Cass Moriarty (Author of The Promise Seed)

Cass Moriarty made a comment on their review of Traumata " It’s a very complex book but she ties it all together. "
6 hours, 17 min ago · see review
Cass Moriarty rated a book really liked it The Lace Weaver by Lauren Chater (Goodreads Author)	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
The Lace Weaver (Simon & Schuster 2018), the debut novel by Lauren Chater, begins: ‘They say Estonia has five seasons. Bitter winter. Pale spring. Autumn, when the forests are carpeted with mushrooms. Summer, with its blue cloudless skies and ric ...more
Aug 08, 2018 06:18PM · 2 likes · like · see review
Cass Moriarty made a comment on their review of Sweet Adversity " Perfect for a nine year old! The issues that could be frightening (eg the child dealer) are dealt with in a very subtle and sensitive way, with approp ...more "
Aug 01, 2018 03:50PM · see review
Cass Moriarty rated a book it was amazing Sweet Adversity by Sheryl Gwyther (Goodreads Author)	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
In Sweet Adversity (HarperCollins 2018) by Sheryl Gwyther - Children's Author, we meet 12-year-old Adversity McAllister, a plucky heroine with a melodious voice and a feisty personality. Abandoned at an orphanage during the Depression years after her ...more
Aug 01, 2018 12:29AM · 2 likes · like · see review
Cass Moriarty rated a book it was amazing No Point in Stopping by Samuel Maguire	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Samuel Maguire’s debut No Point in Stopping (Tiny Owl Workshop 2018) is a memoir novella, a compact, taut piece of writing that is simple and unpretentious, and probably one of the best insights into mental illness I have read. His words and depictio ...more
Jul 24, 2018 08:03PM · like · see review
Cass Moriarty rated a book it was amazing Beneath the Mother Tree by D.M. Cameron (Goodreads Author)	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Beneath the Mother Tree (MidnightSun Publishing 2018), the debut novel by DM Cameron, is an absorbing and magical tale of rich Irish mythology braided with Indigenous history and language. The story flies, dream-like, through fantastical possibilitie ...more
Jul 23, 2018 11:25PM · 6 likes · like · see review
Cass Moriarty rated a book it was amazing Traumata by Meera Atkinson	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Traumata (UQP 2018) is an important work of non-fiction that traverses the notion of trauma from every angle – physical, psychological, emotional, historical, intergenerational and inherited. Author Meera Atkinson delves deep into her own personal st ...more
Jul 22, 2018 05:52PM · 7 likes · like · see review
Cass Moriarty rated a book it was amazing The Hunter and Other Stories of Men by David Cohen	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
The Hunter (and Other Stories of Men) (Transit Lounge 2018) is a quirky and engaging collection of short stories by David Cohen, who gave us the memorable, very funny and rather odd novel Disappearing Off the Face of the Earth. In The Hunter, we are ...more
Jul 19, 2018 10:41PM · 1 like · like · see review
Cass Moriarty rated a book really liked it The Lost Flowers of Alice Hart by Holly Ringland (Goodreads Author)	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Holly Ringland’s debut novel, The Lost Flowers of Alice Hart (HarperCollins 2018) is a complex and many-layered narrative in which the reader can sense the gravitas of the research underpinning the story. The author’s depiction of place – of landscap ...more
Jul 10, 2018 11:42PM · 6 likes · like · see review
Cass Moriarty rated a book it was amazing The Geography of Friendship by Sally Piper (Goodreads Author)	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
A gripping mystery, a thoughtful portrait of friendship, and a love song to the natural world. Sally Piper describes her new novel The Geography of Friendship (UQP 2018) as a story about female friendships, bushwalking and predatory men, and that is i ...more
Jul 08, 2018 09:21PM · 7 likes · like · see review

Cass Moriarty made a comment on their review of Traumata

" It’s a very complex book but she ties it all together. "

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The Lace Weaver
by Lauren Chater (Goodreads Author)

