Apollo and Thelma

In Apollo and Thelma, broadcaster and lawyer Jon Faine shares a yarn that has enthralled him for forty years, taking him from Melbournes depression-era slums to the isolation of the outback. Apollo and Thelma have been a constant in Jon Faines life for decades. As a young lawyer, he was captivated by his favourite client, the Mighty Apollo, a legendary strongman and circus star, famous for pulling trams with his teeth and having an elephant stand on him. Apollos sister, Thelma, on the other hand, ruthless and rugged, had survived decades running solo one of the most remote pubs in the outback until unexpectedly dying, leaving behind a complicated estate. Befriending Apollo and immersing himself in Thelmas estate, Jon is forced to untangle a long line of astonishing stories and episodes in our distant and recent history that keep intersecting with his own. Via the circuitous route of these two larger-than-life characters alongside a supporting cast of characters from the world of politics, law, literature and media Jon reflects on their stories and is inevitably forced to rethink his own. Apollo and Thelma is a uniquely Australian story, beautifully told.