Unaccountable Hours: Three Novellas

Unaccountable Hours is a collection of three novellas that follow the fortunes of a maker of musical instruments, the ethical dilemma of a biologist and birdwatcher, and the romantic friendship between a young man and an aged woman - all firmly set in and defined by the Australian landscape. In The Luthier, musician Alton Freeman devotes his life to crafting a violin that will reproduce the perfect sound of Bach's Partitas and Sonatas, as played by his idol, musician Monica Erica Grenbaum. Ethical Man follows the biologist and birdwatcher Bartholomew Milner, who lives stringently according to his 'Milner's Ethic' and is put to the ultimate ethical test while on a research expedition in the Australian outback. Like Water tells the story of an unlikely friendship and subsequent romance that develops between two kindred spirits, Matthew and Beatrice, two soulmates born generations apart. While each novella has its roots firmly set in Australia, international settings include Cremona (The Luthier), Washington DC (Ethical Man), and Rome (Like Water). These novellas will appeal to the general reader - as well as book clubs - due to the substance of these 'bite-sized novels.' In his role as travel editor of The West Australian, author Stephen Scourfield has travelled more than a million kilometers throughout Western Australia. Unaccountable Hours is a product of his experiences. Scourfield is the award-winning author of Other Country, which won the Western Australian Premier's Book Award for fiction. He was judged Australia's Best Travel Writer in the National Travel Industry Awards in both 2011 and 2009. Additionally, he is the recipient of a United Nations Media Award.