Sylvia Rose

Book excerpt: Based on a true story, Sylvia Rose: An Australian Story spans fifty years in the lives of Sylvia Rose, her husband, Jim, and their three children. Sylvia's ambitions are thwarted when she marries Jim. Her ever increasing desire to be a "princess" and escape her pedestrian background is constantly thwarted by a series of tragic situations and events that undermine her confidence and self esteem. The more she struggles, the more she becomes entangled, until finally, tragedy strikes. Other strong characters in the novel are Sylvia's understanding mother and Jim's neurotic and reclusive mother. The author is also a quasi- character in the novel, as he uses both metafiction and authorial intrusion to comment on his own relationship to the main characters. This unusual saga is written in five sections with a changing viewpoint in sections four and five.