Author(s): Trevor Barr

Australian Fiction

Inspired by real events, this novel with fictional characters, explores the human consequences for those caught up in the rapid transformation of a widely respected Australian corporation. The architect of sweeping change is Clint Mason, the formidable chief executive of the newly privatised Telco One, recruited from New York. Jennifer, a tenacious board member, comes to confront Clint about the way he interacts with his staff, the media, and government. Little did former financial counsellors, Max and Paul, realise how radically their lives would change after they joined Telco One's consumer division. And their respective partners, Karen and Nicole, also become embroiled in a new hothouse lifestyle as they confront complicated professional and personal choices. Journalists are gunning for their 'cowboy' Clint as he relentlessly imposes his new strategies. Is he a cultural misfit, a necessary agent of change, or a true visionary? Grand Intentions is an enthralling novel that draws upon life in the Australian telecommunications industry as an allegory that links corporate upheaval to its impacts on individuals, and asks what this means for Australia. Trevor Barr has written a pacey and thoughtful novel about an industry - telecommunications - that often seems unapproachable. He dramatizes the human side tells how it is for the big people and those who are the incidental casualties when change starts eating up the world faster than we can line up our defences. Helen Elliot, literary critic and writer Trevor Barr has written a stunning account of the changes with a major player in Australian and international telecommunications. A new fiction that is suspenseful and authentic from Australia's best media critic. A gripping story that gives the reader a great understanding of the way business and political decisions are taken at the top to secure the interests of shareholders, management and government. John O'Hara, former Director, The Australian Film and Television School