Theresa Smith's Blog, page 146
January 14, 2018
New Release Book Review: Vasilisa the Wise and Other Tales of Brave Young Women by Kate Forsyth
AUTHOR: Kate Forsyth
ILLUSTRATOR: Lorena Carrington
About:
For many young women, the only fairy-tales they know are the ones that have been retold by Walt Disney studios.
Once upon a time, these stories of magical transformation were meant for young women as they grew away from childhood and towards adulthood. They were told by their mothers and grandmothers and the wise women of the clan as they spun and wove and stirred their pots and made their potions. The heroines of these old tales set out on a difficult road of trials to discover their true destiny. And, contrary to popular opinion, marrying a prince was not the only goal.
These ancient tales of wonder and adventure are about learning to be strong, brave, kind and true-hearted, and trusting in yourself to change the world for the better. These are not your usual passive princesses waiting forlornly for their prince to come…
The brave young women from tales of yore in Vasilisa the Wise and Other Tales of Brave Young Women will transform the way you think about fairy-tales.
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My Thoughts:
It’s no great secret that I am a big fan of Kate Forsyth, her fairy-tale inspired novels for adults being among my favourite and most treasured reads. Vasilisa the Wise and Other Tales of Brave Young Women is a retelling of seven fairy-tales that are either little known or have been to a certain extent lost to the modern world. They feature strong and brave young women who save princes instead of the other way around, demonstrate admirable traits, and show that self-belief is a superpower to be reckoned with. Each tale is condensed in a way that can be enjoyed in a single sitting – or as a bedtime story.
I particularly love stories that present faeries as dark and otherworldly, rather than as sweetness and light. They seem more credible, to me, and more in tune with ancient legends. My favourite from this volume is The Stolen Child, a tale that celebrates the love of a mother and her child, and demonstrates the lengths a mother will go to in order to protect that bond. While this was my favourite, I enjoyed each and every story. They were all so wonderful, a true celebration of girl power that I appreciate wholeheartedly. Kate’s talent with fairy-tale retellings truly knows no bounds.
In her illustrator notes, Lorena Carrington points out that the illustrations are made from many separate photographs – some contain over 70, one in particular more than 100 – montaged together to create each final image. Everything is photographed against a backlight to create a silhouette, then digitally reassembled and placed within multilayered photographic backgrounds. The human figures are made from themselves, while the wild creatures are built up from tiny fragments of the landscape – twigs, bones and leaves all gathered from her backyard and bushland. She explains that throughout the book, the young women represented are her daughters Mari and Rosa, but in ‘The Singing, Springing Lark’, Kate’s daughter Ella was the model for the images. The overall effect is quite stunning, you can just gaze at the pictures for so long, there’s so much to see and marvel at. The end result is a beautiful book with the most unique and striking illustrations.
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Congratulations to Kate Forsyth, Lorena Carrington, and Serenity Press for the creation of such a treasured book.
Thanks is extended to Serenity Press for providing me with a copy of Vasilisa the Wise and Other Tales of Brave Young Women for review.
Read more about the collaboration between Kate and Lorena and the creation of Vasilisa the Wise and Other Tales of Brave Young Women in my Australian Women Writers Sunday Spotlight with Kate Forsyth.
January 12, 2018
#StellaSpark
To celebrate and recognise the impact of writing by Australian women, The Stella Prize want to hear about the books that have inspired you this past year – your Stella Sparks.
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A Stella Spark is a book by an Australian woman that has struck a spark for you: what have you read in the past year that has kept you up at night, brought you comfort, challenged you, changed your perspective, or opened up new worlds?
Readers are invited to share a photo of their Stella Spark, along with the story of why they chose it across Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, using the hashtag #StellaSpark.
Celebrating the many Australian women shaping Australian literature is something I do daily with my Australian Women Writers Challenge focus, so I am more than happy to partake in the #StellaSpark movement. Picking only one book – not so easy! I read more than 70 books last year written by Australian women, so I have lots of sparks.
When I think about the books I read last year that were also published last year (which narrows it down some), a book that offered me a lot of comfort and enjoyment is:
A Hundred Small Lessons by Ashley Hay
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A Hundred Small Lessons is the type of novel you can give as a gift with confidence that the recipient will enjoy it. The glorious cover alone promises delight upon opening. I highly recommend this beautiful novel, to everyone who reads. To all of you who are or ever have been a parent. To everyone who has ever been a child at some point in your lives (which is of course every human being). There is much to be gained from reading this novel.
Find out more about #StellaSpark here.
