'Under a bright Australian sun, the fascinating tale of a European life comes to light. In a sequence of incisive poems, Belinda Broughton narrates the voice of Ervin Janek - Hungarian artist and poet, son of a nun and 'a certain Jewish man' - who makes his 'own path' out of abandonment and poverty, through streets where he can hold his own against cheats and bullies, and into the wider world of exotic experience. Broughton revels in the linguistic portrayal of a character whose deprived childhood, forced Hitler Youth attendance, flirtation with monastic life, horse riding for a baroness, and...