Theresa Smith's Blog, page 17
March 30, 2024
Book Review: Body Friend by Katherine Brabon
A woman leaves the hospital after an operation and starts swimming in a pool in Melbourne’s inner suburbs. There she meets Frida, who is uncannily like her in her experience of illness. Soon after, she meets another woman in a local park, Sylvia, who sees her pain and encourages her to rest.
The two new friends seem to be polar opposites: Frida adores the pool and the natural world, Sylvia clings to the protection of interior worlds. What begins as two seemingly simple friendships is challenged by what each woman asks of her, of themselves, and their bodies.
From the acclaimed author of The Memory Artist and The Shut Ins comes a new novel about the relationship between body and self, and how we must dive beneath the surface to really know ourselves.
Longlisted for The Stella Prize
Released September 2023
My Thoughts:I decided to listen to Body Friend right after it was longlisted for The Stella Prize. I had already read a few of the other longlisted titles and this one had appealed to me for some time anyway. It’s not a long book and made for a quick listen, all the more on account of how absorbing the story ended up being for me. The narration for the audio book was also spot on in the tone and mood of the novel, if that makes sense. I suppose what I mean here is that the narrator sounded like what I felt the main character would sound like, so listening to her was akin to listening to the main character. Not all audio books get that right.
Body Friend is a gentle yet impactful examination of living with chronic illness and chronic pain when you are young. The three women within this story are all in their twenties and suffer a debilitating illness that leaves them with pain and limited mobility. They are having joint replacements in their twenties, rehabilitating with elderly people. So, when they meet each other, there is a connection forged on familiarity and shared pain. I could relate to this. I have suffered chronic pain since my late thirties, going on ten years now, and it’s hard to keep up with your more active friends. It’s hard sometimes to even keep up with your non-active ones. It impacts your social life, your work life, your home life – I could relate so much to the introspective examinations of the main character within this story. I could also understand the appeal of forming friendships with other women who were going through something similar.
This novel does several things well. The analysis of living with pain, and the impact this has, but not just this. It also looks very closely at the nature of female friendship and how at times, we meet people and become close because of a common stage or, as in this case, a common suffering. But like a shooting star, these friendships can also burn out quickly. While each woman offered our main character a perspective – Frida pushed for activity, while Sylvia pushed for rest – there was no balance. One was black, one was white, and neither allowed for shades of grey. I liked how the author explored how this was not entirely healthy, not for those women, not for our main character, and not for their friendships.
I really enjoyed this novel and feel that it’s a worthy contender for the upcoming Stella Shortlist. Here’s hoping.
March: Read, Listen, Watch, Repeat…
I’ve had a great month of reading, particularly considering that March is a busy month in our household – all three of my offspring have their birthdays in March, within a fortnight of each other. And even though they are now all adults – youngest son turned 18 – there are still cakes and presents, and in the case of my daughter who no longer lives at home, parcels to post. And also, Easter into the bargain this time around. Busy times indeed.
So, reading. I read three review titles and two from my own tbr. All were high quality reads.
The Heaven and Earth Grocery Store: This was for March book club. I thoroughly enjoyed this one and ended up rating it 5 stars.
Pineapple Street: From the tbr and picked up as a recommendation from Tess Woods via Instagram. She and I have a lot in common when it comes to reading. I loved this one, it really was terrific. Another 5 star rating.
The Mystery Writer: The latest release by Sulari Gentill in her series of standalone meta-fiction mystery titles. Unique, with twist after twist, I zoomed through this one with satisfaction. 4 stars. Thanks to Ultimo Press for the review copy.
My Brilliant Sister: This one was a review book, but it also adds to my #AYearofNZLit. This was really well done, both in writing and structure. It also properly fits in with the motivation for reading NZ titles as it deep dived into being a New Zealander living in Australia and also a New Zealander travelling the world and seeking that connection to home upon return to New Zealand. I haven’t written up my review yet, but there are plenty of thoughts swirling around within my mind from this novel. 4 stars. Thanks to Scribner (Simon & Schuster Australia) for the review copy.
The Silence Factory: This was brilliant. Bridget Collins wrote The Binding a few years ago, which I thought was fantastic. Her second novel, The Betrayals, I enjoyed less, but she writes so magnificently, that I didn’t let this deter me from her. The Silence Factory gave me the same spine-tingling vibe that I got from The Binding. I could barely put this one down and it did not fail to continue to surprise me, over and over. It comes with a warning though: if you’re afraid of spiders, this will be an uncomfortable read. For me, it was a 5 star one. Thanks to HarperCollins Australia for the early review copy.
