Theresa Smith's Blog, page 22
October 26, 2023
Book Review: One of Those Mothers by Megan Nicol Reed
The residents of Point Heed keep nice houses and sign up as parent help at the local school. Occasionally they cheat on their taxes. Sometimes they fantasise about having sex with someone other than their partner. And every now and then they do drugs. But that doesn’t make them bad people, does it?
When a local father is convicted of the possession and distribution of child pornography, the tight-knit, middle-class community is quick to unravel. He is granted permanent name suppression, and soon friend turns on friend, neighbour delivers up neighbour, and hysteria rapidly engulfs them all. Who among them was capable of such moral trespass?
Bridget, Roz and Lucy have been friends forever. Their lives revolve around their children, their community, each other. With their husbands and kids, they holiday together every year. Every year, until last summer, when everything went so terribly wrong.
They tell you things are never as bad as you fear, but what if they’re worse? Worse than you could have ever imagined.
Were they all complicit? Certainly, they were guilty of looking in all the wrong places.
Published by Allen & Unwin
Released March 2023
My Thoughts:One of Those Mothers is my book club read for the month and what a pick it is! An absolute page turner, I read it in a single day – which doesn’t happen too often with me. It sits within the domestic drama/noir sub-genre, alongside authors such as Liane Moriarty and Sally Hepworth, but offers a fresh voice, from New Zealand, and this set it apart for me. I enjoyed the New Zealand experience, kind of same, same, but different, if you know what I mean.
This story orbits around Bridget, her family, and her friend group. It’s a close examination of female adult friendship, the dynamics that evolve with balancing close friendship as parents with different expectations, different values, and very different children. Less concerned with the big reveal or twist, this one unfolds in pieces, a back-and-forth narrative that is headed in a direction you become vaguely certain of early on in the story. The shock comes from the attitudes expressed and the implications more than any twist of who or what.
There’s plenty of thought-provoking material in this one, making it perfect as a book club read.
October 23, 2023
Book Review: Weyward by Emilia Hart
KATE, 2019
Kate flees London – abandoning everything – for Cumbria and Weyward Cottage, inherited from her great-aunt. There, a secret lurks in the bones of the house, hidden ever since the witch-hunts of the 17th century.
VIOLET, 1942
Violet is more interested in collecting insects and climbing trees than in becoming a proper young lady. Until a chain of shocking events changes her life forever.
ALTHA, 1619
Altha is on trial for witchcraft, accused of killing a local man. Known for her uncanny connection with nature and animals, she is a threat that must be eliminated.
But Weyward women belong to the wild. And they cannot be tamed…
Weaving together the stories of three women across five centuries, Weyward is an enthralling novel of female resilience and the transformative power of the natural world.
Published by HarperCollins GB
Released February 2023
My Thoughts:As far as audio books go, this one is perfection. I had been intending on reading Weyward ever since its release, but as it happens, it was overlooked in my towering pile. Then, recently, as I started to dip into listening to audio books here and there, this one popped up at a steal of a price. I’m so glad now that I overlooked it originally as listening to it was an incredible literary experience. The narration on this one was perfection, three different voices for the three different women who were our main characters, each one injecting an element of suspense and drama into their roles with such conviction.
Weyward is a story about the ways in which women suffer at the hands of men. Three women, from the same family, each abused by men they trusted, accused of being different, of being strange and in need of discipline. Each of them in communion with nature in a way that serves them when they most are in need. Historical fiction with three timelines, three female protagonists, and a dash of the supernatural woven in through the history. This is a brutal story at times, suspenseful and fast paced. Utterly brilliant.
October 22, 2023
Book Review: The Natural History of Love by Caroline Petit
For fans of Elizabeth Gilbert’s The Signature of All Things, The Dictionary of Lost Words, The Natural History of Love is based upon the true story of 19th century French explorer, naturalist and diplomat the Count de Castelnau and his lover Madame Fonceca; a sweeping historical narrative set in the wilds of Brazil, salons of Paris and the early days of Melbourne’s settlement.
When Melbourne lawyer Nathan Smithson takes on the case of mad, wealthy Edward Fonceca’s inheritance trial against his ruthless brother in 1902, he must unearth long-buried family secrets to have any chance of winning.
