Alan Marshall

Alan Marshall

Literature & Fiction / Nonfiction

Sad stories, funny stories, warm stories, tragic stories - this collection is the very essence of the work of Australia's greatest storyteller.Alan Marshall has a place in the hearts of all Australians, for he wrote about his fellow country-people with a rare wit, humour, compassion and deep understanding.He spent his lifetime living among them in the bush and in the cities. He travelled throughout the countryside, recording them, yarning with them, entertaining them, loving them. No one since Henry Lawson knew and wrote about his countrypeople like Alan Marshall.Now, after his death, this remarkable book of stories stands as both a legacy and a tribute to Alan Marshall.
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