Family Matters ~ Rohinton Mistry

When the elderly Nariman Vakeel breaks his ankle his world, and that of his immediate family, changes forever.

Set in Bombay, it appears Nariman is lucky for he lives in a spacious apartment with his adult step children Coomy and Jal, but after the accident Coomy struggles to deal with Nariman's daily toileting to the point she feels he cannot live there any more.  He is taken by ambulance to live with his biological daughter Roxana who lives in a two roomed flat with her husband and two young boys.  Already lacking adequate space the only place they can put 'Grandad' is on the living room couch.  The couch and the living room is Nariman's world for the next few weeks.

I absolutely loved this story, you are quickly drawn into the lives of this family.  The bitter Coomy, the hard of hearing Jal and the beautiful Roxana who must keep the family together despite the daily trials.  

I felt so many emotions whilst reading it - I felt absolute love for Roxana, the imposition put upon her by Coomy only makes her stronger.  She takes care of her father and all his needs without complaint.  I felt anxiety at her husband Yezad who makes some terrible decisions to improve their financial situation so that they can buy the necessary medicines for Nariman, who also suffers from Parkinson's.  I felt anger too at Yezad who will not stoop to help his father-in-law with his toilet requirements and will not allow his two sons to help either.

Nariman's story unfolds through torturous dreams and you feel sorrow for this man who was once a professor and who now suffers his illness and situation with the greatest of dignity.

This is a very thought provoking novel as there are many other secondary characters that are wonderful but tragic, like Mr Kapur the owner of the Sporting Goods Emporium where Yezad works. He loves Bombay as a woman, and hates to see her falling from grace beneath the corruption of those in power.  His strong opinions and Yezad's own deviation from the straight and narrow will be Mr Kapur's downfall.

This really is a wonderful read, and I felt sorry to say goodbye to Roxana and her beautiful boys when I finished it.

Maxine

Ransom ~ David Malouf

Ransom is a beautifully written re-imagining of one of the stories from The Illiad.  

Patroclus is dead and the grieving Achilles, who has taken his revenge on Hector, is tormenting Hector's father King Priam by dragging the body behind his chariot around the walls of Troy.  Each night the gods restore Hector's body so that Achilles must repeat the process day after day.

There is no honour in what Achilles is doing, the body should and must be given up for decent burial rites but Achilles is in deep distress and feels that the gods are mocking him by restoring Hector's defiled flesh each night.

King Priam cannot stand to see his son so treated and decides to talk to Achilles face to face, man to man, and ransom Hector's body.  At first his advisors are against this, feeling that someone should go in his stead, but this is something Priam must do  himself, and not as a King but as a father.  He decides to remove all trappings of his wealth and wear just a white robe; a simple carter, his wagon, and his two donkeys are hired to carry Priam and his ransom to Achilles.

What happens on the way is no less a surprise to Priam than it is to Somax the carter, which gives him a story to tell his grandchildren and great grandchildren in the years to come after Priam has fallen at the hands of Achilles' son.

I absolutely loved this little novella. Having read The Illiad a couple of years ago, it was wonderful to find myself back in this classic story.

Maxine

The Fates Will Find Their Way ~ Hannah Pittard

"Sixteen-year-old Nora Lindell is missing. And the neighborhood boys she's left behind are caught forever in the heady current of her absence.

As the days and years pile up, the mystery of her disappearance grows kaleidoscopically. A collection of rumors, divergent suspicions, and tantalizing what-ifs, Nora Lindell's story is a shadowy projection of teenage lust, friendship, reverence, and regret, captured magically in the disembodied plural voice of the boys who still long for her.

Told in haunting, percussive prose, Hannah Pittard's beautifully crafted novel tracks the emotional progress of the sister Nora left behind, the other families in their leafy suburban enclave, and the individual fates of the boys in her thrall. Far more eager to imagine Nora's fate than to scrutinize their own, the boys sleepwalk into an adulthood of jobs, marriages, families, homes, and daughters of their own, all the while pining for a girl-and a life-that no longer exists, except in the imagination.

A masterful literary debut that shines a light into the dream-filled space between childhood and all that follows, The Fates Will Find Their Way is a story about the stories we tell ourselves-of who we once were and may someday become."

Review from the Internet

Read by Robyn S.

Revenge Wears Prada: the Devil Returns ~ Lauren Weisberger

"Almost a decade has passed since Andy Sachs quit the job “a million girls would die for” working for Miranda Priestly at Runway magazine—a dream that turned out to be a nightmare. Andy and Emily, her former nemesis and co-assistant, have since joined forces to start a highend bridal magazine. The Plunge has quickly become required reading for the young and stylish. Now they get to call all the shots: Andy writes and travels to her heart’s content; Emily plans parties and secures advertising like a seasoned pro. Even better, Andy has met the love of her life. Max Harrison, scion of a storied media family, is confident, successful, and drop-dead gorgeous. Their wedding will be splashed across all the society pages as their friends and family gather to toast the glowing couple. Andy Sachs is on top of the world. But karma’s a bitch. The morning of her wedding, Andy can’t shake the past. And when she discovers a secret letter with crushing implications, her wedding-day jitters turn to cold dread. Andy realizes that nothing—not her husband, nor her beloved career—is as it seems. She never suspected that her efforts to build a bright new life would lead her back to the darkness she barely escaped ten years ago—and directly into the path of the devil herself."

Review from the Internet

Read by Robyn S.

The St Zita Society ~ Ruth Rendell

"Life for the residents and servants of Hexam Place appears placid and orderly on the outside: drivers take their employers to and from work, dogs are walked, flowers are planted in gardens, and Christmas candles lit uniformly in windows. But beneath this tranquil veneer, the upstairs-downstairs relationships are set to combust.

Henry, the handsome valet to Lord Studley, is sleeping with both the Lord's wife and his university-age daughter. Montserrat, the Still family's lazy au pair, assists Mrs. Still in keeping secret her illicit affair with a television actor in exchange for pocket cash. June, the haughty housekeeper to a princess of dubious origin, tries to enlist her fellow house-helpers into a 'society' to address complaints about their employers. Meanwhile, Dex, the disturbed gardener to several families on the block, thinks a voice on his cell phone is giving him godlike instructions, commands that could imperil the lives of all those in Hexam Place."

Review from the internet.

Read by Robyn S.

