Theresa Smith's Blog, page 103
June 3, 2019
Book Review: Less by Andrew Sean Greer
About the Book:
The Pulitzer prize-winning novel about a failed writer trying to escape his problems by traveling abroad.
WHO SAYS YOU CAN’T RUN AWAY FROM YOUR PROBLEMS?
Arthur Less is a failed novelist about to turn fifty. A wedding invitation arrives in the post: it is from an ex-boyfriend of nine years who is engaged to someone else. Arthur can’t say yes – it would be too awkward; he can’t say no – it would look like defeat. So, he begins to accept the invitations on his desk to half-baked literary events around the world.
From France to India, Germany to Japan, Arthur almost falls in love, almost falls to his death, and puts miles between him and the plight he refuses to face. LESS is a novel about mishaps, misunderstandings and the depths of the human heart.
My Thoughts:
I have to say, this novel caught me by surprise. I wasn’t anticipating enjoying it quite as much as I did, because I initially only read it on account of it winning the 2018 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction, not because the book itself sparked any real interest within me. I have a bit of a thing about reading the Pulitzer fiction winners. Before my review days, I used to read each one, but that’s dropped back in recent years. I aim to turn that around though and play catch up whenever I can squeeze one in. I’ll quietly call it The Pulitzer Project but I might hold off making it official because we all know how The Classics Eight is going! Anyway, back to the business of Less.
‘Perhaps Less, alone, is kidding. Here, looking at his clothes – black jeans for New York, khaki for Mexico, blue suit for Italy, down for Germany, linen for India – costume after costume. Each one is a joke, and the joke is on him: Less the gentleman, Less the author, Less the tourist, Less the hipster, Less the colonialist. Where is the real Less? Less the young man terrified of love? The dead-serious Less of twenty-five years ago? Well, he has not packed him at all. After all these years, Less doesn’t even know where he’s stored.’
Like I said above, the enjoyment factor for me was quite high with this novel. It’s a very entertaining read, funny in a smart way, and written with an edge of sophistication and a lack of crudeness that takes it a notch higher than a regular ‘chick-lit’ read. And that’s essentially what Less is: gay chick-lit for everyone, if that makes any sense at all. I’m astonished it won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction. Not because it isn’t a good book, but because it’s so unlike the novels that usually win. And maybe that’s a good thing.
Arthur Less is about to turn 50. When he receives an invitation to his former lover’s wedding, he decides to run away, overseas, by way of accepting a chain of engagements around the world, funded for the most part by conferences, prize committees, universities and publishers. It’s kind of brilliant how Arthur puts the trip together, and of course, from the minute he sets off, much hilarity ensues. For each place Arthur visits, there’s a comedy of errors, but it never seems overdone, just rather funny and entertaining. As we witness Arthur going from place to place, we also bear witness to his memories of other trips, with people he loved: ‘the good old days’. On the cusp of 50, Arthur is feeling his age; he’s also crippled with loneliness and filled with self-doubt. The Arthur everyone else sees and likes is not the same Arthur staring back from the mirror. It’s easy to recognise the way Arthur feels because loneliness is universal, as is self-doubt. In the end, I really liked the ordinariness of this novel, it makes it very relatable and with the author’s savvy prose, it’s also very readable.
‘He realises that, even after Robert, he never truly let himself be alone. Even here, on this trip: first Bastian, then Javier. Why this endless need for a man as a mirror? To see the Arthur Less reflected there? He is grieving, for sure – the loss of his lover, his career, his novel, his youth – so why not cover the mirrors, rend the fabric over his heart, and just let himself mourn? Perhaps he should try alone.’
Andrew Sean Greer has a real way with words when it comes to conjuring far flung places. He truly brings them to life on the page. The novel has a mystery narrator, one whom we don’t discover the identity of until almost at the end of the story. I liked the use of this narrator, occasionally making himself known to the reader, imparting some prophetic intonation about Arthur before stepping back and giving Arthur the limelight once more. It was clever and different. Less is a novel that has much to recommend it. It’s quaint, funny, smart, and engaging. Arthur endeared himself to me over the course of this novel and I have a feeling he’s going to stay with me for a while yet.
About the Author:
Andrew Sean Greer is the bestselling author of five works of fiction, including The Confessions of Max Tivoli, which was named a best book of 2004 by the San Francisco Chronicle and the Chicago Tribune. He is the recipient of the Northern California Book Award, the California Book Award, the New York Public Library Young Lions Award, the O Henry award for short fiction and fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts and the New York Public Library. Greer lives in San Francisco. He has travelled to all of the locations in this novel, but he is only big on Italy.