January 11, 2018
My Reading Life: 10 Anticipated Reads
I’m looking forward to reading lots of books this year and have set a personal target for 100. There’s a few standout titles by authors I love being released in the first half of 2018, and I’ve been quietly saving the covers into a folder called ‘Anticipated Reads’. There’s 10 covers in there now, so I thought I’d share them with you.
The Opal Dragonfly by Julian Leatherdale
The Opal Dragonfly tells the bittersweet story of an ambitious family’s fall from grace and a brave young woman’s struggle to find her true self.
Published by Allen & Unwin – March 2018.
Three Gold Coins by Josephine Moon
Three Gold Coins is a masterfully written celebration of food, family, triumph over adversity, and love – a deliciously imperfect life.
Published by Allen & Unwin – March 2018.
The Shepherd’s Hut by Tim Winton
The Shepherd’s Hut is a searing look at what it takes to keep love and hope alive in a parched and brutal world.
Published by Penguin Random House Australia – March 12, 2018.
The highly anticipated new novel from the author of Dear Banjo.
Love is random. Accidental. You just live your life and then one day it’ll hit you with the right person.
Published by Penguin Random House Australia – May 28, 2018.
Redemption Point by Candice Fox
A compulsive new crime thriller, which sees Ted Conkaffey once again teaming up with an unlikely partner – this time the father of the girl he was accused of abducting.
Published by Penguin Random House Australia – January 29, 2018.
The new novel from the acclaimed author of The Drifter.
‘When you look up at that sky, tell me you don’t know the world is bigger than this farm.’
Published by Penguin Random House Australia – February 26, 2018.
The Juliet Code by Christine Wells
A new historical novel packed full of spies, love, betrayal and secrets.
Published by Penguin Random House Australia – April 30, 2018.
The Great Alone by Kristin Hannah
About the highest stakes a family can face and the bonds that can tear a community apart, this is a novel as spectacular and powerful as Alaska itself. It is the finest example of Kristin Hannah’s ability to weave together the deeply personal with the universal.
Published by Macmillan – 30 January, 2018.
The Paris Seamstress by Natasha Lester
Crossing generations, society’s boundaries and international turmoil, The Paris Seamstress is the beguiling, transporting story of the special relationship between a grandmother and her granddaughter as they attempt to heal the heartache of the past.
Published by Hachette Australia – March 27, 2018.
The Memories That Make Us by Vanessa Carnevale
Gracie Ashcroft is supposed to marry Blake Beaumont in three months’ time. The trouble is, she doesn’t know who he is…
Forced to examine the person she has become, Gracie confronts the question: if you had your time over, would you live the same life twice?
Published by Harlequin Australia – March 2018.
I look forward to bringing you reviews for each of these titles as they are released. What books are you looking forward to reading this year?
January 5, 2018
2018 Book Bingo
This year I’m teaming up with Mrs B’s Book Reviews for a book bingo reading challenge. We’ve even created our own card!
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We have come up with a bingo plan that will ensure I play bingo throughout the year instead of after the fact on the last day of December (which has been my usual game plan). On every first and third Saturday of each month, Mrs B’s Book Reviews and I will post a bingo entry. Given there are 25 squares, we’ll have an extra Saturday in March and June. We aren’t coordinating our squares, because we agree it will be more fun to see what each of us comes up with for each round. Although it would be funny if we coincidentally ended up with the same book for the same square! This is our kick off post, so the first entry will be posted on the 20th January.
Play along if you like! Feel free to use our card and tell us about your entries along the way via the comments on the bingo posts. If you are a blogger, we’d love it if you joined in via your own blogs, but please let us know so we can follow your progress.
Don’t forget to check in with Mrs B’s Book Reviews for her #bookbingo kick off post!
January 4, 2018
My Reading Life: #aww2017 Wrap Up
Last year, my participation in the Australian Women Writers Challenge stepped up a notch as I took on a few volunteer roles behind the scenes. My passion for supporting the women writers of Australia has culminated in a whopping 74 of my reviews being contributed to the AWW database, my highest total ever. I did in fact read an additional three titles to what’s listed here, but these books weren’t due for publication until the new year and as I was bound by agreements with the publishers to hold off on revealing these reviews, they have instead given my #aww2018 challenge a jump start.