The Harbour Girl ~ Val Wood

"Young Jeannie spends her days watching her mother and the other harbour girls sitting at the water's edge - mending nets, gutting herring - and waiting for her friend Ethan Wharton to come in on his father's fishing smack.

As she was growing up, Jeannie always expected to marry Ethan, who is loyal and dependable. But then she meets Harry - a stranger who has come to visit from Hull for the day - and she falls for him. He is exciting and irresistible, and seems very keen on her. But he breaks his promise to come back for her, and Jeannie finds herself young, pregnant and feeling very isolated.

Jeannie moves to the port town of Hull where her new, difficult life with a child - touched by illness, tragedy and poverty - is often made bearable by the kindness of others. But she finds herself wishing for the simpler times of her past, wondering if she will ever find someone who will truly love her - and if Ethan will ever forgive her..."

Review from the Internet

Read by Robyn S.

The King's Curse ~ Philippa Gregory

"The final novel in the Cousins' War series, the basis for the critically acclaimed Starz miniseries, The White Queen, by #1 New York Times bestselling author and "the queen of royal fiction" (USA TODAY) Philippa Gregory tells the fascinating story of Margaret Pole, cousin to the "White Princess," Elizabeth of York, and lady-in-waiting to Katherine of Aragon.

Regarded as yet another threat to the volatile King Henry VII's claim to the throne, Margaret Pole, cousin to Elizabeth of York (known as the White Princess) and daughter of George, Duke of Clarence, is married off to a steady and kind Lancaster supporter-Sir Richard Pole. For his loyalty, Sir Richard is entrusted with the governorship of Wales, but Margaret's contented daily life is changed forever with the arrival of Arthur, the young Prince of Wales, and his beautiful bride, Katherine of Aragon. Margaret soon becomes a trusted advisor and friend to the honeymooning couple, hiding her own royal connections in service to the Tudors.

After the sudden death of Prince Arthur, Katherine leaves for London a widow, and fulfills her deathbed promise to her husband by marrying his brother, Henry VIII. Margaret's world is turned upside down by the surprising summons to court, where she becomes the chief lady-in-waiting to Queen Katherine. But this charmed life of the wealthiest and "holiest" woman in England lasts only until the rise of Anne Boleyn, and the dramatic deterioration of the Tudor court. Margaret has to choose whether her allegiance is to the increasingly tyrannical king, or to her beloved queen; to the religion she loves or the theology which serves the new masters. Caught between the old world and the new, Margaret Pole has to find her own way as she carries the knowledge of an old curse on all the Tudors."

Loved it what can I say!

Review from the internet.

Read by Robyn S.

Love in a Cold Climate ~ Nancy Mitford

"One of Nancy Mitford's most beloved novels, Love in a Cold Climate is a sparkling romantic comedy that vividly evokes the lost glamour of aristocratic life in England between the wars.

Polly Hampton has long been groomed for the perfect marriage by her mother, the fearsome and ambitious Lady Montdore. But Polly, with her stunning good looks and impeccable connections, is bored by the monotony of her glittering debut season in London. Having just come from India, where her father served as Viceroy, she claims to have hoped that society in a colder climate would be less obsessed with love affairs. 

The apparently aloof and indifferent Polly has a long-held secret, however, one that leads to the shattering of her mother's dreams and her own disinheritance. When an elderly duke begins pursuing the disgraced Polly and a callow potential heir curries favor with her parents, nothing goes as expected, but in the end all find happiness in their own unconventional ways".

Review from the Internet
Read by Robyn S.

The Pursuit of Love ~ Nancy Mitford

"Few aristocratic English families of the twentieth century enjoyed the glamorous notoriety of the infamous Mitford sisters. Nancy Mitford's most famous novel, The Pursuit of Love satirizes British aristocracy in the twenties and thirties through the amorous adventures of the Radletts, an exuberantly unconventional family closely modeled on Mitford's own.

The Radletts of Alconleigh occupy the heights of genteel eccentricity, from terrifying Lord Alconleigh (who, like Mitford's father, used to hunt his children with bloodhounds when foxes were not available), to his gentle wife, Sadie, their wayward daughter Linda, and the other six lively Radlett children. Mitford's wickedly funny prose follows these characters through misguided marriages and dramatic love affairs, as the shadow of World War II begins to close in on their rapidly vanishing world.  Based on her real life with names changed to protect the innocent."

Review from the Internet

Read by Robyn S

Alice Hartley's Happiness ~ Phillipa Gregory

When Professor Charles Pringle does not react to his wife`s special birthday dance of the seven veils, Alice decides to leave him and moves in with an unsuspecting student, Michael. His aunt dies and leaves him her house, so the couple move in and convert it into a "growth centre".  

Funny little story it appears that it may have been produced under different names later on.

Read by Robyn S.

Middlesex ~ Jeffrey Eugenides

Not content with the emotional impact, nor the anatomical insight, contained in a diary written by an intersex convent girl in the 19th Century Jeffrey Eugenides decided to write a novel instead that would satisfy the reader's inquiring mind.

Middlesex is loosely based on the author's life and his own Greek heritage, however, Calliope/Cal (the protagonist) is his own creation and therefore the novel is not autobiographical.

I loved this book!!  Not only does it explore the themes of nature vs nurture, rebirth and the impact of a recessive gene on three generations of one family, but it also chronicles the life of two immigrant silkworm farmers from their isolated hillside home in Greece to their new life in prohibition era Detroit.

Calliope, their grand-daughter is born a hermaphrodite, however this is not discovered until she/he reaches puberty.  Told retrospectively, and commencing from the womb, Calliope takes us back to when her grandparents were young and how the recessive gene which is quite often found in isolated in-bred groups of people begins to rear its ugly head.

Really, this novel could have been distasteful however we are introduced to a wonderful group of characters with great personalities and eccentricities trying to make a success of their life in a new country, not knowing that their life choices are taking them down a road that will cause the teenage Calliope untold anguish.  Calliope suffers from the usual female teenage angst..... when will her period start?  Why is she so flat chested when her classmates are developing?  Why does she have a crush on her best friend?  Being of Greek heritage other tell tale signs are missed as she grows older .... the unwanted hair on her upper lip that needs waxing, the husky voice and the beginning of heavy set features.  I truly felt for Calliope as she brought back memories of my own insecurities as an introverted teenager.

