Theresa Smith's Blog, page 139
April 3, 2018
New Release Book Review: The Shepherd’s Hut by Tim Winton
About the Book:
Jaxie dreads going home. His mum’s dead. The old man bashes him without mercy, and he wishes he was an orphan. But no one’s ever told Jaxie Clackton to be careful what he wishes for.
In one terrible moment his life is stripped to little more than what he can carry and how he can keep himself alive. There’s just one person left in the world who understands him and what he still dares to hope for. But to reach her he’ll have to cross the vast saltlands on a trek that only a dreamer or a fugitive would attempt.
The Shepherd’s Hut is a searing look at what it takes to keep love and hope alive in a parched and brutal world.
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My Thoughts:
Tim Winton is an author who needs no introduction, his work vast and well known throughout Australia. His latest novel, The Shepherd’s Hut, is an urgent tale about a young man who has been let down by every person he has ever encountered; he’s slipped through all the cracks in every system and now, on the cusp of adulthood, he’s shaping up to be exactly what everyone expected him to be: his father – a specimen of male toxicity made to order. Can you escape your legacy? Is there any point even trying? Winton examines this as he plunges us into Jaxie and the immersion is so entire that you truly feel as though you are there, in the moment, observing everything without barrier.
Jaxie is not a character you’re meant to like, but he is someone I had a well of empathy for. Jaxie is what you get when people shrug and turn the other way in the face of domestic violence and unchecked bullying. Jaxie is who evolves when complacency kicks in. What you turn away from is what you accept and Winton draws this conclusion very clearly, very early on in the novel. But Jaxie is also a human being, craving connection, harbouring hope; it’s not too late for Jaxie, although he’s cutting it very fine, yet he’s aware of this, of what he doesn’t want to be, of who he doesn’t want to turn out like. I can’t commend Tim Winton enough for his insight into this characteristic of an abused child: in the absence of not knowing who you are, knowing who you don’t want to be can sometimes be enough to get you there in the end.
Human connection runs like a vein through all of Winton’s work. It humbles me, how he brings everything back to this basic need with such precision. Fintan is a mystery, the who and why of him never really clarified, and it doesn’t matter in the end because of the gift he gives Jaxie at such a pivotal time in this young man’s existence.
“I think he knew I was there. He felt me. He always knew what I was. He saw me coming before I knew I was even there. And now I saw him too.”
Did I think by the end that Jaxie was going to be okay? Not really, but he did, and that’s all that matters. Hope is a powerful motivator.
This is a brutal novel, make no mistake, the depravity of humans unmasked and hung out to dry. The vastness of the Australian outback is depicted with a harsh reality and a sense of knowing that this is a place that people can easily disappear into. Jaxie’s voice is so completely authentic; he is one of Winton’s finest characters to date.
“It was like I started wanting him to speak as much as those arseholes did. Maybe more. To make it stop. But also so I could know what Fintan really thought. About who I was. Maybe even what I was. All of a sudden this was deadly important. My heart was bursting to know. And I wouldn’t care if he did give me up. Christ, I wished he would. If only he’d say something true about me. It would be worth it just to hear.”
Thanks is extended to Penguin Random House Australia for providing me with a copy The Shepherd’s Hut for review.
About the Author:
[image error]Tim Winton has published twenty-nine books for adults and children, and his work has been translated into twenty-eight languages. Since his first novel, An Open Swimmer, won the Australian Vogel Award in 1981, he has won the Miles Franklin Award four times (for Shallows, Cloudstreet, Dirt Music and Breath) and twice been shortlisted for the Booker Prize (for The Riders and Dirt Music). He lives in Western Australia.
https://www.theshepherdshut.com.au
Behind the Pen with Owen Mullen
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What is your favourite character from one of your novels and why?
Pat Logue from the Charlie Cameron series… it’s impossible not to love Pat both as a reader and a writer there is just so much scope with him – he’s a salt of the earth ‘fly man’, an irrepressible lovable rogue. He makes me laugh out loud.
What is your favourite scene from one of your novels and why?
The scene at Crammond Shore in Games People Play when we discover what drives Charlie… I truly felt his deep emotion when I wrote this.
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What inspired your most recent novel?
Times are changing and I believe we have reached a watershed moment in how women are portrayed in crime fiction… I wanted to write something that reflects this.
Do you read your book reviews? Do you appreciate reader feedback and take it on board even if it is negative? How do you deal with negative feedback after spending so much time writing your book?
I always read them, and I always appreciate feedback, bearing in mind that all of our opinions are subjective. If someone pointed out a flaw in the plot etc I would see that as very positive and helpful. If someone was being truly negative I would see that as an indication of who and where they are.
What do you like to do when you’re not writing?