Brazil, 1852: Francois, the Count de Castelnau and French Consul to Bahia falls dangerously ill on a naturalist expedition and is delivered by a Tupi Indian to the Fonceca household. Carolina Fonceca is 16 years old and longing to leave the confines of her family’s remote Brazilian sugar plantation. With a head full of Balzac and dreams of Parisian life, she is instantly beguiled by the middle-aged Frenchman. What Carolina doesn’t know is that Francois has a wife and son back in France. Desperate for a new life, she makes a decision that will haunt her forever.
Published by Affirm Press
Released April 2022
My Thoughts:I am drawn to historical fiction that features themes of natural history, so this one was a rather highly anticipated read for me. Unfortunately, it let me down in more ways than one.
Less concerned with natural history and more focused on the domestic life of Francois and Carolina, the story is told for the most part in diary entries, alternating between Francois and Carolina. This type of storytelling can be informative, inserted here and there throughout a narrative, but an entire novel like this? It rapidly became tedious. Carolina’s entries leaned towards melodramatic while Francois just came off as a pompous, middle-aged man of his era and generation. His entries veered between complaining about how others were seen as more successful than him and detailing his sexual encounters with Carolina.
I listened to the audio book version of this, and the narration of the diaries didn’t help. Francois sounded robotic, with his aging French accent, and while I had no issues with the way Carolina sounded, each time something about one of the children came up, the narrator would use the most ridiculous and exaggerated childlike voice, it was very off-putting. I found myself cringing often.
I find stories that are told through diary entries a little incredulous. That entire conversations, verbatim, are recorded with such detail, seems unlikely. The author addressed her reasons for writing the story this way within her author notes, and while I acknowledge her reasoning, I just don’t feel as though it worked well. I was far more interested in the sections that featured Nathan Smithson, the lawyer, than anything else.
For a story that was ultimately about a contested inheritance case between two brothers, there wasn’t anywhere near enough of the story focusing on them. Too much time was spent on the early years of Francois and Carolina, far too much time spent on the shenanigans between Carolina and Francois’ wife in Paris, who, once they moved away from France, we didn’t hear from again. From what I did hear of Charles, the ‘evil’ brother, he kind of had grounds to be bitter with the way Francois treated him in comparison to Edward. It’s here, in the story of the brothers, that the mode of storytelling let itself down, in my opinion. I wanted to know more about the two of them, but not from their parent’s perspectives.
Comparisions to The Signature of All Things are misleading. This story is nothing like that, not even close. I am certain if I had been reading this rather than listening, I would have abandoned it.
October 10, 2023
Book Review: A Kind of Magic by Anna Spargo-Ryan
Where do mental illness stories begin?
Anna’s always had too many feelings. Or not enough feelings – she’s never been quite sure. Debilitating panic. Extraordinary melancholy. Paranoia. Ambivalence. Fear. Despair.
From anxious child to terrified parent, mental illness has been a constant. A harsh critic in the big moments – teenage pregnancy, divorce, a dream career, falling in love – and a companion in the small ones – getting to the supermarket, feeding all her cats, remembering which child is which.
But between therapists’ rooms and emergency departments, there’s been a feeling even harder to explain … optimism.
In this sharp-eyed and illuminating memoir, award-winning writer Anna Spargo-Ryan pieces together the relationships between time, mental illness, and our brain as the keeper of our stories. Against the backdrop of her own experience, she interrogates reality, how it can be fractured, and why it’s so hard to put it back together.
Powerfully honest, tender and often funny, A Kind of Magic blends meticulous research with vivid snapshots of the stuff that breaks us, and the magic of finding ourselves again.
Published by Ultimo Press
Released October 2022
My Thoughts:I listened to this one over the course of a week, driving to and from work, and I really enjoyed it. Being a memoir, it was particularly engaging to listen to this being read by the author. It added this layer of intimacy to the entire experience, as though I was sitting down with Anna herself over a series of catchups, deep diving into her life.