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In alphabetical order by author surname, here’s the complete list of my #aww2017 titles:
Adnams, Cheryl. Handpicked
Bailey, Sarah. The Dark Lake
Bigelow, Lisa. We That Are Left
Brear, Anne. Where Rainbows End
Brewin, Emily. Hello, Goodbye
Carey, Ella. Paris Time Capsule
Carnevale, Vanessa. The Florentine Bridge
Carter Mathers, Georgia. Trelloran Seduction
Carter, Elizabeth Ellen. Dark Heart
Carter, Elizabeth Ellen. Captive of the Corsairs
Christensen, Maggie. The Good Sister
Daniels, Anna. Girl in Between
Forsyth, Kate. The Wild Girl
Forsyth, Kate. Bitter Greens
Forsyth, Kate. Beauty in Thorns
Fox, Candice. Crimson Lake
Freeman, Kimberley. Evergreen Falls
French, Jackie. Third Witch
Green, Sophie. The Inaugural Meeting of the Fairvale Ladies Book Club
Guy, Louise. Everyday Lies
Guy, Louise. Fortunate Friends
Ham, Rosalie. Summer at Mount Hope
Harper, Jane. Force of Nature
Hart, Pamela. A Letter From Italy
Hay, Ashley. A Hundred Small Lessons
Henry-Jones, Eliza. In the Quiet
Henry-Jones, Eliza. Ache
Hills, Lia. The Crying Place
Hurst, Lori T. A Hint of Darkness
Hurst, Lori T. The Journey of Emmaline
James, Melissa. Beneath the Skin
James, Wendy. The Golden Child
Johns, Rachael. The Greatest Gift
Jones, Andrea. Offshore
Kelada, Odette. Drawing Sybylla
Kelly, Kim. Paper Daisies
Kelly, Kim. Wild Chicory
Kent, Hannah. The Good People
King, Nadia L. Jenna’s Truth
Ladd, Kylie. Mothers And Daughters
Ladd, Kylie. The Way Back
Laguna, Sofie. One Foot Wrong
Laguna, Sofie. The Choke
Lane, Karly. Six Ways to Sunday
Leary, Rachel. Bridget Crack
Lester, Natasha. Her Mother’s Secret
Lette, Kathy. After the Blues
McAlary, Brooke. Slow
McIntosh, Fiona. The Last Dance
Mildenhall, Kate. Skylarking
Moriarty, Liane. Big Little Lies
Moriarty, Liane. Truly Madly Guilty
Morton, Kate. The Forgotten Garden
Mulligan, Monique. A Bouquet of Love
Mulligan, Monique. Under Her Spell
Murdoch, Kate. Stone Circle
Nash, Charlotte. The Paris Wedding
Nicholls, Kelly Brooke. A Reluctant Warrior
Parkyn, Stephanie. Into the World
Prichard, Katherine Susannah. Haxby’s Circus
Read, Ellen. The Dragon Sleeps
Ridout, Sarah. Le Chateau
Rose, Heather. The Museum of Modern Love
Schmidt, Sarah. See What I Have Done
Sinclair, Alli. Beneath the Parisian Skies
Smith, Pip. Half Wild
Taylor, Virginia. Wenna
Tozer, Gabrielle. Remind Me How This Ends
Trope, Nicole. Forgotten
Wainwright, Holly. The Mummy Bloggers
Wasley, Sasha. Dear Banjo
Williams, Sarah. The Brothers of Brigadier Station
Wood, Charlotte. The Natural Way of Things
Woods, Tess. Beautiful Messy Love
I do hope you’ll consider joining me in the Australian Women Writers Challenge for 2018. Click here to find out more about the challenge and to sign up.
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January 3, 2018
Behind the Pen with Glenna Thomson
Welcome to Behind the Pen…for the second time this week, I know, but with so many fabulous releases, there just aren’t enough Wednesdays in the week, so I’m breaking with tradition and bringing you a second edition.
I am so pleased to welcome Glenna Thomson, author of the beautiful new release, Stella and Margie (reviewed on this blog today). Glenna has shared with me a few of her favourites, so without further delay…
What is your favourite…and why…
Character from one of your books?
Margie in my new novel, Stella and Margie. I learned who Margie was as I wrote about her. She evolved from this impatient and bad-mannered old woman, to a person I discovered had a difficult and lonely life. She’d suffered greatly and I grew to love and respect her. So did Stella.
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Scene from one of your books?
The storm in my debut novel, Blueberry, page 278. I live on a farm, and I wrote that scene in real time as the storm was occurring outside. The thunder overhead was so loud and unexpected I actually did drop my pen. The birds did keep singing during the heavy rain, and surprisingly stopped when the storm was over. We don’t have leaking gutters, so that bit was imagined.
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Movie of all time?
My all-time favourite movie is Cinema Paradiso. It was released in 1988 and was directed by Giuseppe Tornatore. I love this film because of its pathos, the slow camera, the intensity of young love, and the truth about how life sometimes turns out. It touched me so much I cried during it and could hardly get out of my seat afterwards.
Book that you always keep a copy of and recommend to others?
