John Boyne, Maggie Stiefvater and Laura Elvery on hope, enemy diplomats and Florence Nightingale
John Boyne is the prolific Irish author of over 20 books including The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas, The History of Loneliness and The Heart's Invisible Furies. His latest writing project is a series of novellas called The Elements with the books Water, Earth, Fire and now, Air. The four books are all connected by the difficult theme of child abuse with the latest - and last - instalment ending the series on a note of hope. John shares why this is personal territory for him and why he's found strength in talking about it.
The Listeners is the first adult novel by American author Maggie Stiefvater who has made her name as a successful writer of young adult fiction. The Listeners is set during World War Two in the Blue Ridge Mountains in America's east, when luxury hotels were turned into detention centres for diplomats from Germany, Italy and Japan and where prisoners were cared for and served by American hotel staff. Maggie also shares her life as a rev-head!
In her debut novel Nightingale, Brisbane author Laura Elvery takes on the iconic 19th century figure of Florence Nightingale who revolutionised nursing in the blood bath of the Crimean War. Laura has fictionalised Florence on her death bed at 90 when there's a knock on the door. The novel follows Laura's award-winning collection of short stories called Ordinary Matter about the few women who've have won Nobel Prizes for science.
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News.com.au
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- News.com.au
Aussie wife confronts husband's mistress, exposes cheating issue
A woman left 'destroyed' by her husband's cheating decided to confront the 'other woman' on live radio – sparking a debate about how men and women are treated when it comes to infidelity. The wife, named Kylie, had a dramatic and emotional showdown with her husband's mistress Sophie, on the Kyle & Jackie O Show recently. During the segment, Kylie pleaded with her to stop affair, stating through tears: 'You sleeping with my husband is ruining my life.' Sophie, who works with the married man, appeared to already know about Kylie, stating their relationship was 'sexual' and insisting her husband 'does love you'. But while knowingly sleeping with a married man is widely seen as morally wrong, many viewers weighed in on social media to condemn Kylie, pointing out she should be 'confronting the husband'. 'The responsibility is on her husband. 100 per cent on her husband,' one argued on social media. 'It's the husbands fault. He has done the betrayal,' another agreed. While one declared: 'As much as the mistress has no morals, its not her job to be loyal, it's the husband's. He made the vows, not the mistress! HE is the reason she is broken!' The tendency to blame the 'other woman' in cases of infidelity, rather than the cheater, exposes a stark discrepancy between societal expectations on men and women, says University of Melbourne social scientist Associate Professor Lauren Rosewarne. 'Women are expected to be able to temper their libidos in ways that our culture pretends men can't,' Dr Rosewarne told previously. 'Women have also long been tasked with [the] duty of sexual gatekeeping – that they are somehow not only responsible for their own desires, but also for men's too; that somehow the duty is on them not to tempt men. 'Obviously these ideas are underpinned by antiquated gendered stereotypes that many people still clutch to.' Dr Rosewarne added that 'if the man is married and he has an affair, he has wrecked his home'. 'Blaming the other woman just allows us to frame the man as some kind of hapless victim to his penis, rather than an adult who made his own decisions,' she said. In this case, Kylie has laid blame on her husband's mistress, rather than challenge the man she married – and many noticed this apparent act of internalised misogyny after a video of the on-air confrontation went viral. 'People need to step off the mentality of 'she knew the wife existed'. So what? She owes that woman nothing. She isn't hurting her. He is. It's like drinking poison and expecting somebody else to [dead emoji]. Nobody in the world owes you kindness, respect etc. The people who love you and care for you should supply that willingly and if they don't, they are not your people,' commented one. 'It's 100 per cent on the husband!!! Why is she not calling him out?' asked another. During the call – which initially aired in June but was reshared on the Kyle & Jackie O Show TikTok account on Friday – Kylie tells the hosts she found out a couple of months ago that her husband was having an affair after stumbling across a text message. After discovering multiple messages on her husband's phone, she turned to the radio show for help 'confronting' the mistress. 'Hey Sophie, I know that you don't know me, and I know that I probably haven't even been mentioned, but I believe that you are sleeping with my husband,' she said. Sophie replied by stating the affair was 'still continuing', prompting Kylie to beg her to stop. 'I just want you to know how much this is affecting me,' she said. 'You sleeping with my husband is ruining my life.' Sophie, who appeared to know her bed buddy was married, explained their relationship was purely sexual before adding: 'He does love you though. I don't know if that makes it better.' When Kylie gets distressed by the revelation that she knows, a visibly shocked Kyle Sandilands and Jackie O Henderson point out, with Sandilands stating: 'It's not just Sophie's fault, it's also your husbands'. It's difficult to pinpoint exactly how many Australians have affairs, but studies suggest that a significant portion of marriages experience infidelity.

