Theresa Smith's Blog, page 144
February 9, 2018
My Reading Life: The 2018 Stella Prize Longlist
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The 2018 Stella Prize longlist of powerful books by Australian women is:
The Enlightenment of the Greengage Tree by Shokoofeh Azar (Wild Dingo Press)
A Writing Life: Helen Garner and Her Work by Bernadette Brennan (Text Publishing)
Anaesthesia: The Gift of Oblivion and the Mystery of Consciousness by Kate Cole-Adams (Text Publishing)
Terra Nullius by Claire G. Coleman (Hachette Australia)
The Life to Come by Michelle de Kretser (Allen & Unwin)
This Water: Five Tales by Beverley Farmer (Giramondo)
The Green Bell: A Memoir of Love, Madness and Poetry by Paula Keogh (Affirm Press)
An Uncertain Grace by Krissy Kneen (Text Publishing)
The Choke by Sofie Laguna (Allen & Unwin)
Martin Sharp: His Life and Times by Joyce Morgan (Allen & Unwin)
The Fish Girl by Mirandi Riwoe (Seizure)
Tracker by Alexis Wright (Giramondo)
Chair of the 2018 Stella Prize judging panel, Fiona Stager, says:
‘Our longlist challenges the reader to experience the pleasures of reading different forms of writing: speculative fiction, novella, memoir, biography, non-narrative nonfiction, history, short stories and work in translation. Included on the longlist are authors who have inverted genres through imaginative and subversive literary techniques and by incorporating traditional storytelling practices of mythology and magic realism. Reflected also is the power of contemporary Aboriginal storytelling as well as the truly international life experiences of our writers as we travel with characters through Indonesia, Iran and Sri Lanka. Other selected titles are books where science and art intersect to provoke solutions to the challenges facing society today.’
Which ones I’ve read:
The Choke by Sofie Laguna (Allen & Unwin)
The Life to Come by Michelle de Kretser (Allen & Unwin)
*Titles linked to my reviews
Which ones I’d like to read:
The Green Bell: A Memoir of Love, Madness and Poetry by Paula Keogh (Affirm Press)
The Fish Girl by Mirandi Riwoe (Seizure)
Tracker by Alexis Wright (Giramondo)
Terra Nullius by Claire G. Coleman (Hachette Australia)
Anaesthesia: The Gift of Oblivion and the Mystery of Consciousness by Kate Cole-Adams (Text Publishing)
My Impressions:
The list is varied this year, covering a lot of different styles and interests. My instinct is backing The Choke by Sofie Laguna, but I haven’t read all of the titles so this is based on nothing substantial whatsoever! I will eagerly await news of the shortlist.
The Stella Prize is a major literary award celebrating Australian women’s writing and an organisation that champions cultural change.
Visit The Stella Prize website to find out more about the books that made the long list and further details about the prize.
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February 8, 2018
My Reading Life: #aww2018 Challenge Checkpoint 1
I’ve decided this year to do a series of checking in posts for my Australian Women Writers Challenge. I started off last year marking off every ten books, but then I would forget and have to mark off twenty and then life would become chaotic, causing me to forget again until before I knew, I had reached the end of the year and was compiling a list of 74 titles from scratch.
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This year, I am aiming to do a monthly checkpoint post, although, so as not to box myself in, I won’t title them as Jan, Feb, March, and so on. That way, if I fall behind, you won’t notice since I’m numbering them instead!
So, for checkpoint 1, I have read 10 books and reviewed 12 from the start of January to today for my #aww2018 challenge. I am under no illusions whatsoever that I’ll be able to maintain this level throughout the year, but what good are summer holidays if they can’t give your reading numbers a boost?! Also, you’ll note that I read 10 books but reviewed 12 – how did that come about? Well, last year, I read two novels way in advance of publication, but wasn’t able to publish the reviews until their January release dates. I didn’t count these in last year’s challenge figures, knowing they would be included for 2018 – a little head start!
Onto the books! I have linked each title back to my review in case you missed it first time around.
by Glenna Thomson
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by Loretta Hill
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by Louise Allan
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by Kali Napier
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by Elizabeth Jane Corbett
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by Michelle de Krester
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Vasilisa the Wise and Other Tales of Brave Young Women
by Kate Forsyth & Illustrated by Lorena Carrington
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by T.M. Clark
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by Candice Fox
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by Nicole Hurley-Moore
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Four Respectable Ladies Seek Part-time Husband
by Barbara Toner
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by Anthea Hodgson
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February 7, 2018
New Release Book Review: This Is How It Ends by Eva Dolan
About the Book:
This is how it begins.