Anne Enright’s The Forgotten Waltz and The Green Road. She’s such a gifted, intelligent and gutsy writer, and I admire her enormously. I often read random pages of her work to be reminded of what is possible. I always recommend her novels to others. Other books I keep close are Colm Toibin’s Nora Webster, and Evie Wyld’s All the Birds, Singing.
Fashion accessory that despite having plenty of, you still keep collecting?
I love a good-looking handbag. I’m currently flaunting a gorgeous blue leather bag big enough to hold a week’s shopping. It’s got all the compartments, zips and hidden pockets. But knowing me, it’ll be replaced sometime this year, even though it’s not worn out. Somewhere out there, sitting on a shelf, is its replacement waiting to be discovered.
Drink that you enjoy everyday?
Well. I do like red wine. Up here in north east Victoria there’s a number of wineries with excellent Shiraz and Merlot.
Treat you indulge in?
As above. Red wine.
Place to be?
My husband and I built our house, and developed our farm and garden. We’ve lived here for twelve years and everything is now established and settled into itself. Our property is also where I get my inspiration to write. The birds, garden, cattle, the granite outcrops, and sky. All the scenery descriptions in my books are authentic because it’s what I see. My home is absolutely my favourite place.
Person you admire?
Ita Buttrose. A long time ago I was head of media for an overseas aid agency. I invited Ita to be a patron for women’s projects in third world countries. She agreed, and we travelled overseas together to witness the work being done to empower woman and girls through access to education. Ita and I had some unique experiences, including sharing a bedroom in a nunnery in the north of Bangladesh.
I admire her because she’s a genuinely compassionate person, who is intelligently engaged in life and real issues. She’s also one of the hardest working people I’ve met.
Ita and I lost contact when I moved to the farm. I knew she’d love hearing that I was being published with Penguin Random House and I sent her a copy of my first book, Blueberry. She loved it. And I was thrilled when she agreed to read Stella and Margie and provide the endorsement for the front cover.
Season of the year?
Autumn. Perhaps because it follows the long dry summers, but I love the cooler days, the softer colours, the changing leaves, the smell of smoke from the first fire, picking figs and walnuts. I wrote Stella and Margie in this period of time – the end of summer and the change of seasons to autumn. It’s all in the book. Waiting for rain, happy birds in the garden, the gas gun from the neighbour’s walnut orchard. And the other thing I like about autumn, is the snakes disappear with the colder weather.
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Stella and Margie was released on January 2nd, 2018. It is published by Penguin Random House Australia and is available in both paperback and ebook from all book retailers.
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New Release Book Review: Stella and Margie by Glenna Thomson
About:
A beautiful novel about two women – a generation apart – thrown together by circumstance, who slowly come to love and understand one another.
Stella and her mother-in-law Margie are two very different women.
Stella is kind, compassionate and just a little chaotic. Margie is prickly, demanding and a stickler for convention. Stella has exciting dreams for the future. Margie has only bitter memories of the past.
When Margie needs help recovering from a major operation, Stella offers her a place to stay. With no other options, Margie returns to the family farm where for decades, until Stella’s arrival, she was the one in charge.
Margie has never made life easy for her daughter-in-law, and that’s not going to change now she’s been made a guest in her former home.
But as the dry summer turns to a beautiful autumn, the two women gradually form an unlikely bond, as the ambitions, secrets, and tragedies that have shaped their lives are slowly uncovered…
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My Thoughts:
Stella and Margie is what I like to call ‘quietly beautiful’. There is no fast paced dramatic plot, but rather a gently unfolding story of every day life in a contemporary family. It’s a real treasure of a novel and I enjoyed it immensely.
Both Stella and Margie were highly authentic characters and I could relate to them both, their flaws adding that layer of reality that ensured my continued investment in their journey. Margie’s situation made me sad, her backstory as well as her current plight. The feeling of being a burden to your family was articulated through Margie by Glenna Thompson with such a precise intricacy. To be old and infirm, relying on others for everything; Margie might have been stubborn and rude, but her unhappiness was so ingrained into her soul that accepting kindness was as much of a struggle for her as moving about as her hip healed. Stella, with her compassion and patience, was an admirable daughter-in-law; many women would not have put up with what she did, particularly given the fact that her husband, Margie’s own son, did not want his mother in the house, and went out of his way to make this fact known. I particularly enjoyed Glenna Thompson’s examination of Stella, a woman pulled in many opposing directions, like so many of us are today. Balancing the demands of our children, husbands, households, our own work and interests; throwing in the care of an elderly parent as another ball to juggle is no small thing.
