The Golden Age
Will be published approx. on 7. May 2026
Book
Paperback/Softback
224 pages
978-1-78770-619-4 (ISBN)
Description
A deeply moving novel about resilience and youth
Frank Gold's Jewish-Hungarian family have fled Europe and the looming threat of Nazi Germany for the safety of Australia. Not long after their arrival, however, thirteen-year-old Frank is diagnosed with polio and is sent to a sprawling children's hospital called the Golden Age. There he meets Elsa, the most beautiful girl he has ever seen.
Frank and Elsa's love fuels their rehabilitation and scandalizes the prudish staff of the Golden Age. Meanwhile, their parents are coping with challenges of their own. Elsa's mother Margaret must reconcile her hopes and dreams with her daughter's illness; Frank's mother Ida, a renowned pianist in Hungary, refuses to let the empty western deserts of Australia become her home, while his father Meyer slow finds a place for himself in the Perth of the early 1950s.
A modern classic, Joan London's The Golden Age is a moving story documenting the transition between illness and recovery, childhood and maturity, and life and death.
Frank Gold's Jewish-Hungarian family have fled Europe and the looming threat of Nazi Germany for the safety of Australia. Not long after their arrival, however, thirteen-year-old Frank is diagnosed with polio and is sent to a sprawling children's hospital called the Golden Age. There he meets Elsa, the most beautiful girl he has ever seen.
Frank and Elsa's love fuels their rehabilitation and scandalizes the prudish staff of the Golden Age. Meanwhile, their parents are coping with challenges of their own. Elsa's mother Margaret must reconcile her hopes and dreams with her daughter's illness; Frank's mother Ida, a renowned pianist in Hungary, refuses to let the empty western deserts of Australia become her home, while his father Meyer slow finds a place for himself in the Perth of the early 1950s.
A modern classic, Joan London's The Golden Age is a moving story documenting the transition between illness and recovery, childhood and maturity, and life and death.
Reviews / Votes
"London's most accomplished and keenly felt work." * The Australian * "A slim, potent novel... suffused with poetic intensity." * The New Yorker *More details
Language
English
Place of publication
London
United Kingdom
Product notice
Paperback (UK-B)
Dimensions
Height: 128 mm
Width: 197 mm
Thickness: 16 mm
Weight
162 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-78770-619-4 (9781787706194)
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
Person
Joan London is the author of the short story collections Sister Ships, winner of The Age Book of the Year award, and Letter to Constantine, winner of the Steele Rudd Award as well as the West Australian Premier's Award for Fiction. Her three novels are Gilgamesh, The Good Parents, and The Golden Age.