One thing I didn't get was why Calliope's brother was called Chapter Eleven.  All the way through the novel I was hoping it would reveal itself.  It does actually, but very subtly and being Australian I didn't pick up on it.  American's would get it.  I won't spoil it here, read the book and if you are still in the dark you can Google Eugenides' answer.  It's quite clever.

Read by Maxine

The House of Mirth ~ Edith Wharton

Whilst Jane Austen used her knowledge of drawing room conversions as inspiration for her novels, Edith Wharton has drawn upon her experiences as a member of New York’s Upper Class Society for her novel The House of Mirth.

This book was wonderfully written, with the conversations between each character feeling completely natural.  Wharton shows the fabulously wealthy as being conceited, shallow and condescending, where their only good advice is to make sure that you ‘marry money’, where ‘breaking in new people’ is tiresome and where the most laborious job of the year is going through your furs.

Lily Bart, the novel’s protagonist, is a popular and beautiful member of New York’s Upper Class Society around 1890.  She has no money of her own and her parents are deceased, but her Aunt takes her in and as she is very wealthy she makes sure that Lily has the best clothes to wear for any occasion. Lily’s mother and her Aunt have groomed her to be a beautiful ornament, but whose arm she is to hang off remains to be seen.  At 29 years old she is under pressure to marry, but she cannot make up her mind.  She loves Lawrence Selden but she would be stepping down in the world if she made that match, and he definitely could not afford her extravagances.  Percy Gryce is fabulously wealthy but he’s a mother’s boy and Lily’s smoking and mounting gambling debts scare him off.  Simon Rosedale, a Jewish suitor is distasteful to her, but he begins to be her only option as time goes on.

Whilst she ponders her future, Lily finds herself in more than one compromising situation; although totally innocent on her part they spark malicious gossip about her that will not go away.  When she is accused of trying to steal away the husband of one of her friends, Bertha Dorset, whilst holidaying on the Dorset’s yacht the scandal ruins Lily’s status.  Lilly is innocent of course, but Bertha is trying to deflect possible gossip about her own indiscretions with a poet.

As the rumours circle round Lily’s Aunt is appalled by her apparent behaviour and in the final weeks before her death she disinherits Lily leaving her only a small legacy which will just cover a debt which is hanging over Lily’s head like a black cloud. The payment of the legacy is withheld for almost a year until legal problems with the Will are ironed out, and Lily is forced to find work.  Having been groomed for nothing but ornamentation Lily’s work output is poor, she is let go and her health and state of mind begin to suffer.

No longer needing to aim so high for social standing, Lawrence Selden is once again a possible match, but fate will see to it that they can never be together.

What a tragic figure Lily Bart is, and this novel highlights once again how social conventions of the time make life extremely difficult for young single women.  Thomas Hardy shows us time and again with his novels, and now we see that it cannot be escaped even with the wealthy.

As for the title, it comes from Ecclesiastes 7:4: “The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning; but the heart of fools is in the house of mirth”.

A great read.

Maxine 

Far From the Madding Crowd ~ Thomas Hardy

Bathsheba Everdene is a strong spirited girl, and whilst she thinks she knows her own mind she has not a clue with regards to the workings of a man’s mind.

Farmer Boldwood is a confirmed bachelor and even the beauty of Miss Everdene can’t turn his head at market. Bathsheba’s maid points out Boldwood’s indifference to her so, out of fun or maybe girlish spite, she sends him a Valentine Card sealed with a stamp marked ‘Marry Me’. 

This frivolous throw away moment changes everything. 

Boldwood becomes a man desperate to possess her, and presses her for her promise to marry to the point of breaking her spirit. Bathsheba had already turned down a proposal of marriage from the kindly Shepherd Oak when she first arrived in Weatherbury and Oak’s status looked like it was improving but, as her own situation improves by taking on her late Uncle’s farm, Bathsheba is in no hurry to lose her independence.  Unfortunately, during her unwanted courtship with Boldwood, she is dazzled by a rake (Sergeant Troy), who has already ruined one young woman, and the chance of future happiness begins to unravel for all.

Through this emotional drama Shepherd Oak remains a staunch and loyal friend, putting aside his own feelings to manage Bathsheba’s farm and trying to morally guide her.  In a time when propriety means everything, he has to withstand gossip from the neighbourhood which insinuates that he’s just hanging around Bathsheba and ‘biding his time’.

Set in Wessex, I loved the country setting and also the minor characters that work the farm.  Their dialogue and actions hark back to simpler times which consisted of manual labour, cider and gossip.

This novel highlights the fickleness of young women in matters of love. In an era when a promise is a promise, and solemnly binding, there’s no room for mistaken feelings. I’m not usually sentimental but Bathsheba’s realisation of Oak’s true friendship towards the end of the novel, and Oak’s realisation of his one dream, had me fighting back tears.

As for the title of the novel, it was taken from the following:

Far From the madding crowd's ignoble strife

Their sober wishes never learn'd to stray;

Along the cool sequester'd vale of life

They kept the noiseless tenor of their way.

                                  Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard by Thomas Gray

Throw away your bodice rippers, and read a love story with real class!

Read by Maxine

Dying Embers ~ M R Cosby

This is the first time that I have waited in anticipation for the release of a book by an independent author. Knowing that the style was inspired by one of my favourite writers, Robert Aickman, I was very keen to read it.

Aickman has the ability to unsettle your nerves when writing about everyday events that at first appear normal then go slightly off kilter.  I can honestly say that I wasn’t disappointed. These short stories are very well constructed, and the unsettling nature of each varies in degrees as does the strangeness.

Abraham’s Bosom was one of my favourite stories as it brought to mind how I felt on my recent visit to Rangitoto Island.  My partner and I had walked off the beaten track looking for lava caves and I became increasingly alarmed when I couldn't hear any of the other trekkers and was unable to orient myself to where we should be on our map.  This story of a jogger becoming separated from his running mate and experiencing a supernatural event reminded me not only of Robert Aickman but also of Alfred Noyes’ Midnight Express by the last passage.

Building Bridges I found to be a nice cloying story about a father wanting to reconnect with his family however forces move against him during a visit to a museum exhibit.

The Next Terrace is the perfect opening story and lays the foundation to what can be expected within following the pages and Playing Tag I thought was a beautifully written story which really evoked the grounds of an English stately home.

