Transit lounge and Berkelouw Books Paddington invite you to join us for drinks to celebrate the publication of Bohemia Beach by Justine Ettler. The book is to be launched by Catharine Lumby. 

About the Book

Catherine Bell, a famous concert pianist, is struggling to hold on to her career in a competitive international arena that spans the classical music capitals of the world. After a disastrous show in Copenhagen, Cathy is about to attempt her first concert performance without alcohol in Prague when her marriage implodes, her terminally ill, Czech-born mother goes missing from her London hospital, and a much needed highly paid recording deal falls through. Cathy finds herself coping in the only way she knows how: grasping a glass of forbidden pre-performance champagne and flirting with Tomas, a stranger in a Prague nightclub.

While her therapist Nelly advises her to abstain, Cathy’s relationship with drink and Tomas draws her deep into a whirlpool of events as mysterious, tense and seductive as Prague itself. Justine Ettler’s discipline in the writing is as controlled as Cathy is out of control– the novel brilliantly references classics such as Wuthering Heights– and as with Rachel in The Girl on a Train, the reader is drawn into the protagonist’s predicament with moving palpable intensity.

Bohemia Beach is an edge of your seat ride, a compelling story of addiction, passionate love and the power of art. It heralds the return of one of Australia’s most distinctive authors.

About the Author

Justine Ettler’s second novel, The River Ophelia, (Picador, 1995) was an instant best-seller in Australia and New Zealand and has been taught at HSC and University level. Her first novel, Marilyn’s Almost Terminal New York Adventure, (Picador) was published the following year to critical acclaim. Justine made Australian literary history by being the first female debut writer to sell two books to a mainstream publisher. In 1997 Justine was selected as one of six Australian authors to tour the UK as part of the New Images Writer’s Tour and subsequently moved to London where she lived until 2007. She worked as a book reviewer at The Observer, The Evening Standard, and The Times Literary Supplement, lectured in Creative Writing, and worked as a reader for the London literary agency, Cornerstones, as well as for The Literary Consultancy. In addition to her career as an author, Justine is an accomplished flautist who performed as a soloist at the Sydney Opera House while in her teens, taught flute at Sydney Girls High, who participates in amateur musical theatre, and who has accompanied the Australian band The Go-Betweens.

Join us at 6.30pm on Thursday 26th April 2018 to celebrate the launch of Bohemia Beach. 
The event is open to the public – so come along and meet the author!