Theresa Smith's Blog, page 38
May 30, 2022
A Month of Reading: May
Nine books for this month. I feel like I’m slowly getting back to my old ways, reading more and more each month. I also made some inroads with my personal reading challenges this month.
Classic Reads: 2 books! Yes, two classics this month. The Picture of Dorian Gray and The Pursuit of Love. Both excellent.
22 in 2022: 3 books for this. The two classics above count here as well as they are from my shelves, not review titles sent to me, and that was the only condition I set for myself with the 22 in 2022 challenge, that they be my own books, as in, ones I have purchased. The other one I read for this was a new release, The German Wife by Kelly Rimmer. I am normally sent each of Kelly Rimmer’s latest releases for review but I didn’t get one this time and Hachette seem to be no longer using NetGalley, more’s the pity. Anyway, I am a big fan of Kelly Rimmer so I bought a copy.
The remaining six books read were review titles. Given that I often receive six in a week, I probably need to start reading faster…
Until next month…
May 29, 2022
Book Review: Wildflower by Monique Mulligan
1979
After being bullied at school, Jane Kelly dreads spending the summer holidays alone, friendless. So, when Acacia Miller moves in next door, Jane imagines carefree days of trading secrets and pinkie promises with a new best friend. But as their friendship grows, Acacia remains stubbornly guarded about her home life, and Jane becomes caught up in a sinister situation she doesn’t understand. When Acacia’s secret becomes one too many for Jane to carry, she must choose whether to challenge the status quo and risk losing her only friend. Or stay silent, knowing the danger it hides.
1999
An abused woman flees to a refuge and bumps into someone from her childhood. Haunted by her past but grappling with a desire to reconnect and rebuild her life, she realises there are wounds that time alone cannot heal. Can she find the courage to confront the darkest secrets of all: her own?
Published by Pilyara Press
Released March 2022
My Thoughts:I like what Monique Mulligan has done here with this story, the way in which she has crafted a novel about domestic violence without plunging us directly into it, instead, offering the perspective of looking in from the outside. Predominantly set in 1979 to 1980, a time of vastly different attitudes, Wildflower is a story about challenging the status quo, about speaking out when something isn’t right, about standing up for women and children when they are in harms way within their own homes. I found the portrayal of life and the ideas of the day quite vividly realised; this was the sort of world I grew in up in and its familiarity was shockingly confronting. Was everybody really like that back then? Yes. They were.
Other themes, bullying and feminism, are woven into the narrative with ease, but it’s the way in which Monique challenges gendered stereotypes throughout the story that ultimately made this novel for me. In terms of the story playing out in the 1999 timeline, it is not disclosed who this woman is until the end of the novel. I had two guesses, both were wrong, and I thought the character reveal here was a clever plot turn. Generally, I am not a fan of child narrators, however, in this instance, it was done well. Wildflower put me in mind of Little Gods by Jenny Ackland. I think it was the ebb and flow of life in the Australia of forty years ago as seen through a child’s perspective that did it. There is something particularly poignant about revisiting one’s childhood through the eyes of a child narrator – provided it is done well, which it was within both books.
Whilst yes, this is a novel about domestic violence, I felt the themes were handled well throughout and I didn’t at all feel as though it was gratuitous or triggering – for which I am grateful. It’s a topic I generally avoid reading about for many reasons. I am happy to recommend this one far and wide, particularly to book clubs, it would generate a lot of interesting book chat.
Thanks to the author for the review copy.
May 26, 2022
The Week That Was…
Winter is creeping in up here in Queensland. Southerner’s can mock all they like but as soon as I need to break out a throw rug…
The best time of the year for reading.
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Joke of the week:
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What I’ve been watching:
I’m loving this, based of course upon the novel by Sally Rooney.
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What I’ve been reading:
Another two five star reads, a review one and a classic.
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Until next week…
May 24, 2022
Book Review: The Caretakers by Amanda Bestor-Siegal
In the smart Parisian suburb of Maisons-Larue, in the wake of the Paris 2015 terrorist attacks, an au pair is arrested after the sudden and suspicious death of her nine-year-old charge…
The truth behind what happened is unravelled through six women: Geraldine, a heartbroken French teacher who struggles to connect with her vulnerable students; Lou, an incompetent au pair fired by the family next door; Charlotte, a chilly socialite and reluctant mother; Holly, an anxious au pair who yearns to feel at home in Paris; Nathalie, an isolated French teenager desperate for her mother’s attention; and finally, Alena, the au pair accused of killing a child…
For fans of Celeste Ng’s Everything I Never Told You and Liane Moriarty’s Big Little Lies, The Caretakers is a compulsive and gripping debut about who takes care of children, the yearning for belonging that extends beyond the homes left behind, and issues of identity, privilege, and class in both American and French culture.