La Tarasque was probably my least favourite of the collection but mainly because I couldn't identify with any part of it, and I’m still trying to work out the title of the last story (Fingerprinting) although I did really enjoy the story itself.  I’m staying in some obscure small towns at the end of the year on my first ever Aussie road trip, so I shall bear this story in mind!

This whole collection has been put together very nicely; Some of the stories are very subtle whilst others grab at you, but what I liked most about these stories is that they are very identifiable as being Australian. 

Read by Maxine

Lime Street at Two ~ Helen Forrester

"In this book, Helen Forrester continues the moving story of her early life with an account of the war years in blitz-torn Liverpool, and the happiness which she so nearly captured, but which was to elude her twice. In 1940 Helen, now twenty, reeling from the news that her fiancé Harry has been killed on an Atlantic convoy, is working long hours at a welfare centre in Bootle, five miles from home. Her wages are pitifully low and her mother claims the whole lot of them for housekeeping. Then, early in 1941, she gets a new job and begins to enjoy herself a little. But in May the bombing starts again and another move brings more trouble to Helen, trouble which will be faced, as ever, with courage and determination."

I found this series of books very interesting and provided a pretty vivid description of the poverty in England during the period between the world wars.  However I found it pretty depressing to think this mother could behave in such a selfish manner to her children. Many of the other books I have read for this era contained as much poverty if not more so but none with parents who over many years just never made any improvements and used their children so harshly.

Helen Forrester (1919 – 2011) is an English-born author famous for her books about her early childhood in Liverpool during the Great Depression as well as several works of fiction. 

Read by Robyn S.

By the Waters of Liverpool ~ Helen Forrester

“The third volume in the classic story of Helen Forrester's childhood and adolescence in poverty-stricken Liverpool during the 1930s.

Helen has managed to achieve a small measure of independence. At seventeen, she has fought and won two bitter battles with her parents, the first for the right to educate herself at evening classes, the second for the right to go out to work. Her parents are still as financially irresponsible as ever, wasting money while their children lack blankets, let alone proper beds, but for Helen the future is brightening as she begins to make friends her own age and to develop some social life outside the home. At twenty, still never kissed by a lover, Helen meets Harry, a strong, tall seaman, and falls in love.”

Review from the internet

Read by Robyn S.

Liverpool Miss ~ Helen Forrester

“The second volume of Helen Forrester's powerful, painful and ultimately uplifting four-volume autobiography of her poverty-stricken childhood in Liverpool during the Depression. The Forrester family are slowly winning their fight for survival. But fourteen-year-old Helen's personal battle is to persuade her parents to allow her to earn her own living, to lead her own life after the years of neglect and inadequate schooling while she cared for her six younger brothers and sisters. Her untiring struggles against illness caused by severe malnutrition and dirt (she has her first bath in four years) and, above all, the selfish demands of her parents, make this a story of amazing courage and perseverance.”

Review from the internet, Read by Robyn S.

The Fifteen Streets ~ Catherine Cookson

“John O'Brien lives in a world where surviving is a continual struggle. He works long hours at the docks to help support his parents' large family. Many other families in the Fifteen Streets have already given up and descended into a dismal state of grinding poverty, but the O'Briens continue to strive for a world they are only rarely allowed to glimpse.

Then John O'Brien meets Mary Llewellyn, a beautiful young teacher who belongs to that other world. What begins as a casual conversation over tea quickly blossoms into a rare love that should have been perfect. Fate steps in, however, when John is accused of fathering the child of a local girl, and Mary's parents forbid her to see him. The couple begins to realize that the gulf of the Fifteen Streets between them is a chasm they could never bridge-or might they still find a way?

In these pages Catherine Cookson displays the irresistible plotting, scene-setting, and characterization that have made her a recognized master of historical and romance fiction. Fans of her novels, with their larger themes of romantic love and class conflict, will be delighted to find that even at the beginning of her illustrious career, Cookson had the power to captivate audiences. Filled with passion and compelling drama, "The Fifteen Streets" is a rare treat for lovers of romantic fiction.”

Review from the internet.

Read by Robyn S.

Bad Behaviour ~ Liz Byrski

“One mistake can change a life forever.  Zoe is living a conventional suburban life in Fremantle. She works, she gardens and she loves her supportive husband Archie and their three children. But the arrival of a new woman into her son Daniel's life unsettles Zoe. Suddenly she is feeling angry and hurt, and is lashing out at those closest to her.

In Sussex, England, Julia is feeling nostalgic as she nurses her best friend through the last painful stages of cancer. Her enthusiastic but dithering husband Tom is trying to convince Julia to slow down. Although she knows Tom means well, Julia cannot help but feel frustrated that he is pushing her into old age before she is ready. But she knows she is lucky to have him. She so nearly didn't...

These two women's lives have been shaped by the decisions they made back in 1968; when they were young, idealistic and naive. In a world that was a whirl of politics and protest, consciousness raising and sexual liberation, Zoe and Julia were looking for love, truth and their own happy endings. They soon discover that life is rarely that simple, as their bad behaviour leads them down paths that they can never turn back”

Review from the internet. 

Read by Robyn S

Past Secrets ~ Cathy Kelly

I really enjoyed this. To be honest, I bought it because I liked the cover and it's about Irish families. But I ended up thoroughly enjoying it.

"Behind the shining windows and rose-bedecked gardens of Summer St.  The women of Summer Street have their fair share of secrets and soon learn that if you keep a secret too long it will creep out when you least expect it…"

Read by Robyn S.

Twopence to Cross the Mersey ~ Helen Forrester

I was quite taken with this book about a young girl whose family is thrust into abject poverty when her father's business goes bankrupt.  

When Helen Forrester's father went bankrupt in 1930 she and her six siblings were forced from comfortable middle-class life in southern England to utmost poverty in the Depression-ridden North. Her parents more or less collapsed under the strain, father spending hours in search of non-existent work, or in the dole queue, mother on the verge of a breakdown and striving to find and keep part-time jobs. 

The running of the household, in slum surroundings and with little food, the care of the younger children, all fell on twelve-year-old Helen. Unable to attend school, Helen's fear that she was to be trapped forever as drudge and housekeeper caused her to despair at times. But she was determined to have a chance and struggled, despite her parents, to gain an education.

