Silent Days in Sydney

By EWAN, Audrey

Silver Wattle, by Belinda Alexandra. HarperCollins. 486 pages. $38. Reviewed by Audrey Ewan.

Bohemian Sydney was a great place to be in the 1920s, the golden age of silent films in Australia, and Belinda Alexandra has used it as the setting for her first novel about her home country. Her other two, White Gardenia and Wild Lavender, are set in Asia-Eastern Europe and France respectively.

Two Czech sisters move from Prague to Sydney to live with their uncle after their heiress mother dies in suspicious circumstances. Klara is a talented musician and Adela takes great photos.

Combining their talents with Uncle Ota’s business acumen and the various skills of other family members, they not only run cinemas, with Klara providing piano accompaniment to the silent movies, but also make films about Australia.

They don’t realise the power of the Combine, however. Australasian Films and Union Theatres have merged and taken control of 80 percent of Sydney’s cinemas. The Combine sabotages the films by preventing them being shown at premier locations. Good films will find their niche, however, and these do – finally.

Alexandra has intertwined fact with fiction and carried out impressive research on the early film industry in Australia and on Australian wildlife. Throughout the novel, there is a sinister element to keep the reader biting nails as the sisters become a little too relaxed about the danger. And yes, there’s also plenty to thrill the romantic at heart. – B+

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