Description
Betty O’Neill grew up knowing very little about her father, Antoni. She knew that he had fled Poland after World War Two, that he had disappeared overnight when she was just an infant, and that his brief reappearance when she was a young adult had been a harrowing, painful ordeal.
Fifty-five years after he deserted her family, Betty is determined to find out more. What drove him to abandon them, twice? What was his story? Who was Antoni Jagielski? Her search for truth takes Betty to Poland, where she unexpectedly inherits a family apartment from the half sister she never knew – a time capsule of her father’s life. Sifting through photos and letters she begins to piece together a picture of her father as a Polish resistance fighter, a survivor of Auschwitz and Gusen concentration camps, an exile in post-war England, and a migrant to Australia. But the deeper she searches, the darker the revelations about her father become, as Betty is faced with disturbing truths buried within her family.
Honest, compelling, and meticulously researched, The Other Side of Absence is an elegant debut memoir of resilience and strength, and of a daughter reconciling the damage that families inherit from war.
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Endorsements
‘A poignant and riveting story.’
NADIA WHEATLEY, AUTHOR OF 2019 NIB AWARD-WINNING MEMOIR HER MOTHER’S DAUGHTER
‘Was he a scoundrel or a victim? Evidence comes in on both sides of this moving narrative as we wait eagerly for the author’s next discovery. A fascinating account of a quest for a vanished father.’
SHEILA FITZPATRICK, AUTHOR OF MISCHKA’S WAR
‘A journey through time that explores layer upon layer of family mystery and tragic history – this is storytelling at its best.’
BEM LE HUNTE, AUTHOR OF ELEPHANTS WITH HEADLIGHTS
‘The ripple effects of the brutality of war and post generational trauma told with heart and honesty. A poetic and haunting tale of a daughter's search for truth and equanimity.’
CAROLINE VAN DE POL, AUTHOR OF BACK TO BROADY
‘I have rarely been so gripped by a family history as I have by this one. An extraordinary tale of what damage war and post-war trauma can wreak on multigenerational members of the same family. We are left with a clear understanding of how important history is to individual identity and redemption.’
TANYA EVANS, AUTHOR OF FRACTURED FAMILIES: LIFE ON THE MARGINS IN COLONIAL NEW SOUTH WALES
‘What happens when the past you didn’t even know existed catches up with you and resets your life on an entirely new course? In drawing her chilling portrayal of the damaged man, O’Neill is capable of making a leap of empathy and understanding as she embraces her newly found legacy. The Other Side of Absence is a spellbinding read, an original contribution to migration history in Australia, and in particular the Polish diaspora during the Cold War period.’
EVA KARPINSKI, AUTHOR OF BORROWED TONGUES: LIFE WRITING, MIGRATION AND TRANSLATION
Author Biography
Betty O’Neill is a Sydney-based writer and teacher with a lively curiosity and a passion for learning. She has an eclectic range of degrees, most recently (2018) a Doctorate in Creative Arts and is a university Lecturer in Creative Intelligence and Innovation. She wrote her doctoral thesis on her quest to understand her father, a World War II Polish resistance fighter who survived four years of imprisonment in Auschwitz and Gusen. She has published and presented conference papers and facilitated workshops in Australia and overseas on writing family history, the Cold War, migration and the domestic space as an archive. The Other Side of Absence is her debut memoir.
Ventura Press
Ventura Press is one of Sydney’s leading independent publishers and has become synonymous with high quality titles and internationally respected authors. Our list covers a unique and specific market – books to enhance life. The Ventura mission is to provide boutique, innovative and exciting publishing in Australia and world wide – with particular focus on bringing strong, female Australian voices to the global stage.
View all titlesBibliographic Information
- Publisher/Imprint Ventura Press / Impact Press
- Publication Date August 2020
- Orginal LanguageEnglish
- ISBN/Identifier 9781920727680
- Publication Country or regionAustralia
- FormatPaperback
- Primary Price 32.99 AUD
- Pages324
- ReadershipGeneral
- Publish StatusPublished
- Copyright Year2020
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