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Less
Published by Hachette Australia
Released on 20th April 2018
June 2, 2019
Behind the Pen – A Few of my Favourites with Sasha Wasley
Today I welcome Sasha Wasley to Behind the Pen, author of the beloved Paterson sisters series. She’s here to share with us a few of her favourites. Over to you, Sasha…
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What is your favourite…and why…
Character from one of your books?
Free Paterson who starred in True Blue is a real favourite with me because she is so funny and unique! I love her candid way of talking and her idealistic view of the world. She’s completely unlike me and was difficult to write, but readers seem to adore her. I also love Pearl, the little girl in Love Song. She takes no crap and handles her disability with genuine aplomb.
Scene from one of your books?
In Love Song, there is a stolen kiss between Charlie and Beth in the kitchen – that I absolutely love. No pantry door ever saw such passion…
Movie of all time?
I’m not a huge movie buff but one that came to my mind was Persuasion (1995). So beautifully done and it captured my favourite book of all time perfectly. I always think of Dear Banjo as my Persuasion, True Blue as my Sense and Sensibility and now Love Song is my Pride and Prejudice. I also LOVE Jim Carrey’s Ace Ventura movies.
Book that you always keep a copy of and recommend to others?
I have different books for different moods. I’ve got a collection of satires, Austens, Agatha Christies, children’s novels and books by friends. Alice in Wonderland is a big favourite but it’s not one I recommend to people because who hasn’t heard of Alice? From the past couple of years I have kept and loved Anthea Hodgson’s The Drifter and Tess Woods’ Love at First Flight.
Fashion accessory that despite having plenty of, you still keep collecting?
I don’t wear much jewellery but I do like a nice pendant and I have a few. My latest purchase was a gorgeous metal boab tree I bought in Broome last year. I go mad for boabs. I also love my Bella and Reg pendant made with fabric designed by an indigenous artist (a gift from a friend) and I have another pendant from my sister with the word ‘Scripturient’ on it (possessed with the uncontrollable urge to write). Yup, that’s me.
Drink that you enjoy everyday?
Wine! I have a nice glass or two every night. I like a rose, a pinot gris or a classic red.
Treat you indulge in?
I love sweet potato crisps! I only tend to indulge in them during weekend footy games.
Place to be?
In WA’s countryside on a relaxing holiday with my partner or family, glass of wine in hand, open notebook and pen on my knee. Hopefully there is an ocean or pasture view, a crackling fire and a snoozing dog.
Person you admire?
I admire Virginia Woolf for being incredibly ahead of her time in her writing and for her fiercely analytical mind. Her ability to hit the nail on the head takes my breath away. The patriarchy would be quaking in its boots if she was still alive. I’m a massive Malala fan too, if you’re asking about living icons. What an inspiration for the young women of today, and especially for those girls who have to fight for the right to education.
Season of the year?
Now that I am getting into gardening, I love autumn. So much new greenery, time to plant, and the wonderful promise of cooler weather after being hot for months on end. We are having the most splendid, mild autumn here in Western Australia this year but I can feel the cold starting to creep in.
Love Song
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When she agreed to tutor Charlie Campbell, falling in love was the last thing on her mind.
At 17, Beth Paterson had just lost her mother and was working hard to get in to university. She didn’t expect to lose her head over a boy – and she certainly didn’t expect him to vanish without even saying goodbye.
These days, Charlie is a big star on the alternative rock scene, while Beth is a respected doctor in her hometown. But her ordered life is thrown into turmoil when Charlie comes back to fight for the tiny community where he was raised. They can’t stop crossing paths any more than Beth can ignore the resurgence of that wild attraction they once shared.
However, Beth Paterson swore no man would ever screw her over again – least of all this man. She’s been protecting her heart since he left and she’s not about to let her guard down now.
Out June 4, 2019. Available now for pre-order from your favourite store as paperback or ebook. Published by Penguin Random House Australia .
June 1, 2019
Six Degrees of Separation: From Murmur to Heresy…
I’ve been following the Six Degrees of Separation meme run by Kate at booksaremyfavouriteandbest for ages now, but hadn’t yet plucked up the courage to join in. I decided yesterday that I’d jump on board next month, mainly because I’d read the book that’s been set as the starting point. However, last night, I finished reading a book that gave me a direct link to the current #6degrees starting title, so I thought, despite being a day late, I’d give it a go anyway.
You can find the details and rules of the #6degrees meme at bookaremyfavouriteandbest, but in a nutshell, everyone has the same starting book and from there, you connect to other books. Some of the connections made are so impressive, it’s a lot of fun to follow.
