Prose

<p>There’s a randomness and whimsy to this collection and anyone familiar with Linda will expect exactly that. It is also represented in the cover art—a zentangle aptly name ‘Goldfish in the Garden’.</p><p><em>Prose </em>begins at a nurses’ reunion where the usual entertainments slip away as Pathfinder Robyn astounds the normally unflappable Marilyn and everyone else with a tale as disjointed as ever was told. A difficult childhood a fascinating life related with warmth and received with hilarity. Monica is voted Google-On-Legs for her encyclopaedic knowledge of life’s goings on.</p><p>A boy learns the beauty of the legacy of his great-uncles. A patient Indian Postmaster goes to great lengths to explain the parcel post system to an insistent customer. Jenny grieves a son on Mother’s Day. Brooks shares memories of a muddy creek a barbed wire fence and the angst and joys of growing up.</p><p>Linda steps into a Jane Austen world and is maid at an elegant mansion in leafy upper-crust Sydney’s North Shore and learns the rules for the help haven’t changed much. In spite of his best intentions an angry man becomes like his brutal father. A top-lofty son is embarrassed by his gentle mother’s dementia and receives a lesson in grace. A vigilante tenant prunes a hedge and the neighbourhood is not amused.</p><p>Brooks shares her award winning stories: ‘The loud clock’ (<em>Coastlines 6 </em>Southern Cross University) ‘That Madness’ (Legacy University Prize) ‘Anyone but him God’ (Gabe Reynaud Award) ‘Ancient Grief’ (Grieve Newcastle Writers Centre) ‘A far place’ (Stringybark Press) ‘Dad’s apprentice’ (<em>Wood Brick & Stone</em> Catchfire Press) and ‘The wall is blue (<em>Coastlines 5</em> Southern Cross University).</p><p> </p>