Category Archives: Book reviews

Book Review: The Swift and the Harrier by Minette Walters

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A civil war in England breaks out in 1642 tearing the countryside apart, forcing families and villages to decide whether they support Parliamentarians or the King.

This is a beautifully told tale of a female physician Jayne Swift who is caught up in the war. From a Royalist family, she declares herself neutral prepared to offer her medical knowledge to people who need her from either side. She meets William Harrier who has many mysterious hats raising her curiosity each time their paths cross.

You might think that this is a novel about war but it is much more than that. It’s a novel about a strong and independent woman forging a career while the war rages around her. She’s an unusual character for the era – straight talking, single minded, witty as she is charming and knowledgeable. I suspect that a real- life character such as Jayne might have had many more difficulties in the day. Walters however does a good job in throwing many challenges Jaynes way and we as the reader constantly cheer for her.

As for William Harrier, he is a mystery – a mercenary, a tough fighter, wearing coats of different colours, his true character slowly evolves as does his interest in Jayne.

The medical knowledge and practices were fascinating and no doubt thoroughly researched and the siege of Lyme well conveyed. I’d not read a book about the Civil war before and there was a large focus on the content of battles and the history of both sides.

What I did find interesting is that the relationship between Jayne and William takes a back seat, weaving in and out of the story until the end when the last two chapters provide a quick summary. This surprised me a little as it felt like an information dump.

Having said that, I did enjoy the book, the writing and appreciated the history. It’s easy to read and although long, is very quickly absorbing.

Book Review: The Lincoln Highway by Amor Towles

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This epic story is mostly about eighteen-year-old Emmett and his eight-year-old brother Billie who set off on a road trip. I  say mostly because these two are the main characters from whom the rest pivot.

Go back in time to June 1954 when Emmett comes home having done his time at a juvenile work farm. His father, dead and his home sold by the bank, all he wants is to pick up his eight-year-old brother Billie, leave town in his beloved Studebaker and head to Texas where he figures there’ll be plenty of opportunity to use his skills as a builder for a growing population.

Billie, however has other ideas as he want to go to California to find their mother who abandoned him as a baby. Finding long lost postcards sent by her, Billie works out that the Lincoln Highway will get them there. Emmett agrees after realising the greater opportunity to build his wealth. What they both don’t figure on is Duchess and Woolly railroading their plans. Having escaped the juvenile work farm, Duchess via trickery and manipulation detour the brothers in the opposite direction to New York where Woolly is to retrieve his $150k inheritance which he is prepared to split.

What ensues is a series of disasters as well as a struggle for survival as Duchess and his erratic behaviour plunge the four into a course that is both comical and tense.

It’s a long book but an easy one to read taking us on a journey not just to New York but also into the minds of the various characters who are at times given their own point of view by the author. Mostly we see Emmett, Billie and Duchess but there are a host of other side characters who I’m not sure added much to the narrative. This is because it was part repetitive, part backstory and part meandering thoughts. Sometimes I enjoyed these asides but for the most part I thought it slowed the story down too much. I wanted to race ahead impatient to know what was to happen next.

Each boy is fundamentally good in their own way but through circumstance or a misguided view of the world have lost their place in it. Billie is the glue holding them all together and  is remarkably insightful for his young years, almost to the point of being scarcely believable. But I took the leap. Billie anchors them with a common sense that belies his years and is at times very touching.

It certainly is a hero’s journey in more ways than you realise, yet the twist in the end is heartbreaking. This one is certainly a memorable one. Check it out.

Book Review: Lucky by Marissa Stapley

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Can a criminal who holds a winning lottery ticket cash it in without being caught?

This fast-paced dual timeline novel is very easy and quick to read and was exactly what I needed when my husband contracted Covid-19 and I was forced to isolate. I managed to fill in my time with a few good books and this is one of them.

This is the problem faced by Lucky Armstrong whose life as a grifter has led her down a path of crime. Brought up by her con-artist father, Lucky only knows a life of lies, fake id’s and running when the authorities are close. When she and her boyfriend are preparing to flee to Dominica to begin a new life and enjoy the millions they’ve appropriated from the gullible, she buys a lotto ticket. Things don’t go to plan and she finds herself alone and on the run.

The character Lucky reveals herself as guilt-ridden for her actions yet naïve and gullible which is understandable as a child under the control of her father but as an adult hard to swallow. Finding out who she really is slowly unwinds with some predictable twists.

Down and out, she finds out that she holds the winning numbers and there is a cat and mouse game interspersed with her own longing to find her mother. Somehow this was the bit I found hardest to swallow despite the motivation of getting her ‘mum’ – a complete stranger – to cash in her ticket.  Yet it added another story line to Lucky’s flawed character.  Of course, there is a predictable Hollywood happy ending which I expected although it did seem a tad rushed.

All in all a good holiday read and no doubt this one will be on our screens soon.

Book Review: Smokehouse by Melissa Manning

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Smokehouse is a book of linked stories set in southern Tasmania, more particularly, the region around Kettering and Bruny Island.

I visited this region only a few years ago and it’s a stunning landscape of rugged beauty. And Melissa Manning not only paints the landscape but she fully immerses the reader right into it.

“She walked down to the beach, sat in the sand throwing shells into the frothy swash of waves, and considered whether all of this might be a sign that it was a time to move on.”

