Category Archives: Book reviews

Book Review: Darling Girls by Sally Hepworth

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You can never go wrong with a Sally Hepworth book and I’ve read most of them now. Darling Girls is no exception.

Three foster sisters,  Norah, Jessica and Alicia have come from diverse traumatic backgrounds to meet in a new foster home run by Miss Fairchild who shows the outside world a different persona to the one behind closed doors.

Years later, Miss Fairchild’s old house is demolished to make way for a new building and human bones are discovered under the house. Police call on the three women to help them with their investigation and the three who have remained close into their adulthood, reluctantly go back to Port Agatha where the house was and back in time to their ugly childhood.

Each of the sisters, has their own difficulties in adulthood and the narrative takes us into each of their points of view with a shock twist at the end.

Hepworth tackles the world of foster carers, vulnerability of children as well as mental health from trauma. At times I found it quite confronting but Hepworth gently leads the reader out of the tension, providing relief in all the right places. It’s also a novel about love and friendship.

The chapters are short and it’s an enjoyable and easy read.

Book Review: That Bligh Girl by Sue Williams

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 I really enjoyed, Elizabeth and Elizabeth by Sue Williams and was eager to read another of her books. which is steeped in historical detail putting the reader in the centre of early colonial life.

That Bligh Girl, steeped in historical detail putting the reader in the centre of early colonial life, is a fantastic novel about the daughter of Governor Bligh, Mary Putland. She’s a feisty woman forced to accompany her domineering father on a horrific voyage to Australia where she comes face to face with numerous challenges of a new colony.

I’d heard of Bligh from mutiny on the bounty fame, but little else. He was an autocratic, pig-headed, and dogmatic man and despite what she thinks Mary had some of those very qualities. She needed them to stand up not only to her father but to the soldiers of the rum rebellion led by none other than John McArthur, whose wife Elizabeth was featured in Williams earlier novel, Elizabeth and Elizabeth (see my review https://sckarakaltsas.com/2021/07/16/book-review-elizabeth-elizabeth-by-sue-williams/.)

Williams is deft at portraying the strength of women, not only of Mary but her convict maid, Meg Hill.  The historical narrative is rich in detail and whilst life was hard for everyone, it was more so for women.  This is not just about the privileged however, as Williams delves into the difficulties of life for convict women.

We learn more though about Mary’s life, her marriage to her great love, John Putland, his heart-wrenching death and her second marriage.

If you don’t know a lot about early colonial life in Sydney then this might just be the book for you. I’d highly recommend it.  

Book Review: Lessons by Ian McEwan

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This book could have been very good, brilliant even.

Roland Baines wife walks out leaving him with his two-month-old baby. He reflects on his life starting with the trauma of being left at boarding school, far from his mother and military father. His vulnerability and talent is noticed by his piano teacher whose influence is long lasting and life changing.

The reader is taken on a journey through Roland’s life, his missed opportunities, his restlessness and  failed relationships. World events also make an impact on him too. There is detailed analysis of Roland’s parents, their marriage as well as their history which Roland pieces together. He is shocked to learn their secrets and how World War Two affected the course of their life as well as his.

The story is a fascinating one around the disappearance of Roland’s wife and the impact of the piano teacher on him. However, after the first quarter of the novel, the story fell away beneath the telling style of narrative, the dumps of historical information and the remoteness of the characters. No-one was particularly endearing and Roland did not provide any empathy or relatability. In fact I grew terribly bored with him and his life story as it droned on and on.

The women in the story from his mother, his wife and the piano teacher were not painted in a good light either. His wife’s total abandonment of her son was difficult to fathom and her relationship with her own mother and her desire to write was barely believable to be convincing. Sorry, I just didn’t buy it. The piano teacher’s motivation and behaviour was puzzling and I found it hard to take the leap of belief about her motivation despite the author’s slant about her mental instability. Yes, it probably does happen but I couldn’t help wonder if this was mere wishful thinking from a man’s point of view? Alternatively, perhaps Roland was just an unreliable narrator which would indeed be more plausible. However this doesn’t make me like Roland any better.

The writing as always is wonderful where it’s not buried under a telling scenario. And while I did appreciate the historical events particularly the Berlin Wall coming down, the historical asides served to constantly remove me from the actual story. I lost interest particularly in the second half of the book and it was a chore to finish it despite the interesting twists about his family towards the end. But at that stage I’d had enough.

Sorry but this one was not for me.

Book Review: The Women by Kristin Hannah

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This is the first of Kristin Hannah’s books I’ve read and I certainly got a taste for her work.

The Women tells the story of twenty-one-year-old nurse, Frankie who follows her brother to Vietnam. It’s early in the war and her family has a wall of hero’s depicting photos of all the men in the family who have gone to war and fought. Frankie wants to feel useful and to win her father’s approval enlists once her nursing training ends.