Read by Robyn S.

A cuppa Tea & An Asprin ~ Helen Forrester

This followed a family in Liverpool from 1938 to 1965. They were extremely poor and many times it was disturbing and difficult to read, but, on the whole, I enjoyed the book. It surely shows a whole different world and makes you appreciate your life.

It gave such insight into the terrible poverty in Liverpool in the 30s - families appear to have been living in conditions not uncommon in Victorian London. It's a wonder that people survived in such appalling conditions. The plot was simple - it followed the life of Martha Connolly, her family and friends, from the late 30s to 1965. As I said earlier most of the book was and enjoyable interesting read but I didn't like the divine intervention details towards the end - it seemed a clumsy handling of what many people believe.

Read By Robyn S

Jumping the Queue ~ Mary Wesley

"This book opens with the main character, Matilda, tidying her life (literally and figuratively) in preparation for what we soon learn is her planned suicide. A curious beginning but it manages to draw the reader in to Matilda's life and immediately we're interested.

Matilda's perfect suicide is interrupted by some less-than-sensitive young people and then the whole thing is put on hold when a very interesting stranger crosses Matilda's path.

Ms Wesley's enjoyable book leads the reader to question what really makes life worth living. Is it family, friends, lovers, home, variety, health...? The more she discovers about her own life, the more Matilda grows disenchanted with all of the above."

An easy read, a compelling story, a heroine that could be anyone you know up until the wife's diary is made available then we end up in fairy land really.  Very Interesting though where-ever did this story come from.

Read by Robyn S.

Gone Girl ~ Gillian Flynn

"On a warm summer morning in North Carthage, Missouri, it is Nick and Amy Dunne’s fifth wedding anniversary. Presents are being wrapped and reservations are being made when Nick’s clever and beautiful wife disappears. Husband-of-the-Year Nick isn’t doing himself any favors with cringe-worthy daydreams about the slope and shape of his wife’s head, but passages from Amy's diary reveal the alpha-girl perfectionist could have put anyone dangerously on edge. Under mounting pressure from the police and the media—as well as Amy’s fiercely doting parents—the town golden boy parades an endless series of lies, deceits, and inappropriate behavior. Nick is oddly evasive, and he’s definitely bitter—but is he really a killer?"

Very clever, very disturbing, highly original - I was completely gripped all the way through, pretty believable.

Read by Robyn S.

Southern Lady, Yankee Spy ~ Elizabeth R Varon

On a recent visit to Washington DC and Richmond, Virginia I found the sheer volume of U.S. war and military history quite overwhelming – in the end I couldn’t face one more statue of a general on a horse. I was most interested in the history of Abraham Lincoln, one of my historic heroes, and this led inevitably to the history of the Civil War. Among the (literally) hundreds of written histories of the period, I was intrigued to find a section on the role of women in intelligence-gathering and smuggling soldiers as well as information across enemy lines.

Elizabeth Varon’s book tells the story of Elizabeth van Lew, independent and socially rebellious daughter of a much-respected Old Southern family in Richmond which was then the capital of the Southern States. It seems she was somewhat ambivalent in her views: she loved Richmond and enjoyed the antebellum lifestyle of the southern belle, her family had slaves and were totally part of the establishment. Yet Elizabeth believed slavery to be fundamentally wrong; “…Slave power is arrogant – is cruel – is despotic- not only over the slave, but over the community, the State…” and began before the outbreak of war to try to influence by petitioning politicians to resist the call to secession by the adamantly pro-slavery States. The hysterical propaganda of the press made it difficult for anyone to stand against secession.

Clearly her early efforts failed, but it was the start of van Lew’s efforts to help the Union (that is, the northern Yankees) win the war. She was able to use her own femininity as well as her family’s good name, to gain access to high-ranking officers and plead for mercy for prisoners, because the patronising indulgence towards women made her appear non-threatening.

As the war dragged on and captured Union soldiers were kept in horrendous conditions in makeshift prisons, van Lew became the centre of an underground network which smuggled food and information into the prisons as well as helping to execute the escapes of many soldiers. Her own personal fortune financed a lot of the activity, and she also recruited African American slaves to the cause because of their trust in her.

Throughout the war years, van Lew had to come to terms with the fact that many Unionists were not really abolitionists but simply wanted to subdue the rebellious confederacy; in fact Lincoln himself was ambivalent about slavery until he realised that freeing the slaves was the only way to win not only the war, but international support.

She fought on, meanwhile continuing to get vital information on military strategy, proposed army attacks etc. through the Confederate lines to the Northern commanders, and was highly commended for her courage and efficiency. When the south was finally beaten, the final act of destruction in Richmond was for the city’s forces to set fire to all businesses and government buildings as they retreated, so the hated Yankees would not have a city to take over.

As for van Lew, she was at first rewarded by the victors, with official praise and a prominent and prestigious career position, but her identity inevitably became known and she was reviled as a traitor and later labelled as a ‘madwoman’ in the city that she loved.

One can only wonder why her political views did not cause her simply to migrate to a more liberal city in the North – but the story as reconstructed, including parts of her own diary, show that she was a proud Virginian who wanted to see her city and State tale a more humane position and free its slaves, while maintaining its essentially genteel lifestyle.

The book is a bit dry to get into, and the number of characters had me confused about who was on which side, particularly as I have never really studied the Civil War. However, overall it is a fascinating story of a very courageous and very resourceful woman who helped hundreds of prisoners, ran a very professional spy ring from her own home right in the middle of Confederate supporters who would surely have killed her if they had discovered her, and was a leader in the abolition of slavery.

Helen

Burial Rites ~ Hanna Kent

This first novel by an Australian author is a fictional version of the last few months in the life of the last person to be executed in Iceland – a woman, Agnes Magnusdottir, convicted of the murder of two men and sentenced to death by beheading in 1828.

The lack of prisons meant that prisoners were billeted with families – Agnes was sent to live with a peasant family on their remote farm, regardless of their wishes, by an officious District Commissioner whose cold-blooded adherence to the task of execution brooks no arguments.

Agnes was duly delivered, in chains, to the farm where no welcome waited; in the words of the farmer’s wife, Margret …”Just make sure the bitch stays away from the knives in my kitchen.” The young assistant church minister appointed to force repentance from Agnes is also there, riddled as he is with self-doubt about his mission, and provides the only note of kindness to the prisoner.

