
Newsletter – July 2025
A Message from the Chair… | Rosemary’s New Releases and Recommendations | Author Talks – Exhibition – Film – Live Comedy – Live Music | Festivals
The Reading Room (2pm in the Library for a start @ 10.30am – 12noon)
MAY SESSION
Caleb’s Crossing | Geraldine Brooks
In 1665, a young man from Martha’s Vineyard became the first Native American to graduate from Harvard College. From the few facts that survive of his extraordinary life, Geraldine Brooks creates a luminous tale of love and faith, magic and adventure.
When Bethia Mayfield, a spirited twelve-year-old living in the rigid confines of an English Puritan settlement – and the daughter of a Calvinist minister – meets Caleb, the young son of a Wampanoag chieftain, the two forge a secret friendship that draws each into the alien world of the other.
As Bethia’s father feels called to convert the Wampanoag to his own strict faith, he awakens the wrath of the medicine men. Caleb becomes a prize in a contest between old ways and new, eventually taking his place at Harvard, studying Latin and Greek alongside the sons of the colonial elite.
Fighting for a voice in a society that requires her silence, Bethia becomes entangled in Caleb’s struggle to navigate the intellectual and cultural shoals that divide their two cultures.
Once again, Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist Geraldine Brooks brings to vivid life a shard of little-known history, and through Bethia and Caleb explores the intimate spaces of the human heart.
released and reunited with his daughter in England. There the lives of two very different men, Charles Darnay, an exiled French aristocrat, and Sydney Carton, a disreputable but brilliant English lawyer, become enmeshed through their love for Lucie Manette. From the tranquil lanes of London, they are drawn against their will to the vengeful, bloodstained streets of Paris at the height of the Reign of Terror, and they soon fall under the lethal shadow of La Guillotine.
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This event is a BMI Community Art Project – Ballarat’s Oldest Cultural Institution
A Message from the Chair… | Rosemary’s New Releases and Recommendations | Author Talks – Exhibition – Film – Live Comedy – Live Music | Festivals
Broke Road Matthew Spencer. From the bestselling author of Black River. This July sees the release of Broke Road. Perfect for fans of Jane Caro and Chris Hammer, this gripping mystery unravels a string of unexplained murders set against the haunting backdrop of the Hunter Valley. Broke Road was inspired by a conversation Matthew Spencer had with a
Important Dates Hi Folks I have a confession to make- I’m writing this note from a plane heading from Budapest to Nice and it is definitely warmer here. I tell you this not to boast but because as you can expect my husband and I are enjoying many cultural and heritage sites and buildings. Amongst
The Secret Year of Zara Holt Kimberley Freeman. Melbourne 1927 The summer flowers smell like Christmas the night Zara Dickins meets Harry Holt. It’s party season and the university crowd are celebrating end-of-year exams. Zara loves dancing with the boys and flirting with them, but it’s a game to her. Nothing serious. Until Harry. He plans
The Last Girl’s Cry Alison Belsham. Det Lexi Bennett is walking through the quiet Canterbury streets when she hearsscreaming. Rushing towards the sound, she finds the body of a teenage girl lying beneath one of the city’s ancient towers. Lexi looks up at the cold grey stone, and vows that she will find answers. Did
In early May Anne Gleeson launched The Deepest Thing: A Poetic Memoir. The launch was a tremendous success as well evidenced by the photos. If you were interested in finding out more about this memoire under the penship of E A Gleeson, contact culturalservices@ballaratmi.org.au E A Gleeson Photos: Robert Rouse The Deepest Thing: A Poetic
Your gift will be tax-deductible this financial year if you make it before June 30.
Like many organisations the BMI faces significant funding challenges.
Featuring the BMI Image Collection | Now $20
Bubbly on arrival & Featuring quality items from our Vintage Shop | $60
Australian Heritage Festival
Minerva's Secrets
25 April – Tour 1 at 7.30pm – fully booked
Tour 2 at 9.30pm – still tickets.
2 course dinner & lots
of dancing