The Reading Room (This session will start at 1030am until the resumption of normal operating hours)
FEBRUARY SESSION
The House by the Lake | Thomas Harding
In the summer of 1993, Thomas Harding travelled to Berlin with his grandmother to visit a small house by a lake. It was her ‘soul place’ she said – a sanctuary she had been forced to leave when the Nazis swept to power. The trip was a chance to see the house one last time, to remember it as it was. But the house had changed.
Twenty years later Thomas returned to Berlin. The house now stood empty, derelict, and soon to be demolished. A concrete footpath cut through the garden, marking where the Berlin Wall had stood for nearly three decades. Elsewhere were signs of what the house had once been – blue tiles showing behind wallpaper, phographs fallen between floorboards, flagstones covered in dirt. Evidence of five families who had made the house their home over a tumultuous century.
The House by the Lake is a groundbreaking work of history, revealing the story of Germany through the inhabitants of one small wooden building: a nobleman farmer, a prosperous Jewish family, a renowned Nazi composer, a widow and her children, a Stasi informant. Moving from the late nineteenth century to the present day, from the devastation of two world wars to the dividing and reuniting of a nation, it is a story of domestic joy and contentment, of terrible grief and tragedy, and of a hatred handed down through the generations. Breathtaking in scope, intimate in detail, it is the long-awaited new history from the author of the bestselling Hanns and Rudolf.
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This event is a BMI Community Art Project – Ballarat’s Oldest Cultural Institution
My Accidental Career by Brenda Niall Award-winning author Brenda Niall’s engaging account of her remarkable life presents a fascinating history spanning nine decades: from her childhood in affluent Kew in the 1930s, her university days and travels in Ireland, her academic career at a time when marriage was the exception for young women- to her
Member News Update – Membership Discount Wednesday 15 June 2022 The Ballaarat Mechanics’ Institute in partnership with the Melba Opera Trust will be presenting three young artists who have been awarded a scholarship to help develop their artistic skills to enable them to become well rounded operatic artists. The program An Afternoon of Song, Arias &
The Murders at Fleat House by Lucinda Riley One dead bully. A school full of suspects. When a young student is found dead at a private boarding school, its elite reputation is at risk. The headmaster is determined to write the death off as a tragic accident – but Detectives Jazz Hunter will soon suspect
A wonderful way to warm up this Winter and brush away the cobwebs from your vocal cords. Come and join us… We are looking at new ways to support our Heritage Institution. Jane Valpied, Vice President Event information If you have some fundraising ideas, then we could love to hear from you.
Not Just The Wife Of The General Manager by Sally Warriner It was the 1970s and Sally was in her early twenties when she returned from a backpacking sojourn and hitchhiked to Australia’s far north. But instead of moving back to Canberra as planned, she stayed. After marrying a cattle station manager, Sally lived and
Come along and enjoy a great night of cinema entertainment and warm community company. We are looking at new ways to support our Heritage Institution. Jane Valpied, Vice President Event information If you have some fundraising ideas, then we could love to hear from you.