Listen:
A big month of listening. I was not only listening in the car this month, but also while I was cooking and in the evenings in bed as I was getting ready to fall asleep.
The Drowning: Bryan Brown narrating his own crime novel. Hold my beer. Seriously, this was such an enjoyable listening experience. It’s not that it was a particularly unique or groundbreaking story, it was more in the way it was written – fast paced, engaging, both character and plot driven – and the way it was narrated. Of course, Bryan Brown has a very distinct edge here, as a veteran actor. But his familiar, laconic, deeply Australian voice, reading a novel he had written himself, was gold dust. I’ll be listening to his other novel soon, for sure. I rated this one 4 stars.
Judi Dench – Shakespeare: I haven’t stopped raving about this one to anyone who will listen and also to those who probably don’t care. But this was fabulous. You do need to like Shakespeare to enjoy this. 5 stars for this one. I feel like the audio book would be superior to the print version in this case. It was narrated as a conversation and in fact, the audio version also includes an exclusive 45-minute extra conversation between Judi Dench and the author. Very special indeed.
The Whispering: This was utter garbage. I’m not even bothering to review it. I gave it 2 stars, but honestly, that’s being generous. Apparently, it won the Banjo Prize for an unpublished manuscript a few years ago. It should have stayed unpublished.
Body Friend: Long listed for the Stella Prize, this was very good. Not overly long, which I like, and well narrated. I have yet to write my review on this one, but it was thought provoking and compelling. 4 stars.
The Death of John Lacey: Ben Hobson is a seriously good writer. This one is grim, colonial Australia at its *finest*. Listening to it was like watching a gritty Western that was both compelling and horrifying in equal measure. 4 stars.
Watch:
Less watching this month. But that’s not such a bad thing as it led to more reading, which is first and foremost my one true love when it comes to entertainment.
Life After Life: This BBC series based upon the novel by Kate Atkinson was very well done. The cast was incredible. It was not a light, nor particularly easy watch. At times, it was even distressing. We paced ourselves with it, but it was definitely worth watching. A shout out to M for sticking with this one, it’s not his usual thing, and he was sort of tricked into watching it.
Mary and George: I don’t really know what to make of this. I’ve watched four out of the seven episodes that make up the series and honestly, there doesn’t seem to be much to the plot other than sex and lies. It’s a bit boring, to be honest, and I’m not sure yet if I’m even going to bother finishing it.
Poor Things: Well, this was different. Emma Stone just recently won an Oscar for the role. There were a couple of other Oscars handed out for it as well, but I have to say, this was a very long film that probably could have had at least 47 less sex scenes than it did and a whole lot of other rot edited out. I said to M when it finished that I almost wanted to watch it again just so I could count the number of sex scenes – it was absurd. And they went for so long. It was too much. An interesting concept, certainly witty right the way through, and the costumes were divine, the sets incredibly vibrant and clever. I don’t understand why this particular film maker persists in using the fisheye lens, it doesn’t add any value to the film, it’s just annoying. I didn’t like it in The Favourite and I didn’t like it in this film.
Apples Never Fall: The latest novel by Liane Moriarty to be adapted for the small screen and Americanised in the process. It was a good watch and surprisingly, they retained some Australian aspects and had some Australian actors in it as well. I haven’t actually read this book of hers, one of the few that I haven’t, so it was all just as much a surprise for me, as it was for M. I am keen now to read the book. It should come as no surprise to any of you to hear that I have it on my tbr.
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And that’s a wrap for March. Until next month, good reading. And I hope you all have a Happy Easter long weekend!
March 26, 2024
Book Review: The Glass House by Anne Buist and Graeme Simsion
Psychiatry registrar Doctor Hannah Wright, a country girl with a chaotic history, thought she had seen it all in the emergency room. But that was nothing compared to the psychiatric ward at Menzies Hospital.
Hannah must learn on the job in a strained medical system, as she and her fellow trainees deal with the common and the bizarre, the hilarious and the tragic, the treatable and the confronting. Every day brings new patients: Chloe, who has a life-threatening eating disorder; Sian, suffering postpartum psychosis and fighting to keep her baby; and Xavier, the MP whose suicide attempt has an explosive story behind it. All the while, Hannah is trying to figure out herself.