On with the show…
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The starting book is Murmur by Will Eaves, which I haven’t read, nor had I even heard of prior to this meme. Goodreads describes the book as follows:
Taking its cue from the arrest and legally enforced chemical castration of the mathematician Alan Turing, Murmur is the account of a man who responds to intolerable physical and mental stress with love, honour and a rigorous, unsentimental curiosity about the ways in which we perceive ourselves and the world. Formally audacious, daring in its intellectual inquiry and unwaveringly humane, Will Eaves’s new novel is a rare achievement.
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The book I finished last night is called, The Tenth Muse by Catherine Chung, and it’s all about the world of higher mathematics in the middle of the twentieth century. The book contains an account of Alan Turing, who he was, what he did for mathematics – and the world, and what happened to him. The Tenth Muse also contains themes relating to Germany in the decades following WWII, particularly about the way German’s were dealing with the stain of Nazism.
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It’s with this theme, that I link to my next book, The Hidden by Mary Chamberlain. One of the main characters in this novel is the child of former Nazis who hid this knowledge from her. There’s a lot in this novel about the way history gets re-written as a means of hiding guilt and it also explores the difficulty that the second generation of Germans after WWII have had with growing up with this stain of Nazism alongside the denial from their parents that they were a part of it. It taps into that notion that there were no Nazis in Germany after the war. Similar really, to France, where after WWII, everyone claimed they were in the resistance, no one was a collaborator, nor were they ever in the Gestapo.
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Which of course links me to my next title, The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah, a novel I love dearly. Set in occupied France, it explores the way in which people act when living in an occupied territory, the different ways in which people resisted or collaborated during the war years. The Nightingale was the first book by Kristin Hannah that I’d read, but I enjoyed her writing so much that I began to slowly make my way through her backlist.
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Another standout novel written by her is True Colours. This is a contemporary novel, set on a ranch in America, following the lives of three very different sisters. There is an injustice within this novel, born out of racism, that underpins the story and the author turns a spotlight onto wrongful convictions and the organisations that are working hard to advocate for families who are living through the hell that is a miscarriage of justice. True Colours also looks closely at the connection between humans and horses, a theme I love to read about.
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This is displayed so beautifully in Just After Midnight by Catherine Ryan Hyde. This was such a moving novel about a traumatised girl losing her beloved horse and a woman who decides to help her get it back. There’s so much in this novel about trust and betrayal, dealing with trauma, forging new relationships and the pure love between humans and horses.
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Which brings me to my final connection, Heresy by Melissa Lenhardt, an absolute cracker of a western which follows the story and crimes of an all women gang in the wild west of the US in the days of early settlement. The women initially form their gang when their horse ranch is stolen from them. All of their crimes are motivated by retribution and the novel explores the many ways in which women were used and exploited in the early days of American settlement.
Goodness! I did it! Better late than never but I’ll aim to be on time for next month’s #6degrees.
#AussieAuthor19 – Challenge Completed!
We’re at the half way mark through the year and I have completed the Book Lover Book Reviews #AussieAuthor19 reading challenge.
To recap:
The Aussie Author Challenge 2019
#AussieAuthor19
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Chosen level:
KANGAROO
Read and review 12 titles written by Australian Authors of which at least 4 of those authors are female, at least 4 of those authors are male, and at least 4 of those authors are new to you; Fiction or non-fiction, at least 3 different genre.
I’ve actually read 38 books for this challenge but it took me that many to be able to say I’d read four books written by authors who are male.
In the end, I’ve read:
Male authors: 4 books
Female authors: 34 books
Authors who are new to me: 18 books
At least 3 different genres: 9 different genres, including poetry, memoir, and short story – all not my usual type of reading.
Overall, this has been an excellent challenge for broadening my reading horizons. Thanks Book Lover Book Reviews! I’m officially hooked on this challenge.
May 31, 2019
Challenge Check In – May
What a month on the home front! That I read any books at all is probably a miracle. But I did, and my efforts for May look like this:
#aww2019: 5 books
#AussieAuthor19: 7 books
Book Bingo with Mrs B’s Book Reviews and The Book Muse: 2 books
The Classics Eight: this is beyond the point of embarrassment now… 
May 30, 2019
Book Review: The Duchess’s Tattoo by Daisy Goodwin
About the Book:
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Traveling abroad with her mother at the turn of the twentieth century to seek a titled husband, beautiful, vivacious Cora Cash, whose family mansion in Newport dwarfs the Vanderbilts’, suddenly finds herself Duchess of Wareham, married to Ivo, the most eligible bachelor in England.
In “The Duchess’s Tattoo”, Cora Cash is desperate to be a fashionable lady of society. Despite her title and her wealth, she finds that English society is not that welcoming to “The American Duchess.” When Cora spies a distinctive snake tattoo on her mother-in-law’s wrist, she decides that she must have one as well.