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The Lace Weaver (Simon & Schuster 2018), the debut novel by Lauren Chater, begins: ‘They say Estonia has five seasons. Bitter winter. Pale spring. Autumn, when the forests are carpeted with mushrooms. Summer, with its blue cloudless skies and ric The Lace Weaver (Simon & Schuster 2018), the debut novel by Lauren Chater, begins: ‘They say Estonia has five seasons. Bitter winter. Pale spring. Autumn, when the forests are carpeted with mushrooms. Summer, with its blue cloudless skies and rich harvest of fruit. Lastly, my favourite: the thaw.’ Beautiful imagery to start us on this journey. This prologue is the only time we hear from Elina, although she is a constant presence throughout this story of love, war, grief, sacrifice and struggle. Elina’s granddaughter, Katarina, is keeping alive the family tradition and skill of lace weaving, creating beautiful gossamer-fine shawls with distinct and unique patterns. Kati narrates alternating chapters of the book as she describes her life in rural Estonia with her brother, Jakob, and their parents, as they struggle to make ends meet under the Soviet occupation of 1941. The second narrator, Lydia, the daughter of a prominent and important Soviet leader, tells her story from a perspective of privilege and means. Lydia and her companion, Olga, both miss Lydia’s Estonian mother, who died too young, and find it difficult to live up to the expectations of her strict father.
These two girls – or young women – are strong protagonists in a well-crafted tale. Both face differences of opinions with their parents, albeit for different reasons. Both have chaste romances – Kati with local boy Oskar, and Lydia with student Joachim – which are threatened by the approaching events of war. Both must find it within themselves to brave the onslaught of deprivation, violence and discrimination coming first from the Russian soldiers, and then from the German Nazis who they had hoped would liberate their country but instead bring only more of the same trouble.
Kati and Lydia are engaging and well-drawn characters. I did find their voices somewhat similar, which sometimes made it difficult to distinguish them, but perhaps this was the author’s intention – to draw parallels between these two young women of very different backgrounds and to alert us to their similarities and the commonalities that bind them together. Their families of origin, their relationships with other friends and family members, and their place in their communities was depicted with clear-eyed detail. The research devoted to this book is obvious, although never heavy-handed or shown off. But I certainly learnt a lot about lace-making, about the relentless push of Stalin’s Red Army, about the tiny country of Estonia and its culture and traditions, and about the Forest Brothers, resistance fighters who courageously defied both the Russian and the German occupying powers.
The two other main characters in the story, Oskar and Jakob, were less of a presence in the first part of the book, and I felt I didn’t know them – or like them – as well as the women. But as the story developed and we learnt more about their characters, they too became an integral part of the story, and by the end, I cared very much about both of them.
The book is full of beautiful imagery and metaphor, the most obvious being the gorgeous lace shawls and their patterns, which begin each chapter. But there is also the image of the wolf, a touchstone for Kati in memory of her grandmother, which appears throughout the novel. The many themes explored include the bonds between women, and between mothers and their children, the vulnerability and innocence of youth, the indomitable spirit and pride of nationalism, the spark of desire and romance despite the odds of circumstance, and the ties of friendship in times of trauma.
The Lace Weaver is an easy to read story that traverses a period of great turmoil in history and shines a light on a small part of the world that many of us probably know little about. Although this is a work of fiction, I feel I know Estonia a little better, and certainly understand its history and its people on a deeper level. ...more

Cass Moriarty made a comment on their review of Sweet Adversity

" Perfect for a nine year old! The issues that could be frightening (eg the child dealer) are dealt with in a very subtle and sensitive way, with approp ...more "

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Sweet Adversity
by Sheryl Gwyther (Goodreads Author)

