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HEART AND SOUL By Maeve Binchy Orion, 464pp, $35 PLAYING THE GAME By Belle de Jour Orion, 320pp, $32.99 UNDER CONTROL By Mark McNay Canongate, 320pp, $27.95 PICK OF THE WEEK COOEE By Vivienne Kelly Scribe, 320pp, $32.95

The inspirations for fiction are many and the characters brought to life varied, as these four first novels suggest, writes Jo Case. Turtle By Gary Bryson Allen & Unwin, $27.95 Cooee By Vivienne Kelly Scribe, $32.95 The Twelfth Fish By Graham Perrett Vulgar Press, $32.95 Fugitive Blue By Claire Thomas..read more

CUP week approacheth and punters are on tenterhooks - particularly at tiny Meredith on the Midland Highway between Ballarat and Geelong. Seems the only TAB within cooee is in the Meredith Hotel and, after one hell of a barney, that pub has closed its doors.

GINOLAD may not come within cooee of being the fastest of more than 500 worldwide winners sired by former Collingrove Stud stallion Perugino, but with a win over 5500 metres in the Grand Annual Steeple this year, he takes the title of winning over the longest journey.

Paul Edwards unlocks the pleasures of going out and about in a boat within cooee of the city centre.