Wed by the Wayside

A True Story of Love, Family and Community

De: Alana Valentine

Narrado por: Matilda Ridgway

Alana Valentine’s mother, Janice, was remarried in 1969 at the Wayside Chapel, run by the charismatic and controversial minister Ted Noffs and his wife Margaret. Many years after her mother died, Alana found the wedding photo, and the longing to speak to her mother about that day drove her to seek out others who had begun new chapters of their lives at Wayside.

What Alana found was a remarkable group of people, whose stories are told here with kaleidoscopic effect. Wayside is a uniquely Australian institution where people have been welcomed for decades in spite of social taboos around race, class, religion and sexuality. Over the years, the likes of Ita Buttrose, Andy Gibb and Jane Powell have been married there, and the Chapel has been supported by famous ambassadors such as David Wenham, Claudia Karvan and Leah Purcell.

Told with grace and insight by one of Australia’s most acclaimed playwrights, Wed by the Wayside is a deeply personal quest and a vibrant chronicle that reshapes our understanding of this country’s social history.

©2024 Alana Valentine (P)2024 Bolinda Publishing

Reseñas de la Crítica

'Compelling … evocatively captures why the Wayside Chapel is the beating heart of our community.' (Indira Naidoo, Wayside Ambassador and broadcaster)

'This mosaic of memoir, reportage and social history is – like the man and community at its centre – warm, spirited, inclusive and gently but unapologetically radical.' (Emily Maguire, author of An Isolated Incident)

'Alana Valentine’s extraordinary body of work is animated by her big-hearted curiosity and wry intelligence. Poignant and compassionate, this vivid portrait of Sydney’s rulebreakers asks vital ethical questions about longing, belonging, belief and love.' (Mireille Juchau, author of The World Without Us)