My other loves are travel, food and music – far away places with strange sounding names have always called to me – Christine and I have had amazing experiences from the Amazon to India and many many stops in between. Whenever possible we combine our trips with fantastic world class restaurants and great music… that’s when I’m living the dream!
What authors and types of books do you love most?
Too many authors to name, and they change as I get older. But I’m always attracted to the writers who use language well. My favourite genre has remained firmly fixed in crime.
What is your favourite childhood book? Did reading as a child have any bearing on your decision to become an author?
The Adventures Of Tom Sawyer. Then as a pre-teen, I would lay on the floor reading Somerset Maugham and imagine myself writing a great novel on a hillside overlooking the Mediterranean. It had absolute bearing on my decision to become an author… I write all of my novels on a beautiful hillside in Crete overlooking the Mediterranean… I have that boy to thank for it.
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Where do you draw your inspiration from? How do you fill up that creativity well?
Inspiration comes from all sorts of places. Games People Play came from the Joe South song of the same name. The plot was born while Christine and I were walking on the beach… Christine pointed to a family and said ‘what would happen if someone stole that child?’ Other ideas come from articles in newspapers, television etc.
If you could trade places with any person living or dead, real or fiction, who would it be and why?
That’s easy it’s got to be Somerset Maugham, he inspired me not only to write, but stirred my longing for travel… just to see what it was like being him – and probably if I’m honest to see how I’d shape up in that world as a writer!
And So It Began
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PI Vincent Delaney thought he was done with the NOPD until a string of seemingly unrelated child murders brings an unexpected invitation from the FBI, and his old boss. A serial killer is roaming the South, preying on children appearing in pageants, and the police want him to go undercover using his own family. Accepting would mean lying to people he loves and maybe even putting them in harm’s way. In Baton Rouge, a violent criminal has escaped and is seeking revenge for the brother Delaney shot dead. But Delaney isn’t going anywhere. He has unfinished business. Meanwhile, north of the French Quarter, shopkeepers are being extorted and ask for Delaney’s help. Extortion is a matter for the police. But what do you do when those responsible are the police? Delaney has his work cut out and he’ll be lucky if he makes it out of this alive…
April 2, 2018
New Release Book Review: Mine by Susi Fox
About the Book:
You wake up alone after an emergency caesarean, desperate to see your child. And when you are shown the small infant in the nursery, a terrible thought takes root: this baby is not your baby.
No one believes you. Not the nurses, your father or even your own husband. They say you’re confused and delusional. Dangerous.
But you’re a doctor – you know how easily mistakes can be made. It’s up to you to find your real child, your miracle baby, before it’s too late.
With everyone against you, is it safe to trust your instincts? Or are memories from your past clouding your judgement? This can’t all be in your head . . . can it?
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My Thoughts:
I was rather unprepared for how completely absorbing and incredibly unsettling this novel was. I thought I was in for an emotional read – and it was! – but the psychological thriller aspect caught me by surprise in the very best of ways. I’m pretty fussy with thrillers, particularly the domestic drama/psychological ones, but Mine ticked all of my boxes soundly. What a literary talent Susi Fox is! This is a cracking debut that is not only engaging but also intelligent, both in terms of its themes and its execution. The combined knowledge base of mother and medicine has proved particularly potent in the crafting of this novel.
I felt deeply unsettled while reading this novel. It raises a lot of issues that bear contemplating. I’m going to have to be a bit evasive within this review because there’s nothing worse than having a thriller spoiled, and this is definitely one story you want to go into without knowing the ending. However, there are some things I can comment on, so here goes.
Despite the fact that I am a woman who has been through childbirth three times, I still doubted Sasha, our main character, and I hate that I did that. Why did I do that? In part, I’m going to blame Susi, who is just such a great writer that she made me do it! Maybe, but I’m also thinking that I was responding in the exact way that Susi was pointing out as the problem: women are doubted more, dismissed more, and ignored more. I know this, but I still fell into the trap. I’m very annoyed at myself.
The treatment of women postnatal who exhibit even the slightest deviation from the expected norm, as depicted within this novel, appalled me, and as the novel progressed, actually horrified me. Already vulnerable on account of having just given birth and consequently being a melting pot of hormones, it was such a fine line between what was considered ‘normal’ and what was grounds for admission as a psychological patient, medicated and monitored before you can say ‘but I’m fine!’ Very scary stuff. Once this happens, you’re no longer in control of your own self, your own baby, or even the information about yourself you want kept private because it’s essentially got nothing to do with your current predicament. I hated that stripping of a woman’s rights. That in itself would be enough to prompt me to act irrationally.
