'Dancing Into Freedom' (Heidi Giersch with Janet Brown, 2020) published by award winning Ginninderra Press.
To Purchase: Dancing Into Freedom (paper back from Ginninderra Press) or as
Amazon ebook: Dancing into Freedom
When Heidi Giersch asked me to write her memoir with her, I jumped at the opportunity. We are so pleased to announce 'Dancing Into Freedom' is now published by Ginninderra Press.
Heidi’s unique story of growing up in East Berlin, behind the Iron Curtain and in the shadow of the Berlin Wall, begins the moment she was chosen to go to ballet school at ten years of age. Eventually she performed with major East German dance companies. She shared with me her heartfelt recollections of family, life and her career in East Germany. Facing the challenges of the Cold War in that communist society, every person was under the surveillance of the Stasi regime which infiltrated all aspects of social and private life. Heidi's life changed forever in 1980 when she ran away after the final Sydney performance of the prestigious Komische Oper Berlin Ballet Company's Australian tour. Following her defection, she made her home in Melbourne where she still lives today.
'Honouring Carers' (2017 published by GenU) I was commissioned to interview family carers and to write this book sharing their real-life stories - their challenges, their rewards, their wisdoms, their frustrations and their day to day experiences. It was such a privilege to be the writer trusted with these personal insights. The book is published by genU Karingal St Laurence.
I Did My Best - (2008) Ted (Edvard) Snore’s autobiography. Ted, a Latvian refugee, arrived in Australia in 1947. His life story is full of adventure and an important example of post Second World War migration to Australia. Ted left his notes to his family, and I was commissioned to transcribe and edit them, and then published the book for the family. http://catalogue.nla.gov.au/Record/5598943
The Shaded Side (my first novel, 2003 published by Edco Services. Launched by my dear friend and mentor Helen Cerne) Currently out of print.
Jenny is about to discover the identity of her birth mother. As a baby, she was given up for adoption in Australia during the war-time era of the 1940s when Ellen, a young woman from Footscray, is in her early twenties and a patient of Bellington Tuberculosis Sanatorium.
Now Ellen is old, frail and living with dementia. While Jenny cares for her aunt she discovers some photos. Secrets are unravelled and her family's history is re-written.The novel The Shaded Side, by Victorian writer Janet M Brown, is a story about mothers, sisters and friends, secrets and lies, stigma and taboo.
"The Shaded Side is fine work, researched and written with a light touch that disguises a good deep grasp of character and dilemma, of pain and sorrow and lives lived on…."
- Jan McKemmish
From the Full Review by Sue Bond in the March 2005 issue of Australian Public Intellectual Network Janet M Brown's first novel,
The Shaded Side is set in the 1940s, when tuberculosis was untreatable, pregnancy out of wedlock unthinkable, and secrets about such shameful things kept firmly locked away. It extends to the year 1998, when a truth is revealed. Brown has also written a non-fiction book about tuberculosis sanatoria and the patients who lived in them. This research is used skillfully where descriptions of daily life for such patients have an authentic feel, while not allowing it to displace the storytelling.The Shaded Side is an extremely moving novel. The characters, particularly Ellen, become very real to the reader. It is easy to read, and carried me along in the drama and poignancy. The author uses such devices as shifting time frames and letters between the sisters and handles them well. There are some lovely details, such as Margaret, one of the other patients in the sanatorium, receiving signals by mirror reflections from her children It is gratifying to have this novel explore the complexities of unplanned pregnancy, adoption, shame, truth and lies, the reaction of adoptees to the knowledge of their origins, and the difficulties for adoptive parents. Brown captures the strong feelings involved, the love and the pain, and enables the reader to see how difficult it was for everyone, particularly the birthmother.
- Sue Bond. 'Review: The Shaded Side by Janet M Brown' [online]. Network Review of Books (Perth, Australian Public Intellectual Network), March 2005. Availability:
ISSN 1833-0932. [accessed 21 October 2012].
In The Company of Strangers: former patients of Australian tuberculosis sanatoria share their experiences and insights (1993 Edco Services) – non fiction book.
$25 includes postage within Australia. Contact Janet by email. (Can be posted internationally - prices vary)
ebook available:
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