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In Sweet Adversity (HarperCollins 2018) by Sheryl Gwyther - Children's Author, we meet 12-year-old Adversity McAllister, a plucky heroine with a melodious voice and a feisty personality. Abandoned at an orphanage during the Depression years after her In Sweet Adversity (HarperCollins 2018) by Sheryl Gwyther - Children's Author, we meet 12-year-old Adversity McAllister, a plucky heroine with a melodious voice and a feisty personality. Abandoned at an orphanage during the Depression years after her parents were apparently drowned, Addie spends her days performing plays and songs for the other children (and the cows), accompanied by her clever talking cockatiel, Macbeth, demonstrating all the skills she was taught by her parents who were part of a travelling Shakespearean Theatre Troupe. But the orphanage is run by the nasty Matron Maddock, and her officious sidekick, Algernon Parris, who take advantage of the orphans and spend their time hatching evil plans. When Addie discovers that Matron Maddock has arranged to sell her to Scrimshaw, a notorious child-dealer, so he can exploit her beautiful voice to make even more money, she decides to risk escape, taking her dear friend Jack and of course, her bird Macbeth. What follows is a journey of dangerous adventure as Addie tries to outwit her pursuers at every turn, in the hope of finding family and friendship with Jack. Through flooded creeks and city squats, from the Camp of Lost Children to a vaudeville show, Addie’s courage and optimism shine in the face of adversity.
What a joy to read a children’s novel with such a daring and determined young female protagonist. Addie is whip-smart, empathetic, brave, kind and persistent. She stands up to bullies. She respects those who earn her trust, rather than those in authority. She cares for the vulnerable and puts the welfare of her precious bird, Macbeth, and her friends, before her own. She has a wicked and mischievous wit and an infectious giggle. Young readers will want her to be their best friend.
The story, themes and setting of this novel have been crafted with care. Opening in the Emu Swamp Children’s Home, we get a very real sense of the deprivation, isolation, loneliness and despair of Depression era families – and how very much worse it was for the orphans. From the outback bush of the countryside to the cityscape of a young Sydney yet to complete its Harbour Bridge, historical Australia of a past era is showcased in a very accessible way for young readers (although adults will also sense the melodrama and fun of this story and appreciate the humour!) We are cheering Addie on every step of the way, and even when events seem darkest and most frightening, we’re hoping she finds a safe place to fall.
I thoroughly enjoyed this tale, especially with the Shakespearean references. This is a story about identity and belonging, about finding your place and finding your voice, about fighting for what’s important and claiming what is yours. And it’s also a story about a valiant young woman following her heart and chasing her dreams. ...more

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No Point in Stopping
by Samuel Maguire

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Samuel Maguire’s debut No Point in Stopping (Tiny Owl Workshop 2018) is a memoir novella, a compact, taut piece of writing that is simple and unpretentious, and probably one of the best insights into mental illness I have read. His words and depictio Samuel Maguire’s debut No Point in Stopping (Tiny Owl Workshop 2018) is a memoir novella, a compact, taut piece of writing that is simple and unpretentious, and probably one of the best insights into mental illness I have read. His words and depictions make sense; I really ‘got it’. Described as ‘a memoir of fisticuffs, magic and meds’, and subtitled ‘Fortune Favours the Brave’, the book is a unique and touching glimpse of living with bi-polar disorder. Through a mixture of magical realism, voices in his head, imaginary battles and real-life conflicts, Maguire shares a part of his complex story. Through spare language and everyday events, we journey with him as he struggles with his demons and confronts his adversaries (both true and illusory), as he makes connections with family and friends, and as he attempts to define and wrestle with his condition. In the Editor’s Note, Harlan Ambrose writes: ‘Memoir isn’t just about hard facts. There are undiscovered truths and lessons in the space between what’s real and what’s imagined.’ He praises Sam Maguire’s ‘courage and compassion’ in telling his story. I couldn’t agree more. Memoir is a brave step for any writer, to open up past wounds and examine what caused the hurt, and how (or if) they have healed. Maguire does this with a refreshingly honest and frank assessment of his own actions, a dry humour, and from an empathetic perspective. He reveals some of his earliest memories of ‘difference’; his realisation that something set him apart. He interrogates these recollections and attempts to reconcile them with his adult experiences. Set in Brisbane and grounded in the reality of drugs, alcohol, house-sharing and prescribed medication, the story introduces us to Sam Maguire’s world of magic and created (and creative) illusions, and manages to present his wild head-spin fantasy adventures as not only possible, but comprehensible. The story is full of horrendous nightmares and disturbing crises of identity, but also offers up gems of wisdom and truth, small glimpses of the profound. His dreams are frightening in their intensity. He speaks of control and premonitions, sadness and craziness, self-belief and anxiety, belonging and connection and writing. His distinctive voice guides us with guileless wonder, and for the briefest of moments, we see what he sees, we feel his pain, his longing and his hope. In the end, he concludes that ‘sometimes all you have to do is keep breathing for a few more hours and you can make it home’, and that ultimately, there is indeed no point in stopping. ...more