This is a really honest memoir, one that doesn’t hold back, one that doesn’t apportion blame, nor make excuses, or generally gloss over things in favour of throwing a pity party for one. Anna deep dives into her own experiences of mental illness, supplanting this with research about the brain and how memory works. I liked all of the science stuff she included, memory has long fascinated me, so this was incredibly interesting to listen to.
I’m not going to lie, at times, this was a tough read. Anna’s struggles are real, and confronting, even frustrating, cyclical, persisting for decades. If you struggle with mental illness yourself, this might not be the right read for you. If you live with or have ever cared for someone with a mental illness, parts of this will be difficult to read, but also quite possibly illuminating, a double-edged sword, to hear what it might be like for the person you love who is struggling beyond comprehension. Anna’s experiences with our healthcare system will leave you in despair, and honestly wondering how people navigate it without a support person.
Sometimes I had to take a break from listening, other times I kept listening long after my drive had ended, carting my phone around with me to finish whatever chapter or section it was that had me riveted. I talked about the book, a lot, with my partner. He could probably count it as a book he’s read as well now, I went on about it so much. It’s just that kind of book. It leaves its mark on you as a reader. How brave of Anna, to put herself onto the page like that. I am filled with admiration for her.
October 7, 2023
Book Review: Winter in New York by Josie Silver
Where better to start again than New York?
Iris arrives in the city of dreams, intent on restarting her culinary career, and leaving her recent heartache behind.
Wandering the streets at a famous food festival, Iris feels like she’s living in a movie. Then she stumbles upon a gelateria that looks strangely familiar. Inside, she meets Gio: a perfect leading man with an irresistible smile – and a crisis of his own.
As fate would have it, Iris is the one person with the answer to his problem. She just can’t tell him that . . .
So, can Iris finally let go of the past – and let herself fall in love?
Published by Penguin Books UK
Released October 2023
My Thoughts:I know that I spend quite a bit of time disparaging romance novels. Ironically, I really enjoy romance movies and TV shows. There are only a couple of authors who write contemporary romance that give me the same feels as the romance movies I enjoy, as opposed to the majority that just make me cringe. These two are Paige Toon and Josie Silver, both from the UK. I’ve read each and all of the books written by these two authors.
A Winter in New York is the latest release by Josie Silver and it’s a seasonal story, so my love of Christmas is addressed as well within it. This one is all about starting over, grieving for a parent, finding yourself again after being lost in a toxic and harmful relationship, new friends, food, wine, more food, and gelato, so much gelato. And, of course, a new love. But I promise, it’s not cringey and I know I’m skating close to being hypocritical here but what can I say…Josie Silver just gives me that romance movie feeling that I only ever get from good, British movies like Love Actually. So maybe that’s why I only like British authors who write romance? Food for thought…
I’m a bit of a book snob, I know, but I just can’t resist the combination of love and food, even if it does seem in direct contradiction to my ‘I don’t like romance novels’ stance. It’s my weakness, foodie fiction where people fall in love over pasta, or, in this case, gelato. Anyway, needless to say, I recommend this one for some festive seasonal reading.
Thanks to the publisher for the review copy.
Book Review: Perfect-ish by Jessica Seaborn
A smart, funny and heartfelt anti-romcom by a bright new voice in Australian fiction.
Prue is about to turn thirty and feels like everyone else is living their best life. Her friends are posting online about their amazing relationships, exciting travel plans and newborn babies. Prue, on the other hand, has been dumped by her fiancé, she’s dropped out of uni, and her job counselling lonely people only makes her feel more alone.
With the help of her best friend, Delia, Prue sets three goals to turn her life around before her milestone birthday: ditch the job, move out of her brother’s house, and find love.
But when Delia’s perfect marriage begins to crack, and a secret threatens to shatter their friendship, Prue realises there’s a difference between seeming to have a perfect life and finding your own perfect-ish life. And maybe being far from picture perfect is perfectly okay.
Published by Penguin Books Australia
Released August 2023
My Thoughts:I love the description of this book above by the publisher, an ‘anti-romcom’. It sums up this new wave of contemporary Australian fiction so well and Perfect-ish sits very nicely on the same shelf as books such as Sorrow and Bliss by Meg Mason, No Hard Feelings and Crushing by Genevieve Novak, and a more recent release, One Day We’re All Going to Die by Elise Esther Hearst.