Published by Hachette Australia
Released 12th April 2022
My Thoughts:This was a terrific novel, unexpected in its style and voice, and I liked it even more for that. Less of a crime story with a focus on who did it and why, rather, The Caretakers is a character study, of six different women. Who they are presently, who they were in the past, and who they want to be. We dip in and out of the past and the present with them, the author employing a fluid sort of prose that takes us and back and forth without any clearly marked now and then, yet it works so well, offering a seamless narrative that is absorbing and gripping all at once.
Predominantly, The Caretakers is a story about displacement. And for each of the characters, a certain form of displacement has occurred to leave them disjointed from their lives, seeking something more without really knowing what that is. There was so much yearning within this story, and I felt it keenly. The author is brilliant at evoking a cloying atmosphere that has you feeling as though you are moving within each character, and even when said character would act in a way that was contrary to what I might have done, I still found myself understanding them on some level, empathising with them.
“…she thinks that maybe this is all it is, the secret weapon against grief. Living.”
Core themes of class, privilege and identity intermingle throughout this novel, set in Paris during 2015 against a backdrop of terror attacks. Not only did the author capture her characters well, but she also conveyed Paris with such authenticity, particularly the cultural atmosphere and general vibe between those who are French, and those who are tourists, most notably, Americans.
If you are looking for a racing crime novel, this is not it, but if you enjoy character driven literary narratives, then you may enjoy The Caretakers as much as I did. Highly recommended.
Thanks to the publisher for the review copy.
May 22, 2022
Book Review: Bloomsbury Girls by Natalie Jenner
Natalie Jenner, the internationally bestselling author of The Jane Austen Society, returns with a compelling and heart-warming story of post-war London, a century-old bookstore, and three women determined to find their way in a fast-changing world in Bloomsbury Girls.
Bloomsbury Books is an old-fashioned new and rare bookstore that has persisted and resisted change for a hundred years, run by men and guided by the general manager’s unbreakable fifty-one rules. But in 1950, the world is changing, especially the world of books and publishing, and at Bloomsbury Books, the girls in the shop have plans.
Vivien Lowry: Single since her aristocratic fiancé was killed in action during World War II, the brilliant and stylish Vivien has a long list of grievances–most of them well justified and the biggest of which is Alec McDonough, the Head of Fiction.
Grace Perkins: Married with two sons, she’s been working to support the family following her husband’s breakdown in the aftermath of the war. Torn between duty to her family and dreams of her own.
Evie Stone: In the first class of female students from Cambridge permitted to earn a degree, Evie was denied an academic position in favour of her less accomplished male rival. Now she’s working at Bloomsbury Books while she plans to remake her own future.
As they interact with various literary figures of the time–Daphne Du Maurier, Ellen Doubleday, Sonia Blair (widow of George Orwell), Samuel Beckett, Peggy Guggenheim, and others–these three women with their complex web of relationships, goals and dreams are all working to plot out a future that is richer and more rewarding than anything society will allow.
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A MESSAGE FROM AUTHOR NATALIE JENNER
Dear readers,
I am immensely grateful for the outpouring of affection that so many of you have expressed for my debut novel The Jane Austen Society and its eight main characters. When I wrote its epilogue (in one go and without ever changing a word), I wanted to give each of Adam, Mimi, Dr. Gray, Adeline, Yardley, Frances, Evie and Andrew the happy Austenesque ending they each deserved. But I could not let go of servant girl Evie Stone, the youngest and only character inspired by real life (my mother, who left school at age fourteen, and my daughter, who does eighteenth-century research for a university professor and his team). Bloomsbury Girls continues Evie’s adventures into a 1950s London bookshop where there is a battle of the sexes raging between the male managers and the female staff, who decide to pull together their smarts, connections, and limited resources to take over the shop and make it their own. There are dozens of new characters in Bloomsbury Girls from several different countries, and audiobook narration was going to require a female voice of the highest training and calibre. When I learned that British stage and screen actress Juliet Stevenson, CBE, had agreed to narrate, I knew that my story could not be in better hands, and I so hope you enjoy reading or listening to it.