Arriving in Vietnam is a baptism of horror for a young woman from a privileged background who was raised to be a future wife and mother. Frankie is thrown into the chaos of death and injury in trying conditions. Once her tour ends and she’s back home her expectations are dashed by a very different America from the one she left. She is thrust into the midst of family disapproval and community disgust about America’s involvement in the war.

I’ve never read anything set during the Vietnam war and certainly nothing about the brave women who were there. Hannah has certainly done her research and puts the reader into the horror of everyday life, of blood and dirt and rain and heat. There is also romance and love and friendship as well.

There are also themes of post-traumatic stress, loss and trauma and while it is a tough one to read at times, there are moments of light and shade. There’s a lot packed into this novel and sometimes the romance angles were a little too predictable particularly in the last quarter.

Otherwise, it’s a solid read which I enjoyed.

Book Review: The Frozen River by Ariel Lawhon

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This is a novel which I can’t get out of my head.

Set in 1789, the story is inspired by the real-life midwife, Martha Ballard who delivered hundreds of babies in her community around the Kennebec River in the USA.

Unusual for the time Martha was literate and kept a diary of events, particularly the alleged rape of a minister’s wife by the local judge. Lawhon has cleverly used the diaries and fictionalized a story.

Apart from delivering babies and administering women’s health, Martha is also called upon the examine the dead man making the pronouncement that he has been beaten and hung prior to being thrown into the river.  Coincidentally, the man is one of the two men alleged to have raped the young woman.

The story is extremely well done weaving intrigue and mystery around the rape as well as the murder. But more importantly, we learn to understand the daily life of Martha not just as a midwife but as a wife, mother and someone of respect and standing in such a small community. It is her character rather than the murder which stays in my head. I felt a strong connection to her and that is a credit to the author who has managed to get inside the head of Martha. I grew to love her as well as her husband. They are the kind of couple you’d want to meet and get to know.

There were twists along the way and the writing is superb. The chill of winter permeated throughout with descriptions I could feel. The fury of unjust law and women’s rights were fed in between.

Yes, this one is a definite recommend especially if you like your historical fiction laced with mystery and intrigue.

Book Review: Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver

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This novel tells the epic and heart-breaking story of one young boy growing up in the Southern Appalachian Mountains of Virginia.

Damon is ten when his drug addicted mother dies from an overdose. His father was killed in an accident before his birth and he is left homeless and without anyone to care for him other than the kindly, yet elderly next door neighbours. He ends up in the foster care system, which in America is a devastating system which Kingsolver explores in depth.

The story told from Damon or Demon’s point of view is blunt as it is brutally honest making the reader sympathise, worry and cheer for this boy. It is not without hope when Damon having had enough of adults who care only about his money earning potential, takes matters into his own hands to search for a long-lost grandmother.

It is a journey of poor choices and loss for Damon who despite finding his grandmother fails to find the thing he want most and that is to belong and be loved. And even when he does find it he fails to recognize it.

Kingsolver also explores the growth and abuse of prescription drugs as well as the community in which Damon lives. A coal mining area, investment is targeted in providing labour for the industry not for educating people to better themselves. A vicious cycle is perpetuated and when coal mining is no longer lucrative the community is left without anything. Kingsolver exploration of this cycle is sobering showing some of the disastrous and  sad consequences.

I really enjoyed this book with all it had to say about the foster and education systems as well as the social impacts at ground level not just for Damon but for everyone he comes into contact.

The only thing that I couldn’t quite buy was the behaviour of his grandmother. What she did made no sense to me particularly given that she had come looking for Damon when he was born. To say anymore would be to spoil the plot.

Nevertheless, it’s a powerful book, the voice so authentic sounding and the writing as always, superb. This is one to put on your list.

Book Review: Troubling Love by Elena Ferrante

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I hate to say it but this is my first Elena Ferrante novel. Troubling Love was published in 2006 well before her acclaimed novel, My Brilliant Friend.

Troubling Love is a short novel about the relationship between mother and daughter. When her mother dies in mysterious circumstances, Delia searches for answers and uncovers a lot more about her mother’s life than she bargained for.

We don’t always take the time to truly know our parents and only reflect when they are gone. In Delia’s case, she tries to piece together her mother’s life as well as her relationships, present and past. Along the way she uncovers the ugly truth behind her parents’ divorce.

Set in the streets of Naples, the reader takes the journey through the grimy streets with Delia as she uncovers her mother’s impoverished lifestyle. Delia is herself not quite right battling her own demons as the memories of her childhood emerge. Can a five-year-old be responsible for the breakdown of their parents’ relationship?  

This is a sobering read, cleverly done covering themes of mental health and domestic violence. It meanders a bit despite the beautiful writing so you need to stick with it. But it is short and worth the time.