September 17, 2025

Book review: 90 Seconds to Midnight

This book is the biography of an inspiring woman who as a thirteen-year-old schoolgirl survived the bombing of Hiroshima in August 1945. What she witnessed after emerging from under the rubble she and her classmates were buried under doesn’t bear thinking about. We can get an idea though from the way in which Gaza is currently being systematically obliterated by Israel as we speak. The difference is that the former was destroyed in seconds by a nuclear bomb, along with countless thousands of Japanese – most of whom were civilians, including children like Setsuko Namajura.


Setsuko was one of just two of her 29 classmates to survive and as she grew up she determined to dedicate her life to ensuring there would never be a repeat of the Hiroshima or Nagasaki bombings. By the end of the book she is well into her eighties and has received the Nobel Peace Prize on behalf of an anti-nuclear organisation she has worked with for decades.


90 Seconds to Midnight is far from an easy or comfortable read, particularly as the world now hovers on the brink of another global conflict, between countries who have nuclear weapons capabilities. Never have Setsuko’s warnings about the risks for the survival of humanity and the planet generally, been more pertinent.



https://independentaustralia.net/life/life-display/book-review-90-seconds-to-midnight,20157

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


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Magni

Fiona's gift

By Anne Layton-Bennett • June 14, 2026
It’s taken far too many months for this marvellous model to grace the dedicated desk space in my office. When Fiona comes to visit next she will be very surprised, and hopefully gratified, that her amazing creative talent is finally on display. We’ve known each other for a very long time, and during the insanely busy time when I was helping to run the flower farm, working part-time in a school library, doing a spot of journalism on the side, and fighting the proposed pulp mill that is the subject of the manuscript I’m hoping to get published, Fiona cleaned my house each week. There’s only so much a person can do after all, and it has to be said cleaning our house during those manic years was fairly low down on the list of my priorities. But Fiona is a woman of many talents and she certainly possesses one that I so don’t have: sewing and dressmaking. So over the years she’s also made a few garments based on the pattern of a favourite garment that I was particularly fond of, and she’s also done some clothing alterations for both of us. My skills with needles and thread are limited to sewing on buttons, and taking up hems on John’s too-long pairs of jeans. Anything else is beyond me. But this fabulous model is the pièce de résistance – along with the beautiful crocheted knee warmer she gave me last year. This was when winter was approaching and so determined was I to finish writing the book, I decided to get out of bed at the insane hour of 5am and get in a solid hour’s writing in before dog walking and the demands of the day took over. Fiona was also one of many Tasmanians who needed to be circumspect about her opinion of the pulp mill. It was a project that polarised people, including families and friendships. She was one of several who passed on snippets of useful information, but on the basis of anonymity so it couldn’t be sheeted home to her.  Needless to say Fiona will be one of those whose contribution will be acknowledged – when this book is finally accepted by a publisher.

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