With a near-empty building, the inhabitants forced out of their homes by property developers.
With two women: idealistic, impassioned blogger Ella and seasoned campaigner, Molly.
With a body hidden in a lift shaft.
But how will it end?
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My Thoughts:
This Is How It Ends is top shelf thriller. The gritty forgotten parts of London are exposed in this story about corruption, activism, police brutality, bullying, misogyny, and gentrification. It’s a sophisticated thriller like few are, topical in its chosen issues and sharply tense in its grim delivery. The characters are raw and real, the setting authentically atmospheric – right down to the last rat!
Ella is an activist with a huge social media presence. On the surface she seethes with anger about the gentrification of London; inner city corporate real estate corruption that sees offshore investors buying up property for tax evasion, driving up prices beyond local affordability and forcing existing residents out of their homes and out of their neighbourhoods. It’s a serious issue and Eva Dolan presents a thorough view on the ins and outs of it within the narrative quite early on, so you know exactly what’s happening from the get go. But Ella is a fake. At least, that was my impression early on. She talks the talk and sometimes walks the walk, but there are other things simmering beneath the surface with Ella; she’s definitely not who she makes out to be and uncovering her story sucked me in like few have before.
Molly is an activist from way back. Presently in her 60s, her last fight is the one for her home. She has formed a bond with Ella, despite her closest comrades distrust of the young woman. I became rather invested in Molly’s story, that of a lonely old woman in dire financial straights, hanging onto her glory days while grooming Ella into her protégé. Or so she thought. Because when a body comes between them, Molly begins to realise that Ella is a liar and a fake, the depths of which she can hardly imagine until she can no longer avoid confronting the devastating truth.
Who is the body? What is Ella’s real story? Why is Ella so filled with rage? These questions kept me turning the pages at a rapid pace late into the night. The story begins with the body and from this point on, it unfolds in two directions. Forwards, in the present day, with Molly; and backwards, with Ella, visiting key events in her history in reverse, all geared towards finally enlightening us to her full story. Towards the end of the novel, when you think you know everything, we come back to Ella in the present day alongside Molly in the present day, for the remainder of the story. But of course, you still don’t know everything. There are more revelations to come and an ending that leaves you feeling wounded, yet oddly satisfied as well. This manner of storytelling was sensational, utterly absorbing. I never knew anything unless the author wanted me to, and in a thriller, a genre that is often at risk of producing plots and characters that we’ve all seen before, it was a literary style device well utilised and executed with perfection. I’m keen to read more from Eva Dolan, she’s quite a force to be reckoned with.
There’s plenty to mull over in this novel and plenty to feel your blood boil over as well. Ultimately, no matter what my thoughts about Ella eventuated into, there can be no doubts as to the origin of her anger and it’s justification. We have come so far, yet we still have such a long way to go.
Thanks is extended to Allen & Unwin for providing me with a copy of This Is How It Ends for review.
This Is How It Ends is published by Raven Books, an imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing.
February 6, 2018
Behind the Pen with Barbara Toner
It is such a treat for me to welcome Barbara Toner to Behind the Pen today. Her most recent release, Four Respectable Ladies Seek Part-time Husband, was an instant favourite for me and I am thrilled to discover that there is a sequel in the works!
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What is your favourite character from one of your novels and why?
Because the characters from Four Respectable Ladies Seek Part-time Husband are so fresh, I’d have to choose one of them and even though she is the least likeable, Louisa Worthington has a special place in my heart. She’s terrific fun to write. I’m currently halfway through the sequel which is set ten years after the first and she remains as beautiful, selfish, wilful and unpredictable as ever.
What inspired your most recent novel?
Four Respectable Ladies Seek Part-time Husbands is set in 1919 in the fictional town of Prospect southern NSW. It’s very loosely based on Bombala, an hour from where I live. In 1921, the railway arrived and the potential for mischief that might cause appealed to me. But the plot and characters I subsequently used were inspired by a conversation with friends about what might make our home lives easier and we decided we could all do with a part-time husband. That suggested even better mischief than the railway.
