Theresa Smith's Blog, page 45
December 7, 2021
Book Review: Water Music by Christine Balint
Winner of Viva la Novella IX
In eighteenth-century Venice, orphan Lucietta is raised by a fisherman’s family yet supported by a secret benefactor to study music. At 16, she takes up her position at the Derelitti Convent, one of the prestigious musical orphanages for girls, playing the violin in the ensemble and training the younger musicians.
Confronted by her benefactor’s plans for her life, Lucietta uncovers the true legacy of these women and her role in bridging the past.
Published by Brio Books
Released 6th October 2021
My Thoughts:Inspired by the musical orphanages of Venice that were in place from the 15th century through to the end of the 18th century, Water Music is a thoughtful novella about a young woman’s coming of age, her realisation of her place in the world and what she seeks for her future. The history of these musical orphanages is quite fascinating, early music conservatories that were run for and by women, financed by a unique system of patronage that gave orphan girls with talent a high-quality musical education if they were so inclined, from within the safe confines of a convent.
As Lucietta adjusts to her new life within the orphanage, two men – a suitor and her mysterious father – give her pause for contemplation over the direction she wants her life to proceed in. She can either take the safe and comfortable path of marriage to a man of means or remain in the convent and live with a sense of agency over her own life, each option with its own set of confines.
The writing is deeply introspective and quite beautiful in parts, but I always feel like I am left wanting after reading a novella – they never seem long enough. Winner of the 2021 Viva La Novella Prize, Water Music is recommended reading for lovers of literary historical fiction.
Thanks to the author for the review copy.
December 6, 2021
Quick Shots Book Review: The Younger Wife by Sally Hepworth
The moment she laid eyes on Heather Wisher, Tully knew this woman was going to destroy their lives.
Tully and Rachel are murderous when they discover their father has a new girlfriend. The fact that Heather is half his age isn’t even the most shocking part. Stephen is still married to their mother, who is in a care facility with end-stage Alzheimer’s disease.
Heather knows she has an uphill battle to win Tully and Rachel over, while carrying the burden of the secrets of her past. But, as it turns out, they are all hiding something.
The announcement of Stephen and Heather’s engagement threatens to set off a family implosion, with old wounds and dark secrets finally being forced to the surface.
A garage full of stolen goods. An old hot-water bottle, stuffed with cash. A blood-soaked wedding. And that’s only the beginning . . .
Published by Pan Macmillan Australia
Released 26th October 2021
My Thoughts:I haven’t yet met a Sally Hepworth book I haven’t liked, and this latest release, The Younger Wife, is no exception. Twists and turns abound, underpinned by a dark narrative of a family in crisis. Tempered with Hepworth’s trademark wit, The Younger Wife is a novel I found impossible to put down. Highly recommended.
Thanks to the publisher for the review copy.
December 4, 2021
The Week That Was…
In keeping with his usual mantra of ‘anything for some attention’, Zeus continues to allow us to use him as a prop for our Christmas joviality.
He has, however, exacted some revenge. Eldest son accidentally left him inside his man cave the other day (admittedly not hard to do, Zeus likes it in there so much he doesn’t make himself known when it’s time to go out). Anyway, there was an open packet of sherbet cones and when younger son responded to a brotherly text about Zeus being left in the room, he entered to discover Zeus standing on the couch scoffing the last of the sherbet cones. He really will eat anything.
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Joke of the week/Christmas present idea for your sister:
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What I’ve been watching:
Christmas movies, The Great, Chicago Med, new season Chicago PD and new season Walker have all been on our TV this last fortnight. My eldest son just signed up for the week trial to watch Paramount plus, I’m not keeping it, we have enough subscriptions, but I was going to try and watch The Luminaries adaptation while we had it this week.
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Christmas present shopping is all done. Onto the wrapping! 
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What I’ve been reading:
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Until next week… 
November 30, 2021
A Month of Reading: November
24 days until Christmas…ho, ho, ho!
Four of these were quite thick, so I’m claiming that combined with a busy schedule and extra work hours as my excuse for there only being six for the month!
