{"product_id":"9781867299424_a-womans-work","title":"A Woman's Work","description":"\u003cp\u003eThe astonishingly rich prize of the 1956 \u003cem\u003eAustralian Women's Weekly\u003c\/em\u003e cookery competition offers two women the possibility of a new kind of future, in this compassionate look at the extraordinary lives of ordinary women - our mothers and grandmothers - in a beautifully realised post-war Australia.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003eIt's 1956, and while Melbourne is in a frenzy gearing up for the Olympics, the women of Australia are cooking up a storm for their chance to win the equivalent of a year's salary in the extraordinary \u003cem\u003eAustralian Women's Weekly\u003c\/em\u003e cookery contest.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eFor two women, in particular, the prize could be life-changing. For war widow and single mum Ivy Quinn, a win would mean more time to spend with her twelve-year-old son, Raymond. Mother of five Kathleen O'Grady has no time for cooking competitions, but the prize could offer her a different kind of life for herself and her children, and the chance to control her own future.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAs winter turns to spring both women begin to question their lives. For Kathleen, the grinding domesticity of her work as a wife and mother no longer seems enough, while Ivy begins to realise she has the courage to make a difference for other women and tell the truth about the ghosts from her past.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eBut is it the competition prize that would give them a new way of seeing the world - a chance to free themselves from society's expectation and change their own futures - or is it the creativity and confidence it brings?\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003ePraise for Victoria Purman\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e'Heart-achingly raw yet filled with the beauty of the human spirit, [\u003cem\u003eThe Nurses' War\u003c\/em\u003e] is a triumph that will linger in the heart and psyche.' Karen Brooks, author of \u003cem\u003eThe Good Wife of Bath\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e'A richly crafted novel ... [\u003cem\u003eThe Women's Pages\u003c\/em\u003e] graphically depicts life during those harrowing years. A touching tale and an enthralling read.' \u003cem\u003eReader's Digest\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Victoria Purman","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46898324078741,"sku":"9781867299424","price":22.99,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0484\/3175\/9509\/files\/9781867299424_df998af5-7887-4550-8d3f-48b09d0f3f54.jpg?v=1776992621","url":"https:\/\/harpercollins.com.au\/products\/9781867299424_a-womans-work","provider":"HarperCollins AU","version":"1.0","type":"link"}