I really appreciated how Susi gave her medical professionals that human element, people who make mistakes, get distracted by their owns lives, sometimes make assumptions, and often act upon instinct. Sasha’s own doubts about her professional actions in the past added a layer of authenticity to this novel that propelled it into a class of its own. All sorts of things I had never really thought much about suddenly pressed up against each other, crowding their way into my consciousness. I am still thinking about this novel days later. I’m really looking forward to bookclub discussions about it later in the month.
I wasn’t satisfied with the ending, but to clarify, I don’t mean that I didn’t like what Susi did with it – I did like that, very much. What I mean, and again, I have to be vague, is that in terms of casting the situation into real life, the resolution does nothing to address the problem: that women are viewed as doubtful, even when it comes to their own health and well-being. And that’s pretty grim.
Mine is an excellent novel and I highly recommend it. It’s written with a straightforward gritty honesty that adds a raw sense of dread and a more detailed investment for the reader. Susi Fox has firmly planted herself into Australia’s writing scene and I’m really looking forward to following her career.
Thanks is extended to Penguin Random House Australia for providing me with a copy Mine for review.
About the Author:
[image error]Susi Fox is a writer and GP from rural Victoria, Australia, who is currently completing her Associate Degree in Professional Writing and Editing at RMIT. She received a 2015 Varuna Fellowship and was a participant in the 2015 QWC/Hachette Manuscript Development Program. Susi commenced her Master of Medicine at University of Sydney in 2017. Mine is her first novel.
April 1, 2018
New Release Book Review: Making Peace by Fiona McCallum
About the Book:
From Australia’s master storyteller comes an uplifting story of new and old friendships, letting go of the past and looking to the future…
Does one simple act of kindness have the power to completely turn someone’s life around?
It’s been a year since Hannah Ainsley lost her husband and parents – her whole family – in a car crash on Christmas morning. Despite her overwhelming loss, she’s worked hard to pull the pieces of her life together with the help of a group of dear, loyal friends. But while Hannah is beginning to become excited about the future again, she’s concerned that her best friend and talented artist Sam is facing a crisis of her own. It’s now Hannah’s turn to be Sam’s rock – can she save Sam’s dreams from unravelling?
When Hannah returns to work after her holidays, she can’t settle. She’s loved her job for a decade, and it’s been her lifeline during her grief. But something’s changed. She’s changed. And for all this time she’s avoided knowing the details of the accident or investigation – what would be the point, she’d thought, when nothing will bring her loved ones back? But after a chance meeting, it’s all there in front of her – and, like ripples in a pond, it extends beyond her own experiences. Could knowing be the key to her recovery? Could her involvement be the key to someone else’s?
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My Thoughts:
Making Peace is such a comforting novel to sink into. The main character, Hannah Ainsley, is such a beautiful soul, I really enjoyed spending time with her. The power of kindness cannot be overestimated and I have really begun in recent years to champion kindness above all else; with my children at home and with the students I encounter in my day job working at a high school, as well as in my professional capacity within the book industry. So many good things can come from simply being kind, the ripple effect is pretty much never ending, so to read a novel that has this as its central theme, well, it really gave me a lot of joy. I relished it, every page, and looked forward to getting back to it as soon as I could each time I had to put it down.
Hannah has pretty much been treading water for the year since tragedy struck and she lost her parents and husband in an accident. I admired Hannah so much. Here was a character who had every reason to feel bitter and disengaged with life; in losing her husband she also lost the future she had planned. An orphan and a widow in one hit. It’s overwhelming to even contemplate. When we meet her in Making Peace, she seems to be at a point where she’s consciously made a decision to live her life in the best way that she can, perhaps as an honour to the family she lost, and I loved that so much, such a powerfully positive message. She’s appreciative of her friends and conscious of them having supported her through her grief so she’s making attempts to pay this forward to them at every opportunity. There was a risk with all of this ‘kindness’ that Hannah may have come off as ‘too nice’ and not reflective of a woman grieving, but I feel Fiona has struck that balance well, testimony to her skill as an established writer. Hannah still felt frustrated, sad, adrift, tired and overwhelmed; she was still grieving, but she was also trying really hard to harvest happiness, and that’s something to be admired. Her well of empathy was deep and her capacity to accept the things that can’t be changed is humbling and I feel certain there will be many readers who will draw comfort and strength from Hannah, as I did.
I enjoyed the supporting crowd within this novel that made up Hannah’s circle of friends. I had particularly sympathy for Sam though and I really felt that her husband Rob was giving her a raw deal. His reasons for leaving the marriage were one thing, and it happens that way sometimes and I totally understand where he was coming from, but I felt as though he was playing the family, especially Sam, neither here nor there but just jetting off overseas to run away and live as single man, checking in everyday as though he hadn’t just blown Sam’s world apart and left her to deal with the fall out. He was a bit weak in my eyes, but that also made Sam all the more stronger as well, so again, we see evidence of Fiona applying a deft hand to her characters and the situations she steers them into. I like the way this all panned out in the end for Sam, but Rob certainly angered me a fair bit before I reached this contentment.
