BOOK CLUB

CRANLANA: THE FIRST 100 YEARS

Michael Shmith, Hardie Grant, $80

This lush volume was commissioned by the Myer family (the owners of Cranlana) and publisher Hardie Grant has done them proud. The author, Melbourne writer Shmith, says that the glorious photographs save him thousands of words.

The iron gate with linked initials and crowning arch is the image that lingers. In 1981, when fire broke out, it was that arch which prevented firefighters from entering the property. Readers should read the book once without Shmith’s outstanding text because his storytelling is a scene stealer. He methodically itemises every plant and every room and shed and glasshouse, yes, and the first two chapters are a model of scholarly research on Toorak.

There are so many stories in what could have been