Tag Archives: books by women

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.

Book Review: Green Dot by Madeleine Gray

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I’d heard a lot about this one, saw it in a book store and grabbed it. Had I read the blurb on the back I might not have read it but I gave it a go.

The first page captured my interest when Hera reveals that in her twenties, she fell in love with a married man who wouldn’t leave his wife. The first fifty or so pages is a diatribe of her background story, her degrees, her schooling, her friends and the fact that at twenty four, she had no career aspirations. Living with her father, she feels compelled to find a job, landing one as a comment moderator at a major news outlet where she meets ‘the much older married man.’

To be honest that first part of the book was a little boring and I’d have liked a more condensed backstory. I know it was establishing her character but we see it anyway. I became more invested in this story at the point when she gets her first job which I think might have been a better starting point.

Hera’s observation of office politics and people dynamics was amusing as it was cutting and most people who have ever worked in an office whether it be the eighties or now will identify with the mind-numbing feeling of a dead-end job. The Green Dot is contemporary and immerses us into the everyday world of social media and internal messaging interspersed with the news of the day.

Under the bravado of Hera’s character lays a very insecure and vulnerable person who is not without self-awareness despite her often bizarre behaviour. There is mention of her mother and their estrangement but we never truly know what happened with the relationship although there is just enough information for the reader to make their own conclusions.

The Green Dot is quite well-written although some of the analogies were a little cringeworthy and might have been better left out. Talking about office workers she says, “They are just gurning to get inside and go sit at a computer. When you get an abortion you can then leave the building, and you might be really devastated or you might feel really free – either way it’s a decision you’ve made about your body and your life and you’ve had that choice.”

Nevertheless, I did enjoy this book hoping for Hera to find happiness and for her to make better choices. Does she? You’ll have to check it out for yourself.

Book Review: Summer’s Child by Diane Chamberlain

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This is a fairly light and easy read, perfect for a beach holiday since it is set at the beachside.

Eleven-year-old Daria finds a newborn baby on the beach near her house one morning. After the authorities fail to find the mother, Daria’s mother adopts the child whom they name, Shelly and she grows up with Daria and her sister Chloe. Twenty years later, handsome TV star Rory who hosts True Life Stories is contacted by Shelly who is anxious to find her birth mother. Coincidentally, Rory was a teenager himself living in the same street at the time.

This is one of Chamberlain’s earlier books which I stumbled upon and not her best. It is an engaging story as the characters are established and we get to know them. Daria is very possessive of Shelly who I think offered the most endearing charm as a character. I didn’t really care so much for any of the others and I found the story meandering and somewhat slow for my liking.

I did get to the end and despite a red herring along the way, I found it a little predictable. Nevertheless, if you’re after something untaxing, then this might be for you.

Book Review: Chai Time at Cinnamon Gardens by Shankari Chandran

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This is a tough but essential read and very deserving of the Miles Franklin Literary Award in 2023.

Cinnamon Gardens Nursing Home is located in the western suburbs of Sydney and its residents and indeed owners have interesting histories peppered with secrets and trauma. The place is a home of safety and kindness and consideration, until it’s targeting by small mindedness.

The owner, Maya is herself a resident in her eighties having given up the running of it to her daughter Anja whose best friend Nikki is the home’s doctor. The author takes us into their lives, their past as well as their present. Maya’s beloved husband has disappeared and the trauma of her loss is never far away. Maya also harbours secrets to the outside world portraying herself as a white person when she is a Sri Lankan Tamil married to a Sri Lankan Muslim.

Chandran does a brilliant job to not just highlight and educate the reader about what it’s like to be a Tamil in Sri Lanka as well as Australia, but also shows us the brutality of war and the  stupidity of thinking behind racism together with the denial and destruction of culture by a majority over a minority. This is not only a repetitive historical trope but a real one that we witness today, right now. The Tamil language was forbidden back in the fifties, their land and culture denied which resulted in the recent Civil War.