Until next month, which will be on the other side of Christmas!
November 29, 2021
Book Review: The Freedom of Birds by Stephanie Parkyn
Two French storytellers and a runaway girl travel through fairytale lands, Italian theatres, and the battlefields of France in search of a place to belong as Napoleon’s Empire falls, from the author of Josephine’s Garden.
Remi Victoire is the golden child among all the theatre orphans; he dreams of a life on a Paris stage. But when this future is stolen from him, Remi and his faithful friend Pascal turn their backs on Paris forever.
With Saskia, a runaway orphan girl, Remi and Pascal form a performing troupe, travelling through the fairytale lands that are home to the Brothers Grimm, before finding a safe haven in Venice.
As Napoleon’s vast Empire crumbles, the French storytellers discover that Paris itself is now at risk of invasion and they fear for the loved ones they have left behind.
From picturesque villages to Italian theatres and on to the battlefields outside of Paris, this is a beautifully told story about the bonds of love and friendship, the importance of stories, and finding a place to belong.
Published by Allen & Unwin
Released 30th November 2021
My Thoughts:The Freedom of Birds is loosely connected to Stephanie Parkyn’s previous two releases, Into the World and Josephine’s Garden, and indeed, we see at the end of this novel the life of Stephanie’s first main character from Into the World come full circle in line with the close of the French Revolution. I really loved The Freedom of Birds, the characters and their passions for their own beliefs and purposes, the history, the adventure, and all the tension holding everything together.
The story is told in shifting perspectives between Remi, Pascal, and Saskia, all three of whom I enjoyed travelling with. The author has used third person narration for Pascal and Saskia, but a first-person narration for Remi. I don’t think this is because the novel is more Remi’s story than the other characters, but rather, that it firmly allows the reader to distinguish between the voices of Remi and Pascal, who being the same age and from the same background, had natural similarities that may have been difficult to pick apart had the author just used third person narration throughout. I bring this up because first person narration doesn’t always sit well with me in historical fiction, there is something jarring about it, although in this case, I swiftly got used to it, perhaps on account of the use of third person narration with the other two characters combined with generally how good the book was.
Adventures abounded for these three characters and I enjoyed the travelling life they had, the storytelling, the performing, the creative and artistic lifestyle of centuries ago coming to life within these pages. Behind their artistic faces was a real pain though, as each was an orphan wrestling with their own pasts, attempting to come to terms with how this baggage translated to a viable future. This novel is also one of political history, and the author has done a particularly excellent job of broadcasting the resistance that spread across Europe as Napoleon plundered and conquered with zeal. The turning tide was well articulated. None of the main characters remained untouched by the French Revolution, each of their future paths set in a certain direction because of the unending war. One thing I really loved about the story was how connected to each other Remi, Pascal, and Saskia were, and yet, they were also each drawn to their own destinies, despite the knowledge that this may eventually force them apart. When Saskia joined Remi and Pascal, they become a family of sorts, but like all families, it was one that was not without its internal rumblings.
The Freedom of Birds has instant appeal on account of its majestic cover, yet be assured that within, the story itself is just as majestic. I enjoyed this novel so much and favour it over Stephanie Parkyn’s previous two releases – both of which I also enjoyed immensely. She has a notable talent for blending history with fiction and creating memorable characters – some of which endured across the three books without being a main character beyond the first. As her tales of the French Revolution appear to have come to a close with The Freedom of Birds, I look forward to seeing where Stephanie Parkyn takes us with her next release.
Thanks to the publisher for the review copy.
November 21, 2021
Book Review: The Swift and The Harrier by Minette Walters
An unforgettable novel of England’s Civil War, from the bestselling author of The Last Hours and The Turn of Midnight.
Dorset, 1642.
When bloody civil war breaks out between the King and Parliament, families and communities across England are riven by different allegiances.
A rare few choose neutrality.
One such is Jayne Swift, a Dorset physician from a Royalist family, who offers her services to both sides in the conflict. Through her dedication to treating the sick and wounded, regardless of belief, Jayne becomes a witness to the brutality of war and the devastation it wreaks.