[image error]Making Peace is a lovely novel, a true comfort read to curl up with to while away the hours. A good one for book clubs too as there is plenty of material to explore and discuss. Making Peace is the follow up to Fiona McCallum’s Finding Hannah, and while it is a sequel, readers can be assured that you can also enjoy it as a standalone if you have not yet read Finding Hannah, but really like the sound of this one.
Thanks is extended to HQ Fiction for providing me with a copy of Making Peace for review.
About the Author:
Fiona McCallum has enjoyed a life of contrasts. She was raised on a cereal and wool farm in rural South Australia and then moved to inner-city Melbourne to study at university as a mature age student. Accidentally starting a writing and editing consultancy saw her mixing in corporate circles in Melbourne and then Sydney. She returned to Adelaide for a slower paced life and to chase her dream of becoming an author – which took nearly a decade full of rejections from agents and publishers to achieve. Fiona now works as a full-time novelist and really is proof dreams can come true. Fiona’s stories are heart-warming journeys of self-discovery that draw on her life experiences, love of animals and fascination with the power and support that comes from strong friendships. She is the author of nine Australian bestsellers: Paycheque, Nowhere Else, Wattle Creek, Saving Grace, Time Will Tell, Meant To Be, Leap of Faith, Standing Strong, and Finding Hannah. Making Peace is Fiona’s tenth novel.
March 31, 2018
Page by Page Bookclub Titles for April
The Page by Page Bookclub with Theresa Smith Writes is an online bookclub with an emphasis on books written by Australian Women, chatting in a setting that is above all else, friendly and inclusive. Flexible reading timelines and multiple titles to pick from each month. And lots of chatter…
Each month’s books will be posted here on the blog, and if you’re not on Facebook but would still like to read along, please feel free to let me know in the comments on the monthly book post. The chatter will be in the group but I’d still love to hear your thoughts on the titles read.
For our first month of bookclub, we have three great new releases to choose from. Read one, two or all! Head over to Page by Page Bookclub with Theresa Smith Writes on Facebook to join in with the discussion.
Book 1 for April: Contemporary fiction
Mine by Susi Fox
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You wake up alone after an emergency caesarean, desperate to see your child. And when you are shown the small infant in the nursery, a terrible thought takes root: this baby is not your baby.
No one believes you. Not the nurses, your father or even your own husband. They say you’re confused and delusional. Dangerous.
But you’re a doctor – you know how easily mistakes can be made. It’s up to you to find your real child, your miracle baby, before it’s too late.
With everyone against you, is it safe to trust your instincts? Or are memories from your past clouding your judgement? This can’t all be in your head . . . can it?
Released 2nd April – can preorder now though.
Book 2 for April: Contemporary fiction
The Lost Flowers of Alice Hart by Holly Ringland
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An enchanting and captivating novel, about how our untold stories haunt us – and the stories we tell ourselves in order to survive.
After her family suffers a tragedy, nine-year-old Alice Hart is forced to leave her idyllic seaside home. She is taken in by her grandmother, June, a flower farmer who raises Alice on the language of Australian native flowers, a way to say the things that are too hard to speak.
Under the watchful eye of June and the women who run the farm, Alice settles, but grows up increasingly frustrated by how little she knows of her family’s story. In her early twenties, Alice’s life is thrown into upheaval again when she suffers devastating betrayal and loss. Desperate to outrun grief, Alice flees to the dramatically beautiful central Australian desert. In this otherworldly landscape Alice thinks she has found solace, until she meets a charismatic and ultimately dangerous man.
Spanning two decades, set between sugar cane fields by the sea, a native Australian flower farm, and a celestial crater in the central desert, The Lost Flowers of Alice Hart follows Alice’s unforgettable journey, as she learns that the most powerful story she will ever possess is her own.
Already released and available
Book 3 for April: Historical fiction
The Tattooist of Auschwitz by Heather Morris
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The incredible story of the Auschwitz-Birkenau tattooist and the woman he loved.
Lale Sokolov is well-dressed, a charmer, a ladies’ man. He is also a Jew. On the first transport from Slovakia to Auschwitz in 1942, Lale immediately stands out to his fellow prisoners. In the camp, he is looked up to, looked out for, and put to work in the privileged position of tätowierer – the tattooist – to mark his fellow prisoners, forever. One of them is a young woman, Gita, who steals his heart at first glance.
His life given new purpose, Lale does his best through the struggle and suffering to use his position for good.
