Here is a list of books that Valerie has written.
-
Mary Poppins, She Wrote
The true story of the Australia writer, P L Travers, creator of the quintessentially English nanny, published by Hachette Australia, 2010. This biography has had many incarnations. Like Mary Poppins herself, it never really goes away. First published by Hodder Headline in 1999 as Out of the Sky She Came, it was published by Aurum in the United Kingdom in 2005 and by Simon & Schuster in the United States in 2006. The latter two imprints coincided with the opening of Mary Poppins the Musical, first in London then in New York. The latest Hachette edition, with a new afterword, was published to coincide with the opening of the musical in Australia. ISBN: 9780733626371 Purchase from Dymocks online.
-
The Allens Affair
How one man shook the foundations of a leading Australian law firm, published by Pan Macmillan Australia, 1995. Adrian Powles had reached the peak of the legal profession as the managing partner of the distinguished law firm of Allen Allen & Hemsley. But Powles was a gambler - at the track, the casino and in the financial marketplace. His partners were dismayed to discover that while running the firm, he had been stealing money from his family and friends. Later, in London, he became embroiled in a financial scam in which money invested by Nauru went on a wild rollercoaster ride around the world. I covered the story of Powles and Allens for The Australian Financial Review and The Sydney Morning Herald
-
Connie Sweetheart
The story of Connie Robertson, published by Heinemann, 1990. “Sweetheart” was the middle name of Connie Robertson, the daughter of the Sydney literary figure, A.G. Stephens, and the women’s editor of The Sydney Morning Herald from 1936 until 1962. In those days, most female journalists were confined to the women writers’ room and not allowed to cover news stories. Connie’s pages, however, held up a mirror to Sydney society over many decades. The book tells her own story but it is also a social history of a city.