Warmest regards, Natalie.
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Published by St. Martin’s Press
Released 17th May 2022
My Thoughts:There’s nothing nicer than reading a beautiful book that pays homage to literature, and when it does so with such empathy and style, then it’s even more special. I loved this novel, just as I loved this author’s first one, The Jane Austen Society. In Bloomsbury Girls, we see a couple of familiar characters from the first novel pop up, in particular Evie Stone, who is a main character in both, but be assured that the two novels are merely connected loosely and by no means a part of any series.
This is a novel for book lovers who enjoy wandering through bookstores and readers of classic literature, or at least, readers who are familiar with classic literature. I wholly enjoyed the focus on women writers (a particular area of interest of mine as regular readers here will know) and I loved the literary connections that were forged throughout the novel. The concept of a bookstore being owned and run by women, promoting women’s writing, and publishing the works of forgotten women writers is one I wish I could visit. Everything about this novel was a delight: the setting, the characters, and the story. Highly recommended.
Thanks to the publisher for the review copy.
May 20, 2022
The Week That Was…
It’s been raining quite a bit here of late, perfect reading weather! And also, perfect weather for pot meals. I invested in a second smaller French oven, for those times when I want to use two, or make something smaller. You can never have too many French ovens…right?
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What Zeus has been up to:
New bed feels…
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Joke of the week:
It’s a wordy one…
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What I’ve been watching:
If you like quirky Irish humour (and Jamie Dornan)…
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What I’ve been reading:
“There were moments when he looked on evil simply as a mode through which he could realise his conception of the beautiful.“~~~
Until next week…
May 15, 2022
Book Review: The Dance Tree by Kiran Millwood Hargrave
In Strasbourg, in the boiling hot summer of 1518, a plague strikes the women of the city. First it is just one – a lone figure, dancing in the town square – but she is joined by more and more and the city authorities declare an emergency. Musicians will be brought in. The devil will be danced out of these women.
Just beyond the city’s limits, pregnant Lisbet lives with her mother-in-law and husband, tending the bees that are their livelihood. Her best friend Ida visits regularly and Lisbet is so looking forward to sharing life and motherhood with her. And then, just as the first woman begins to dance in the city, Lisbet’s sister-in-law Nethe returns from six years penance in the mountains for an unknown crime. No one – not even Ida – will tell Lisbet what Nethe did all those years ago, and Nethe herself will not speak a word about it.
It is the beginning of a few weeks that will change everything for Lisbet – her understanding of what it is to love and be loved, and her determination to survive at all costs for the baby she is carrying. Lisbet and Nethe and Ida soon find themselves pushing at the boundaries of their existence – but they’re dancing to a dangerous tune.
Published by Pan Macmillan Australia – Picador
Released 10th May 2022
My Thoughts:I was captivated by Kiran Millwood Hargrave’s first novel, The Mercies, and again, she has held me spellbound with this one, The Dance Tree.
‘She’d recognised it instantly for what it was: a dance tree. A doom tree. A relic of the pagans who had their churches open under God.’
The Dance Tree is a novel based on history, specifically this:
‘Between the fourteenth and the seventeenth centuries, dancing plagues, or choreomania, occurred regularly.
…one of the most popular explanations, both now and then, was a religious mania.’ – Author note.
The author goes into more detail of course in her author note, even providing the name of the first woman that started the dancing plague upon which this story is based, but suffice to say, once again, I have been introduced, through fiction, to a history that I previously knew nothing about.
‘Why do you think those women dance? Because there is no earthly way to be saved. You and Mutter have told me enough times – Strasbourg is sliding Hellwards. And we women, we bear the brunt. We are bred or banished, and always, always damned. Prayers cannot help us, the priests will not help us. Your babies were never blessed, so they were damned. It is not right, that is the unnatural act, not this.’
The Dance Tree is an empowering story of female agency, female friendship, and enduring love. There is an urgency to the story that reaches out from the pages. The mania of the dancing plague, the even stronger fervour of control from the men who considered themselves in charge of stopping it; Lisbet’s own desperation and heartache to finally bring a pregnancy to term and have a live birth; Nethe’s penance and devotion to following her heart; Ida’s devastating sacrifice – all this is entwined and plays out on a personal level for these characters against a background of a community at breaking point.