The story unfolds, partly in first-person memories and observations by Agnes, partly by the hapless young Reverend Toti as he attempts in vain to win her confidence with religious platitudes, and partly as description of the family’s various ways of coming to terms with this unwelcome tenant. Gradually Agnes proves herself to be an industrious and undemanding servant and we sense a change in the family’s attitude towards her with the exception of the younger daughter, Lauga. 

The strength and humanity of the characters portrayed is matched by merciless descriptions of the poverty and grinding hardship of their lives in what appears to be a cruel and unrelenting climate – I could almost feel the cold and smell the unspeakable living conditions and feel the hunger of their meagre existence.

Although there is no need to guess about the inevitable conclusion – it is historical fact - the gradual revelation of the course of Agnes’ life and the story behind her conviction for murder are absolutely riveting reading, and I read the book in two days. 

Apart from what must have been a mammoth exercise in research, Hannah Kent has drawn an unforgettable picture of life in general in early 19th century Iceland, and has done it with great empathy, not only for Agnes Magnusdottir but for the family who were forced to share her last months of life, and the whole social structure of the society at that time. It is not a pretty picture. It is a great book.

Helen

Chris Eaton, A Biography ~ Chris Eaton

Have you ever Googled your own name and wondered about the people that you share it with?  Well, Chris Eaton has and the result is a work of fiction centered around the lives of various male and female Chris Eatons along with a few other quirky characters.

Perhaps we all know, have met, crossed paths with, a Chris Eaton in our own lives?  I know I have, he's a charming Englishman who works at our Sydney head office and briefly worked with me in Queensland a few years ago.

You won't find a linear story here, but what you will find is your life paralleled with one of the Chris Eatons within the narrative.  Encompassing a broad spectrum of lives lived, this is by turns a funny but thought provoking novel.  At various points I did think that I was re-reading Moby Dick with the amount of facts and figures being presented on a multitude of topics, whether true or not I'm not sure as I don't think that the narrator was altogether reliable at times, but some of it was very interesting.

I did, to my surprise, find myself really enjoying this book.  It was very well written, and I was interested in many of the topics (punk rock, salt ...... otoliths).  I could not believe the book included the obscure otolith!  These little buggers are dominating my life at the moment, causing me severe vertigo at their worst and light headedness at their best, and no-one around me has ever heard of them, yet here they were speaking to me from the page (Kindle) LOL.

There were many thoughts, feelings and interactions in this novel that I could identify with, and it made me realise that we are ALL THE SAME.  We don't need to share the same name to experience the same hopes, fears, loves and life lessons.

This really is something different to read, and I can recommend it as a well written thought provoking independent novel.

Maxine

Chocolate Shoes and Wedding Blues ~ Trisha Ashley

"When Tansy Poole inherits a run-down shoe shop tucked away in the village of Sticklepond, 'Cinderella's Slippers' is born - providing the footwear to make any fairytale wedding come true.

Carrying everything a bride would want to walk down the aisle in, Tansy's shop soon expands to carry shoe-themed wedding favours, bridesmaid gifts and even delicious chocolate shoes. It's the dream destination for any shoe-lover!

If only everything in her personal life could be as heavenly - but with a fiancé trying to make her fit into a size 8 wedding dress, not to mention the recent discovery of disturbing family revelations, Tansy takes refuge in the shop's success.

But one man isn't thrilled by the stream of customers hot-footing it to Cinderella's Slippers. Actor Ivo Hawksley, resident of the cottage next to the shop, is troubled by a dark secret in his past and has come to Sticklepond to nurse his own broken heart.

However, Ivo realises that he and Tansy have a link in their past and soon, they both find out how secrets shared can make a very strong bond indeed."

Interesting story set in England - the romance growing, tug of love with step sisters playing absolutely the ugliest and relations throwing red herrings into every situation.

Robyn S.

Belly Dancing for Beginners ~ Liz Byrski

"Gayle and Sonya are complete opposites: one reserved and cautious, the other confident and outspoken. But their very different lives will converge when they impulsively join a belly dancing class. Marissa, their teacher, is sixty, sexy, and very much her own person, and as Gayle and Sonya learn about the origins and meaning of the dance, much more than their muscle tone beGayle and Sonya are complete opposites: one reserved and cautious, the other confident and outspoken. But their very different lives will converge when they impulsively join a belly dancing class. Marissa, their teacher, is sixty, sexy, and very much her own person, and as Gayle and Sonya learn about the origins and meaning of the dance, much more than their muscle tone begins to change.

Belly Dancing for Beginners is the third novel by British-born Australian author, Liz Byrski."

Loved it as usual.

Robyn S.

In the Company of Strangers ~ Liz Byrski

"Ruby and Cat's friendship was forged on an English dockside over sixty years ago when, both fearful, they boarded a ship bound for Australia. It was a friendship that was supposed to last a lifetime but when news of Cat's death reaches Ruby back in London, it comes after a painful estrangement.

Declan has also drifted away from Cat, but he is forced back to his aunt's lavender farm, Benson's Reach, when he learns that he and Ruby are co-beneficiaries.

As these two very different people come together in Margaret River they must learn to trust each other and to deal with the staff and guests. Can the legacy of Benson's Reach triumph over the hurt of the past? Or is Cat's duty-laden legacy simply too much for Ruby and Declan to keep alive. Written in the style of a family drama, though the characters are unrelated but their paths all cross at one central point- Benson's Reach in the Margaret River, Western Australia. Benson's Reach is a rundown property that produces lavender products and rent out cottages to tourists. Declan and Ruby have inherited co-partnership of the lavender farm and lodging at Benson's Reach following the death of the owner, Catherine.

Ruby is about 70 years old and has a complex history and friendship with Catherine, after her death she leaves London and returns to the place that stores many hurtful memories.

Declan, Catherine's nephew is middle aged- awkward, nervous and indecisive. He's a little lost by the bequest and so jumps at the opportunity for his old friend, Alice to join him at the farm to provide him with some strength to cope with the circumstances. Alice, recently released from prison is ashamed of her past and trying to overcome the pain she caused her family.

Lesley is the first tourist to arrive at Benson's Reach while it's new owners are finding their feet. She leaves behind her home in Perth, including her newly retired husband who she feels stifled by. Lesley finds herself attracted to Declan, ten years her junior. There's also young Todd who's 15 and has been abandoned by his mum and trying to find his place at Benson's Reach though his insecurities interfere with trying to make it a home."

