Read this if you love happy endings and a cast of female characters dealing with female issues, or as some would describe women’s fiction. It is told in the alternate voices of 3 generations of a family, Flo, Grace and Neva, who are all midwives. The voices are seamless as their stories are told, which are all centered on the theme of mothering. While being a good story I felt the story lacked the drama and twists of similar types of novels.
The Woman in the Purple Skirt falls beautifully into the ‘women who are not okay” sub-genre of recent years – My Year of Rest and Relaxation, Sorrow and Bliss, Everyone in this Room Will Someday Be Dead, Beautiful World Where Are You – that sort of book, with bonus creepiness. Translated from the Japanese it is about a woman in a purple skirt as seen, intensely, by a woman in a yellow cardigan. It’s an understated but unsettling tale of single women’s lives, workplace dynamics, community, loneliness, and obsession. It starts quietly but builds up to pack a real punch, and the audiobook is well done, though the accent is not my favourite.
1888, the time when women could be committed to an institution for any reason, including being inconvenient or embarassing to the family, is the focus of this historical novel. Charlotte finds a way to have herself committed to Goldengrove Asylum to rescue her sister who was committed by their father. Once inside she discovers that the imates and conditions are not the same as the glossy brochure. I found the descriptions of Goldengrove and the treatments offered there interesting (and terrifying). How would Charlotte and her sister escape?
Mina works in advertising in London, having left behind a mother who won’t leave the house in Melbourne. When she hears that her mother has been seen out of the house, she drops everything and rushes home. An introspective novel with a leisurely pace, Kokomo is about complicated families, love, longing, misogyny , sex, and modern life for women. A little bit Sally Rooney, I didn’t really connect with the motivations and emotions of the main characters, but found it to be a thought-provoking story with a great sense of place.
A modern Australian women’s story that was engaging and easy to read. After 10 years of marriage to Ross, it is over after Andie finds he has cheated on her. Andie now has to rediscover what she wants from life. It is a story of messy relationships and achieving your dream.
This is the story of five sisters who come together when their father (and King) has been placed under a curse. The sisters are all quite different from each other and trying to discover their path in life. It was a great read and would suit anyone who was looking to try a fantasy novel for a first time, as although set in a fantasy world it was easy to navigate and had a great story to get lost in.
Don’t Touch my Hair is about how black hair is never just hair. I found this utterly riveting; the fascinating, shocking, sad, wondrous, rich history of black hair. Apart from the mathematical section, I found it very accessible, with personal details mixed in with lesser known historical facts, taking in slavery, science, colonisation, cultural appropriation, and so much more. Educational in the very best way, and while enjoyable is probably not the most appropriate word, I did enjoy it very much.
Marian is a pilot who wishes to circumnavigate the globe over both north and south poles. Her journey is just a small part of this novel as it traces her entire life. I enjoyed Marion’s story through prohibition America, WWII and her relationships. We are also introduced to Hadley a fallen Hollywood star who is chosen to play Marian in a film. As I was reading through the story I thought Hadley’s story did not add anything to the novel, but by the ending it all made sense. At times uncomfortable to read and although Marian was not a character I entirely loved it was an interesting journey.
In the early 1900s Ruby May takes up a position as nurse to the four young children of Mr and Mrs England, and finds that all is not as it seems in their Yorkshire house. There is a gothic feel of mystery and menace that shifts as Ruby finds out more about the England family, and her own secrets are revealed. Perhaps a touch slow to begin with, the pace picked up around the middle and raced towards the end. I found the character development lacking, for my own taste, and that kept me from emotional investment in the story, but there were (slight) Jane Eyre feels, and an atmospheric tale of power, control, and women’s lives in Edwardian England.
In 1932 Violet Speedwell is known as a ‘surplus woman’. She lost a brother and a fiancé during the Great War, and at 38 is unlikely to marry. Living with her cantankerous mother is becoming unbearable, so she moves to Winchester on her own. Life for a single woman is hard, but she finds solace in a group of broderers – women who embroider items for the cathedral. Between the wars in the U.K. is one of my favourite settings, and I really enjoyed a detailed look at life for those women who missed their chance for the expected married life. Well-researched, but not dry, with a great sense of time and place, and endearing characters.
rrlreads 