It is up to the talented tattoo artist to save “The American Duchess” from herself.
My Thoughts:
I first came to the writing of Daisy Goodwin through the television series Victoria (HUGE fan), which then led me to the novel based upon the series – yes, I do have that around the right way, the novel was written based on the television series, both written by the same author. So this one, The Duchess’s Tattoo, is a short story, but I thought it was a novella when I downloaded it because it said it had 55 pages. Turns out the story goes for about 17 pages and the rest of the book is made up of a letter from the author outlining the inspiration for the novel upon which this story is based, as well as a chapter excerpt of said novel. Misleading? Yes, but honestly, who cares, it was free, and the story was interesting, the background inspiration from the author even more so.
Basically, there’s this tattoo artist, who’s highly sought after and super talented. An American duchess comes in to request a tattoo that her mother-in-law has so she can be deemed fashionable enough to enter the cool club. However, her mother-in-law is taking the mickey, and it’s not a club a newly married duchess wants to be a part of. The tattoo artist knows this – he inked the three women in this exclusive club so knows exactly what sort of club it is – and refuses to do the tattoo. Months later, the duchess returns to let the tattoo artist know that she is now aware what sort of club it is and to thank him for saving her reputation. Short and sweet. While I wasn’t even remotely interested in the duchess and her life, the tattoo artist I found quite interesting, given this was set at the beginning of the twentieth century. I wanted to know more about his artistry, his business, his clients. As well as mentioning that he was tattooing The Last Supper onto someone’s back, it talked about him inventing ink colours. That would be a fascinating novel, but alas, the novel is about the duchess, so I won’t be proceeding further on from here. But anyway, I read this for a reading challenge, so it’s served its purpose nicely!
About the Author:
DAISY GOODWIN, a Harkness scholar who attended Columbia University’s film school after earning a degree in history at Cambridge University, is a leading television producer in the U.K. Her poetry anthologies, including 101 Poems That Could Save Your Life, have introduced many new readers to the pleasures of poetry, and she was Chair of the judging panel of the 2010 Orange Prize for Fiction. That was the year she published her first novel the American Heiress ( My Last Duchess in UK), followed by The Fortune Hunter and Victoria. She has also created VICTORIA the PBS/ITV series. She has three dogs, two dogs, and one husband.
The Duchess’s Tattoo (Short Story/Novella)
Published April 26th 2011 by St. Martin’s Press
May 29, 2019
Behind the Pen – A Few of my Favourites with Maya Linnell
It gives me great pleasure to welcome debut author Maya Linnell to Behind the Pen today, here to share with us a few of her favourites. Over to you Maya…
What is your favourite…and why…
Character from one of your books?
One of my favourite Wildflower Ridge characters is Nanna Pearl. She’s only a minor character, the grandmother of the lead male Tim, but her huge heart, permed lilac hair and penchant for fluorescent workout gear make me smile every time.
Scene from one of your books?
I’ve got a soft spot for the scene where Penny rediscovers her late mother’s recipe book and decides to have a crack at baking herself happy. A city girl for all of her professional life, Penny slowly reconnects to her rural lifestyle when illness forces her back home. I have many glossy, properly published books in my collection, but nothing beats the dog-eared pages of my recipe compilations, filled with items like Mrs Schiller’s pudding, Tree Kent’s pineapple sponge, Grandee’s ANZACS and Emma’s choc chip bikkies. I especially love the ones from my grandmother, who still bakes at age 90. When my baking days are over, I’d like to think my children will have the same fondness for my handwritten recipes. The pages are sprinkled with cocoa, stained with tea, and there are notes next to best-loved ones, like the banana cake that won a blue ribbon at our local show in 2019 and everyone’s favourite chocolate slice.
Movie of all time?
Baz Luhrmann’s Romeo and Juliet. This version came out when I was a teenager, and every time I hear a song from the soundtrack, I’m taken straight back to my crush on Leonardo DiCaprio and the repeat viewings of the movie with my high school girlfriends. The scene at the fancy dress party – when Romeo and Juliet are looking at each other through the fish tank – still gives me the shivers.
Book that you always keep a copy of and recommend to others?
I have quite a collection of Rachael Johns’ books, but I’m looking at my bookshelf as I type and they all seem to be on loan! Must restock so I have more to hoist on friends suffering reading slumps.
Fashion accessory that despite having plenty of, you still keep collecting?
Scarves. They have a habit of mysteriously multiplying… Living in south west Victoria, there are plenty of scarf-wearing months in the year, and I treasure the hand-knitted ones from my grandmother, scarves my sister Zoe brought me in Turkey and gifts from friends and family.
