As a little girl, Frances Rings was both disconnected from her Aboriginal heritage and painfully aware of it. In the street, people would stare at the dark-skinned girl walking alongside her blue-eyed, blond-haired father. At school, both black and white kids would ask where her Aboriginal family was. Her only connection to country was when … Read More
Annette Noble’s first child was four months old when she boarded an international flight for a week-long business trip. “I got on the plane and breathed a sigh of relief. I thought, ‘No one can contact me for at least 24 hours,’ ” she says. No one could question Noble’s dedication to her marketing job. She … Read More
A few months after her mother died, Brooke Shields bought a beach house in the Hamptons. In a strange and tragic tribute, she spent three days decorating it with her mother’s most cherished possessions. Teri Shields had kept a storage shed the size of aircraft hangar, jammed with furniture, antiques, art, Hollywood memorabilia, designer handbags … Read More
Taylor Swift shakes my hand, then shakes it again. She grimaces and mimics a girlie handshake, her hand like a delicate cat’s paw with plum-coloured nails. “I didn’t get that quite right,” she says, apologetically. “I don’t want you to think I can’t shake hands properly.” The American singer-songwriter might have 45 million Twitter followers, … Read More
Emma Balfour ushers me into her home, steps around the composting toilet in the hallway, and rummages for some good cups to make tea. Her Bondi bungalow is a study in elegant grunge. Outside, it’s painted sea green – the same colour as when she bought it 15 years ago – and a round window … Read More
In his Booker Prize-winning novel The Sense of an Ending, Julian Barnes’ grey-haired anti-hero takes the train to London for a spot of shopping. On his list? Cord for restringing blind, kettle descaler and those patches you iron on to trousers when the fabric wears thin. ”It’s hard to find this stuff locally any more,” … Read More
Tanya Plibersek has a gift for doing many things at once. “My personal favourite was writing a speech, talking on the telephone and breastfeeding,” says Labor’s 43-year-old MP for the federal seat of Sydney, whisking egg yolks, lemon juice and olive oil into a home-made mayonnaise. It’s lunchtime at Plibersek’s inner-city home and the mother … Read More
I prepared for the birth of my identical twin sons with all the precision of a military operation. I had a roster of friends and family staying with me for three months and a food circle that would keep me in evening meals for six weeks. I hired a cleaning lady, a mowing man, and … Read More
Imagine if your brother raised your children and your husband visited a few times a week. This is the ancient cultural practice of the Mosuo people – one of the last surviving matriarchal societies in the world. In 2012, Erin O’Dwyer travelled to China’s Yunnan province with photographer Dave Tacon to learn more about the … Read More
High on the Tibetan plateau, on the pristine shores of Lugu Lake, a snaking line of young men and women dance Cossack-like around a flickering bonfire to the jaunty tune of a wooden flute. China’s Mosuo minority is one of the world’s last surviving matriarchies. Their fire dance is mostly for the tourists now. But … Read More