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What did you do when you finished this novel?
I started on the sequel which has the same ladies in the same place ten years later. Taking just as big a risk with their reputations as they have in the first book.
How would you best describe this novel to a new reader?
This is intended to be a light-hearted book that’s fun to read even if it does address a serious on-going predicament for women – the ludicrous double standards that apply to gender and respectability. Its plot driven – probably plot heavy – because I can’t stand books in which nothing happens.
How much research do you do? How do you balance the demands of getting the facts right and telling a good story?
I do some research but not as much as most other writers. I’m certainly no historian. I like to know what’s more or less accurate in terms of time and place but too much research in my experience can interrupt the story. I did way too much for a book called Cracking American then I had to unpick it.
How much planning do you do? Do you plan/plot the entire story from beginning to end, or let it evolve naturally as the writing progresses? In terms of characters, are they already a firm picture in your mind before you start writing or do they develop a personality of their own as the story progresses?
I plan quite a lot before I start and sometimes this plan holds good for the whole process but the story always grows and changes as layers are added. My characters are usually invented to serve the plot. I needed four ladies to be in dire circumstances. I decided how my ladies could be different from each other and they very quickly took shape.
Where do you normally write? Is it in the same place every day or are you an all over the place writer?
Usually I write at my desk for five hours a day. My neck doesn’t much like it so I need to move so sometimes I go to the lectern I’ve been given so I can stand-up to work. This makes me slouch to the side which hurts my hip. Work related injuries-who’d have thought? When you’re concentrating very deeply, your body goes its own merry way.
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?
Writing is a great sanity saver rather than the other way round. It’s astonishing how often you find yourself examining your own life through your characters. Or is that just me? It’s also a brilliant stress release – once you’re in the zone, there is no other life beyond it.
Where do you draw your inspiration from? How do you fill up that creativity well?
Inspiration is daily. There’s always something in your life that lends itself to a good rollicking story. You end up with a hook when enough of the ideas you have hang around long enough and glue themselves together. That’s my experience anyway.
If you were in a fight to the death, what would be your weapon of choice?
I am a pathetic physical specimen though I have very sharp elbows. I always told the children I’d use them to protect them and even though they laughed, I meant it. However if push really came to shove, I’d probably use words to talk my way out of danger and ultimately bore my opponent to death.
[image error]Four Respectable Ladies Seek Part-time Husband was published by Penguin Random House Australia on the 29th January, 2018. It is available in paperback and ebook.
February 4, 2018
Book Review: The Drifter by Anthea Hodgson
About the Book:
‘Life isn’t just the breathing part, dear. It’s being here, with you.’
Cate Christie is a drifter, moving restlessly through her carefree youth until tragedy strikes, and her life is changed forever. She flees the city, seeking refuge at her great-aunt Ida’s farm in the wheat fields of Western Australia. There she finds Henry, a swagman whose dark eyes and heavy heart hold secrets he’s not willing to share. When Ida is no longer able to go on, Cate and Henry are put to the ultimate test. Together they must embrace the true meaning of family, community and love so they can lay their own ghosts to rest.
The Drifter is a moving and highly original story from an exciting new voice in rural writing, about what it takes to make a good life and a good death – and how to capture the magic in between.
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My Thoughts:
As I sift through my thoughts and prepare to write this review, I feel as though I might end up having to put a disclaimer at the top, something along the lines of:
Warning – this review may be longer than the topic novel.
That’s how much I loved this story.
Cate Christie, our main character in The Drifter, was not someone I could initially relate to. A party girl, drifting aimlessly from job to job, her life in the city was concerned with the here and the now; fun and frivolity, consequences be damned. You only live once, so party like there’s no tomorrow, dance like nobody’s watching, celebrate the moment, etc. etc. A life like that is not sustainable though and reality, when it bites, bites hard, leaving a lasting impression. While I couldn’t relate to Cate the party girl, wounded Cate was a different matter. She crawled into my heart straight away and I think she’s still in there.
