This was such a heartwarming read. It is told through the alternating voices of Eloise and her daughter Valentina. Eloise had to leave Valentina when she was a child and it is only after Eloise’s death that Valentina can discover what happens. We are taken through Valentina’s healing journey as she takes over her mother’s bookshop in London. The love of community, friends and books shone through the story.
Scary Monsters had me singing the David Bowie song whenever I looked at the cover, but drove all else from my head when I was reading. It is two novellas, each with its own cover, and you can choose the order in which you read them (I chose Lyle first). Don’t be fooled by the cover art, they are both dark. Lili is set in the early 80s and Lyle in the not-too-distant future. Both characters migrated to Australia when they were young, and the issue of belonging is a scary monster for each, and racism, misogyny and ageism permeate the book. Lili is teaching English in France before going to university, and her story is about friendship, power, and growing up. Lyle lives with climate crisis, extreme pressure to conform in a believable dystopian future. Disturbing, beautiful, darkly humorous, clever and thought-provoking, it might be my favourite de Kretser novel.
If you like Richard Ayoade, you will very likely enjoy this light-hearted, often ridiculous appraisal of a little known (and certainly never seen by me) Gwyneth Paltrow film. Interspersed with details from his own life, Ayoade gives us the blow by blow glories of this film and the wonder that is GP herself. A great deal of fun, and a delightfully short and satisfying read.
We are introduced to a serial killer and then to Sarah and her daughter Marni. What is the connection between them? Who is the serial killer and what is in Sarah’s past that she has hidden from her daughter? I did find this a bit of a struggle to read as I found the writing chunky, the sentences a bit abbreviated. I enjoyed the way the story unraveled, bringing it all together at the end.
In the early 20th century January Scaller lives in a great house full of treasures, a ward to Mr Locke for whom her father works. One day she finds a book that tells an extraordinary tale of other worlds, and January is drawn out of her sheltered life and into great danger and adventure. With a story within a story, it reminded me of The Starless Sea( though a little less convoluted and grown-up), and it had elements of Sorcerer to the Crown as well (though not as funny), both favourites of mine. It is beautifully atmospheric, gorgeously imaginative, and gently romantic, with strong female characters, loyal friends (including a dog) frightening villains, and and an intriguing mystery.
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.
After a simple mistake, Kellen is brought before the Daroman queen to be executed, but finds himself, and his squirrel cat business partner, embroiled in the court’s affairs. This is the second last book in the series, and not my favourite. Some beloved characters were completely absent, I didn’t really understand the political intrigue, and some truly awful things happened. That said, it is usual for YA series to get darker as they go on, and there was still a lot to enjoy. I am looking forward to the final book.
Three Sisters is based on the true story of Jewish, Slovakian sisters whose love for each other sustained them through WWII and into their new lives in Israel. Consciously uplifting, and simply told, it celebrates the strength, bravery, and determination of the sisters to survive the horrors of the concentration camps, and leave the anti-Semitism of their birth country behind them to make something of their lives in the newly formed Israel. The story of these women is interesting and worth sharing, but the writing style is not at all to my taste; full of platitudes, inauthentic dialogue, too much detail about what we have read many times before, and not enough about less well-covered ground.
This was quite an emotional read, it was a dive into a love story that ends with domestic violence. Lily meets Ryle and they fall deeply in love. As she does, we are taken on the journey of her first love Atlas. When these two stories meet, it changes everything. The author explores how complicated relationships can be, especially when the person you love hurts you. The characters stay with you after the last page is turned, a sign of a good story.
Once the highest-paid woman in advertising, Lillian Boxfish is now 85 years old, and it is New Year’s Eve in 1984. As Lillian heads out into New York City for the evening, we think back over her extraordinary life in the city – her career, friendships, marriage, motherhood, and divorce – interacting with its people and lamenting its changes. It’s a New York novel (with a map!), gloriously nostalgic, tender, moving, and gently hopeful. It’s about the power of human connection, and what might be gained when we take risks and connect.
rrlreads 