I particularly loved the way the author combined the religious intensity of the era with that of the mysticism that still lingered throughout society. It was interesting to see how people attempted to understand and control the mystic with religion – now, we can see scientific explanations for the climate issues and even the choreomania, but such knowledge was not available to people in the sixteenth century, hence, religion was all they had to rely upon.
I highly recommend The Dance Tree. I thought it was brilliant, captivating, and deeply moving.
Thanks to the publisher for the review copy.
May 11, 2022
Social Media Blast Tour: Momenticon by Andrew Caldecott
From Andrew Caldecott, the author of the ROTHERWEIRD trilogy, comes a dark, enigmatic, compelling new adventure: think Alice in Wonderland meets Station Eleven, played out in places where paintings come to life.
The world is on the brink of utter destruction.
Despite the climate activists’ best efforts, the atmosphere has turned toxic, destroying plant life, animals, and most of humanity too.
The few survivors live in domes protected from the lethal smog, serving Tempestas and Genrich, the world’s last two great companies. They both have plans for mankind’s future, but their visions are very different – and an uneasy collaboration between them is about to end, with desperate consequences.
But not everyone is bound to the companies: far from these centres of power stands the Museum Dome, where persons unknown have assembled mankind’s finest paintings and artefacts. Fogg, the curator, thinks he must be the last man left alive, for in the three years he’s been there, he’s not had a single visitor, and his only company is AIPT, his automated physical trainer, who’s very good when it comes to hamstrings and push-ups, but rubbish at actual conversation.
Then a single mysterious pill – a momenticon – appears in the Museum, proving he’s not alone after all. Before Fogg knows what’s hit him, he is embroiled in a desperate fight against time and the rival forces which threaten to overwhelm all that remains.
Published by Jo Fletcher Books
Released 12th May 2022
My Thoughts:This one was a little too far into the realm of science fiction for me. I haven’t read Andrew Caldecott before, but from reviews I’ve perused, this novel is fairly reminiscent of his style and genre bending talents. It is undeniably clever, the weaving of literature and art with science fiction set within a post apocalyptic universe. My imagination has always struggled with heavy science fiction and the blend with steam punk fantasy positioned this novel too far out of reach for my tastes. If you are partial to science fiction though, or even futuristic steam punk fantasy, you may enjoy this more than I did.
Thanks to the publisher for the review copy and inclusion in the media tour.
May 7, 2022
The Week That Was…
We celebrated Mother’s Day early last night with a gorgeous three course Italian meal.
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Five years of Zeus this week. I will admit, when it was suggested that we adopt a Husky, I was sceptical, but he’s been a joy since day one.
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What I’ve been watching:
Getting Downton vibes from this…
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What I’ve been reading:
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Until next week… 
May 4, 2022
Book Review: The German Wife by Kelly Rimmer
Berlin, 1934: Sofie Rhodes is the aristocratic wife of a scientist whose post-WWI fortunes change for the better when her husband, Jurgen, is recruited for Hitler’s new rocket project. But too late they realise the Nazis’ plans to weaponise Jurgen’s technology as they begin to wage war against the rest of Europe.
Alabama, 1949: Jurgen is one of hundreds of Nazi scientists offered pardons and taken to the US to work for the CIA’s fledgling space program. Sofie, now the mother of four, misses Germany terribly and struggles to fit in among the other NASA wives.
When news about the Rhodes family’s affiliation with the Nazi party spreads, idle gossip turns to bitter rage, and the act of violence that results will tear apart a community and a family before the truth is finally revealed – but is it murder, revenge or justice?
Published by Hachette Australia
Released 27th April 2022
My Thoughts:Kelly Rimmer’s latest novel, The German Wife, is a story of morality, one that steers the reader into contemplation about the choices people make when forced into impossible circumstances.
‘When the story of the war is written, the pages will be full of men saying I was only following orders and the world will know that is fiction.’
I had not actually heard about Hitler’s rocket program, nor was I aware that the US had scooped up a whole heap of Nazi scientists after the war and relocated them into the CIA space program. The things that get buried over time! It was interesting to read all about this, particularly the way the scientists were pulled into the program in Germany in the lead up to the war and the subsequent weaponising of the rockets they developed under the initial guise of landing on the moon.
I bonded with both Jurgen and Sofie and I think Kelly Rimmer did a particularly good job of digging in deep with this couple, showing with sensitivity and impartiality just how difficult their position was and how little control they had over the circumstances in which they found themselves. Within the author note at the end, Kelly Rimmer raises some interesting questions about accountability and absolution. This one is a must read for book clubs.