Cate hides herself behind witty banter and sarcastic introspection. She has a significant lack of regard for her own worth and finds the appreciation of others difficult to accept. She excels at pretending and rejects emotional connection. When she lands on her great-aunt Ida’s doorstep, what she expects to find is vastly different to what she actually encounters. Ida is failing in health as her age advances. She’s overwhelmed by her farm but unwilling to let it go. For Ida, Cate’s arrival is a timely blessing. And then there’s the ghost in the old homestead, who turns out to be another wounded drifter, ‘swagman Henry’, who is neither a swagman or actually named Henry, but that’s beside the point. These three form a connection that becomes impenetrable, a little family unit that gives each of them exactly what they need. It’s utterly beautiful and I alternated between laughing and crying for the entire novel.
The story of why Cate is in her current predicament unfolds in pieces. We learn snippets of her reckless lifestyle along the way, but we also see the strong bond of genuine friendship that existed between her and her best friend, lending weight to her grief and self recrimination. These memories also countered Cate’s more brittle moments, casting a light on her motivations for self destruction. From these memories, I was left with a hollow feeling of despair; so many lives are lost so often as a result of reckless living, taking risks that just aren’t worth it, but have almost become a standard by product of youthful invulnerability. Casting a light on this with such sharp realism was a winning aspect of this novel for me.
Henry remains more of a mystery throughout, but despite his unknown past, you get a sense very early on that he’s a keeper. There’s a depth to him that transcends his tragedy, but like Cate, he needs time and trust. The connection between these two just sparked from the get go, and I loved their banter. Aided with the matchmaking skills of a smart old dog and an even smarter old lady, well, resistance was probably futile, but they gave it a good whirl. The Drifter is more of a love story than a romance to my mind, a slow build between two people who think they aren’t worthy of living themselves yet reject that notion in each other.
Ida was a real treasure. Her body was failing her but her mind most certainly wasn’t. I hated seeing her reduced to the status of a small child but could see the truth in it; how often this must happen. Who are we to choose how another person lives, or even dictate how that person should die? I appreciated Anthea casting a light onto this tricky family dynamic with such informed sensitivity. Dismissal of the elderly by virtue of them being elderly is just not good enough, yet its prevalence stands. The respect that Cate had for Ida was truly remarkable and really lifted me. It also made me miss both of my grandmothers quite fiercely.
What else did I love about this novel? The small country community atmosphere, which was so authentic. The endless cups of tea, cakes and biscuits – especially that last pot of tea, I wept while they drank that one! Henry’s muscles. Mack the dog. Ida’s sweet reminiscing about Jack. The mental image of Henry showering with a garden hose (see note about Henry’s muscles above). Cate’s instinctive kindness and her efforts at fitting into the community and living on the farm. Ida’s love for Cate. That knitted jumper – this one really had me! The small ways in which we touch each other’s lives for the better. The many ways in which we demonstrate how much we love each other. And then there’s that all-purpose culinary delight, Depression Surprise, a tasty way to make use of your extra rabbits. Surprisingly though, no recipe in the back of the book…
The Drifter is an amalgamation of a heartfelt story with terrific characters in a great setting. Fortunately for me, Anthea’s next release, The Cowgirl, is just around the corner and it promises another wonderful rural journey for its readers. Aren’t we the lucky ones?!
The Drifter is published by Penguin Random House Australia.
About the Author:
[image error]Anthea Hodgson is a country girl from the WA wheat belt. She worked as a radio producer in WA, NSW and Queensland before returning to WA, where she lives with her husband and two children.
February 2, 2018
Bingo! Child of Africa by T.M. Clark
It’s bingo Saturday once again – that rolled around fast! The square I’ve filled for this entry is:
A book by an author you’ve never read before
The book is question is Child of Africa – which I loved – by T.M. Clark, an author I have been familiar with for a few years now, but whose work I had not read.
Child of Africa made quite an impact on me (you can read my review here) and I will definitely be reading T.M. Clark’s previous titles in the near future. If you’ve never read her work and you have an interest in authentic stories about Africa, I highly recommend you check her out.
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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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February 1, 2018
My Reading Life: Coincidentally Covered
Today has been a day of cover coincidences.
In the morning post, copies of Little Fires Everywhere and Everything I Never Told You arrived.
At lunch time I settled in to read some of the latest posts from the book blogs I follow. Up pops a post containing No One is Coming to Save Us. My gaze instantly shifted to my two Celeste Ng books sitting on my desk.
Next up was a post about The Only Story. My cover radar was picking up a very strong signal by this stage.