There are many important themes brought into the spotlight within this novel. I quite liked the character of Ross, despite his coldness to his mother. It’s hard to understand the parent-child relationship when domestic violence has been thrown into the mix, unless you’ve actually experienced it yourself, and suffice to say, I felt Ross’s perspective keenly and feel Glenna Thompson hit the nail on the head squarely. It’s all too easy to judge a person on their present actions, but backstory matters, it shapes and influences, and in some instances, it even excuses. I completely understood Ross’s need to just not go there; sometimes you just want to let things lie.
Margie’s interest in birds and Stella’s interest in community theatre added much to this story in terms of demonstrating a personal side to both of these women. It showed them as individuals outside of the confines of their everyday roles, two women rather than a mother-in-law and a daughter-in-law. The intersecting of these interests for the two women gave each of them an ability to understand and appreciate the other within a different context.
Stella and Margie is the perfect novel for our times, encapsulating the sort of issues we are all facing day to day. It shows the importance of kindness and patience, and how with both, understanding can come between people who are vastly different.
Thanks is extended to Penguin Random House Australia for providing me with a copy of Stella and Margie for review.
The Author:
[image error]Glenna Thomson lives in north-east Victoria on a cattle property. She portrays her experiences on the farm, and in her extensive garden, vividly in her writing. For several years, Glenna and her husband also managed a commercial blueberry orchard, which inspired her first novel, Blueberry. Glenna grew up on an apple orchard, married, had children, and before moving to the country she developed a career in overseas aid and business. Stella and Margie is her second novel.
January 2, 2018
Behind the Pen with Louise Allan
Today I am absolutely delighted to welcome a favourite of mine to Behind the Pen, Louise Allan, whose name you may recognise from yesterday’s book review of The Sisters’ Song. Over to you Louise…
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What is your favourite…and why…
Character from one of your books?
In The Sisters’ Song, my favourite character is Ida. She’s everything I’d love to be. She knows what’s important in life and doesn’t give a toss about the rest—she’s got her priorities right. She sees the good in people, no matter how horrible they might be acting. She laughs a lot and makes the most of whatever challenges she has to face. She also recognises beauty, and sees it especially in children and music. Although she’s intelligent and talented, she’s blind to her own attibutes. She’s humble and selfless, and is the embodiment of family devotion.
Ida and I share a few characteristics, namely a love of children and music, and we have a similar sense of humour, but I wish I was a bit more like her in other ways!
Scene from one of your books?
I have a few favourite scenes, but as I don’t want to give too much of the plot away, I’ll choose this one. It comes from when Ida is staying at Milaythina, looking after the kids while Nora’s in hospital. Len, Ida’s husband, has come out to visit for the weekend and they took the children fishing. This scene comes from just after they’ve gone to bed that night:
‘That night, I lay on the couch and Len lay in the camp stretcher alongside. I rolled towards him in the dark.
“That’s exactly what we would’ve done if our boys had lived,” I said.
I rolled back. A moment later, I felt his hand fumbling for mine. I took it and slid out from under the blankets and lay alongside him in the camp stretcher. By the tender glow of the dying embers, I showed him how much I loved him.’
I like this scene because it shows the depth of Ida’s and Len’s love. Len really is Ida’s rock, although she sometimes takes him for granted. He supported her through her grief, letting her go to Nora’s when she needed to, and, for the most part, has set his own needs aside and let hers take priority.
In this scene, Ida acknowledges Len’s loss, too, and she’s letting him know he’s a good man. I also like that it’s a a sex scene—well, the closest I came to writing one!
Movie of all time?
That’s easy: ‘The Sound of Music’. I love everything about that movie—the storyline, the nuns, but especially the music and the young Julie Andrews. Our dogs are named after it, Liesel and Gretel.
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Book that you always keep a copy of and recommend to others?
Gosh, that’s hard as I have a few books I evangelise about, but I’ll choose The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro. It’s not only a story about the English aristocracy during the war and the post-war changes in English society, but it also tells the very human story about a man so loyal and obedient that he’s unable to show his feelings. As a reader, that’s the story that moved me the most. I believe it’s as close to the perfect novel as it’s possible to get. As much as I would have liked a different ending, there was no other way this story could end.
Fashion accessory that despite having plenty of, you still keep collecting?
I’ll have to think hard to answer this question as I don’t believe I have too many of anything—in fact, I could do with a few more of most things! Perhaps I have a little pyjama obsession, though. I don’t know how many pairs I have, but I can’t walk past a Peter Alexander shop without purchasing something else.
Drink that you enjoy everyday?
Tea—I think I generate even more profits for T2 than I do for Peter Alexander. I’m into berry-flavoured teas at the moment, and I’m not often in the attic without my favourite cup—it’s a Christmas mug, but I like it because it’s large!
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Treat you indulge in?