Drink that you enjoy every day?
Tea – strong and white, no sugar, steaming hot. I’m not fussed on coffee, but I don’t know how I’d manage without tea.
Treat you indulge in?
I’ve gotten into the habit of doing ‘Yoga with Adriene’ several times a week. There are hundreds of free yoga classes on her YouTube channel to suit every mood and time limit, and she talks a lot about showing up and giving yourself the gift of yoga. I don’t always feel like dragging my butt onto the yoga mat, but I’m better off for it. Every. Single. Time!
Place to be?
The light-filled office in the house we built ourselves is a great place to write. If I look straight over the top of my computer screens, I can see our steers in the paddock and the cargo ships on the horizon, lined up to come into port. The chook house is to the west, alongside sheets flapping on the clothesline near the prettiest section of my rose garden, and to the east are views across our neighbour’s paddocks.
Person you admire?
Anh Do – This guy is impressive on all fronts. His inspiring memoir The Happiest Refugee had me crying and laughing, his kids books keep my children captivated, and his artwork is incredible. On top of that, he seems like a really nice guy.
Season of the year?
Spring! I love gardening, and my flowers are at their best in spring. There’s the promise of warmer weather on the way, everything’s had a great soaking of rain, the ranunculus bulbs mass planted near the chook house are in full bloom, my irises are in top form, and the fruit trees are blossoming. It’s the time of year I dig up all my dahlia bulbs and divide them ready for replanting and sharing with friends. Still cool enough to wear woolly cardigans but there’s also the occasional novelty of T-shirt wearing weather.
Wildflower Ridge
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Four sisters, one farm and a second chance at following your heart.
‘A moving tale of endings, new beginnings and love. A page turner.’ – Fleur McDonald, author of the bestselling Where the River Runs
Penny McIntyre loves her life as an ambitious city professional, with a marketing team at her fingertips and a promotion just within reach. So when she’s floored by a mystery illness, and ordered back to the family farm for three months’ rest and recuperation, she is horrified to find her perfect life imploding.
Within days, Penny has to leave her much-loved job, her live-in boyfriend, and her beloved city apartment … to return to the small country town in which she grew up. Back to her dad and three sisters, one of whom has never forgiven her for abandoning her family. And to her ex-boyfriend, Tim Patterson, who was the biggest reason she ran away in the first place.
When Penny’s father is injured in a farming accident and Tim campaigns to buy the property, she must choose between the city life she loves and the farming dream she buried long ago.
Wildflower Ridge is rural fiction straight from the heart.
Allen and Unwin will publish Wildflower Ridge on June 3, 2019
Follow Maya online:
Website www.mayalinnell.com
Instagram @maya.linnell.writes
Facebook maya.linnell.writes
Twitter @maya_linnell
About Maya:
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Maya Linnell grew up in a small country town, climbing towering gum trees and reading her way through her family’s bookshelves before discovering a never-ending supply of novels at the local library. She found her feet in journalism, working at a rural newspaper before segueing into public relations and now fiction writing and blogging for Romance Writers Australia. Wildflower Ridge is her debut novel and gathers inspiration from her rural upbringing and the small communities she has always lived in and loved. Maya currently lives in rural Victoria with her husband and children.
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May 28, 2019
Book Review: Boy Swallows Universe by Trent Dalton
About the Book:
Brisbane, 1983: A lost father, a mute brother, a mum in jail, a heroin dealer for a stepfather and a notorious crim for a babysitter. It’s not as if Eli’s life isn’t complicated enough already. He’s just trying to follow his heart, learning what it takes to be a good man, but life just keeps throwing obstacles in the way – not least of which is Tytus Broz, legendary Brisbane drug dealer.
But Eli’s life is about to get a whole lot more serious. He’s about to fall in love. And, oh yeah, he has to break into Boggo Road Gaol on Christmas Day, to save his mum.
A story of brotherhood, true love and the most unlikely of friendships, Boy Swallows Universe will be the most heartbreaking, joyous and exhilarating novel you will read all year.
My Thoughts:
‘Don’t you ever be ashamed of crying. You cry because you give a shit. Don’t ever be ashamed of giving a shit. Too many people in this world are too scared to cry because they’re too scared to give a shit.’
I wasn’t going to read this book on account of all the hype. But then I thought I’d better read it after all, because of, well, you know, all the hype. I’ve been burned by hyped up books in the past, the type of burns you never recover from – eg. Girl on the Train; I’m still scarred. I was most definitely not burned by this one though. Boy Swallows Universe more than lives up to all of its hype. It surpasses it and then some. It’s wholly unique, filled with so much about so many things. Could I be more vague? I’ll try my best to tell you why I loved this book so much without giving anything away because the less you know going in, the better.