This evening, as I opened my email and browsed through a Booktopia catalogue, The Whole Bright Year and Maggie’s Recipe for Life jumped right out at me.
I guess even book covers are subject to fashion trends!
January 31, 2018
New Release Book Review: Four Respectable Ladies Seek Part-time Husband by Barbara Toner
About the Book:
A charming and witty novel, set in a small country town in 1919.
‘When Adelaide Nightingale, Louisa Worthington, Maggie O’Connell and Pearl McCleary threw caution to the winds in the most brazen way imaginable, disgrace was bound to follow.’
It’s September 1919. The war is over, and everyone who was going to die from the flu has done so. But there’s a shortage of husbands and women in strife will flounder without a male to act on their behalf.
And in the southern New South Wales town of Prospect, four ladies bereft of men have problems that threaten to overwhelm them.
Beautiful Louisa Worthington, whose dashing husband died for King and Country, is being ruined by the debts he left behind.
Young Maggie O’Connell, who lost her mother in childbirth and her father to a redhead, is raising her two wayward brothers and fighting for land she can’t prove is hers.
Adelaide Nightingale has a husband, but he’s returned from the war in a rage and is refusing to tackle the thieving manager of their famous family store.
Pearl McCleary, Adelaide’s new housekeeper, must find her missing fiancé before it’s too late and someone dies.
Thank God these desperate ladies have a solution: a part-time husband who will rescue them all. To find him, they’ll advertise. To afford him, they’ll share.
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My Thoughts:
Jane Austen meets Rosalie Ham in this utterly delightful new novel from Barbara Toner. Even the title, Four Respectable Ladies Seek Part-time Husband, speaks for itself in terms of the story. Yes, these four women do pool their resources to hire a part-time husband to share, and yes, the results are as outrageous as you might expect. Particularly when you consider that at the outset, these four women aren’t even friends. In fact, with the exception of Pearl, they each harbour rather intense long term grudges against each other. It’s wonderful to see their understanding and consideration for each other grow over the course of the story.
Barbara Toner’s style is sharply honest and appeals to me greatly. There isn’t a single sentence within this novel that isn’t infused with her unique brand of insightful observation. It’s such a rare talent, and short of gushing on and on about her brilliance, I’m probably incapable of doing this novel justice within this review. You should just read it for yourself. As soon as possible. You’ll love every minute because her words are sprinkled with gold dust.
But what’s it really about? Yes, there’s plenty of humour and mayhem throughout, more than one mystery and more than one instance of the ridiculous, but Four Respectable Ladies Seek Part-time Husband is by no means a fluffy funny story about four women vying for the attention of one man. Far from it. At the heart of this story is the magnification of inequality; an era in society where women were encouraged to be helpless, admired for being helpless, and scorned for showing the slightest bit of initiative beyond the domestic realm. For women who were widows or unmarried – or even married but with a husband who had checked out to some degree – they were damned if they did and damned if they didn’t. Women were quite simply not taken seriously – unless of course there was a war on and no men available, but after the war, it was back to expected helplessness. So, what was a woman in this predicament to do? No husband, no father, no brother; well, you hired a part-time husband to handle all of the things you were barred from handling on account of your sex. The fact that he turned out to be a little bit useless was beside the point because as this very telling statement points out:
‘His purpose, as things panned out, had been not to do what the ladies couldn’t, but to show the ladies what they might achieve on their own.’
The characterisation within this novel is superb. There are all sorts, warts and all, within Prospect. And while our four ladies shine the brightest, there are plenty of others that steal the spotlight from time to time. Another winning aspect of this story is the way in which Barbara Toner brought a small post war Australian town to life with such realistic vigour. I was utterly convinced of the authenticity of Prospect. Far from stereotypical, this town and its inhabitants rang true to me for the era. Like I mentioned in the beginning, think Jane Austen – particularly Lady Susan and Pride and Prejudice – meeting Rosalie Ham, and you’ll begin to form an impression about what to expect with this novel. But please don’t be mislead, this comparison really is only for impressionistic purposes as Four Respectable Ladies Seek Part-time Husband stands on its own two feet steady and sure. I feel quite certain this one is destined for that elusive ‘it’s going to be a classic’ elevation.