With intelligence, frankness and humour, eminent psychiatrist Anne Buist tells it like it is, while co-writer Graeme Simsion brings the light touch that made The Rosie Project an international bestseller and a respected contribution to the autism conversation.
Published by Hachette Australia
Released 27 March 2024
My Thoughts:“The Glass House was inspired by the courage of patients and the dedication of mental health workers who deal with issues which are often poorly understood, inadequately resourced, and for which there are few complete solutions. We hope this book will contribute to a better recognition of the challenges they face.”
– Author Note
If the above was the intent of this novel, then the authors got it right. The Glass House is not for the feint hearted, but for those who reach for it, you will not be sorry. It’s primarily about the mental health crisis in Australia but focuses on the psychiatrists and psychologists who are literally on the frontlines in our hospitals assessing and treating, attempting to help, surviving themselves in a field that is overrun by patients and under resourced universally.
As someone who has navigated the mental health system with a family member, as well as having a daughter who is studying towards a career in psychology, I found this novel fascinating, thought provoking, and deeply affecting. Anne Buist and Graeme Simsion have written a truly excellent novel that many will find both compelling and deeply contemplative. Highly recommended.
Thanks to the publisher for the review copy.
March 16, 2024
Recommended Reads
The last two books that I’ve read have both been five star reads, absolutely brilliant. I’m a bit behind in reviews and suffering a bit of brain fog lately but I still wanted to recommend them to you all, even if it wasn’t via a full review. Both of these are ones I’ve purchased and read on my Kobo, not sent to me for review by the publishers and both are American titles.
Pineapple Street by Jenny Jackson
Meet the Stockton women of Brooklyn Heights: Darley, who was born with money; Sasha, who married into it; and Georgiana, who wants to give it all away.
Among glittering parties, weekend homes and hungover brunches, the three will have to grapple with the burden of parental expectations, the hardships and bewilderment of growing up, and the miles between the haves and have-nots.
Pineapple Street is a witty and wicked novel about New York’s one percenters: their first loves, family feuds and the complexities of being human – even when you have everything.
This was such an enjoyable read, witty, complex, and smart. I liked each of the Stockton women, even when they weren’t behaving at their best. There’s a lot more to this book than rich women agonising over how much money they have. It’s an honest look at the changing tide of what it means to have, to not have, and to want a make a difference in your life. It’s also a wonderful deep dive into family, the one you’re born into, and the one you marry into. Highly recommended.
The Heaven and Earth Grocery Store by James McBride
In 1972, when workers in Pottstown, Pennsylvania, were digging the foundations for a new development, the last thing they expected to find was a skeleton at the bottom of a well. Who the skeleton was and how it got there were two of the long-held secrets kept by the residents of Chicken Hill, the dilapidated neighborhood where immigrant Jews and African Americans lived side by side and shared ambitions and sorrows. Chicken Hill was where Moshe and Chona Ludlow lived when Moshe integrated his theater and where Chona ran the Heaven & Earth Grocery Store. When the state came looking for a deaf boy to institutionalize him, it was Chona and Nate Timblin, the Black janitor at Moshe’s theatre and the unofficial leader of the Black community on Chicken Hill, who worked together to keep the boy safe.
As these characters’ stories overlap and deepen, it becomes clear how much the people who live on the margins of white, Christian America struggle and what they must do to survive. When the truth is finally revealed about what happened on Chicken Hill and the part the town’s white establishment played in it, McBride shows us that even in dark times, it is love and community—heaven and earth—that sustain us.
This one started off a bit chaotic in terms of the number of characters that were being introduced and what their connections to each other and the greater story actually were. I am so glad I persevered with this one though because it turned to be utterly wonderful in so many ways. The connections, once they all started linking up, were brilliant. The characters memorable and moments throughout, over and over, so full of deep meaning. I read this one for my book club, we meet up later this week, and I am keen to find out what everyone else thought of it. This is exactly the type of fiction I love reading the most. The epilogue left me weeping with joy. Highly recommended.
March 11, 2024
Book Review: Shakespeare – The Man Who Pays the Rent by Dame Judi Dench and Brendan O’Hea
Britain’s greatest Shakespearean actor reveals her secrets in a series of intimate conversations.
Taking a curtain call with a live snake in her wig; cavorting naked through the countryside painted green; acting opposite a child with a pumpkin on his head… these are just a few things Dame Judi Dench has done in the name of Shakespeare.