‘It’s the faith he has in me. I liked it more when nobody believed in me. It was easier that way. Having nothing expected of you. Having no bar set to reach or fail to reach.’
Is it a true story? Bits and pieces, no doubt. Many who have heard Trent Dalton speak since its publication have heard a lot about what’s true and what’s not. I haven’t heard anything; I live in the back of beyond where no one comes to speak about anything and then of course I wasn’t planning on reading it, so I deliberately didn’t read any articles either. Until last week when I read this really beautiful piece on the Booktopia blog written by Trent himself called, ‘Why I Wrote Boy Swallows Universe.’ After reading this article, I immediately unearthed my copy from my mountainous tbr, which instantly gives me away, because despite deciding not to read it, I had a copy on hand – because sometimes I like to challenge myself and buy a book I’m not intending to read just to see how long I can hold out. But this article was so moving, it reached me, and I knew I needed to read the book. Cut through the hype and judge for myself. Lucky I had that copy! (I held out for about eight months, by the way). It’s important to not get too caught up in what’s true in the book and what’s not. It’s a work of fiction, inspired largely by the author’s early life, but it’s not an autobiography. This separation of the author from the work enabled me to fully appreciate what Trent has done. I’ve read a few reviews that seemed to have trouble with this separation, even going so far as to call it Trent’s life story; autobiographical fiction (no such thing exists) that was too far-fetched to be believed. This is a work of fiction. That it’s heavily inspired by Trent’s early life certainly enhances it, but it doesn’t define it.
‘And I know immediately I am standing inside a moment of trauma. The trauma is in me and the trauma that will happen has already happened.’
Anyone who grew up rough will find the familiar within these pages. For those who didn’t, the book may or may not work for you, it probably all depends on how you approach it and what your tolerance levels for the nastier side of life are. For me, reading Boy Swallows Universe was a deeply personal journey back into my own early life; the good, and the not so good. I related to the story, as well as to Eli and Gus, on so many levels. The story was in turn blisteringly funny and achingly sad. It’s ultimately an adventure, a crime story, a family drama, solid gold Aussie, and in essence, it really reminded me of the Australian film, Two Hands, with its coming of age/standing at a crossroads vibe. Anyone who grew up in the 1980s, that tragic yet golden heyday, will be immersed in the nostalgic atmosphere. While I wouldn’t touch one now with a barge pole, back in the day, a devon and sauce sandwich always hit the spot. And those KT26’s; oh my goodness, we were all wearing them while walking around in the blazing sun without hats on sucking on Sunny Boys. And 80s TV shows. All those great shows Eli and Gus were growing up to. Kids today are learning their values from American MA15+ rated video games instead of cheesy, yet wholesome, American PG rated family sitcoms. The tragedy is very real. The 1980s just springs to life in this book. It’s a brilliant trip down memory lane; but it was also a difficult one. Because there are other parts of the 1980s that weren’t so great: domestic violence was nobody’s business, you probably asked for it; child protection was of little importance; welfare was rife in certain parts of Australia and for some, the dole was a career goal; QLD didn’t even sell mid-strength beer until later in the decade, exacerbating the violence that stemmed from pay day binge drinking; having a mental illness meant you were crazy and thus judged and ostracised accordingly; weapons were frequently brought to school and used in the playground; smoking was cool, those who didn’t do it were not; the police were not to be trusted, at least, not by the people in my neighbourhood. Nostalgia can work both ways, and it does so very well in this book.
‘You think you’re serving your profession so nobly, so compassionately,’ Dad says. ‘You’ll take those boys from me and you’ll split ‘em up and you’ll strip ‘em bare of the only thing that keeps ‘em going, each other, and you’ll tell your friends over a bottle of chardonnay from Margaret River how you saved two boys from their monster dad who nearly killed them once and they’ll bounce from foster home to foster home until they find each other again at the gate of your house with a can of petrol and they’ll thank you for sticking your nose into our business as they’re burning your house down.’
Ultimately, I took away a lot from reading Boy Swallows Universe, but there are a few things, take home messages I suppose, for want of a different way of putting it, that I particularly appreciated:
1. At some point, everyone is faced with a choice: go this way, the same as everyone around me, or go that way, forge a new path. The cycle can be broken. You can go your own way. It’s not easy, but it is possible.
2. Love is messy, particularly when it comes to family. You can hate what someone does, but still love them fiercely. You can be deeply ashamed of your family, but still love them wholly.
3. There are shades of grey in all of us. Good people can do bad things. Bad people can do good things. Sometimes it’s not about the labels, but more about the moment of action.