Chandran also dissects white privilege thinking in Australia via her character Gareth who is married to Nikki. She explores media, mainstream and social where a story can go off course creating falsity and driving lies which leads to tragic consequences. Gareth is the instrumental vehicle and after lighting the ‘fire’ of racism, we don’t see him again. On reflection I preferred it that way.

It might be fiction but the themes are brutal, painful and uncomfortable. Chandran never lets you off the hook as the reader is forced to confront and consider and think.

The characters are well drawn and although there is a lot of them, you get to know them quickly.

A powerful book and a must read.

Book Review: Hello Beautiful by Ann Napolitano

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This book is an epic family saga about the Padavano sisters spanning several decades. Much like their favourite book Little Women, the sisters are extraordinarily close. Julia the oldest is followed by Sylvie then twins Emeline and Cecilia.

Julia is the sensible and pragmatic sister leading the way. She meets a young man William who has been rejected by his parents and lives in the shadow of his dead sister. Julia decides he’s the man for her and goes about moulding him to become the ideal husband to fit the life plan she has made for them.

But when the sisters father dies, it creates a ripple effect fragmenting the family destroying the planned path set by Julia.

This is a complex novel about relationships and love with well-drawn characters primarily told through the eyes of Julia, William, and Sylvie. The family was clearly of Italian heritage but only because of their name. Nothing else gave a clue about it which I found unusual. The style of writing was bogged down quite a bit with showing us rather than telling and this became a little laboured for me. While I accepted everything which happened, I found myself wondering where the story was going.

There is scandal and sadness as well as darkness as William grapples with mental health issues which has profound effects on the entire family.  The bounds of love are stretched, snap and come back together, quite neatly. The book became somewhat repetitive in the last quarter leading to a predictable end and went on for a just a little too long.

Overall, I enjoyed this novel for the most part and it is very well written. If you like a family saga to get immersed in then this one shouldn’t disappoint.

Book Review: So Late in the Day by Claire Keegan

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Since I loved Keegan’s Small Things like These, I downloaded this one. It’s not a novella but a short story of four chapters (28 pages).

Again, this one packs a punch where each line earns its place.

It’s a story about Cathal who finds love but can’t quite connect to Cynthia because of his misogynistic thinking. When the relationship falls apart, he is left wondering what happened.

“She said things may now be changing, but that a good half of men your age just want us to shut up and give you what you want, that you’re spoiled and turn contemptible when things don’t go your own way.”

He wanted to deny it, but if felt uncomfortably close to the truth he had not once considered.

Cathal is forced to confront his own part, his upbringing and his own responsibility.

A very good read.

Book Review: The Conversion by Amanda Lohrey

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I loved The Labyrinth and The Conversion was written in much the same way.

Nick had tried to persuade Zoe to buy an old run down church which they can renovate and live in. Their sons are grown up and have moved away. She could never see his vision for it as all she can see are the stained-glass windows and the isolation of a small country town in a valley of coal mines and vineyards.

Yet she finds herself buying the church and moving in alone, looking to start her life alone.  She is stuck unable to move forward with converting the building into a home. Along the way she manages to strike up friendships with formidable women and somehow comes to a decision about what to do.

This is a gentle novel drawing the reader into Zoe’s world for what she has lost, her past and the difficulty she faces with what her future will look like.  The conversion of the church conjures up the ghosts of her lost relationships but it does also inspire new ones.

I enjoyed the characters which crossed Zoe’s path and I understood her loss and the betrayal she felt. Her inertia was palpable as she camped out in the church. Melanie, a powerful force turns up and convinces her that the church is the only place for a school concert. A friendship of sorts is promised but is never satisfied.

I was also interested in the relationships with her two sons. One who is married with children provides her with support and comfort while the other is virtually estranged. I would have loved the author to delve more into that. But like most things in the novel, we are given glimpses into Zoe’s past life and for the most part that is enough.

The writing is beautiful and the scene setting visual. I enjoyed this one.