
Ada
Kaz Cooke(Author)
Viking Australia (Publisher)
Published on 30. October 2017
Book
Paperback/Softback
272 pages
978-0-670-07793-9 (ISBN)
Description
'It's not every day a handsome young man appears on your doorstep to ask if you're a respectable woman...' Miss Ada Delroy and her famous vaudeville troupe stormed five continents, enchanting royalty, miners and larrikins alike with her wit, illusions, and breathtaking dances. 'I had a diamond pendant near as big as an emu egg off the Maharajah of What's-His-Name. They named a racehorse after me, and a pigeon and a potato soup on an Orient steamship.' Under the costume made from 100 yards of billowing silk was a woman who couldn't help being both fabulous and disreputable. Down on her luck in a rented room in Melbourne, morphia cocktail in hand, Ada receives a visitor. Is she ready to share her secrets? Inspired by photos of real 1890s vaudevillians, Kaz Cooke brings to life a forgotten world of cunning clairvoyants and trained cockatoos; of fierce loyalties and mixed lollies; the glamour of the stage and the muck of the road. Funny, inventive and lovingly researched, Ada is the story of an extraordinary woman in the toughest of times, with the courage to make herself the star. 'I'll tell you what I loved about being a theatrical. You're a custodian of magic, a purveyor of glamour, a repository of mystery. You're someone.' 'I was enchanting, and indefatigable, and dainty, and all the other words they find to avoid saying 'beautiful'. The word they used the most was 'piquant'. Makes you feel like chutney.' - Ada Delroy A former reporter and cartoonist, Kaz Cooke is the author of the bestselling books Up The Duff, Kidwrangling, Girl Stuff, Girl Stuff 8-12, Women's Stuff, and the children's picture books Wanda Linda Goes Berserk and The Terrible Underpants, which is not entirely autobiographical. This novel grew out of her research and exhibition during a Creative Fellowship at the State Library of Victoria, 2013-2015. kazcooke.com.au
More details
Language
English
Place of publication
Hawthorn
Australia
Publishing group
Penguin Random House Australia
Product notice
Paperback (UK-trade)
Dimensions
Height: 241 mm
Width: 152 mm
Thickness: 20 mm
Weight
367 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-670-07793-9 (9780670077939)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions

Person
Kaz Cooke is the number one go-to advisor for Australian girls and women. Her books include Girl Stuff, Women's Stuff, Up the Duff, Kidwrangling, and a series of ebooks on women's health issues from sex to mental health and menopause. Kaz's funny, friendly style is backed by research and professional consultants. She is also the author of the children's book The Terrible Underpants.