4. People make mistakes. People can be bad parents but still love their kids.
5. Forgiveness can be as much for yourself as for the person you are forgiving.
‘She sits on a single bed and I remember how she sat on that bed in Boggo Road. And those two women could not be more different. The worst of her in my head and the best of her here. And this is the her that will be.’
Boy Swallows Universe is brilliant. The way it’s written; there’s nothing else like it. Total immersion. I’ll leave you now with a few more of my favourite bits.
‘Lyle was born in the camp in 1949, spent his first night on earth sleeping in a large iron wash bucket, wrapped in a grey blanket like the one right here on this bed. America wouldn’t take Lyle and Great Britain wouldn’t take Lyle, but Australia would and Lyle never forgot this fact, which is why, during a wildly misspent youth, he never burned or vandalised property marked Made in Australia.’
~~~
‘Every now and then some unfortunate kid in August’s class makes fun of August and his refusal to speak. His reaction is always the same: he walks up to that month’s particularly foul-mouthed bully who is dangerously unaware of August’s hidden streak of psychopathic rage and, blessed by his inability to explain his actions, he simply attacks the boy’s unblemished jaw, nose and ribs with one of three sixteen-punch boxing combinations my mum’s long-time boyfriend, Lyle, has tirelessly taught us both across endless winter weekends with an old brown leather punching bag in the backyard shed. Lyle doesn’t believe in much, but he believes in the circumstance-shifting power of a broken nose.’
~~~
‘I will remember devotion through this lump in my chest. I will remember love through a wedge of rockmelon. The lump is an engine inside me that makes me move. She walks off the train and my heart thumps into first, second, third, fourth gear.’
About the Author:
Trent Dalton is a staff writer for the Weekend Australian Magazine and a former assistant editor of The Courier Mail. He’s a two-time winner of a Walkley Award for Excellence in Journalism, a four-time winner of a Kennedy Award for Excellence in NSW Journalism and a four-time winner of the national News Awards Features Journalist of the Year. His debut novel, Boy Swallows Universe, published by HarperCollins in 2018, is a much-loved national bestseller and critically acclaimed, winning the 2019 Indie Book of the Year Award, the MUD Literary Prize, the UTS Glenda Adams Award for New Writing and the People’s Choice Award at the 2019 NSW Premier’s Literary Awards, and in addition, at the 2019 Australian Book Industry Awards, the book won a record four ABIA Awards including the prestigious Book of the Year Award. Boy Swallows Universe will be published across 34 English language and translation territories.
Published by HarperCollins Publishers Australia (4th Estate – AU)
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May 27, 2019
Book Review: The Forgotten Letters Of Esther Durrant by Kayte Nunn
About the Book:
1951. Esther Durrant, a young mother, is committed to an isolated mental asylum by her husband. Run by a pioneering psychiatrist, the hospital is at first Esther’s prison but soon becomes her refuge.
2018. Free-spirited marine scientist Rachel Parker embarks on a research posting in the Isles of Scilly, off the Cornish coast. When a violent storm forces her to take shelter on a far-flung island, she discovers a collection of hidden love letters. Captivated by their passion and tenderness, Rachel determines to track down the intended recipient.
Meanwhile, in London, Eve is helping her grandmother, a renowned mountaineer, write her memoirs. When she is contacted by Rachel, it sets in motion a chain of events that threatens to reveal secrets kept buried for more than sixty years.
The Forgotten Letters of Esther Durrant is a deeply atmospheric, resonant novel that charts the heart’s wild places, choices and consequences. If you love Elizabeth Gilbert and Kate Morton you will devour this book.
My Thoughts:
‘A seam of light escaping heavy curtains that had been drawn across a window came into focus and she raised her head to fully appraise herself of her surroundings. She had no idea where she was. Beneath her, an eiderdown, on top of her a blanket, though she was clothed beneath it. She tried to move her arms but found that they were securely wrapped around her waist. A coarse fabric chafed at her neck. She rolled to one side in an attempt to free her arms, but it was in vain. She had been bound. The design of the garment was such that it could not be torn, could not be loosened. She’d heard of such things, but never actually seen one: a strong dress.’
I first heard of this novel via a short publicity Q&A with the author, Kayte Nunn, in which she highlighted that the inspiration for this novel was two fold: from childhood wanderings through the ruins of an abandoned mental asylum, and from the real story of her own great-grandmother, who was committed to a mental hospital with post-natal depression when her son was a small boy, and tragically, she spent the rest of her life there. Both sources of inspiration struck me as profoundly sad, yet also, quite intriguing. I made a note then and there that this was a novel I would be reading as soon as I got my hands on a copy. It did not disappoint.
