Back to Broady

Life in McIvor Street, Broadmeadows was unpredictable. Cally Egan grew up expecting and experiencing the best and worst of her 1960s Australian working-class community. So chaotic were the days and nights in her big Irish Catholic family that she often planned her escape. Perched on the cold terracotta roof of her Housing Commission home and smoking a crushed cigarette from the bottom of her mother’s handbag, she would peer into the windows of the low-flying planes making their way to Melbourne’s new Tullamarine Airport, and hear her father’s voice and dream. ‘I’ll take you on one to Ireland one day’, he promised her, often as a reward for helping when her mother was so unwell that she took to her bed, or disappeared to hospital for shock treatment.

Back to Broady tells the compelling story of a young girl’s fight throughdisadvantage, and the lifelong friendships that have helped her walk the fine line between survival and surrender.

Incredibly moving and painfully honest, this exceptional memoir marries Angela’s Ashes and Cloudstreet to paint a hilarious yet often harrowing portrait of one family, and their determination to survive.

'Back to Broady is at times hard going as you become emotionally invested in the lives of the Egan and Gleeson families. But even though turning the page can sometimes fill you with trepidation, you can't help yourself: you are desperate to find out what happens next, and you want it to be good news.' The Australian

'There are a lot of good times, struggle and tragedy, but Caroline van de Pol never sentimentalises her subject. As the pace draws her back, she catches that sense of deep, unlikely attachment - even in the January heat - for the housing commission place that made her.' The Age and Sydney Morning Herald

'It is courageous people who can write about times where growing up with tragedy, love and poverty, blend and become a part of the person you are.' Blue Wolf Reviews

'A complex yet compelling read. Caroline shows us what it was like to grow up in a large Irish Catholic family in one of the poorer suburbs of Melbourne. The laughter, the tears, the joy, the hopelessness and the hope. In spite of the at times almost insurmountable odds, the family is held together by a strong bond of love and shared experiences. I found this book very enjoyable and satisfying to read, from start to finish.' Good Reads

'Any memory of childhood or youth is usually filled with the joys remembered and only occasionally tinged with sorrow regret and hardtimes . This book has a little of each in almost equal measure but the true test of autobiographical writings is how truly honest and exposed the author allows themselves to be. In this book the author leaves no doubt as to the authenticity of her exposure level, with raw emotion the overidding feature. An enjoyable but often confronting read and a must for anybody looking to come terms with the pain of loss.' Amazon

Caroline van de Pol is a writer, university lecturer and international tutor in creative nonfiction writing. She has a PhD in creative writing and her articles and creative work have appeared in journals including Text and New Writing. Caroline has worked as a journalist and editor for newspapers and magazines and has published three non-fiction books.

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