These are all stories about women in their 20s and 30s grappling with life, not romance driven, but driven by a focus on themselves, their careers, and what they want out of life with a heavy dollop of friendship and family on the side. It’s so refreshing and lovely to read about real women dealing with real life, without the entire purpose of the story being about ‘getting a man’. Honestly, it’s about time Australian contemporary fiction moved on from the whole romance is everything focus.
Perfect-ish was delightful. It was funny and realistic, sometimes I got frustrated with Prue, other times I loved her outright. I really appreciate the overall intent of the story, that life doesn’t have to be, and indeed, will rarely be, perfect, but being perfect-ish is a pretty good deal. The novel was structured into months as the chapters and at the preface of each chapter was a series of social media posts, a touch that I found amusing, ironic, and at times, a little too… #relatable, lol.
I read in her author bio that Jessica actually works as a television and film publicist at Stan, a company who are rapidly becoming known for their Australian original productions. Could we please, please have Perfect-ish made into a TV series. Pretty please?
Thanks to the publisher for the review copy.
October 3, 2023
Book Review: Hercule Poirot’s Silent Night by Sophie Hannah
The world’s greatest detective, Hercule Poirot – legendary star of Agatha Christie’s Murder on the Orient Express, Death on the Nile and A Haunting in Venice – puts his little grey cells to work solving a baffling Christmas mystery.
CAN HERCULE POIROT SOLVE A BAFFLING MURDER MYSTERY IN TIME FOR CHRISTMAS?
It’s 19 December 1931. Hercule Poirot and Inspector Edward Catchpool are called to investigate the murder of a man in the apparent safe haven of a Norfolk hospital ward. Catchpool’s mother, the irrepressible Cynthia, insists that Poirot stays in a crumbling mansion by the coast, so that they can all be together for the festive period while Poirot solves the case. Cynthia’s friend Arnold is soon to be admitted to that same hospital and his wife is convinced he will be the killer’s next victim, though she refuses to explain why.
Poirot has less than a week to solve the crime and prevent more murders, if he is to escape from this nightmare scenario and get home in time for Christmas. Meanwhile, someone else – someone utterly ruthless – also has ideas about what ought to happen to Hercule Poirot . . .
Published by HarperCollins GB
Released 4th October 2023
About the Book:I didn’t expect to enjoy this novel as much as I did, given that I have only ever read a couple of Agatha Christie books, both of which were indeed Hercule Poirot mysteries, but still didn’t ever quite measure up to the famed TV series for me. However, this was sent to me for review and something about my reading mood matched the novel and I found myself starting it at work one lunch and being hard pressed to put it down.
It’s quaint, cosy, familiar, yet also more contemporary without compromising the historical fiction quality. Dare I say, I might actually like Sophie Hannah’s version of doing Agatha Christie more than I have ever enjoyed Agatha Christie herself? I know, I know, I’m ducking for cover! The shock, the horror, but there you have it. I just don’t rate Agatha Christie all that highly, but I do like the character of Poirot, and Catchpool, very much. I expect I’ll be reading a few more of these from time to time. Whilst set at Christmas, it’s not really a Christmas story as such, and could be read and enjoyed at any time of the year.
Thanks to the publisher for the review copy.
September 30, 2023
Book Review: Darling Girls by Sally Hepworth
It’s not just secrets buried at Wild Meadows.
For as long as they can remember, Jessica, Norah and Alicia have been told how lucky they are. Rescued from family tragedies and raised by a loving foster mother on an idyllic farming estate, they were given an elusive second chance of a happy family life.
But their childhood wasn’t the fairy tale everyone thinks it was. And when a body is discovered under the home they grew up in, the foster sisters find themselves thrust into the spotlight as key witnesses. Or are they prime suspects?
A thrilling page-turner by New York Times bestselling author Sally Hepworth of sisterhood, secrets, love and murder.
Published by Pan Macmillan AU
Released 26th September 2023
My Thoughts:Sally Hepworth never fails to impress with her twists and turns, she really has asserted herself as the queen of domestic suspense. Darling Girls was gripping from the beginning, revealing more as the story went on, only to regularly pull the rug out from under your feet.