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Beneath the Mother Tree
by D.M. Cameron (Goodreads Author)

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Beneath the Mother Tree (MidnightSun Publishing 2018), the debut novel by DM Cameron, is an absorbing and magical tale of rich Irish mythology braided with Indigenous history and language. The story flies, dream-like, through fantastical possibilitie Beneath the Mother Tree (MidnightSun Publishing 2018), the debut novel by DM Cameron, is an absorbing and magical tale of rich Irish mythology braided with Indigenous history and language. The story flies, dream-like, through fantastical possibilities whilst remaining firmly grounded with a real-life narrative of mystery. A confounding mixture of genres, Beneath the Mother Tree exudes the wisdom of Aboriginal elders, the unpredictability of psychological disturbance, the fear and confrontation of family violence and divided loyalties, the mystical wonderment of faery folklore and the urgent determination of young love. It reminded me a little of The Lost Flowers of Alice Hart, particularly in the way the well-researched and approved Indigenous content was woven into the tale to demonstrate cultural practices and to record historical events.
The Mother Tree of the title refers to a large tree noted by scientists for its symbiotic connection to the land, some even believing communication occurs underground through a complex root system. There is an actual Mother Tree in this book, revered by both Aboriginal people, and also white people of Irish heritage, for its permanence, its meaning, its sense of custodianship of the land. The connection between people and place is strong throughout this story; each character and every subplot seem to pose the questions: What is belonging? To what does our history entitle us? How does our story connect with the land? D.M. Cameron has really done her homework in identifying key historical and cultural facts and blending them with fictionalised embellishments to produce writing that is clearly of the imagination, and yet also moored in tradition and truth.
The nature writing is descriptive, evocative and sensual. She writes of native flora and fauna, of exotic introduced species, of wild weather, and of the touch of humans on the landscape. Reading the depictions of environment is a sensory experience as she describes each leaf and feather, every shell and bird call. The book is a love song to nature, a plea to respect and treasure the land we occupy, a fervent wish to understand and value what we have, even if sometimes it seems to act against us.
The story itself is engaging – a page-turning mystery set in the isolation of the small fictitious island of Moondarrawah. The setting is ripe for intrigue – full of small-town gossip, relationships that flare and flounder, and plenty of local legends and loyalties. When Riley and his mother move to the island to recover from their grief and make a new start, they are viewed with suspicion and scorn. Local girl Ayla and her grandfather Grappa are nervous about sinister happenings in the small community and become worried when locals start looking for answers. Could it really be that Far Dorocha, the evil servant of the Faery Queen, has come into their midst? Or is that merely Grappa’s drunken imaginings? Why does Riley’s mother, Marlise, a renowned entomologist, seem to stir up trouble? And what is the dark family secret she is hiding? Who is protecting whom? Who is behind the series of deaths – both animal and people – on the island, or are they simply coincidental?
The cast of characters is so well-drawn that one suspects D.M. Cameron has spent a fair amount of time people-watching in just such a small community. The friends and neighbours, workmates and family members are sketched with their foibles and flaws, their mistrust and prejudices, and their underlying and deeply united bonds. The characters are never black and white, but always shades of grey; never wholly good or totally bad. Under even the worst behaviour we can sense comprehensible motivations. In even the most appealing characters we catch glimpses of malice. There is addiction and alcoholism, violence and sexual manipulation, psychological exploitation and injustice and narrow-mindedness. The notion of shame, what it signifies and what it creates, is explored with sensitivity, as is the impression of outsiders versus insiders, with what people will do to fit in, and what will they might do when their attempts to fit in fail.
The opening scene begins with Ayla setting free an injured pied cormorant, and this motif repeats throughout the story. The idea of themes and symbols, of the interpretation of signs and the hidden meaning of allegory, runs strongly through the story. Colour is used as metaphor, language as direction, the subtle hint of violence as a warning for the wary. The book is full of complicated relationships tangled and knotted by deceit, loyalty, familial bonds, expectation and promise. Some beautiful passages tie individuals and communities to country through past events – both atrocities and celebrations. The thrumming vibration of these ties are felt throughout the book. Stories are told and retold, as the author ponders who has the right to tell these stories; who has a right to claim them as their own. When Ayla says she feels she doesn’t belong, her mother reminds her that she is fifth generation Australian, and how far back does she have to go to belong? And yet, despite this, the author’s intention is clear: that the First People’s connection to country, historical and unbroken, remains foremost. The book explores the complex interactions between Indigenous and white people – not only how they are different, but all the many ways they might come together and create a common shared experience.
At one point in the story, Riley ‘held his breath at the possibility of magic’ – and this is really the heart of this book: the possibility of magic, the wonder of ancestral stories, and the power of Mother Earth. ...more