This story, full of beauty and hope, is based on years of interviews author Heather Morris conducted with real-life Holocaust survivor and Auschwitz- Birkenau tattooist Ludwig (Lale) Sokolov. It is heart-wrenching, illuminating, and unforgettable.
Already released and available
To join the Page by Page Bookclub with Theresa Smith Writes, head over to the Facebook group and request to join. Look forward to seeing you over there!
March 30, 2018
Bingo! The Memories That Make Us by Vanessa Carnevale
It’s bingo Saturday once again – that rolled around fast! The square I’ve filled for this entry is:
A Book with a Yellow Cover
Despite having a few books with yellow covers on my TBR, The Memories That Make Us by Vanessa Carnevale seemed an obvious choice on account of it’s intensity of yellow and the fact that I’ve actually read it, as opposed to the others which are languishing on my TBR, possibly forevermore.
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The gorgeous yellow cover isn’t all this novel has going for it. I loved the story of Gracie Ashcroft and her memory loss. If you didn’t catch my review of The Memories That Make Us when it first appeared, you can check it out here.
Gracie knew nothing at all about herself, or her life, yet she knew things about flowers, instinctively, from the minute she opened her eyes upon waking from her coma. This was particularly fascinating to me and begs examination on just how deeply our memories can penetrate us. She was essentially a blank slate, but the residual knowledge she absorbed while growing up remained.
Memory has always fascinated me and while it’s a very deep topic to delve into, Vanessa did very well with The Memories That Make Us.
This year I’m playing book bingo with Mrs B’s Book Reviews. On the first and third Saturday of each month, we’ll post our latest entry. We’re not telling each other in advance what we’re currently reading or what square we’ll be filling next; any coincidences are exactly that – and just add to the fun!
Follow our card below if you’d like to join in, and please let us know if you do so we can check out what you’re reading.
Now I’m off to check out what square Mrs B has marked off for this round. See you over there!
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March 29, 2018
New Release Book Review: Accidental Heroes by Danielle Steel
About the Book:
On a beautiful May morning at New York’s JFK. Airport, a routine plane departs for San Francisco. At a security checkpoint, Bernice Adams finds a postcard of the Golden Gate Bridge bearing an ambiguous message. Who left the postcard behind, which flight is that person on, and what exactly does the message mean? Her supervisor dismisses her concerns but she is compelled to contact Homeland Security.
As the flight takes off each of the passengers is looking forward to reaching San Francisco, whether it’s for a family reunion, a wedding, or a new way of life. But as it emerges, there’s someone on the flight planning something terrible and these strangers’ lives entwine as they come together to help to avert a tragedy at the eleventh hour.
As the plane bears down on its destination of San Francisco, the futures of these strangers will be changed forever by a handful of accidental heroes.
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My Thoughts:
You know those airport TV shows? Border Security, Aircrash Investigations, Blackbox? They’re the sort of TV shows that always seem to be on and I always find myself quite easily sucked into them. Accidental Heroes is exactly like one of those TV shows. I’ve been suffering from an illness these last few weeks and was feeling a bit flat and headachy, wanting something to read but wanting it to be quick and engaging, rather than deep and contemplative. I generally don’t read Danielle Steel anymore, but the airport premise enticed me and before I knew it, two hours had slipped by and I was finished.
I did enjoy this novel quite a lot. Danielle Steel has tapped into the present day issues of flying under the threat of terrorism and hijacking. Quite a lot of characters featured in this story, demonstrating just how wide reaching airport security has now become. From the first person in security to notice the threat, through to the search and rescue people at the end, I was rather fascinated by the entire process of investigating, all done in such a small timeframe, with rapid decisions made by multiple people in multiple locations. I also found myself captivated by the elimination process in terms of who on the plane was deemed suspect and why. It’s interesting to note the leaps that are made based on race, religion, and even gender and age. For a time, I was cringing a bit, thinking Ms. Steel was playing at a few too many stereotypes, but by the end of the novel I had adjusted my view to thinking that this may have been intentional, with Danielle using her vast amount of writing experience to demonstrate a point. In giving us a standard selection of people to observe, the kind we see when a reasonably large group of people all end up in the same place, she was better able to drive home that ‘accidental hero’ tag. Because, despite our first impressions and assumptions based on our own beliefs, we don’t always get it right. Sometimes, heroes pop up in the most unlikely of people. Well done Ms. Steel!
Accidental Heroes is fast paced, driven by multiple characters, and highly engaging. It’s a great choice if you’re looking for something to sit down with on a Sunday afternoon, and I’ll even go so far as to recommend it as a bookclub pick. It would be fun hashing out the characters over tea and cake, finding out if you all formed the same impressions only to have them turned onto their heads later in the novel.