The topic of this latest release by Sally is the more sinister side of the foster care system. This one heralds a return to Sally’s trademark dark wit, which was conspicuously absent from her last novel. Her humour is one of the things I like most about Sally’s work, as it frequently offers moments of levity in what are serious topics and sometimes traumatic scenes.
Darling Girls is not a short book, but it was a quick read for me because I honestly couldn’t put it down. The ending left me reeling, yet, when I really thought about it, unsurprised. This is a cracker of a good read and fans of Sally Hepworth will not be disappointed in this latest release. Those who are new to her work choosing this as their first read of hers – prepare to meet your new favourite author.
Thanks to the publisher for the review copy.
September 29, 2023
The Month That Was…
Life:
I’ve been spending time of late cultivating my indoor water plant garden which lives on top of one of my bookcases. I’ve been *procuring* cuttings from all sorts of avenues, some taking off with success, others being discarded to make way for a swift replacement. My commitment to this garden extends to consuming wine from bottles that I have taken to assessing at the time of purchase as being suitable for cuttings. It’s a hobby within a hobby, so to speak…
My interest in plants only began about three years ago. It’s mainly restricted to pot plants, but I have worked on one garden bed with success in the front yard and now am tentatively making plant plans for another within the backyard. It’s all self-taught through trial and error as to what grows best here, majority of my decisions being made based on the aesthetics of a plant and if it has flowers or interesting leaves. Still, I’m getting there and feel as though I’m learning more and more about growing things. My pot plants live in a courtyard that is perfect for the shade/sun ratio most pot plants seem to need. This morning M and I headed to the local farmer’s market which has a sizeable nursery that was advertising 50% off all plants for the long weekend. There are now eleven new plants in my courtyard garden and I’m quite happy with how full and green it’s looking.
In my never-ending quest to get a good photo of myself with Zeus, I accidentally took this one:
It’s now my favourite photo ever.
Joke of the month:
Suffice to say, we have, on more than one occasion, had to chase an escaped husky…
What I’ve been watching:
I’ve watched some good TV this month as well as slipped in two movies. I had already previously seen The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society, but I wanted to M to see it and it’s such a good movie you could honestly watch it a dozen times over. The other movie, The Night Watch, is based on the novel by Sarah Waters. It’s quiet but moving film set during WWII about a few people whose lives intersect during the war and then again, beyond.
TV land saw me returning to Virgin River for the most recent season and then tuning into Charlotte, a Bridgerton spinoff. I actually liked Charlotte more than Bridgerton, and interestingly, I had never much paid attention to the character of Queen Charlotte when watching Bridgerton, so I hadn’t really put two and two together as to who she was in real life, which made the series all the more fascinating for me once I realised her placement within the history of the royal family. It was sad too, the actor playing King George doing a superb job. You wouldn’t need to have watched Bridgerton to enjoy this, so I highly recommend it to all.
Bloodlands is top shelf crime drama from the BBC, set in Northern Ireland. The cast is stellar, the story is gripping, the setting authentic. I loved it. The Way Home was a surprising watch. I was looking for something light-hearted after finishing Virgin River. It turned out to be a family drama with a side of time travel. Andie MacDowell heads up the cast and she is as gorgeous and compelling as ever. Last but not least, M and I have gotten into The News Reader, an Australian drama set in the mid 1980s, on ABC iView. It’s excellent, we’ve almost finished the first season and will be straight into watching the second. We both love the way it blends the fictional world of their newsroom with actual breaking news from the era. It’s very well done.
What I’ve been reading:
Seven books for this month, slightly down from last month but still higher than months previous. Three out of seven were five star reads – Darling Girls, Lady Tan’s Circle of Women, and The Disappearance of Astrid Bricard; the remaining four books all got four stars. I am having a great run of reading very good books of late. All of these have already been reviewed here on the blog except for Darling Girls which I only finished last night.
Until next month…good reading!
September 26, 2023
Book Review: Lady Tan’s Circle of Women by Lisa See
In 15th century China two women are born under the same sign, the Metal Snake. But life will take the friends on very different paths.