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Traumata
by Meera Atkinson

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Traumata (UQP 2018) is an important work of non-fiction that traverses the notion of trauma from every angle – physical, psychological, emotional, historical, intergenerational and inherited. Author Meera Atkinson delves deep into her own personal st Traumata (UQP 2018) is an important work of non-fiction that traverses the notion of trauma from every angle – physical, psychological, emotional, historical, intergenerational and inherited. Author Meera Atkinson delves deep into her own personal story and the legacy that trauma has left on her life, and places this into the wider context of societal wounds such as family violence, addiction and child abuse. She connects and views these themes through investigating philosophy, feminism, neuroscience and pop psychology, and comes full circle by illustrating these broad issues with anecdotes of friendship, family, love, relationships, art, work and growing up.
This is a book almost forensic in its dissection of trauma, and its intense and detailed analysis of the causes, interpretations and results will satisfy the most curious of readers looking for an in-depth, measured and well-researched exploration of this issue. But she manages to translate the often dense and dark subject matter into an accessible and highly readable story by combining threads of her own history throughout, along with keen observations, thoughtful inquiry and scrutiny, and careful and empathetic assessment.
Traumata is truthful in a way that is painfully honest and candid. Atkinson pursues uncomfortable questions, even when she knows they throw a harsh light onto her own actions. And she is brutal with details of her life that are difficult to read, and hard to hear. On the opening page, she writes of herself as a young woman after being raped, naked and standing by the side of the road covered only by a cardboard box: ‘Is it even necessary to tell that story? Haven’t we heard enough? It occurs to me now I don’t recall this rape ever coming up in therapy. It had some competition.’ And with this we know we’re expected to do some heavy lifting. She continues: ‘Course, not everyone lives in the slipstream of a familial clusterfuck of trauma, but even the most well-adjusted and loving of families aren’t immune to tragedy, freak accidents and diabolical developments…’
She speaks of shame as: ‘…part of what drives alcoholism, addiction and abuse…in doing so it reproduces and is transmitted…often, paradoxically, by shameless acts, acts in which one person’s avoidance of shame demands another carry it.’ And she notes that many who grow up in an atmosphere where shame or violence or general bad behaviour is the norm, ‘…come to the realisation that they are profoundly traumatised only after decades of suffering…’ She speaks of the ‘…crushing loneliness of being misunderstood, even by oneself.’
And yet she lightens the mood with her easy turn of phrase and her sense of humour, speaking to the reader in a conversational tone or making a joke or a quip just when we least expect it, bringing us out of the darkness and settling us back into ‘normality’.
Atkinson discusses the beauty myth, patriarchy, memory, education, #MeToo, poetry, anxiety, self-help gurus, body modification, cultural norms, coming of age and intergenerational trauma, all within the framework of her own troubled family relationships. She shares stories about her enigmatic mother, and her (mostly) absent father, whom she was always trying to please: ‘…if I had a father…there were moments when I thought he would be proud of me too, especially about the dancing, so I danced harder…with my family, if I had a family, in the audience, applauding, and the sound of that applause was the sound of being good enough.’ So poignant, especially when viewed with the included photographs of her younger self. ...more