[image error]I’d like to thank Penguin Random House Australia for providing me with a copy of Four Respectable Ladies Seek Part-time Husband. I enjoyed it immensely and won’t be able to stop recommending it for a very long time – if ever!
About the Author:
[image error]Barbara Toner is an acclaimed author and columnist who has written extensively about the lot of women in all its manifestations, with all its glorious and less glorious intricacies, both in fiction and non-fiction. She has three daughters and divides her time between England and the far south coast of New South Wales.
January 30, 2018
Behind the Pen with Barbara Quinn
Today I warmly welcome USA author Barbara Quinn to Behind the Pen. She’s here to talk about a few of her favourites along with her latest release, The Summer Springsteen’s Songs Saved Me.
Over to you Barbara…
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What is your favourite…and why…
Character from one of your books?
Sofia, from my latest novel The Summer Springsteen’s Songs Saved Me, is someone I’d love to go out for a drink with. She’d have an Irish whiskey which sounds good to me! She’s someone who inspires me to be a better person and like me she loves Springsteen so we’d have a lot to talk about.
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Scene from one of your books?
My novel The Speed of Dark opens with a teenage boy pedalling through the poisonous fog spewing from the rear of a DDT truck. The boy is joined by a girl who it turns out has magical powers. I like the idea of something special like a magical girl rising out of the horrible poisonous cloud. I remember riding my own bike behind a DDT truck. That’s unthinkable now but it was commonplace and that scene memorializes the practice.
Movie of all time?
Spaceballs by Woody Allen. I adore silly and that movie leaves me laughing every time.
Book that you always keep a copy of and recommend to others?
A Natural History of the Senses by Diane Ackerman. This book is a fun fascinating exploration of the senses. It teaches mindfulness of our surroundings and is a wonderful tool for learning how to focus and appreciate the world. It’s great for writers but it’s also good for anyone who wants to heighten their awareness.
Fashion accessory that despite having plenty of, you still keep collecting?
Oh boy, I do love pocketbooks! The colors, the leathers, the patterns, the shapes all mesmerize me. I have begun donating some and my closet looks far better.
Drink that you enjoy everyday?
Tea. I start the day with Barry’s Irish Breakfast with lemon and honey, which probably offends a lot of tea drinkers. It’s something I learned on my first trip to Italy. That lemon slice looks like the Italian sun floating in my cup. As the day wears on I have a cup of green tea in mid-afternoon. Earl Grey Green or Jasmin Green are two favorites. After dinner it’s a herbal tea like Raspberry or Decaf Earl Grey or Decaf Vanilla. My pantry is filled with boxes of teas. And I love iced tea at lunchtime.
Treat you indulge in?
Dark chocolate! A couple of Turbinado sugar dark chocolate covered almonds are wonderful with my tea.
Place to be?
By the water. The ocean and gulf tend to bring things into perspective for me and settle me down. I love the sound of the waves and the salty smell of the water.
Person you admire?
My husband. He keeps me sane and always has my back. He tends to keep a regular schedule and that keeps me from staying up all night as I can easily do that.
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Season of the year?
Summer. I love the beach, and summer and beach are synonymous to me. I hate being cold. And summer clothes are so much easier than bundling up.
To find out more about Barbara and her books, visit her website.
The Summer Springsteen’s Songs Saved Me
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Catching her husband with his face between the long, silky legs of another woman is the last thing Sofia expects–and on today of all days.
So, after scratching an expletive into his Porsche and setting the cheating bastard’s clothes on fire, she cranks up her beloved Bruce and flees, vowing never to look back.
Seeking solace in the peaceful beachside town of Bradley Beach, NJ, Sof is determined to divorce and start over. And, with the help of best friends, new acquaintances, a sexy neighbor, and the powerful songs of Springsteen, this may be the place where her wounds can heal. But, as if she hasn’t faced her share of life’s challenges, a final flurry of obstacles awaits.
In order to head courageously toward the future, Sofia must first let go of her past, find freedom, and mend her broken soul.
Buy from:
January 29, 2018
New Release Book Review: The Secrets at Ocean’s Edge by Kali Napier
About the Book:
1932. Ernie and Lily Hass, and their daughter, Girlie, have lost almost everything in the Depression; all they have keeping their small family together are their secrets. Abandoning their failing wheat farm and small-town gossip, they make a new start on the west coast of Australia where they begin to build a summer guesthouse. But forming new alliances with the locals isn’t easy.
