Tag Archives: australian authors

Book Review: Edenglassie by Melissa Lucashenko

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The latest book by Lucashenko is powerful, humorous but most of all is filled with raw honesty about our past and present.

It opens in present day with elderly Granny Eddie who has a fall along a Brisbane footpath. White people steer clear believing her to be drunk but it is a young Asian person who helps and gets her to hospital. It’s there that we meet her activist granddaughter Winona who rails against the establishment.

We are then taken back in time  to 1855 and introduced to Mulanyin a young man who’s life is deeply affected by white English occupation.

The story takes us well and truly away from the fake history so many of us have been fed and it’s stories like these that educate and explains and puts us right in the seat of injustice to give us a great understanding of the land we occupy.

It’s an insightful and riveting read full of beautiful yet colourful characters who can make us laugh and cry. Lucashenko is truly the master of the written word and it’s no wonder she’s raking in the prizes with her latest.

Book Review: One Hundred Years of Betty by Debra Oswald

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This is a tale of Betty Rankin who on the eve of her hundredth birthday tells us all about her life.

Betty is born into a large poverty-stricken family whose stoic mother dies after giving birth to the tenth child. Her family barely survives with their errant alcoholic father. During WW2 she’s sent away to the country. From here on we are given a snapshot of her life throughout the decades of many highs and even more lows when she navigates to the other side of the world as a ten-pound pom.

This is a very easy read as Oswald quickly establishes the character of Betty in the early pages so that the reader feels a strong enough connection to care about her and her eventful life. I couldn’t put it down as I feared and hoped for her while admiring her courage and tenacity under all obstacles.

This is also a story of friendship and gives the reader pause to reflect on how important our own friendships are along the journey of life. Indeed, the love for her friends is what kept her going.

The writing is witty and smart told in a memoir-like fashion from Betty’s point of view. She’s funny, plucky and the mistakes she makes aren’t judged too harshly except by herself. She stands up for what she feels is right and tries to make a difference for herself and the world she navigates.

Themes of friendship, family, grief, trauma, indigenous rights, feminism, politics and love all feature in Betty’s commentary reflecting the history of the times as we stroll through the decades with her.

I found though the narrative waned a little towards the end by the telling rather than the showing. At times I began to wonder if the narrator was indeed a ninety-nine-year-old because her adventures in her eighties seemed a little far-fetched. But I caught myself as I recalled an aunt of mine who had indeed bucked the ageist stereotype by doing extraordinary things. It made me look at my own biases about what we think of our elderly and what we expect they should be like. Perhaps it’s a message that age is no barrier, only our thinking is.

This one is a very enjoyable read so check it out.

Interview

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I was recently featured in UK’s magazine, Novelist Post where I talked about my writing journey, how I tackled research, my love of historical fiction and much more.

There are lots of other interesting and informative author stories in the magazine.

S.C. Karakaltsas Explores Untold Histories Through Compelling and Courageous Storytelling

Book Review: Rapture by Emily Maguire

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Motherless child, Agnes lives with her father, a priest in ninth-century Mainz. She’s a brilliant and highly intelligent child with a deep knowledge and love for God. At eighteen she loses her father and with the help of a Benedictine monk, she disguises herself as man to study and devote her life to God.

She is known as John the Englishman and she forges a life for herself forsaking the traditional role of wife and mother. She becomes a scribe, a translator, a celebrated teacher and finally a Pope.

This is a fascinating story and said to be loosely based on Pope Joan which legend has it was a woman who disguised herself as a man finding her way through the Church hierarchy to become the Pope in 855.

“God has made me to excel at this work, she thinks. There is not another person on earth who sees things as I do. If she were say this out loud she would be whipped and worse. “

The research for this novel was exemplary, with every detail described beautifully to immerse us into the depth of ninth century society.

The religious context was the only thing that lost me at times but for those readers who know their bible, it may mean much more. Nevertheless, it wasn’t too much of a distraction.