Ice cream. I have no self-control when it comes to ice cream, so I can’t keep it in the house. It’s a Friday night treat only, and there’s usually only a small amount left on Saturdays.
Place to be?
Definitely a beach. I love mountains and forests, too, but given the choice, it’s always an ocean, sand and warm, sunny weather.
Person you admire?
Michelle Obama because she’s intelligent, wise and kind. She’s the perfect role model for women everywhere.
Season of the year?
In keeping with the answer to #8, my favourite season is Summer, even though my skin, being pale and freckly, is really built for Winter.
More About Louise:
Louise’s first novel, ‘The Sisters’ Song’, is out now with Allen and Unwin. The manuscript has previously been shortlisted for the 2014 City of Fremantle—TAG Hungerford Award and awarded a Varuna Residential Fellowship.
Louise grew up in Tasmania, Australia, but now lives in Perth, Western Australia. Her first career was as a doctor, but in 2010 she ceased practising medicine and took up writing. She has had several short stories, essays and articles published in literary anthologies and medical journals.
Apart from writing, Louise also enjoys music, photography, walking and nature.
You can get in touch with Louise in the following places:
About The Sisters’ Song:
Set in rural Tasmania from the 1920s to the 1990s, The Sisters’ Song traces the lives of two very different sisters. One for whom giving and loving are her most natural qualities and the other who cannot forgive and forget.
As children, Ida loves looking after her younger sister, Nora, but when their beloved father dies in 1926, everything changes. The two girls move in with their grandmother who is particularly encouraging of Nora’s musical talent. Nora eventually follows her dream of a brilliant musical career, while Ida takes a job as a nanny and their lives become quite separate.
The two sisters are reunited as Nora’s life takes an unwelcome direction and she finds herself, embittered and resentful, isolated in the Tasmanian bush with a husband and children.
Ida longs passionately for a family and when she marries Len, a reliable and good man, she hopes to soon become a mother. Over time, it becomes clear that this is never likely to happen. In Ida’s eyes, it seems that Nora possesses everything in life that could possibly matter yet she values none of it.
Over a span of seventy years, the strengths and flaws of motherhood are revealed through the mercurial relationship of these two very different sisters. ‘The Sisters’ Song’ speaks of dreams, children and family, all entwined with a musical thread that binds them together.
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January 1, 2018
New Release Book Review: The Sisters’ Song by Louise Allan
About:
As children, Ida loves looking after her younger sister, Nora, but when their beloved father dies in 1927, everything changes. The two girls move in with their grandmother who is particularly encouraging of Nora’s musical talent. In Nora, she sees herself, the artist she was never allowed to be. As Nora follows her dream of a brilliant musical career, Ida takes a job as a nanny and their lives become quite separate.
The two sisters are reunited as Nora’s life takes an unwelcome direction and she finds herself isolated in the Tasmanian bush saddled with a husband and children. Embittered and resentful about her lost chances, Nora welcomes Ida’s help with her chaotic household. When Ida marries Len, a reliable and good man, she hopes her dreams of a family of her own will be fulfilled. Unfortunately it becomes clear that this is never likely to happen. In Ida’s eyes, Nora possesses everything in life that could possibly matter yet she values none of it.
Set in rural Tasmania over a span of seventy years, the strengths and flaws of motherhood are revealed through the mercurial relationship of these two very different sisters, Ida and Nora. The Sisters’ Song speaks of dreams, children and family, all entwined with a musical thread that binds them together.
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My Thoughts:
Themes of motherhood and family obligation play out against a background of musical passion and thwarted dreams in this exquisite debut novel by Western Australian author, Louise Allan. The Sisters’ Song follows the lives of two sisters from childhood through to their twilight years, both of them living lives vastly different to what they had ever hoped for.
The Sisters’ Song is a character driven narrative, told exclusively from the perspective of Ida, the elder sister. It’s testimony to the skill Louise has as a writer that this story was so perfectly balanced, despite us only ever walking in Ida’s shoes. Ida is a faithful narrator, neither demonising others nor martyring herself. Her introspection is frank and often heartbreaking and her interpretation of the motivations of others is always tempered by her inclination to give those she loves the benefit of the doubt. In short, Ida is a beautiful character. I thoroughly enjoyed experiencing the story from her perspective. Set against Nora, it’s easy to recognise Ida from the outset as the more deserving sister.
Motherhood is the sun that everything else orbits around in this novel:
“It was dawning on me that not all women were built for childrearing, even if they’d been built for childbearing.”
