The Buxton Celebration is a darkly comic and emotionally rich story about a messy family being manipulated by a dead man, from the bestselling author of One Hundred Years of Betty.
The Buxton offspring, five of them from three mothers, had a chaotic childhood. Their father, Frank Buxton, was a famous artist – brilliant, charismatic, capricious and a tyrant.
Now he's dead, and it's revealed their ostensibly penniless father has left them one hundred million dollars.
But the money comes with strings attached, a list of tasks they must perform, some that are so outrageous the Buxton siblings question what they are prepared to do for the money and for each other, from the eldest Nick going to rehab, Anna leaving her uptight husband, and clean-living Anthony taking up a debaucherous lifestyle.
But it is Cora, the mother figure of the clan, who perhaps has the most repellent task of all: organising an exhibition celebrating her father on the one-year anniversary of his demise, Frank's final up-yours to the art world.
Can a person settle scores and control their children after death? What would you do if it meant securing a chunk of money? Can we appreciate an artist's work if they were a monster?
Throughout the next year, disturbing and wonderful things happen, as Cora finds a way to wrangle her siblings to subvert the process, and maybe make good lives for themselves after all, lives that are truly worth celebrating.
Praise for One Hundred Years of Betty:
'Debra Oswald fulfils a novelist's highest purpose in One Hundred Years of Betty. In a marathon exercise of imaginative empathy, she creates a life in full—all its aching sorrows, all its transcendent joys—unfolding amidst the convulsions of our tumultuous century. A rich feast of a novel, a perfect balance of sweet and sour. You won't want it to end.' Geraldine Brooks, bestselling author of Horse
'A beautiful beast of a book, spanning a century of change and a lifetime of love and loss.' Australian Women's Weekly
'Sweeping us across the decades with intellect and wit, Betty is the heroine women have been waiting for.' Gabbie Stroud, author of The Angry Wives Club
'Debra Oswald has used all her superpowers of observation to tell Betty's story with her trademark candour, wit and warmth.' Australian Country
'With One Hundred Years of Betty, Oswald has crafted a novel that is as engaging as it is profound, a celebration of life's grit and grandeur. Surrounded by characters that give her strength, Betty is not just a character; she is a challenge, a dare, a reminder that aging is not a diminishing – it is an expansion. And what a glorious expansion it is.' ArtsHub
'Oswald writes older women with the panache, wit and steeliness that many of us will recognise in our mothers, grandmothers and aunts who traversed a century that was never quite ready for them.' Melanie Joosten, author of Like Fire-Hearted Suns
Genre: Sagas
The Buxton offspring, five of them from three mothers, had a chaotic childhood. Their father, Frank Buxton, was a famous artist – brilliant, charismatic, capricious and a tyrant.
Now he's dead, and it's revealed their ostensibly penniless father has left them one hundred million dollars.
But the money comes with strings attached, a list of tasks they must perform, some that are so outrageous the Buxton siblings question what they are prepared to do for the money and for each other, from the eldest Nick going to rehab, Anna leaving her uptight husband, and clean-living Anthony taking up a debaucherous lifestyle.
But it is Cora, the mother figure of the clan, who perhaps has the most repellent task of all: organising an exhibition celebrating her father on the one-year anniversary of his demise, Frank's final up-yours to the art world.
Can a person settle scores and control their children after death? What would you do if it meant securing a chunk of money? Can we appreciate an artist's work if they were a monster?
Throughout the next year, disturbing and wonderful things happen, as Cora finds a way to wrangle her siblings to subvert the process, and maybe make good lives for themselves after all, lives that are truly worth celebrating.
Praise for One Hundred Years of Betty:
'Debra Oswald fulfils a novelist's highest purpose in One Hundred Years of Betty. In a marathon exercise of imaginative empathy, she creates a life in full—all its aching sorrows, all its transcendent joys—unfolding amidst the convulsions of our tumultuous century. A rich feast of a novel, a perfect balance of sweet and sour. You won't want it to end.' Geraldine Brooks, bestselling author of Horse
'A beautiful beast of a book, spanning a century of change and a lifetime of love and loss.' Australian Women's Weekly
'Sweeping us across the decades with intellect and wit, Betty is the heroine women have been waiting for.' Gabbie Stroud, author of The Angry Wives Club
'Debra Oswald has used all her superpowers of observation to tell Betty's story with her trademark candour, wit and warmth.' Australian Country
'With One Hundred Years of Betty, Oswald has crafted a novel that is as engaging as it is profound, a celebration of life's grit and grandeur. Surrounded by characters that give her strength, Betty is not just a character; she is a challenge, a dare, a reminder that aging is not a diminishing – it is an expansion. And what a glorious expansion it is.' ArtsHub
'Oswald writes older women with the panache, wit and steeliness that many of us will recognise in our mothers, grandmothers and aunts who traversed a century that was never quite ready for them.' Melanie Joosten, author of Like Fire-Hearted Suns
Genre: Sagas