Overall, this is one to check out. It’s fascinating.

Book Review: Dusk by Robbie Arnott

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I loved Arnott’s last book, Limberlost and really enjoyed Dusk.

Set sometime last century in a unnamed place (feels like Tasmanian wilderness) are twins, Floyd and Iris who hear of a bounty for the death of a puma cat which has killed several men and much livestock. Scouting the highlands for work, they unwittingly help another hunter who has other ideas for them and become embroiled in a cat and mouse chase through the harsh rugged terrain.

It’s a slow burn as we learn about the twins whose lives of hardship began when they were born to outcast ex-convict alcoholic parents. Floyd suffers from severe pain and Iris watches out for her brother but always looks for a future where they can one day settle down.

The description of the landscape is detailed: the cold chills you on a hot summer’s day, the rocks and skeletons take your breath away and the beauty of the mountains, trees and water makes you yearn to be there.

‘They skirted the lake’s shore – a beach of quartz sand, bright and course, – as the sun began cutting into the mountains that framed the water. ‘

The relationship between the twins was well done, the tension, love and despair for them palpable. I wondered about Iris and how she coped with a life of camping and getting around on horseback in a time when that would have been very much frowned upon. Yet there was little opposition from townsfolk and I wasn’t sure this was quite realistic for the time. Nevertheless, her character makes for an interesting take on a story which at times seemed like the wild west. Chasing the puma through the wilderness also reminded me a little of the novel Once there were Wolves by Charlotte McConaghy.

The only thing that did throw me off towards the end was the backstory about the twins parents. In my opinion it interrupted the climactic flow and should have come a lot earlier in the novel.

Otherwise, a beautifully told tale. It’s short too, so check it out.

Book Review: The Ledge by Christian White

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I always enjoy Christian White’s novels. He is known for his twisting crime mysteries and this one is no exception.

Human remains are found under a cliff which sends three friends into a tail spin of panic about what happened to their friend Aaron in 1999.

This one is a dual-narrative story which I always enjoy as I love reading about the past meeting the present. In this case it catches up to the friends who have a lot to hide.

 The Ledge certainly delivers as we’re taken on a journey through Justin’s teenage diary and then see how his life as a mid-thirties man turns out. There is a lot at stake for the friends as the authorities close in on the mystery. To say more would give it away. But the twist is one you won’t see coming.

It’s fast-paced an well written and an ideal holiday read. Check it out.

Book Review: Wifedom by Anna Funder

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It seems everyone is talking about and reading this book. It has courted controversy, admiration and much discussion.

Wifedom was one for our book group and created quite a discussion about George Orwell the man, the writer, and the husband. What Anna Funder does superbly in this book is to put the meaning of what it is to be wife, front and centre and in particular what was to be George Orwell’s wife.

Eileen O’Shaughnessy, herself an Oxford scholar and poet marries George Orwell and Funder meticulously explores her impact and influence on George Orwells’ work as an author, in particular of Animal Farm and the later works, 1984.

Having read both novels many years ago they made a significant impact on my younger self. Understanding the story behind the works now gives me the impetus to read them again.

Funder’s research takes us behind the scenes of this married couple’s life in Spain when Orwell fought in the Spanish Civil War, his writing and his battle with tuberculosis. More importantly she sees Eileen’s own struggle, to bring in an income to support them, her heath struggles and her utter devotion to doing everything to support her husband’s art.

It’s completely fascinating as Funder draws on the patriarchal system not just in the 1930’s but in current day of unacknowledged work done by women everywhere.

Orwell comes out poorly. His behaviour could be put down to the patriarchal system of the day yet Funder shows us that he was a very poor excuse for a human being.

I wasn’t sure about Funder’s imposition of her own story, while interesting, hardly added much. I did appreciate the incredible research to bring about such an enlightening story about a woman who was truly amazing in her own short life.

Read this one for yourself and you’ll get what all the fuss is about.