The book begins with the title story Smokehouse Part 1 which is almost a novella about Joy, who with her husband builds a mud-brick home, a dream home away from the bustle of Hobart. Her new life begins to fracture and the consequences of her actions resonate not only on her family but within the small community around her.

“She had never expected to feel so absent, as though her identity had bled out into the fabric of their family. She longed to feel the margins of herself.”

The last story Smokehouse Part Two, set in Joy’s future, gives us a glimpse into her life as an older woman. In between are short stories whose characters link with the community or Joy’s life.

There was a lot I enjoyed. There is a tenderness in the tragedy and trauma. The reference to food brings joy and pain. “… she dished field mushrooms onto her side plate and ate them with her fingers, let the juices run own her chin and into her lap and tried not to think about the night to come. “

Each story is beautifully written and evocative. The characters are rich in detail and drawn so fully, you feel you know them, their pain, their joy and the problems they encounter. Manning treats the characters and the themes of grief, sorrow, health decline and loss with empathy and dignity.

I thoroughly enjoyed this and am not surprised it was shortlisted in 2021 for Queensland Literary Awards as well as Victorian Premier’s Literary Awards. It’s a stunning debut by an extraordinary author. Highly recommend this one.

Book Review: Hello Beautiful by Hannie Rayson

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I have to confess that I’d never heard of Australian playwright, Hannie Rayson. Yet I knew of her plays. When my book club chose this book I was extremely curious.

In Hello Beautiful, Hannie Rayson detours from plays to a memoir of revealing snapshots from her own life.

It’s a highly relatable book especially for those who lived in Melbourne during the eighties. Hannie grew up in East Brighton as the daughter of a real-estate agent who made and lost money. He was a ‘Melbourne bitter man. Anything else was cat’s piss.’ 

Nothing seems to be off limits in this memoir from ‘women’s problems’, and vagina moles to childbirth, together with blended families and dead bodies.

It’s a humorous collection of anecdotes as well as insights into inner suburban living, feminism, sex, being a mum, wife and friend, and becoming a writer.

‘One weekend my neighbours Suzie and Dave demolished their house. But the most significant impact on our household was that (they)… decided to move. Into our place. It seemed to me then that the nuclear family was a ludicrous idea – conceived not by nature, nor by God, but by people who wanted to sell us stuff.’

Hannie Rayson writes very well with charm and humour. If you don’t know Melbourne you might not fully appreciate the nuances but if you want an amusing insight, then give this one a go.

Book Review: Happy Hour by Jacquie Byron

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A glass of bubbly in hand, a character of a certain age who does what she wants, and a couple of cute dogs. This book held a lot of promise and certainly did not fail to deliver.

Franny Calderwood keeps to herself with only her two dogs, Whisky and Soda as her companions. She likes her own company enjoying the chance to paint, walk along the beach and drink when she feels like it. When a family moves in next door, she’s wary of the single mother who juggles a grumpy teenage daughter, Dee and an exuberant eight-year-old boy, Josh. It doesn’t take long before Franny is reluctantly drawn into their lives.

Little by little we learn what’s behind Franny’s bravado and independence when we discover the loss of her beloved husband from a road accident some years earlier. The family next door draws Franny out of her self-imposed isolation little by little not without some disasters along the way.

The themes of grief and loss are beautifully handled as the story slowly unfolds taking the reader into Franny and the family’s world, one ordered and the other chaotic.

Franny is quite a character, talking to the photos of her dead husband, cooking gourmet meals, painting masterpieces and of course drinking a lot more than she should. You can’t help but love her as well as feel her loss and what she is doing to herself. The dogs are charmers as is Josh who is truly a star in his own right. The child’s innocence and energy is infectious causing the reader to love him as we watch Franny fall for this small boy.

This novel is sad, funny as well as moving. With an additional bonus that it’s set in Melbourne and the places Franny visits are almost my backyard – what more could I wish for?

Get this one and lie on the beach with a gin and tonic and you’ll be happily transported.

Book Review: The Morbids by Ewa Ramsey

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The Morbids is a story about Caitlin, a young woman, convinced that she’s going to die. She joins a support group of people each of whom have their own issues about death and name themselves The Morbids. What has happened to Caitlin unravels slowly and painfully as we take the road with her towards healing and a better life.  

It’s a sad story yet an uplifting one too. Caitlin has suppressed her feelings after an accident where she blames herself for the death of someone. She copes as best as she can, throwing in her high-power job for a waitressing role, moving to a sordid neighbourhood and turning her back on her friends and family. She believes she is coping with the help of the support group but slowly she begins to unravel bit by bit.  Ever fearful, she avoids rather than confronts.

The impact of mental illness particularly trauma, anxiety and depression are important issues and the author does a superb navigating the reader through it in a very sensitive and touching way. There is no sugar coating so it is quite confronting. Not to say that it is all doom and gloom. There are shades of humour, love and joy. And then there are the moments of kindness, random and otherwise from people in Caitlin’s life. This character is very well drawn, complicated and multi-dimensional.

I also enjoyed the side characters from those in the help group to the ones in Caitlin’s work life. Along the way we meet caring Nic, her boss at the bar where she works; concerned Lina the best friend she’s avoided since the accident two years ago and the gorgeous Tom, the emergency doctor. They all played their part superbly.

The second half is quite intense and I wasn’t sure where it would go but I hoped that Caitlin would be okay. Take a look and see for yourself.