Into the Hasses’ new life wanders Lily’s shell-shocked brother, Tommy, after three harrowing years on the road following his incarceration. Tommy is seeking answers that will cut to the heart of who Ernie, Lily, and Girlie really are.
Inspired by the author’s own family history, The Secrets at Ocean’s Edge is a haunting, memorable and moving tale of one family’s search for belonging. Kali Napier breathes a fever-pitch intensity into the story of these emotionally fragile characters as their secrets are revealed with tragic consequences.
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My Thoughts:
Kali Napier may be a debut author but she is certainly no novice. The Secret’s at Ocean’s Edge is an incredible novel, a story layered with all of the hallmarks that make for an Australian classic.
Set in Australia during 1932, in an area of Western Australia where everyone knows everyone else’s business – and if they don’t, you can bet they’ll find out – the nation is in the grips of the Depression with its population still feeling the immediate effects of the Great War. Shame and pride stitch together the social fabric of people’s lives within The Secrets at Ocean’s Edge and I feel this novel might be one of the most authentic I’ve read in a very long time. Kali has captured Australia within this era to perfection: the small town atmosphere where the shame at everyone knowing your business and the pride associated with not wanting everyone to know your business dictates the pattern of your life; the deep seated fear of anyone who wasn’t white; the expectations that women go from being submissive daughters to submissive wives, where the very notion of a woman working is a challenge to her husband’s ability to provide for his family; the judgement attached to those deemed ‘not a real man’; a nation full of people caught between mounting their high horses and cutting down the tall poppies. I loved this novel, enjoyed every beautifully evocative sentence and I will admit to lingering over the last 100 pages because I didn’t want it to end.
The Secrets at Ocean’s Edge is told in alternating chapters between Lily, her husband Ernie, her brother Tommy, and her daughter Girlie. I have deliberately mentioned all these characters here in terms of their relationship to Lily because to my mind, this is very much Lily’s story. She’s the linchpin here, the stationary point that each of the other characters orbit around, and indeed, for Ernie, Tommy, and Girlie, seeking Lily’s approval was a driving force for each of them. Indeed, Ernie never seemed to be able to make his wife happy, Girlie was seemingly a constant disappointment to her mother, and Tommy was a millstone around Lily’s neck that she felt obligated to endure.
Perhaps on the surface all of these things seemed to be the case, yet Lily was a much more complicated character than that and Kali did an excellent job of having Lily walk a very fine line between shrew and martyr. I felt for Lily, the burden of all of her secrets stacking up and weighing her down. Unable to really rely on Ernie, as his track record was not all that great. Yet even Ernie roused my empathy towards the end. As the story progressed and you got a real handle on who Ernie was, even his ‘second son syndrome’ ceased to aggravate. I mean, essentially, he was a bit of an idiot and truly brought most of his problems down onto himself, but he was also the victim of not being ‘a true Aussie bloke’. Shame at his war experiences and his failings as a provider had shaped Ernie into a prickly and prideful man who had to a certain degree sacrificed his own empathy for ambition. The marriage between Lily and Ernie had a ring of authenticity to it, and it was here that Ernie proved himself in terms of honour; he never, despite Lily’s lack of attention to him, pressed his ‘rights’ upon her as a husband. He adored her and wanted her adoration in turn and never really gave up on the ideal of it. I thought this showed a depth to Ernie’s character that forgave the shallow exterior that dominated his day to day existence. As a dutiful daughter, an obliging sister, a reluctant wife, and a disappointed mother, Lily was a woman who had suppressed herself to the point where she no longer was her own self. I enjoyed the unravelling of Lily’s web and the anticipation that she would one day find herself again, if only she would just let all of the secrets go.