In this book, Judi opens up about every Shakespearean role she has played throughout her seven-decade career. In a series of conversations with actor/director Brendan O’Hea, she guides us through Shakespeare’s plays with incisive clarity, revealing the secrets behind her rehearsal process and vignettes of her creative partnerships, all told with her mischievous sense of humour and a peppering of hilarious anecdotes.
Published by Penguin Books Australia
Released November 2023
My Thoughts:This was incredible. I listened to it as an audio book, and I feel like audio is the way you want to go with reading this one. It is, in itself, a production and I loved listening to every minute of it. It begins with an introduction featuring Judi Dench and an explanation by Brendan O’Hea on why Judi is not narrating her part throughout the entire book. She is in fact vision impaired now, and while the book has been written from more than 100 hours of audio conversation between Brendan and Judi, the book itself is heavily edited from those recordings and then narrated as is usual for an audio book. We do hear from Judi though, not just in the introduction, but there are also quotes from her, taken from the recording and inserted at the appropriate chapters, along with a 40 minute bonus at the end of the book, which is a recording of a conversation between Brendan and Judi after the book has been written, which was done especially for the audio book. So, despite someone else narrating Judi’s parts for the entire audio book, it still feels like an intimate conversation between Judi and Brendan. It is so very lovely and extremely entertaining.
Do you need to like Shakespeare to enjoy this book? Well, yes. There’s very little in it for those who don’t like Shakespeare. The chapters are all based on each performance that Judi has done throughout her career, with smaller chapters in between on things like audience, critics, the future of Shakespeare, etc. You can listen in order or jump around to your favourite Shakespeare plays – the book is very flexible like that. As well as providing anecdotes about her performances within each plays, she also decodes each play for listeners, expands on the themes and digs deep into the messages. This book would make for a fantastic resource for those teaching Shakespeare.
My takeaway thoughts from this book:
Shakespeare as a language – more than 700 words and sayings can be attributed to Shakespeare, common sayings that so many of us use and everyday words like ‘bedroom’. To fully appreciate Shakespeare, the plays must be watched as a production, not read as a book.His work is universal, no other writer has written so extensively of every emotion in every situation in a way that can be accessed by all ages across the ages around the world.Judi’s passion for Shakespeare comes through over and over and I felt such a wonderful sense of connection listening to this book, my appreciation for my favourite plays reinforced, my desire to seek out the ones I haven’t ever experienced ignited. Shakespeare, The Man Who Pays the Rent, is a brilliant, immersive, enjoyable read that all lovers of Shakespeare will delight in. What a gift this book is.
March 7, 2024
Book Review: Tidelines by Sarah Sasson
It’s Sydney in the early 2000s, and Grub is spending the summer with her universally adored older brother, Elijah, and his magnetic but troubled best friend, Zed. Their days are filled with surfing, swimming and hanging out; life couldn’t be better.
But years later, Elijah disappears and Grub’s family unravels. At first, Grub blames Zed: he was the one who derailed Elijah from a bright future in the arts. But as Grub looks back at those dreamy summer days, the sanctuary of her certainty crumbles. Was Zed really responsible for her brother’s disappearance? Was anyone?
Tidelines is a tender coming-of-age novel about growing up in the face of unimaginable loss. It examines the stories we subconsciously write for ourselves, and what remains later, when we have the courage to tear them apart.
Released 30 January 2024
My Thoughts:This was quite an emotional read, but such an insightful and deeply meaningful one as well. I found it quite unsettling in parts as it gave me pause to examine the lives of my own now adult children, one in particular who was like Elijah in more ways than one. Given what transpires within this novel, needless to say, it left me once again somewhat fearful, a stage I move in and out of with regularity regarding this particular child of mine. I’m being a little vague, because it’s personal and also to do with someone else, but I’m bringing it up in this vague way because sometimes that’s what a book does to you – it grabs a hold of you in ways that are deeply personal, which is what happened with here with Tidelines.
In terms of literary merit though, this is an excellent debut novel. The narrative is crisp and goodness, there are some absolutely gorgeous lines and passages. The pace is swift, but not too much so, and the character development was precise. I found it an immersive and compulsive read, but one also that I took my time over, as the writing begged rereading in some sections, it was just that pointed and meaningful.