Thanks is extended to Pan Macmillan Australia for providing me with a copy of Accidental Heroes for review.
March 28, 2018
New Release Book Review: The Illumination of Ursula Flight by Anna-Marie Crowhurst
About the Book:
A charming, whip-smart and funny tale, full of heart and spirit, of one young woman’s coming of age both on and off the stage in seventeenth-century England.
On the 15th day of December in the year of our Lord 1664, a great light bloomed in the dark sky and crept slowly and silently across the blackness: a comet. Every evening afterwards, though snow lay on the ground and the air bit with frost, men across the land threw open their windows and went out of their doors in cloaks and mufflers to gaze at the heavens, necks stretched up, hands shielding eyes, crooking long fingers to trace the burning thing that flamed across the night, while dogs moaned in their kennels and wise women chanted incantations against bright malignant spirits.
Born on the night of an ill-auguring comet just before Charles II’s Restoration, Ursula Flight has a difficult future written in the stars.
Against the custom of the age she begins an education with her father, who fosters in her a love of reading, writing and astrology.
Following a surprising meeting with an actress, Ursula’s dreams turn to the theatre and thus begins her quest to become a playwright despite scoundrels, bounders, bad luck and heartbreak.
A vivid, passionate and gutsy tale of a most unusual girl in a world far away. The Illumination of Ursula Flight is a love letter to the theatre and a salute to the inspirational women who, despite the odds being stacked against them, attempted a creative life in Restoration England.
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My Thoughts:
Born under a comet and named by her father for the Great Bear constellation, Ursula is a woman born centuries too soon. The first child of the family to have survived after multiple stillbirths, her father treasures Ursula’s keen mind, providing her with an education that would rival many men within her class. Coupled with her natural creativity, Ursula grows into a highly intelligent young woman, which of course, is completely at odds with the life she is destined for: marriage to a rich older man as a means of securing the funds to ensure the ongoing maintenance of her family’s estate. Such is the lot of women in the 17th century, born to be meek, obedient and godly…
That was never going to work out for Ursula.
This delightful novel is filled to the brim with cheek and sass, quite a bit of heartache, plenty of points to shudder at and moan over but above all, joy and hope, all played out against a very 17th century English background. In many ways, The Illumination of Ursula Flight is reminiscent of Jane Austen, with her witty banter and the depiction of characters with all of their ridiculous antics and insufferable assumptions about the intelligence, or lack thereof, of women.
“’tis well known that book-learning can bring on the ague. Why, I heard of one poor learned lady who lived at Oxford who was in the habit of attending lectures (not, I hasten to add, with the sanction of the college for they would not have allowed it if they’d known. She got in with the help of her brother, who must regret his actions to this day—foolish man!). This lady was prone to fainting fits—the great strain, I believe, of study was too much for her female mind. After a full day of reading some very large tomes, she went into a stupor and died in the very library where she had got the books. They opened up her body after she was dead and were amazed to discover that her very brain was shrivelled and wrinkled as a walnut—for it had soured in her head from too much reading and that was the thing that carried her off.”
I laughed my way through The Illumination of Ursula Flight, but there were plenty of tender moments as well which brought a lump to my throat. Ursula’s path is definitely not an easy one and at times you think there is no possible way for her to be happy, but her resourcefulness and self-integrity hold fast, and I loved the way she was unwilling to just accept her lot in life. She hits some very low points indeed, including almost starving to death, but she doesn’t let this put her off from her ultimate goal: to be an independent woman with a creative career, something almost impossible to achieve in 17th century England.
What elevates The Illumination of Ursula Flight to such a spectacular level is it’s structure. It’s a story of creativity told in the most creative of ways. Entirely from Ursula’s perspective, the narrative is interspersed with other forms: letters, lists, diary entries, plans, survival tips, editing notes, reiterations of conversations laid out as a script, and the crowning jewels of this novel: the plays. Many important situations and events are presented as plays, continually taking the reader back to the heart of Ursula’s creativity. It’s such a unique novel and so incredibly enjoyable. There are also lovely illustrations throughout and extensive use of different fonts. Even the chapter’s are named in an entertaining manner:
Adaptation…in which I become accustomed to fashionable life
Domesticity…in which I spend a quiet afternoon with my husband
Observations on a mother-in-law being a book of directions on living with this deadly ague
This novel really is an experience, such a delightful read. I like nothing more than a novel that’s quirky and unique, especially if it’s filled with intelligence, wit and a wealth of history. By far my favourite novel so far this year, it’s one I will be recommending again and again. I’d like to finish up with this note from the author on the inspiration that led to her creation of The Illumination of Ursula Flight. As well as providing historical context, it highlights the empowering aspect of this novel.