The irony of a woman who desperately wants children but can’t have them, yet has to watch someone who doesn’t want them have them one after the other, is not a new concept to explore. Yet Louise does so with finesse in The Sisters’ Song. It’s safe to say without spoiling the novel that Nora is an abominable mother, even worse than her own was. Her actions at times were shockingly senseless and she dragged herself through life bitterly resenting her lost opportunities and openly blaming her husband and children for her own poor judgement. There are serious repercussions from Nora’s behaviour, on more than one occasion, but she remains a woman entirely self absorbed with little empathy and scant redemption. I felt this added a layer of authenticity to the story that might have otherwise been challenged if Nora had been less despicable. Sometimes, in life, there are people who are born with a selfish nature; they live out their lives in a selfish manner and die without redemption. Louise has done a stellar job at articulating this. There are indeed reasons that explain Nora’s initial inclinations, but they don’t excuse her behaviour nor warrant the ongoing extent of her destruction.
With Ida, Louise has created the perfect offset to Nora. By no means perfect, Ida is a woman who acts at all times with dignity and honour. She is fiercely loyal, even when that loyalty is not deserved, nor reciprocated. But we see, as the story progresses, just how appreciated Ida is by those who love her and I adored this aspect of the story. Through Ida, Louise shows how consistent kindness and everlasting love can outweigh the biological attachments a child has with its mother. You don’t need to give birth to a child in order to mother them, to be their safe harbour. Novels that explore ideas of motherhood can be tricky little minefields but if crafted well, they can do much to dispel the myth that all women are natural mothers. The Sisters’ Song demonstrates that oftentimes women can be propelled into motherhood against their wishes and instead of falling into the role naturally, they instead have to fight against their instincts to run away. For those women who do have a natural inclination towards being a mother, accepting that all women don’t feel the same way as them is often times too much of a challenge, so a barrier forms, another way that women end up dividing and pitting themselves against each other instead of universally accepting and supporting each other as a community. Mothers can be judgmental creatures, experts within their own right, casting aspersions on women who don’t have children as well as on those who do but don’t necessarily do it well. And what of the mother who has lost her children? Where does she fall into all of this? With two sisters, Louise has explored all of these themes and more, weaving it all through the story in a way that will have you contemplating more than just the two sisters at hand.
Both the setting and the era were richly recreated within the novel. A myriad of little details that gave you a solid sense of time and place. Louise has a sophisticated edge to her narrative that makes for a truly pleasurable reading experience:
“The rain ebbed away and there was no sound except for the crackle of the fire and the gurgle of the stormwater running down the pipes. Then the birdsong came, and the night was wrapped in light, and it was gone.”
Not overly lyrical throughout, but enough to give you a greater appreciation of the story. The supporting characters were all well established and unique. I particularly liked both of the husbands, Len and Alf, two solidly reliable men. They both acted with honour throughout their married lives, and while my heart broke at what Alf endured married to Nora, he still kept on, a devoted husband despite living in a permanent state of bewilderment. Len was a particularly understanding man. His unwavering love for Ida was never more demonstrated than in his acceptance of her insistence that she look after her mother and her sister’s family. I think it’s fair to consider music as a character within this novel. Indeed, it was a physical presence in both Nora’s and her grandmother’s life and in Ida’s by association. Music was something Ida resented though; as a child, her lack of aptitude and talent giving her reason to turn away from the pleasure of even listening. I loved watching Ida reconnect with music on her own terms and then later, witnessing her connection to Nora through music, despite not being able to create it herself.
There is just so much I could continue to say about The Sisters’ Song. It’s an exquisitely moving novel. When I wasn’t weeping, I was busy trying not to weep. But I don’t want to imply that it’s a sad story; on the contrary, there are moments of joy and celebration throughout. It’s deeply poignant though, and gives the reader much opportunity for reflection, which in turn leads to highly emotional encounters. What an achievement for a debut author. Congratulations must be extended to Louise Allan because she’s excelled at crafting a finely tuned and highly engaging novel that captures a slice of our Australian history to perfection.
Thanks is extended to Allen and Unwin for providing me with a copy of The Sisters’ Song for review.
About Louise:
Louise Allan is a debut author from Western Australia. This manuscript was awarded a Varuna residential fellowship in 2014 and shortlisted for the City of Fremantle-TAG Hungerford Award. Louise grew up in Tasmania but has since moved to Perth where she lives with her husband, four children and two dogs. She is a former doctor and has a passion for music.
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December 31, 2017
New Release Book Review: The Secret Vineyard by Loretta Hill
About:
A sparkling romantic comedy about trust after betrayal, hope after regret, and falling in love after vowing never ever to do it again . . .
Single mum Grace has no plans – and no spare time – to fall in love again. Until she moves to her ex-husband’s secret vineyard . . .
Grace Middleton knew that her ex-husband Jake was a lying, cheating, wife-abandoning bastard.