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The Hunter and Other Stories of Men
by David Cohen

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The Hunter (and Other Stories of Men) (Transit Lounge 2018) is a quirky and engaging collection of short stories by David Cohen, who gave us the memorable, very funny and rather odd novel Disappearing Off the Face of the Earth. In The Hunter, we are The Hunter (and Other Stories of Men) (Transit Lounge 2018) is a quirky and engaging collection of short stories by David Cohen, who gave us the memorable, very funny and rather odd novel Disappearing Off the Face of the Earth. In The Hunter, we are indeed given a random assortment of stories of and about men: men alone and lonely; men embattled, embittered or ambitious; men ageing and struggling and overcompensating and suffering and behaving badly. This is a fine assembly of poignant observations about the human condition, most particularly the male of the species. The stories are witty and full of fun. They are moving and touch on issues of sensitivity and import. They are deceptively simple in structure and plot, but cleverly complex in emotions. Cohen dissects everyday lives and ordinary occurrences with a keen eye and an impressive attention to detail.
In the opening story, from which the title heralds, a property developer fights an ongoing battle with the ubiquitous ibis which threaten his construction. It’s man against nature, the lone operator against the hordes, and we sense his frustration with bureaucracy and his railing against the loss of common sense. It is these banal frustrations – with buses and politics and religion and queues and neighbours and rubbish recycling – that bubble forth into a cauldron of fascinating scenarios. In Frequently Asked Questions, we are treated to the circular inanity of life; in Woodcutter we meet a man who takes his new responsibilities a step too far. We wonder what happened to Carlos. We feel a connection to Dennis. We feel sympathy for poor Tony. We hear a story narrated by a bus stop, and find it makes absolute sense. We empathise with the transience of life, and we are forced to think about what comes afterwards in Variations on a Theme (by the Department of Transport and Main Roads). Washing Day leaves us feeling slightly soiled. The Archive paints a perfect and tender picture of life’s long, slow slide into oblivion. But like the armless piano player in Look for the Silver Lining, in every story we peek underneath the layers of grime and untidiness to the treasure beneath.
I found this book compelling, accessible, humorous and affecting, and found myself wishing the stories were longer so that I could prolong the process of getting to know the unusual array of characters. ...more

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The Lost Flowers of Alice Hart
by Holly Ringland (Goodreads Author)