“The inspiration for Ursula was Aphra Behn—one of the first female playrights and a trailblazer for women writers the world over. What if there were other women like Aphra that we’ve never heard about, whose plays and stories have been lost to us? If she existed, why not others? I discovered that the Restoration era was in fact an amazing time for creativity and for women in general. In 1660 the newly restored King Charles II re-opened the theatres and pronounced that women would be allowed to act on the English stage for the very first time. This heralded a new age for women in the theatre. There were actresses, yes, but also writers, telling women’s stories. This brief pocket of freedom and creativity for women in a very restrictive time was very fascinating to me.”
Thanks is extended to Allen and Unwin for providing me with a copy of The Illumination of Ursula Flight for review.
About the Author:
Anna-Marie Crowhurst read English at King’s College London and has worked as a freelance fashion and culture journalist for more than 15 years, contributing to publications including The Times, The Guardian, Time Out, Stylist and Emerald Street. Her debut novel The Illumination of Ursula Flight was written during her recent MA in Creative Writing at Bath Spa University, and was supervised by the award-winning novelist Tessa Hadley. Anna-Marie graduated with distinction in 2017. She lives in London.
March 27, 2018
New Release Book Review: The Lace Weaver by Lauren Chater
About the Book:
A breathtaking debut about love and war, and the battle to save a precious legacy
Each lace shawl begins and ends the same way – with a circle. Everything is connected with a thread as fine as gossamer, each life affected by what has come before it and what will come after.
1941, Estonia. As Stalin’s brutal Red Army crushes everything in its path, Katarina and her family survive only because their precious farm produce is needed to feed the occupying forces.
Fiercely partisan, Katarina battles to protect her grandmother’s precious legacy – the weaving of gossamer lace shawls stitched with intricate patterns that tell the stories passed down through generations.
While Katarina struggles to survive the daily oppression, another young woman is suffocating in her prison of privilege in Moscow. Yearning for freedom and to discover her beloved mother’s Baltic heritage, Lydia escapes to Estonia.
Facing the threat of invasion by Hitler’s encroaching Third Reich, Katarina and Lydia and two idealistic young soldiers, insurgents in the battle for their homeland, find themselves in a fight for life, liberty and love.
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My Thoughts:
I am an avid reader of war time fiction. My grandfather’s family hailed from Belgium and I’ve written in the past about his life in the resistance and how that has resulted in this seemingly insatiable need I have within to read anything and everything I can about WWII. The thing with being widely read on a particular topic though, is that over time, unique stories become harder to uncover. So when you do find one, you instantly want to jump up and down and start waving said book in the air, shouting at everyone:
READ THIS BOOK!
Consider yourself waved at and shouted at, simultaneously.
The Lace Weaver is utterly brilliant and Lauren Chater has such a beautifully refined style of writing. I fell in love with her words from the very first paragraph. Stories about the war in Eastern Europe are not all that common; the countries that were annexed by Russia and later absorbed into the USSR have such hidden histories, their culture all but obliterated and buried beneath genocide and communism. To read a novel like The Lace Weaver is such an honour; for an author to have meticulously researched a lost history, breathing gold dust onto it and bringing it to life—how lucky as readers we are. And once again, I am brought to a standstill as I contemplate how truly far reaching the horrors of WWII were.
[image error]Cultural traditions are an endless source of interest to me, so I adored the way Lauren built this story around the Estonian tradition of lace knitting. About halfway through the novel, I had to Google Estonian lace shawls because I was certain that what I was envisaging was nowhere near as beautiful as the real thing. I couldn’t quite marry knitting with delicate lace. The knitting I knew was chunky and heavy. Goodness, the lace shawls I pored over online were divine! Just exquisite and so incredibly fine. Seeing these images changed the story for me, added a layer of consequence that made me appreciate why a woman would flee with a pair of knitting needles and a lace shawl stuffed somewhere on her person. Because the lace is a story, its pattern a family’s heritage, the folklore of a country that has been ground down under the heels of so many oppressors, yet still retained its cultural identity. This passage articulates this beautifully:
“I began to turn away.
My grandmother’s voice came back to me, loud and clear as if she was standing behind me, hidden in the shadows. Why do we make shawls? Not only for ourselves but to send our Estonian traditions out into the world.
Here was a shawl which had come back.
Before I could change my mind, before I could quieten the voice of warning screaming in my head, I seized her shoulder and dragged her outside with me, into the night.”
I love that so much: ‘Here was a shawl which had come back.’ History returned. The spirituality of Kati’s grandmother wolf combined with the lovely fairytales she was prone to telling, had me in a state of rapture over this novel. I felt such a keen awareness of the culture Lauren was putting forward, such an appreciation of the history being unearthed.