According to Confucius, ‘an educated woman is a worthless woman’, but Tan Yunxian – born into an elite family, yet haunted by death, separation and loneliness – is being raised by her grandparents to be of use. She begins her training in medicine with her grandmother and, as she navigates the male world of medicine, requiring tact and diplomacy, she struggles against the confining world of her class.
From a young age, Yunxian learns about women’s illnesses, many of which relate to childbearing, alongside a young midwife-in-training, Meiling. The two girls find fast friendship and a mutual purpose – despite the prohibition that a doctor should never touch blood while a midwife comes in frequent contact with it – and they vow to be forever friends, sharing in each other’s joys and struggles. No mud, no lotus, they tell themselves: from adversity beauty can bloom.
How might a woman like Yunxian break free of tradition, go on to treat women and girls from every level of society, and lead a life of such importance that many of her remedies are still used five centuries later? How might the power of friendship support or complicate these efforts? Lady Tan’s Circle of Women is a captivating story of women helping other women. It is also a triumphant reimagining of the life of a woman who was remarkable in the Ming dynasty and would be considered remarkable today.
Published by Simon & Schuster
Released July 2023
My Thoughts:This is one of the best novels I’ve read in long time. For me, this novel encapsulates everything I look for in historical fiction: based on history, informative, expansive, set further back than the 20th century, and above all, incomparable to other stories, unique within its own right.
This is my book club’s selection for this month and I’m really looking forward to seeing what the other’s thought of it. It has a wealth of discussion topics within it, so I can definitely recommend it to you for book clubs. I have one other novel by Lisa See sitting unread on my shelf, The Island of Sea Women. I’ll be pulling that one off to read before too long, as it has also come to me as highly recommended by more than one friend.
There is so much within this novel to recommend it, I couldn’t even begin to summarise it adequately. Tan Yunxian was indeed a real woman, and she was also a doctor within the Ming dynasty. Her legacy lives on in a book that she wrote detailing a snapshot of her cases and remedies that could be followed by women seeking to treat their families for common ailments, many of which are still in use today within China.
Everything detailed within this novel about life within 15th century China was fascinating to me. Given that Yunxian was a woman within the upper class, there is a lot throughout the story about foot binding, of which I only knew the barest of details prior to reading this. I had no idea that feet were bound as young as five years of age. It is the most barbaric practice, and to think it persisted for centuries. I can’t even fathom how such a practice came into being, I mean, who was the first person to go, ‘hey, you know what would be good? Let’s totally change the shape of a woman’s foot because it will look so delicate in these tiny, embroidered shoes. Never mind that her bones must break, and she will be in constant pain, disabled from ever walking properly, and at lifelong risk of infection, gangrene, and possible death…’ The whole sidebar of foot binding in terms of the aroma of bound feet being a fetish for men was also…eye opening. We’ll leave it at that.
China was a brutal place, not just for women, although of course, more so for them. There were so many superstitions that ruled everyday life, and the majority of them involved people being punished for causing shame to their family. An example of this, Yunxian finds the dead body of a family member within the garden of the estate and raises the alarm. This causes shame. She shouldn’t have been out of her room, now other people know someone died within the household, this will bring bad luck, if she had just stayed in her room and not found the body, someone else could have found it and moved it to outside of the estate and completely fabricated a cause of death that would be less shameful for the family. Of note in this scenario, is not the way the woman died as the cause of shame, but that she had the audacity to die within the grounds of the estate. What was she thinking?
The business of childbirth and how that was handled was equally fascinating. That doctors could not touch blood, that was the business of midwives, who were a necessary evil within a household. Doctors could not examine women, consultations had to be done with a screen between a woman and the doctor, with a go between asking and answering questions to arrive at a diagnosis and treatment plan, that was usually incorrect since the examination was conducted unseen. Yunxian’s grandmother, who she learned everything from, revolutionised the treatment of women, changing the health and life span of so many, followed by Yunxian herself as she followed in her grandmother’s tiny bound feet footsteps.
This was an excellent novel; one I will be recommending far and wide. I could go on about it for days. I became so attached to Yunxian and the women within her life, so invested in their existence. This was one those rare novels that I didn’t want to end.