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Holly Ringland’s debut novel, The Lost Flowers of Alice Hart (HarperCollins 2018) is a complex and many-layered narrative in which the reader can sense the gravitas of the research underpinning the story. The author’s depiction of place – of landscap Holly Ringland’s debut novel, The Lost Flowers of Alice Hart (HarperCollins 2018) is a complex and many-layered narrative in which the reader can sense the gravitas of the research underpinning the story. The author’s depiction of place – of landscape, environment, weather, flora and fauna – is incredibly detailed, particularly her descriptions of flowers, which herald the beginning of each chapter, and thread their way throughout the story. Her lived experience in Indigenous communities is also evident. But although heavy on detail, the book maintains a light touch, inviting the reader on a journey that in parts could almost be described as rural romance meets literary fiction meets scientific journal.
The opening sentence is sombre: ‘In the weatherboard house at the end of the lane, nine-year-old Alice Hart sat at her desk by the window and dreamed of ways to set her father on fire’, and it sets the tone for the first section of the book in which we meet young Alice and quickly discover her family situation is not ideal. Without giving anything away, this early passage deals with abuse and domestic violence, and especially a child’s view of such matters; how they assume responsibility or carry the burden of blame, or of fixing the problem. This is the part of the book I enjoyed most. I think Ringland convincingly puts us inside the head of nine-year-old Alice and deals with her traumatic experiences with sensitivity.
Subsequent sections of the book are written from Alice’s perspective as she is older – first as an adolescent, then as a young woman. Again, to say too much would be to give away the story, but suffice to say that the themes of family, trauma, violence and identity are explored, but most particularly that of family. What makes a family? Can you choose your family? What happens to a broken family? How much responsibility should a family member assume for another? What is the link between family and community? All of these questions are asked, but the answers are not always clear-cut.
Alice’s childhood on a flower farm with her grandmother is founded on the Victorian tradition of floriography, or the language of flowers. Every flower has a meaning; native flowers can communicate the things that are too hard to say. This is the most beautiful aspect of the book: the fine descriptions, meanings and interpretations, accompanied by the elegant sketches, and the obvious amount of research into native flora. So too with the Indigenous content; Ringland takes a risk avoided by many white authors by not only including Aboriginal culture, practices and language but even providing the perspective of an Indigenous character. However, she seems to have the credentials (the background research, her own personal experience, and the cultural approval) to write these aspects of the story, and it does seem to be a credible and authentic representation of Aboriginal stories (she has also been very careful to acknowledge the assistance she received, and when she has changed or invented certain aspects).
The last half of the book was less compelling for me – a part of me wanted to return to Alice as a child. But the passage of time – and Alice’s growing maturity – is chronicled, and her choices as an adult allow us to reflect on the similarity of choices made years earlier by the adults in her life when she was a child.
The story has a few inherent mysteries which keep the reader guessing; some of these are neatly tied up in the resolution of the story, while some threads are left, for us to imagine what might happen next. A couple of the plot lines or relationships were perhaps a tad predictable, but Ringland makes up for this by then surprising us with a twist that we didn’t see coming. And the circular structure of the ending is a satisfying connection with the beginning of the story, and gracefully takes us back to that first sentence. This is a story that furrows some emotional ground, plants some poignant seeds, grows some thorny problems and displays some touching blooms. People wither without the right care and attention. Others flourish because of respect and consideration. This is a novel about relationships and family, and about how to encourage the positive growth of both. ...more

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The Geography of Friendship
by Sally Piper (Goodreads Author)