There was of course a fair amount of dread impeaching on my rapture, expected when you read a novel where you know the approaching Nazis are not the liberators the characters are hoping for. The loss of life, the brutality, the sheer bloody mindedness of war; I was overcome quite often. The capacity for survival, the bravery and belief in freedom—I find it hard to imagine having to fight for every minute of your existence, to gain one step forward only to face death once again, over and over. Rarely have I been so impacted by a story.
I’m going to leave you now with an extract, one the most moving scenes I have ever read in a novel, and one of the most beautiful—from this, you will get a sure sense of what you’re in for with The Lace Weaver. This is a story of love and survival, of enduring cultures and the importance of preserving the things we hold dear. It’s a novel that is destined to become a teaching text, its themes so exacting and monumental. I can’t wait to see what Lauren has in store for us next.
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The Lace Weaver is published by Simon and Schuster Australia.
About the Author:
[image error]Lauren Chater writes historical fiction with a particular focus on women’s stories. After working in the media sector for many years, she turned her passion for reading and research into a professional pursuit. In 2014, she was the successful recipient of the Fiona McIntosh Commercial Fiction scholarship. In addition to writing fiction, she established The Well Read Cookie, a blog which celebrates her love of baking and literature. She lives in Sydney with her husband and two children. The Lace Weaver is her first novel, and she is currently working on her second, Gulliver’s Wife. See www.laurenchater.com and www.thewellreadcookie.com
Behind the Pen with Jane Lambert
I’m delighted to welcome Jane Lambert to Behind the Pen today as part of her official blog tour for The Start of Something Wonderful. Over to you Jane!
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When did you start writing and what was the catalyst?
I started writing my novel while on tour in a play but never completed it. Some ten years later, I picked it up again to distract me from a painful divorce. It was the best therapist I could have had; writing gave me back my sense of humour and my self-esteem.
Do you have any particular qualifications that relate to the subject matter covered in this novel?
As my novel is loosely based on my own transition from globe-trotting air stewardess to struggling actor, I am able to write from personal experience. The locations in the book are places I have lived and worked.
How far has your writing career evolved from when you first began to write to what it is today? Is this in line with your initial expectations?
I self-published to start with as I was unsuccessful in finding an agent/publisher. Acting has given me a lot of determination, which eventually led to a book deal with HQ Harper Collins. I had always hoped to find a publisher, and through their involvement I have learned to dig deeper into my imagination and to be bolder in my writing.
Are you balancing a different career with your writing? How do go about making time for your writing within limited hours?
As I’m self-employed, my work schedule varies. I try to squeeze in some writing every day when I’m working, though I’m still learning to prioritise.
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Blackwell’s Writers at the Edinburgh Fringe
How would you best describe this novel to a new reader?
A romantic comedy of self-discovery.
Where do you normally write? Is it in the same place every day or are you an all over the place writer?
I write wherever and whenever I can; be it travelling, in theatre dressing rooms, on set, or in B&B’s. I always carry a notebook. But my favourite place to write is at home, looking out onto the garden.
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What attributes do you think you need to remain sane as a writer? Are there any particular things you routinely do for yourself to maintain your own headspace?
I think you need to maintain a healthy writing/life balance. I cycle in the park opposite my home most days and stop to admire the deer. This declutters my mind and inspires me at the same time.
If you could write a letter to your teenage self, what would be your main piece of advice?
Believe in yourself and don’t let fear or negativity stand in your way.
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The play, Calendar Girls (Jane is 2nd from the end!)
Do you have an all-time favourite book? Why is this book so significant to you?
Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier. It was my mum’s favourite book and it reminds me of her. She gave me a copy when I was a teenager. I was brought up by the sea, so the location felt familiar. Being shy and awkward, I could identify with the new Mrs de Winter. This book taught me that being shy is not a sign of weakness, to remain true to yourself, and that things are not always what they seem.
Are you more of a print, e-book, or audio book fan?
I love the smell and the feel of a new book and I like to look at them on my bookshelf. I prefer the characters to speak to me rather than listen to someone else’s characterisation in an audio book. However, I love recording audio books, so am grateful not everyone shares my opinion!
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The Start of Something Wonderful
It’s never too late to follow your dreams…
Forty-year-old air stewardess, Emily Forsyth, thought she had everything a woman could wish for: a glamorous, jet-set lifestyle, a designer wardrobe and a dishy pilot boyfriend.
Until she realises he’s cheating on her…
Catapulted into a mid-life crisis she wishes she’d had earlier, she decides to turn her life upside-down, quitting her job and instead beginning to chase her long-held dreams of becoming an actress!
Leaving the skies behind her, Emily heads for the bright lights of London’s West End – but is it too late to reach for the stars?
Get in touch with Jane at:
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