News.com.au
2 hours ago
- News.com.au
Hollywood's richest actress Jami Gertz spotted looking unrecognisable
Eighties actress Jami Gertz has been spotted looking unrecognisable years after she ditched Hollywood and became a billionaire. Gertz acted in 1980s classics like The Lost Boys and Sixteen Candles, and also made an appearance in the original Twister in the 90s. She has since amassed an estimated USD$8 billion (AUD$12.5 billion) fortune, putting her ahead of Hollywood greats including Tom Cruise, Reese Witherspoon and Brad Pitt and making her the richest actor in the world. She was spotted this week having lunch at a private members' club that attracts some of Hollywood's most powerful elite. Gertz kept things low-key in a light blue blouse, white trousers and matching shoes as she chatted with a pal. The former Hollywood star worked as a child actress before scoring her breakthrough role the 1987 drama Less than Zero with Robert Downey, Jr. In 1989, Gertz married banker Tony Ressler who over the course of the following decade forged an incredibly lucrative career in private equity. Ressler co-founded Apollo Global Management in 1990, which has since gone on to be worth an estimated $125 billion. Seven years later, he launched a second firm, Ares Management, which also skyrocketed in success. The husband and wife duo have since collaborated on numerous business ventures, including Gertz's own production company, Lime Orchard Productions, which has developed movies including like Heretic, Dune: Prophecy and One Piece. In 2015, the couple then bought the NBA team the Atlanta Hawks for a reported $720 million. 'I get it,' she told Hollywood Reporter. 'It's not your everyday Hollywood actress tale.' 'Everyone thinks I married a rich guy. But I made more money — way more money — than Tony when I met him. I paid for our first house. I paid for our first vacation. I married him because I fell in love with him.' She went on to open up about quitting Hollywood, confessing that her duties with the Atlanta Hawks became too time consuming to juggle both careers. 'It just seemed like a natural moment for me to take a break from acting,' she said. 'It's hard to even say it out loud, because I love what I do. It's given me so many beautiful things in my life, taught me so many things about myself and the world around me.'

News.com.au
3 hours ago
- News.com.au
‘Best coin spent': Ginnivan responds after giving Crows fans the bird as young Hawk to be fined
Hawthorn young gun Jack Ginnivan is the latest AFL player set to be sanctioned for giving the bird to Adelaide supporters. Ginnivan was caught on camera pulling his finger to Crows fans while walking off Adelaide Oval after the Hawks' 14-point loss on Friday night. The 22-year old, who's set to cop a $1000 fine for the incident, took to Instagram to respond to a video of the act with the comment: 'Best coin spent.' FOX FOOTY, available on Kayo Sports, is the only place to watch every match of every round in the 2025 Toyota AFL Premiership Season LIVE in 4K, with no ad-breaks during play. New to Kayo? Get your first month for just $1. Limited-time offer. Ginnivan would join the likes of Geelong's Bailey Smith and West Coast's Harley Reid in getting fined for the middle-finger salute in 2025. 'There was definitely a one-fingered salute from Jack Ginnivan,' Herald Sun reporter Jon Ralph said on Fox Footy. 'I think we call that the Bailey Smith ... the going rate is $1000, we saw Bailey Smith double-finger salute and also Harley Reid earlier in the year. 'That's what (Ginnivan) does, that's Hok-ball for you.' Ginnivan was among Hawthorn's best players on Friday night, finishing with 20 disposals and two goals. The youngster's post-game bird weren't his only cheeky antics on the night, with Ginnivan turning to the crowd after kicking an epic goal on his left foot late in the third quarter and pointing to his ear.