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A gripping mystery, a thoughtful portrait of friendship, and a love song to the natural world.
Sally Piper describes her new novel The Geography of Friendship (UQP 2018) as a story about female friendships, bushwalking and predatory men, and that is i A gripping mystery, a thoughtful portrait of friendship, and a love song to the natural world.
Sally Piper describes her new novel The Geography of Friendship (UQP 2018) as a story about female friendships, bushwalking and predatory men, and that is indeed what she gives us: a tight and tense narrative of a chilling bush hike, set above the exploration of deeper themes of identity, feminism, fear, cruelty, self-preservation, guilt and revenge.
Samantha, Lisa and Nicole, now in their forties, were once best friends. As thirteen-year-olds, they had each other’s backs; they were united, loyal and devoted. But when, in their twenties, they embark on a bushwalk in an isolated location, and experience a frightening encounter with a stranger, their actions – and their reactions – lead to a rupture in their relationship that is never healed. Now, twenty years later, they decide to return to the scene of their previous trauma, and to again hike the same terrain. But nothing is the same, and everything has changed. As each woman replays the past, reviewing and questioning her own decisions and choices, it becomes ever more evident how that past has come to haunt each of them, and to irrevocably change the course of their lives.
The strengths of this book are threefold: the intimacy and specificity of the language around nature; the page-turning sense of suspense; and the ruminative and thought-provoking inner dialogues of each of the women.
Sally Piper is a keen bushwalker and nature-lover, and this is evident in her writing of this book.
‘Soil, root, branch – each provides her with a welcome disconnect from the human world; they feel kinder, more generous, and the demands they make upon her are of her own design, unlike the demands other people make. In this way gardening soothes her, allows her to let her guard down, to be someone else.’
It is clear that she has walked in these women’s footsteps, that she has experienced herself the bone-weariness of trudging up mountains and across wet sand, the aches and pains of a body crying out for rest, the sting of blisters, the unexpected hurts from unfamiliar packs and straps and weights. She has walked these trails and traversed these paths. With a keen eye for observation and a writer’s ability to notice small details, she has collected a wealth of knowledge about flora and fauna, from the shade of a flower’s bloom to the hunched quarters of a kangaroo, from the sound of a possum thumping to the touch of a fly supping from perspiration droplets, from the ever-changing colour of the sky and the ever-changing shapes of the clouds to the sensory overload of sounds and smells of the bush.
‘… the melaleucas shed their paperbark like onion skins to reveal a soft sunrise of colours beneath. The way the red throats of Mistletoe birds shone like cherries in the trees.’
She takes us right there, to that place. We are walking with these women, placing our feet in their footsteps, passing the brush broken by their progress, sensing the night and its secrets settling about us. Nature – and specifically, the setting of this place – is a character in this book. ‘These trees huddle together like kin.’ Nature is timeless, always moving and growing. Nature throws up obstacles for mere humans, and closes over us after we have passed. Nature is both welcoming and hostile, both relaxing and confronting, both haven and threat.
‘Craggy headlands push into the sea from north to south and granite-strewn mountains fold away to the west. And the ocean, that enormous piece of rumpled silk, rolls in from the east.’
The narrative pull of this story is such that despite the immersion into the inner thoughts of these three women, we are compelled to turn the pages more and more quickly as the tension ratchets up. The novel tells two stories simultaneously – the initial hike, with its tragic consequences, and the second, later hike, with all that it represents. The two are separated by the expected changes that twenty years bring to a once isolated bush reserve, with the advent of more tourists and improved facilities and signage, and the difference between the equipment the girls take on their first hike and the items they have on their second trip. And the women are changed too; no longer naïve and vulnerable girls, they are now jaded and damaged adults. But it is the creeping menace of this story that is most compelling – the urgent sense of dread, the thrill of the unknown, the sinister presence of the strange man, and the building sense of impending doom.
‘So here she is, back in a place she never wanted to see again, surrounded by a bushland she only remembers as hostile.’
We are never sure, until the final pages, who will be the most damaged, and how; never certain who – if anyone – might escape unscathed.
And finally, it is the women themselves who engage us – we are given first person perspectives from all three women as they recall their memories of the first expedition and live their second attempt. As they hike, they think back over their lives and their choices, their work and families, their good and bad behaviour. They contemplate how their lives might have been different.
In Sally’s words, this is a novel about the spaces that women are taught not to trespass into, and about what happens when they break those rules. It is about women limiting themselves because of society’s expectations around risk and threat, and about what this does to a woman’s psyche, always being aware of these boundaries. This is a book that thinks deeply about the space women occupy in the world, and the space occupied by men, and the overlapping circles of trust and authority. It is about unbridled, impotent anger and rage; about the disappointment of being forced to choose safety. It is a call to arms for women to wrest back control of our bodies and our fates, to live large and demand more from those around us. And it is indeed a book about female friendships, from schoolyard mates to adult bonds – an intimate examination of how and why those friendships form, develop, lag or flourish; about how women think of each other and care for each other, how jealousies and insecurities tear at the fabric of friendship, and how loyalty, courage and dependability bind together.
But despite the relationship between woman and land, and the relationships between the friends themselves, perhaps the biggest message in this book is about self-identity and self-care and the protection of self against the threats of the world. Each woman in this story must face her own demons and chase down her own regrets; each must reconcile her past with her future.
‘Because soon enough they reached the point on the circuit where it was as far for them to go back as it was to continue on.’ ...more

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	The Promise Seed 4.27 avg rating — 353 ratings — published 2015 — 3 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
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