‘Esther was dumbfounded. He’d left her there? She’d heard of husbands committing their wives to insane asylums – for she was under no illusion now, that is what this godforsaken place must surely be – but had never imagined John would do such a thing to her, despite everything that had happened. She’d always believed that he loved her; depended on his kindness. Would he have really thought this the most appropriate course of action?’
The Forgotten Letters of Esther Durrant is an exploration of mental illness at a time when respectful care was still in its infancy. Esther is incarcerated, at the will of her husband, at a remote private hospice, located on an island off the Cornish coast. She is the only female patient, the other patients all being ex-soldiers suffering from different degrees of post traumatic stress. There is a lot of sadness threaded through this story, but it rings true. The doctor in charge is a caring, empathic, intelligent man who wants nothing more than to bring his patients back to a point where they can successfully live in society. He doesn’t use medication, and with the exception of the straight jacket for patient safety, he also doesn’t used barbaric methods of treatment. I felt that these sections were crafted beautifully; containing a great deal of sadness, but tinged with hope. What happened to Esther was tragic: the loss, the lack of compassion and support, the judgement, and then the eventual betrayal from her husband – all seemingly par for the course in keeping with the era. Now that’s a tragedy.
‘They must have taken Samuel away from me. I still don’t know where he went. I never saw him again, never even got to say goodbye.’ She twisted her hands on the chair. ‘There wasn’t a burial and I was in too much of a fog to ask why not. It was only later that John told me they had taken his body to hospital. To see if they could find out what had happened to him. He let them do that, to his own son!’ She spat the words out. ‘They never gave him back.’
‘Oh Esther, I’m sorry,’ he said. Hearing her tell the story, even though John had told him some of it already, made his heart ache for her.
‘There’s no grave, no way of sending his poor soul to heaven, no way of telling him how sorry I was, how I had let him down, that it was all my fault, that I hadn’t loved him as a mother should.’
The narration exists within two distinct timelines, but with three main characters. The author showed a lot of skill with this, and I really enjoyed how she connected these via her unravelling of the story. Kayte Nunn is certainly at home with this style of writing. The Forgotten Letters of Esther Durrant is a quiet novel, an unfolding of a story in layers, the mystery and drama almost reserved. I liked this about it, a good, solid story that was devoid of dramatic overplay; the characterisation was subtle too, each uniquely rendered, yet not over shadowing the story, or each other. This really was my ideal novel and I loved it. It’s deeply moving, contemplative, and absorbing. Highly recommended.
Thanks is extended to Hachette Australia for providing me with a copy of The Forgotten Letters Of Esther Durrant for review
About the Author:
Kayte Nunn is a former book and magazine editor, and the author of two contemporary novels, ROSE’S VINTAGE and ANGEL’S SHARE. THE BOTANIST’S DAUGHTER was Kayte’s first novel of transporting historical fiction, followed by THE FORGOTTEN LETTERS OF ESTHER DURRANT, set largely in the atmospheric Isles of Scilly. If you would like to see the wonderful images inspired by the book, Kayte’s Pinterest page is at: pinterest.com.au/kaytenunn/the-forgotten-letters-of-esther-durrant/ or you can find her at www.kaytenunn.com
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The Forgotten Letters Of Esther Durrant
Published by Hachette Australia
Released on 28th May 2019
May 24, 2019
#BookBingo – Round 11
A rather easy category to fill this round, given it’s just based on cover and colour!
Book with a Red Cover:
Heroines – An Anthology of Short Fiction and Poetry edited by Sarah Nicholson and Caitlin White
“This little anthology presented me with a welcome challenge. I never read poetry and rarely read short fiction, but when I was offered the opportunity to review this collection, instead of passing and using the excuse that it’s not my thing, I accepted, and challenged myself to read out of my comfort zone. I am so glad that I did! This whole collection was absorbing and highly readable. With a focus on speculative and historical storytelling, Heroines celebrates the talents of women writers who reclaim, restore, and reimagine women’s stories. There are some highly talented contributors and their offerings are lyrical, intimate and thought provoking. I felt that on a whole, this collection is all about women’s choices, both within an empowering context and a disempowering one, depending on which piece you are reading.”
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For 2019, I’m teaming up with Mrs B’s Book Reviews and The Book Muse for an even bigger, and more challenging book bingo. We’d love to have you join us. Every second Saturday throughout 2019, we’ll post our latest round. We invite you to join in at any stage, just pop the link to your bingo posts into the comments section of our bingo posts each fortnight so we can visit you. If you’re not a blogger, feel free to just write your book titles and thoughts on the books into the comments section each fortnight, and tag us on social media if you are playing along that way.
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