One man's phenomenal tale of escaping a death sentence in Iraq, surviving the Australian Refugee system and becoming a pioneering surgeon at the forefront of Orthopaedic medicine.In 1999, Munjed Al Muderis was a young surgical resident working in Baghdad when a squad of Military Police marched into the operating theatre and ordered the surgical team to mutilate the ears of three busloads of army deserters. When the head of surgery refused, he was executed in front ...

Munjed's new book is once more a journey, but this time in taking him across the world on a quest to save others rather than himself.In Munjed Al Muderis's bestselling memoir Walking Free, he described his experience as a refugee fleeing Saddam Hussein's Iraq, his terrifying sea journey to Australia and the brutal mandatory detention he faced in the remote north of Western Australia. The book also detailed his early work as a pioneering orthopaedic surgeon...

Spellbinding and heartbreaking, the true story told by Kooshyar Karimi in Leila's Secret shows us everyday life for women in a country where it can be a crime to fall in love.Born in a slum to a Muslim father and a Jewish mother, Kooshyar Karimi has transformed himself into a successful doctor, an award-winning writer, and an adoring father. His could be a comfortable life but his conscience won't permit it: he is incapable of turning away the unmarried wo...

An extraordinary story of escaping Vietnam to create a happier life in Australia.In 1978, following a dramatic escape from war torn Vietnam, Tracy Vo's parents boarded a leaky boat not knowing what their future held or whether they would live. The couple had fled Vietnam under the cover of darkness, exchanged wedding rings en route to Malaysia, then sold them and their scant possessions to feed themselves and their 10 relatives on the journey. They were declared re...

Belinda Neil lived and breathed her high–octane job. She relished her roles as a homicide investigator and hostage negotiator with the NSW police force, but she never knew what her work day might bring. She could be investigating brutal murders such as the De Gruchy killings or , in her negotiator role, persuading the murderous and suicidal to drop their weapons., stop terrorising their families, step back from the ledge.It was hardly surprising that over time the horrors she saw b...

It looked bleak and predictable for little Keelen Mailman: an alcoholic mother, absent father, the horrors of regular sexual and physical assault and the casual racism of a small outback town in the sixties. But somehow, despite the pain and deprivation, the lost education, she managed to absorb her mother's lessons: her Bidjara language and culture, her obligations to Country, and her loyalty to her family.So it was no surprise to some that a girl who could hide for a year in her ...

'Mary's book is a reminder that we don't have to be alone with grief. Her heartbreak and inspiring story is a lesson to all of us on how to live life to the fullest even in our most difficult moments. I loved it.' Naomi WattsStarting with a colourful childhood in Collingwood and Doncaster, under the shadow of her father's mortality, and ending in sunny Bondi, supported by a tight circle of girlfriends who got her through a death even more painful, Mary Coustas takes us on a journey...

"[Bowen's] remarkable journey transforming Chinese orphanages . . . is a testament to the power of perseverance." —Larry Brilliant, TED Prize-winnerAfter reading an article about the thousands of baby girls languishing in Chinese orphanages, Jenny Bowen and her husband adopted a little girl from China and brought her home to Los Angeles, not out of a need to build a family but rather a commitment to save one child. A year later, as she watched her new daughter play...

The inspiring true story of David Nyuol Vincent, a Sudanese refugee who survived famine, wars and 17 years in refugee camps to build a new life in Australia.David Nyuol Vincent was a little boy when he fled southern Sudan with his father, as war raged in their country. He left behind his distraught mother and sisters, his village and his childhood.For months David and his father walked across southern Sudan, barefoot, desperately searching for safety, food ...

A heartbreaking account of enduring suffering and loss.When Cindy Gambino dropped her three boys off at their dad's on Father’s Day 2005 she had no idea she would never see them again. By day’s end, their bodies lay at the bottom of an icy dam, a tragedy that sparked one of the most controversial and prolonged murder cases in Australian history.Award-winning author and journalist Megan Norris followed the case for eight years, chronicling Cindy’s heartbreaki...

When marketing executive Tessa Mathison leaves London to attend her great-aunt's funeral in Australia, her life is in turmoil.An indiscretion during a boozy night out has resulted in Tessa's name being mud in London's cliquey marketing scene, and soon after she arrives in her homeland she discovers she's been sacked.Tessa's childhood home, Danjar Plains, is an isolated station which holds some bad memories for her. She plans to escape it as soon as the funeral is over, but ...

A raw, rough, poetic, funny, intensely moving and quite, quite beautiful memoir about a boy from the bush, growing up in Australian in the sixties.From one of Australia's favourite actors comes a classic memoir of an Australian childhood in the sixties.Young Steve was a larrikin, happy-go-lucky, resilient kid, coming of age in a simpler time. Growing up on a farm cut from virgin scrub at the end of a lake, a farm called Stillways, Steve daydreamed about cars and escape. His...