This was a lovely story,  loved every page.

Robyn S.

12 Edmondstone Street ~ David Malouf

"Beginning with his childhood home, David Malouf moves on to show other landmarks in his life, and the way places and things create our private worlds. Written with humour and uncompromising intelligence, 12 Edmondstone Street is an unforgettable portrait of one man's life".  

I read this because I love his writing but found it pretty difficult to take his first nation reference to Aboriginals.  I know it was written in a different time but it grated too much with me.

Robyn S.

Before I go to sleep ~ S J Watson

"'As I sleep, my mind will erase everything I did today. I will wake up tomorrow as I did this morning. Thinking I'm still a child. Thinking I have a whole lifetime of choice ahead of me ...' Memories define us. So what if you lost yours every time you went to sleep? Your name, your identity, your past, even the people you love—all forgotten overnight. And the one person you trust may only be telling you half the story. Welcome to Christine's life".

Loved this story it was drawn out but pretty obvious to the outcome before the reveal. Coming as a movie with Nicole and Colin will be seeing it.

Robyn S.

Apartment 255 ~ Bunty Avieson

"Someone is watching her… looks can kill. Sarah and Ginny have been best friends since school. Then Sarah meets Tom. Her career takes off. She and Tom move into a stunning inner-city apartment. But Ginny has not been so lucky. She wanted Tom, but she didn't get him. She wants... what Sarah has. Ginny moves into an apartment overlooking Sarah and Tom's. She starts watching them. Then she does something more than just watch... .  Strange people do strange things pretty shocking treatment of someone who helped you survive your own life."

Read by Robyn S

The Shelter is a novella by the independent writer James Everington in the style of Stephen King's The Body which resonated with me in the fact that it is about a group of children (in this case four boys) getting up to no good during a school summer holiday.  Set in England, it brought back memories of those long six week holidays, with not much to do except going exploring with friends.  It is something we probably don't let our children do today but, without Foxtel, Apple, X-box or PC's, our options for entertainment back when I was a teenager in the late 70's and early 80's lay in the outdoors.

The story of The Shelter is related by a thirteen year old Alan Dean who, with his best friend Duncan and two older boys that he knows from school, goes in search of an old air raid shelter that supposedly lies outside of their village.  When they get there it's location seems a bit bizarre with the shelter being located in the far corner of a field, the atmosphere changes too with the incessant buzzing of wasps and a feeling of rising anger that threatens to overwhelm the boys themselves.

Driven by excitement and fear, and wondering if this is the resting place of Martin, a local schoolboy whose disappearance has dominated the news reports lately, they open the metal lid that covers the entrance to the shelter.  Everything appears normal until a simple prank leaves Alan in a terrifying situation and open to a supernatural event.  But did it really happen?  

As children we are ready to accept the unknown, and in a state of heightened terror we can imagine any amount of horrors.  Yet for all those nights of being too afraid to look under the bed, or in the closet or at that bundle of clothes thrown on the chair that looks like something unimaginable.......... did any harm ever come to us?  This then brings doubt and cynicism into the mind of the adult, and the realisation that there never was anything there at all. This is the thought that the older Alan will ponder as he reviews the events of that summer.

The writing style does need some polishing, and the idea itself of using a group of bored children to propel the story along isn't all that original - just read Stephen King and Dan Simmons - but I found that I really liked it because of the memories that it stirred up for me and I almost (almost mind you) felt a pang for a genuine English Summer.

Read by Maxine

As I Lay Dying ~ William Faulkner

There's something about Faulkner that I really like, but I can't put my finger on it.  I've only read two of his novels but I guess it's the quirkiness of the characters, and the secrets that come out during the telling of the story, that grabs my attention.

Addie Bundren is dying, her husband and children are waiting around for her to die, which is her wish. Her son Cash is out in the yard making her coffin which is also her wish.  Her final wish though is to be buried in Jefferson with 'her people', and basically this is what the novel is about.  We follow this hillbilly family to Jefferson to bury their mother, but it's not an easy journey and Addie will be several days dead before she is finally laid to rest.

During the journey we find out that Addie and her husband Anse were not happily married nor great parents, that one son is not Anse's biological son, their only daughter is not as pure as she seems and another son is dangerously mad.  

As I lay Dying is told from the viewpoint of fifteen different characters, including the deceased Addie.  I'm not usually a fan of using different narrators, but it works in this novel especially when the antics of the family are viewed by a more sane narrator.  It is by turns both funny and sad.

Jame's Franco's movie adaptation of the novel is quite stunning.  Using the split screen device he is able to capture the multi-narrator point of view for several of the scenes, and in others he has the characters staring into the camera narrating a monologue to the viewer.  My favourite monologue is that of Cash as he describes the build of Addie's coffin.  

What I like best about the movie is that it barely detracts from the novel at all,  which is a rarity these days, so I guess Franco's not just a pretty face after all!

As I Lay Dying Trailer

Read by Maxine

Roadside Picnic ~ Arkady and Boris Strugatsky

Roadside Picnic is a novella by Russian sci-fi writers Arkady and Boris Strugatsky and was adapted for the screen as Stalker.  The movie and the book are very different but there are enough similarities to make it recognisable as the same theme.

The story centres on 'The Zone', an area made uninhabitable since an alien visitation destroyed it. It is illegal to enter 'The Zone' without the appropriate authorisation and protective clothing, but people do. These people are known as Stalkers, and they make their money from the items that they bring out of 'The Zone'.  Successful Stalkers become legendary as many don't make it out alive, and if they do then some are not always in one piece. The one thing that they all wish to obtain is the 'golden ball' for it is said that it will grant your innermost wish.

The novella follows a Stalker called Redrick Schuhart, who is known as 'Red' by his peers. It is well known that the wives of stalkers bear deformed children, and Red's daughter is no exception.  Nicknamed 'Monkey' there is mention of golden silken hair on her body but, as the story progresses Monkey's hair darkens and her face becomes sunken, and she becomes disassociated from her family. Red and his wife love their daughter but they, and their friends, are becoming afraid of her.