The sense of place within each setting was strong, you really felt where each character was in the story, and not just in each location, but also within a building or even just a room. There’s this really emotional scene where Grub is walking through her childhood home after it’s been remodelled for sale and she hears some contractors talking about these divots in the floorboards that even the sanding and polishing didn’t take out. These were from the stand from her brother’s cello, made through the carpet over the years and years of him practising. And of course, that evokes so many memories for her, those little divots in the floor. As a person who is very attached to place, I could feel this so keenly, and it left me weeping.
Tidelines is a sensational debut that I recommend widely. Gold star Australian fiction.
Thanks to the publisher for the review copy.
March 5, 2024
Book Review: The Drowning by Bryan Brown
The body of a local teenage boy is found on the beach of a sleepy northern New South Wales town. David went for an evening swim and got into trouble . . . at least, that’s what it looks like.
Three weeks before, Leila, a young backpacker, didn’t turn up for her shift at the local cafe. Benny, the owner, isn’t worried. It happens – backpackers are always on the move. There’ll be another one.
One of the locals, Adrian, has been a help to Benny. He’s found him a nice little sideline. Not exactly legal. Is that all Adrian is arranging on the coast? He once was a cop but has he gone bad?
And in the backblocks outside town, a bikie gang is gearing up for a large consignment from South America.
Murder, drugs, liaisons and lies are stirring up this small coastal town.
With Bryan Brown’s characteristic laconic storytelling – humorous, tough and suspenseful – the secrets of this seemingly idyllic town slowly come to the surface.
Released October 2023
My Thoughts:I started listening to this over breakfast on Sunday morning, with the intention of just getting it started and having it as my audio book for the daily commute to and from work, but I ended up finishing it by the end of the day. Narrated by Bryan Brown himself, I found it impossible to step away from. He knows not only how to write a good story, but how to narrate one too. His distinctive Australian voice, so familiar to us all from his extensive acting, brought the story to life, so much so, I could see it all playing out in my imagination.
There’s quite a lot going on in this story and quite a lot of different characters. It also moves back and forth often as well as giving us the backstories on pretty much everyone – major and minor players. I’m not sure if I would have enjoyed reading it as much as I did listening to it. Bryan’s narration is quite captivating, and his delivery of all aspects of the story engaging. There was the potential for the narrative to get bogged down with so many characters and the storyline jumping around as it did, but surprisingly, I didn’t find myself losing track at all, and I put that down to the narration.
It’s crime stories like this that make you fear for young women travelling. A backpacker going missing, how long until someone even notices? And when their family does, what can they even do from another country? While the plot was not especially unique or unheard of, it was still gripping, realistic, and made for compulsive reading/listening. I’ll definitely be listening to Bryan Brown’s other novel, Sweet Jimmy, along with any future ones he releases as well.
March 2, 2024
Book Review: When God Was a Rabbit by Sarah Winman
Spanning four decades, from 1968 onwards, this is the story of a fabulous but flawed family and the slew of ordinary and extraordinary incidents that shape their everyday lives.
It is a story about childhood and growing up, loss of innocence, eccentricity, familial ties and friendships, love and life.
Stripped down to its bare bones, it’s about the unbreakable bond between a brother and sister.
Published by Hachette – Tinder Press
Released March 2011
My Thoughts:When God Was a Rabbit, well, from its quirky title right through to the last word, I was spellbound. I listened to this one on audio and it was fabulous, made even more so because it was read by the author herself, Sarah Winman. There’s something so wonderful about listening to a marvellous book being read by the author, all the expressions and inflections and the overall tone are always just that little bit more perfect.
The story itself is sublime. I have read quite a few reviews on Goodreads which state that this book is boring, nothing happens, it’s just about a family. It most certainly was not boring, and so much happened, and yes, it’s just about a family, but that, right there, is why it is so good. This is a book about life. About growing up in a time past, when childhoods were less monitored. It’s about the bad things that used to sometimes happen to these children. And it’s about the good things too, the weird and funny, the adults viewed through a child’s gaze, the friendships that transcend age, the unbreakable bonds that can exist within a family, the stuff that life throws at a person and how they wade through it all to the other side. It made me laugh out loud, cry, and do both at the same time.
There was so much wit and humour in this story, as well as sadness and grief. The characters are larger than life, something Sarah Winman is known for. I just love a story about an eccentric English family and this one even moved to Cornwall and opened up a B&B, absorbing into their family several eccentric guests that never ended up leaving, so what could be more perfect than that.
