A fitting end to a greatly enjoyable series. As ever Kellen and Reichis find themselves in great peril and must use all their wits, strength and friendships to make it through. I really loved that the main character didn’t have special gifts; he was the opposite of the chosen one, and his journey and growth were more about confidence and wisdom than the attaining of skills or gifts. It is very funny and full of heart.
Sylvie and Kase were the closest of friends until one night, when they were 17, something horrific happened that turned their lives upside-down, and Kase didn’t see Sylvie again. Sylvie was hurt physically and emotionally by the event, and lives a lonely life until Kase, now a famous author, invites Sylvie to her fortieth birthday party on a lonely Tasmanian island, and the past comes back to haunt them. Set in Sydney’s Palm Beach and in Tasmania, it’s a lush, lyrical, atmospheric novel about slowly revealed secrets, friendship, power and betrayal, and the strength and hope found in words and stories.
I won’t lie to you, this was probably a bit too clever for me, but somehow I didn’t mind. Francis, whose job is to rewild a property in Sussex, meets Olivia at a conference and they become lovers. Olivia’s friend Lucy returns to London after some years in New York to work for the super-rich Hunter on one of his scientific projects before receiving some unexpected news that binds them all together. The settings are glorious, the characters engaging, sometimes over the top, and the language complex and lyrical. Richly detailed, Double Blind ruminates on the environment, the brain, genetics, and relationships, and is darkly humorous, thought-provoking, touching, and marvel-inducing.
Emmeline Lake and her best friend, Bunty, live in London during World War Two. Emmy gets a job at a magazine, where she helps Mrs Bird with her advice column, but when Mrs Bird refuses to address any of the significant problems, Emmy takes matters into her own hands. This is a gentle, sweet, amusing, and moving story, addressing the harsh realities of life in London during the war. For fans of The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society, it is uplifting, quietly romantic, with a focus on kindness and friendship.
This is like what life would have been like for Hufflepuff students whose names we never knew. While Harry Potter and friends were off saving the world, they just had to get on with high school. It’s about a group of teenagers just about to finish school, dealing with family problems, mental health challenges, relationships, and planning for the future, while the “indie kids” have to save the world from supernatural forces. I found it a funny, touching, and hopeful book about friendship and growing up.
Pip is a young girl living in a hot, dusty, mining town. She misses her best friend, and her mother’s boyfriend is stealing their happiness at home, so she spends her time at the waterhole. One evening she finds a small, sick dragon, and knows she has to save him. It is a magical tale, though it feels completely realistic. Is about friendship, family, safety, loss, loneliness, and hope. It deals gently with domestic abuse, is heartwarming, and with a beautiful sense of place.
I enjoyed Beautiful World, Where Are You (I’m itching to add a question mark) more than Conversations with Friends and Normal People, in part, I imagine, because it didn’t make me feel as old. It is the story of Alice, a famous novelist, Eileen, who works for a literary magazine, and Felix and Simon, the men they are involved with. It’s philosophical, full of musings on the meaning of life, faith, history, as well as reflections and news from their lives – sex, relationships, mental health, fame, writing, reading, and connecting. Complicated and messy, but deeply hopeful, lyrical, evocative, awkward, and for me, utterly compelling.
It was a pleasure to delve into the lives of New Zealanders in the 50s/60s. This story is about Anna who has to move to Auckland with her family after loosing the family farm. Next door is Colleen with 3 daughters. Add to the mix are Kura and Wiki, Anna’s cousins, and their large families. Getting to know these woman and their struggles and joys was enjoyable and allowed Deborah to explore so many topics; racism, trauma, ageing, marriage, death, abortion, work and society.
In 1930s Melbourne, Lily meets Eva at school and begins an intense friendship. Lily falls in love with Eva, her sisters, and the glamorous, bohemian lifestyle at Eva’s, where the parents are trying to create an artistic refuge from conservative society. Too much freedom isn’t a good thing, and it is the daughters who suffer. Covering two time periods, this is an evocative, dream-like story with a well-developed sense of place. It’s about art, friendship, the desire to be different, mental health, and belonging.
A gently sad, and nostalgic novel about friendship, life, and meaning. James and Tully grew up together in a small town in Scotland in the 1980s, and the first part of the novel is about their lives at that time, especially a magical trip to Manchester to see some bands. The second part is set around thirty years later when Tully receives life changing news. It is a celebration of 1980s music, of lasting friendships forged in younger years, of beloved books and films, and of the struggle to live life to the full . Not a book that offers, or even seeks hope for the future, it looks to the beauty of what is available to us now. The audio version is read beautifully by the author.
rrlreads 