The title of the story relates to the alien visitation, which is likened to a roadside picnic. When we have a picnic we disturb the area that is home to the various creatures living there - insects and birds etc.  We eat our food, play some games, leave our rubbish and then drive off without giving a second thought to the place again.  It certainly seems to put us in our place in the universe!

I liked how this was written, to begin with the dialogue is punchy and lighthearted but it became darker and more menacing as it progressed.

This is a good read, and the movie Stalker is definitely worth seeing if you like your sci fi a little more philosophical.

Maxine

Last Chance Cafe ~ Liz Byrski

"Margot detests shopping malls. Any distraction is welcome, and the woman who has chained herself to the escalator, shouting about the perils of consumerism, is certainly that. She recognises Dot immediately - from their time campaigning for women's rights, and further back still, to the heyday of the Sydney Push when Margot married Laurence. Dot is in despair at the abandonment of the sisterhood, at the idea of pole dancing as empowerment and the sight of five year-olds with false eyelashes and padded bras. She's still a fierce campaigner, but these days she isn't sure where to direct her rage. Margot's despair is quieter; a haunting resentment that her youthful ambitions have always been shelved to attend to the needs of others. And as the two women turn to the past for solutions for the future, Margot's family is in crisis. Laurence sets off on a journey in a bid to repress his grief, daughter Lexie loses the job that has been her life for twenty years, and her younger sister Emma hides her pain with shopping binges that plunge her into debt. Liz Byrski assembles a fallible cast of characters who are asking the questions we ask ourselves. What does it mean to grow older? Are we brave enough to free ourselves from the pressure to stay young? And is there ever a stage in life when we can just be ourselves?"

Read by Robyn S.

The Choice ~ Nicholas Sparks

"Travis Parker has everything a man could want: a good job, loyal friends, even a waterfront home in small-town North Carolina. In full pursuit of the good life -- boating, swimming, and regular barbecues with his good-natured buddies -- he holds the vague conviction that a serious relationship with a woman would only cramp his style. That is, until Gabby Holland moves in next door. Despite his attempts to be neighborly, the appealing redhead seems to have a chip on her shoulder about him...and the presence of her longtime boyfriend doesn't help. Despite himself, Travis can't stop trying to ingratiate himself with his new neighbor, and his persistent efforts lead them both to the doorstep of a journey that neither could have foreseen. Spanning the eventful years of young love, marriage and family, The Choice ultimately confronts us with the most heartwrenching question of all: how far would you go to keep the hope of love alive?"

Read by Robyn S.

The Wedding ~ Nicholas Sparks

"After thirty years of marriage, Wilson Lewis, son-in-law of Allie and Noah Calhoun (of The Notebook), is forced to admit that the romance has gone out of his marriage. Desperate to win back his wife, Jane's, heart, he must figure out how to make her fall in love with him... again. Despite the shining example of Allie and Noah's marriage, Wilson is himself a man unable to easily express his emotions. A successful estate attorney, he has provided well for his family, but now, with his daughter's upcoming wedding, he is forced to face the fact that he and Jane have grown apart and he wonders if she even loves him anymore. Wilson is sure of one thing--his love for his wife has only deepened and intensified over the years. Now, with the memories of his in-laws' magnificent fifty-year love affair as his guide, Wilson struggles to find his way back into the heart of the woman he adores."

Read by Robyn S.

A Band of Steel ~ Rosie Goodwin

"A family threatened by war but destroyed by love... When Adina and her family are forced to flee Cologne to escape the vicious menace of German invasion in 1938, leaving their luxurious lifestyle is painful. Harder still is finding herself a refugee in a foreign country. But Adina is a compassionate and determined girl and as they settle into a new life in the Midlands she finds the strength to survive. However, her brother and sister aren't so lucky and their family ties are stretched to breaking point. And then Adina runs the risk of losing her family forever when she is drawn towards the one man she should never fall in love with."

Read by Robyn S.

Home Front Girls ~ Rosie Goodwin

"Dotty, Lucy and Annabelle all turn up for work at Coventry's department store Owen Owens at the time war is declared. Dotty has never known a life outside of the orphanage where she grew up. Lucy is the sole carer of her little sister; she's head of the home now that her brother has gone to war. So she seeks out a job at Owen Owens. Annabelle has led a life of privilege but everyone's having to pinch the pennies at the moment. The well-off are no exception, much to Annabelle's annoyance.

The three young women are brought together on their first day at Owen Owens. As the trials and devastating effects of war come to bear on the three women, their bond deepens. With disaster at every turn, they're going to need each other."

Read by

Robyn S.

Catching the Wolf of Wall Street ~ Jordan Belfort

In the go-go nineties Jordan Belfort proved to Wall Street that you didn’t need to be on Wall Street to make a fortune in the stock market. But his company, Stratton Oakmont, worked differently. His young Long Island wannabes didn’t know from turnaround plans or fiduciary trust. Instead, they knew how to separate wealthy investors from their cash, and spend it as fast as it came in—on hookers, yachts, and drugs. But when Jordan’s empire crashed, the man who had become legend was cornered into a five-year stint cooperating with the feds. This continuation of his Wall Street Journal bestseller, The Wolf of Wall Street, tells the true story of his spectacular flameout and imprisonment for stock fraud.

In this astounding account, Wall Street’s notorious bad boy—and original million-dollar-a-month stock chopper—leads us through a drama worthy of The Sopranos, from his early rise to power to the FBI raid on his estate to the endless indictments at his arrest, to his deal with a bloodthirsty prosecutor to rat out his oldest friends and colleagues—while they were doing the same. With his kingdom in ruin, not to mention his marriage, the Wolf faced his greatest challenge yet: how to navigate a gauntlet of judges and lawyers, hold on to his kids and his enraged model wife—and possibly salvage his self-respect. It wasn’t going to be easy. In fact, for a man with an unprecedented appetite for excess, it was going to be hell.

From a wired conversation at an Italian restaurant, where Jordan’s conscience finally kicks in, to a helicopter ride with an underage knockout that will become his ultimate undoing, here is the tale of a young genius on a roller coaster of harrowing highs—and more harrowing lows. But as the countdown to his moment in court begins, after one last crazy bout with a madcap Russian beauty queen, the man at the center of one of the most outrageous scandals in financial history sees the light of what matters most: his sobriety, and his future as a father and a man. Will a prison term be his first step toward redemption?

Review from the Internet.

Read by Robyn S.