What she didn’t know – until his untimely death – was that he was also the owner of a secret vineyard in the heart of the Margaret River wine region. And, much to the chagrin of his new wife, he’s left the property to Grace’s three young sons.
With the intention of putting it up for sale, Grace takes the boys to view Gum Leaf Grove. And immediately finds herself embroiled in mysteries from Jake’s past and the accidental target of the resident ‘ghost’.
Nowadays Grace believes in love even less than she believes in ghosts. So no one is more surprised than her when she finds herself caught between two very different men – with secrets of their own . . .
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My Thoughts:
This novel, The Secret Vineyard, would have to be one of the most delightful reads I’ve had in a long time. For me, everything worked. I both laughed out loud and had the occasional tear; I couldn’t wait to get back to it each time I had to put it down.
Grace is a highly relatable character. A single mum with three boys, dumped by her shallow husband for her *best* friend, working as much as she can while trying to balance mothering; I liked Grace right from the get-go. An unexpected windfall comes her way via her ex-husband’s will, and this is where the novel sets in for its duration. Grace heads to the ‘secret vineyard’ her boys have inherited in order to check it out before selling. What ensues is a delightful adventure in a dilapidated/haunted house that ends in some surprising results.
Along the way she meets some great people, some not so great people, solves a family mystery, falls in love, resolves some unfinished family business, and sets herself and her boys up for a new future. This novel is popping with the type of laughs you can expect from a house with three boys tumbling around it. There were several instances where I had to pause in my reading because I was laughing so hard. A bit of background on this snippet (which had me in stitches): Ryan, Alfie and Charlie are Grace’s children while Scott and Mitch are the two men who have popped up in her life.
“He pays rent with labour. It’s strictly a business arrangement. We don’t really get much into each other’s space…at all.”
“Except that one time,” says Ryan, just when I think the kids are too absorbed in their donuts to be listening. “When you saw him naked.”……
…… “She screamed ‘cause she saw his penis,” Alfie tells Scott, as if he didn’t have enough information already.
“It’s a big, big one,” Charlie reveals, stretching his arms wide to demonstrate, which would be more accurate for a whale.
“He might be exaggerating…slightly,” Mitch murmurs, a mischievous smile twisting the corners of his mouth, though he doesn’t look up from preparation of the coffee.
A tidal wave of mortification rolls through me. What must Scott be thinking right now? This is a disaster!
“Guys,” I hiss. “That’s enough!”
The hilarity continues throughout the novel but has such authenticity; I have two boys myself and a daughter so suffice to say, I could see it all panning out exactly as it did on the page.
While some might find Grace’s ignorance about a certain situation a tad unbelievable, for me, it was incredibly relatable. I almost never know who is who in the celebrity world and could literally run into someone famous and have no idea. My time, like Grace’s, is limited, and when I do have some of it free, I don’t spend it reading tabloids or catching up on celebrity gossip. I found this part of the storyline quaint and touching, and entirely romantic, and could see clearly why Mitch had set himself up so incognito, even if it did mean he was digging a hole for himself that would be impossible to get out of unscathed.
At the heart of The Secret Vineyard is a clear and solid message about love, forgiveness, trust, and family, although in terms of family, it’s all about who you choose to surround yourself with rather than family for family’s sake, and I loved this. The Secret Vineyard has been squashed into a space on my all time favourites shelf and I will definitely be buying more copies in the future as gifts. It’s a delightful read, romantic and funny with a touch of whimsy and a dash of mystery.
Thanks is extended to Penguin Random House Australia for providing me with a copy of The Secret Vineyard for review.
The Author:
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For her bestselling novels The Girl in Steel-Capped Boots, The Girl in the Hard Hat and The Girl in the Yellow Vest, Loretta Hill drew upon her own outback engineering experiences of larrikins, red dust and steel-capped boots. She is also the author of The Maxwell Sisters and The Grass is Greener, and the ebook novellas Operation Valentine and One Little White Lie, which was a no.1 bestseller on iTunes.
Loretta always wanted to be a writer. As a kid she filled pages of exercise books with stories to amuse her friends. Her father, who never wasted his time on fiction, didn’t see much worth in this pass time and pushed her to pursue a ‘sensible’ career. Fortunately, she had inherited some of his talent for numbers and decided to give it a go. She graduated from the University of Western Australia as structural engineer and took her first job with a major West Australian engineering company.
A few years later she met a lawyer at a Black Friday party hosted by a friend. She was dressed as the devil and he just came as himself. They are now happily married and living in Perth with their four children.
Despite her career in engineering, her interest in law and her journey into motherhood, Loretta continued to write. Not because she had a lot of time but because it was and always had been an addiction she couldn’t ignore.
