Aoife Clifford

for various reasons.

And the way he's told that story, both the institutional story and some of the key characters who inhabited that institution is absolutely mind-blowing.

And then his story about the creation of the United Nations and how it repudiated all of the people who'd been involved in the previous organisation.

And poor old Edith had to come back to Canberra.

because she was out of a job, but then she found some good work to do here.

It's great to see those sorts of stories in fiction, and I know there's a lot of novels about the United Nations, including Christina Stead and I think Shirley Hazard, some well-known Australian writers have tackled that huge topic.

It's just, to me, very encouraging to see people, particularly to see Australians, write about that really big stuff

And while the intimate stories of family and relationships are important, and I certainly do read a lot of those sort of books as well, I do admire people who will take on the big stories of our era and of our time.

She's in the room with us.

Absolutely.

And that was, which is why I asked Frank to launch my book, because I just wanted to thank him and pay tribute to him for creating this character.

And, you know, it is absolute marvel in Australian fiction.

Been an absolute pleasure.