Never more does Kali’s skill as a writer shine than when you are immersed in the chapters told from Girlie’s and Tommy’s perspectives. In terms of Girlie, telling a story through the eyes of a child can be a powerful writing technique, but only if it is done very well, which in this case, it is. There’s a stunningly honest simplicity to Girlie; she calls it like she sees it, as the majority of children will. They are yet to begin filtering, and Girlie was on the cusp of that, one foot still on the side of being a child, the other edging into womanhood. She was beginning to see that some secrets needed to be kept and some needed to be disclosed, but her youth put her in a position of not fully being able to reconcile the consequences of being entirely honest and transparent at all times. There were moments of true heartbreak for Girlie, particularly when she was misconstruing her mother’s feelings towards her. And this is why telling part of the story from Girlie’s point for view works so well: the perceptions of a child vary greatly to that of an adult and their confusion about events, their questioning about what’s going on and why begs notice. For example, when Girlie first meets Ruby, she can’t really understand why Ruby wouldn’t be allowed to go to school with her or be friends with her openly. She sees Ruby as a fellow companion, oblivious to the fact that Ruby is Aboriginal and the laws that were in place – not to mention the prejudices – to prevent their daily interaction. Ruby is just another girl to Girlie. What’s the problem with being friends with her? Girlie’s questioning of her own identity throughout the novel was particularly poignant and at times crushing to consider. She really was such a beautiful girl and I just wanted to reach into the pages and give her a big hug.
Out of each of the main characters, I quickly formed a soft spot for Tommy, Lily’s brother. He is suffering from severe PTS and has been living the life of a homeless wanderer since being discharged from a hospice for soldiers suffering from the effects of the war, a place that didn’t seem to help him all that much in the end, except to give him a few coping techniques that didn’t quite match up to the extent of his needs. Lily is his anchor, the one person he relies on for his memories. He looks to her for the truth about who he is given that he cannot fully rely on his own mind. The lines of the present and the past are blurred for Tommy. He has some very obvious triggers and some not so obvious ones. He blacks out at the most inconvenient times and has no control over himself while experiencing an episode, nor can he fully recollect his actions once he returns to himself. In terms of depicting PTS in a realistic fashion, I have nothing but the highest of praise for Kali’s character development of Tommy. She didn’t sugar coat his suffering, nor did she avoid making us uncomfortable when presented with his actions. The ignorance of PTS as a credible ailment has truly terrible consequences and leads to needless suffering for all involved. Tommy is but one of countless young men who would have returned home from experiencing a level of horror that is beyond our capacity to truly visualise, yet these men were then expected to just get back into the groove of their old lives, get a job, get a wife, be a provider, be a man and step up. The mental anguish that Tommy experienced every second of every day was so well depicted by Kali. It’s only with regard to Tommy that I ever judged Lily harshly. She let him down, over and over. He relied on her honesty but her secrets confused his already confused mind to the point where tragedy was inevitable. Such a realistic interpretation of what living with such turmoil must be like.
The Secrets at Ocean’s Edge is an explicitly Australian novel, from the dialogue through to the way of life, everything is comfortingly familiar and glaringly apparent. The setting is richly depicted and incorporated into the narrative fully. The story unfolds at good even pace and with so many secrets, I felt Kali was particularly skilled at disclosing these in a way that they just slipped into the narrative, surprising you yet also making you aware that they were there all along, just waiting to be discovered. The Secrets at Ocean’s Edge is Kali Napier’s first novel but you would never know it if you hadn’t been told beforehand. This is a fine achievement, a literary historical fiction novel that I think will sit right up there at the top in a class of its own.
Thanks is extended to Hachette Australia for providing me with an advance copy of The Secrets of Ocean’s Edge for review. I’d like to especially thank Kali Napier for putting me forward as an early reviewer of her novel.
About the Author:
[image error]Kali Napier worked in Bangladesh as an anthropologist on gender programs before working as an Aboriginal family history researcher for the Queensland government and as a Native Title anthropologist in the mid-west of Western Australia, the setting for The Secrets at Ocean’s Edge. The novel was longlisted for the Bath Novel Award, as was her first manuscript – also a finalist in the Hachette Australia Manuscript Development Program. Kali is currently an MPhil candidate in creative writing at the University of Queensland. The character of Ernie in The Secrets at Ocean’s Edge is based on her great-grandfather, who settled briefly in Dongara during the Depression. Kali now lives in Queensland with her two children.
To follow Kali’s news, check in with her at the following places:
https://kalinapier.wordpress.com
Facebook @KaliNapierAuthor
Twitter @KaliNapier
The Bath Novel Award is open to unpublished writers from across the world. First prize is £2,000. The winner and shortlisted writers get introductions to literary agents. It’s open to novels of every genre, for adult or young adult (13+) readers.