Book Review: Tom Lake by Ann Patchett
This is a story about Peter Duke who went on to be a famous actor.
This is a story about falling in love with Peter Duke who wasn’t famous at all.
It’s about falling so wildly in love with him – the way one will at twenty-four – that it felt like jumping off a roof at midnight.
There was no way to foresee the mess it would come to in the end.
It’s spring and Lara’s three grown daughters have returned to the family orchard. While picking cherries, they beg their mother to tell them the one story they’ve always longed to hear – of the film star with whom she shared a stage, and a romance, years before.
Tom Lake is a meditation on youthful love, married love, and the lives parents lead before their children are born. Both hopeful and elegiac, it explores what it means to be happy even when the world is falling apart.
Released August 2023
My Thoughts:I don’t think Ann Patchett could write a bad book. She just has this unique ability to imbue everything, even the mundane, even simple conversations, with that little bit extra. She is intensely readable. And this latest novel of hers, is exactly that. A delight, and so very readable.
What the book description doesn’t disclose, is that this novel is set during the covid pandemic, specifically, the lock down. The grown daughters are at home, because there is nowhere else they can be. The family are spending each day working the cherry trees because the seasonal workers aren’t able to come. And whilst working away, Lara tells the girls the story of her summer at Tom Lake. The girls have heard this story before, at least, part of it in different telling’s, but this seems to be the first time Lara tells them the whole story – or at least, they think she’s telling them the whole story. We, as readers, get the whole story, but the girl’s still get an edited version. Because after all, daughters don’t need to know everything about their mothers – right?
I did spend quite a bit of time wondering why the girls were so obsessed with this story, but we do find out later on in the novel what’s prompted them to prod their mother about her former boyfriend. I’d say that the only thing that tipped my hand to give this novel four stars instead of five is the fact that the novel is essentially, all the parts about motherhood, family, love and ambition aside, about the American play, Our Town. Which I’ve never heard of. I’m pretty sure if you knew all about Our Town, this novel would make more sense and be a whole lot more engaging in the theatre sections. I did find some of the theatre scenes, particularly the ones that went on about the characters and scenes within the play, a bit saggy in terms of holding my attention. But I did love the rest, the telling of the story in real time, the emotion throughout all of it, Lara’s own story from small town girl to actress back to small town girl. She was a great protaganist.
This novel is pretty much a delight right the way through with the occasional heavy parts, deeply emotional in some sections, and infused with familial love. It was a wonderful read, quite uplifting, which is saying something for a novel set during the covid pandemic. But that’s Ann Patchett for you. She really is in a class of her own.
February 28, 2024
February: Read, Listen, Watch, Repeat…
High quality reading this month, with only one exception (Juja). The rest were excellent, with Lioness adding to my #AYearofNZLit. So far, I’ve read an NZ book each month for this focus, so I feel I’m on track for making my way through my planned reading list with a few extra additions. Tidelines and Juja were review books sent to me by publishers, while Tom Lake, Lioness, and Everyone and Everything were from the tbr, all read on my Kobo.
Listen:
Back to listening while driving to and from work and also in the evenings sometimes while cooking dinner, so my audio book total was up this month. It was a mixed bag; I didn’t much like Seven Sisters, found The Hummingbird Effect confusing, The Other Bridget was okay but incredibly long for a romcom. However, When God Was a Rabbit…just sublime, and also read by the author, Sarah Winman, which is just an added layer of perfection. But more on that later when I review it.
Watch:
A lot of viewing this month. Movie wise, M and I went to see One Love in the cinema, it was fabulous. Love at First Sight was a Saturday afternoon Netflix watch which surprised and delighted (probably me more than M, lol). Other viewing from TV land, well, Survivor is back and that’s an auto watch for youngest son and I, something we’ve done together for the last few years. Griselda and The Responder were series M and I watched together, I’d say I liked The Responder more than Griselda, but both were different to my usual solo viewing. The Doll Factory is an adaptation of the novel of the same name which I really enjoyed a few years ago. They did a great job with the series; it was just as frightening as the book was and it came off suitably Victorian Gothic in both theme and appearance. Belgravia – The Next Chapter is quite decadent and giving me all the feels that Downton Abbey used to (same creators). And last but not least, Expats, the latest Nicole Kidman TV series. It’s not doing too well with the critics, but I personally really enjoyed it.
Zeus…
He might not approve of the washing part of grooming but the brushing part…yes please!Until next month…
