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