Sydney in the 1950s, 70s and 90s is the setting for three of my earlier novels.
Pagan, Between Careers, and Sheila Power, long out of print, here were republished in a single omnibus volume.
The novels are available as separate ebooks, and have been re-published in beautifully designed new paperback editions by Local Time Publishing.
Scroll down for quotations from reviews.
Each novel has its own page on this site.
Pagan http://www.inezbaranay.com/?books=pagan
Between Careers http://www.inezbaranay.com/?books=between-careers
Sheila Power http://www.inezbaranay.com/?books=sheila-power
Omnibus collection published by Three Sydney Novels Project, 2004. Out Of Print.
ISBN 0975094890
Omnibus volume: out of print. You might find copies online .
Ebooks Pagan, Between Careers and Sheila Power are each published as an ebook, each with a new Afterword by the author. Available from Smashwords.com, Amazon or your usual ebook seller.
Each title is a separate volume again in the new Local Time Publishing editions. http://www.inezbaranay.com/?books=local-time-publishing-project They are available at Lulu.com; author page here: http://www.lulu.com/spotlight/inezb
Also available at Amazon and other online booksellers.
Set in Sydney in the late seventies, Inez Baranay’s witty, satirical first novel takes us into the life of a classy call girl…..Wittily, humorously, Between Careers takes a close look at the moral values of both the ancient profession and of more conventional ways of living….. The prose is spare and sparkling…
-THE CANBERRA TIMES
At last, an Australian novel with a cast of characters as richly overdrawn and brassy as any of the fabulous monsters in an Aaron Spelling TV series. An entertainment is a good description for this rattling good read that defies pigeon holing into any one genre. Our heroine is Sheila Power, a very rich film producer and all-round prominent social identity, who is about to start work on what will be the crowning achievement of her spectacular career. She has obtained the rights to a best-selling novel, one of those cult classics that has captured the country’s imagination….
-SYDNEY STAR OBSERVER
Sheila Power…is both a continuation of and a break with Baranay’s writings. … She’s always been difficult to categorise. When she is defined, it’s with labels that can work both for and against her … Sheila is a character we’d all like to be in our dreams. Ruthless and unstoppable, a kind of fantasy woman.
-Courier-Mail, September 27, 1997
Pagan is brilliantly written. As well as being very readable, it offers a highly intelligent analysis of the themes of Australia’s 20th century cultural history set around a story that was to grab the imagination - and the tabloids - of the country in the way Azaria Chamberlain was to do more than 20 years later. … Baranay is one of the most talented writers to emerge for some time. She has a great sense of character, an acute mind which ranges through art, music, philosophy, politics and literature, and a profound and insightful comprehension of the dynamics of human behaviour. She also has a savage and urbane wit and a rare ability to evoke human tragedy in the most understated of ways.
-The Advertiser, June 10, 1990
On the simplest level Pagan fictionally re-creates the life of Rosaleen Norton, the ‘Witch of the Cross’, who attracted the attention of the media during the 1950s… the narrative focuses on a series of events related to Norton’s involvement with Sir Eugene Goossens, one time conductor of the Sydney Symphony Orchestra, events which rocked Australian cultural circles and resulted in his arrest … The scandal and conjecture surrounding [this] arrest provides much of the interest for the novel….
-Australian Book Review
Pagan works on several levels simultaneously. It chronicles a society in transition, contains a moving evocation of young love, and tries to unravel the circumstances of the Goossens scandal of reputed orgies and pornographic photographs. the novel also deals with the feminist tradition of Wicca - witchcraft - and the highs and lows that individual live can encompass.
-The Sunday Herald June 3, 1990
Like good sex Between Careers gets better and better…
-The Sydney Morning Herald, Saturday July 1, 1989
Set in Sydney in the late seventies, Inez Baranay’s witty, satirical first novel takes us into the life of a classy call girl whose work entails servicing well-heeled business men who ply her with champagne, dinner parties and, often as not, their life stories…the name of the game is illusion and illusion is the theme of the novel…..Wittily, humorously, Between Careers takes a close look at the moral values of both the ancient profession and of more conventional ways of living….. The prose is spare and sparkling…
-Marian Eldridge, The Canberra Times, June 24, 1989
Between Careers looks at how sex functions in contemporary society - how it is bought and sold and conceptualised. It belongs to that elusive genre, intelligent erotica … Baranay’s prose is precise, clear and tends towards the epigrammatic. … The narrative moves quickly and bristles with sharp social observations. …The result is stylish, provocative and wonderfully different.
-The Age
Wit, style, pain, cruelty – Australia’s Jean Rhys.
-Frank Moorhouse