Yet her recurring companion at every event is a man she should despise because he embraces civil war as the means to an end. She knows him as William Harrier, but is ignorant about every other aspect of his life. His past is a mystery and his future uncertain.
The Swift and the Harrier is a sweeping tale of adventure and loss, sacrifice and love, with a unique and unforgettable heroine at its heart.
Published by Allen & Unwin
Released November 2021
My Thoughts:Once again, Minette Walters has given us an historical fiction to rival no other. In her latest release, she takes us back in time to Dorset, 1642, the English Civil War, and while you might be forgiven for thinking that an historical novel about war will be heavy going, it’s a true testament to Minette’s skill as a writer that she has again suffused the story with such a richly authentic atmosphere, brimming with historical detail, right down to the battles, whilst still maintaining an accessibility that would rival a contemporary novel. The characterisation is superb, the drama intense, and the historical retelling fascinating.
I loved Jayne Swift, right from the start. She was so fiercely intelligent, loyal to her own true path and to those she loved no matter their allegiance within the war. She was never arrogant or insufferable, but rather, a testimony to the strength of women, a key theme that is recurrent in Minette’s historical novels. I liked the easy relationship she formed with William Harrier, one that was above all else imbued with respect. Each of their encounters was entertaining and heart-warming and I particularly enjoyed witnessing their unravelling of the web of lies that had been woven about William’s identity. The early practices of medicine and surgery, particularly within a war environment, were of particular interest to me.
I knew next to nothing about this English Civil War going in, so I thoroughly enjoyed Minette’s retelling, which was richly detailed, yet completely easy to keep track of. I found her representation of the divide between family, friends, and households gripping, as some favoured one side over the other, and this was belief based, not geographical. This was both a religious and a political war, another aspect that I found interesting to read about and contemplate. I also have more historical context now as to who Oliver Cromwell was.
I look forward to the next historical fiction by Minette Walters, which I am sure will be as brilliant as the three she has written so far. She is firmly one of my favourite authors now and it was an honour to have a cover quote from my review of The Turn of Midnight inside the Australian edition of The Swift and The Harrier.
Thanks to the publisher for the review copy.
November 20, 2021
The Week That Was…
What a week! I am so proud of this young man. Officially a high school graduate. And doesn’t he scrub up well?!
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Joke of the week:
*Directly related to the week I just had, where it took me all week to read one book and there were no reviews…
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What I’ve been watching:
Season 2 of The Great…all I can say is: HUZZAH!!
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What I’ve been reading:
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Until next week…
November 13, 2021
The Week That Was…
It’s finally arrived! Graduation week. Let the celebrations begin. And speaking of celebrations and arrivals, my cheeky daughter surprised us by turning up three days early yesterday. She’s come home for about 10 days for a break from uni/work. We were expecting her Tuesday but she was here when I got home from work yesterday!
Christmas is in full swing at my house now. A side effect of working in retail. I am surrounded by Christmas at work, I felt obliged to do the same at home. My kids are thrilled. They’ve always advocated for Christmas to begin about August so this is a happy compromise.
My favourite new addition to the annual Christmas decor:
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Joke of the week:
There’s a lot of truth to this…
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What I’ve been reading:
It’s been such a busy working week, I’ve just been reading this one, slowly savouring and loving every page.
And still on topic with this book, I was thrilled to open it to begin reading and see a cover quote from yours truly inside:
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And on that note, until next week!
November 8, 2021
Book Review: The Sentence by Louise Erdrich
In this stunning and timely novel, Pulitzer Prize and National Book Award-winning author Louise Erdrich creates a wickedly funny ghost story, a tale of passion, of a complex marriage and of a woman’s relentless errors.
Louise Erdrich’s latest novel, The Sentence, asks what we owe to the living, the dead, to the reader and to the book. A small independent bookstore in Minneapolis is haunted from November 2019 to November 2020 by the store’s most annoying customer. Flora dies on All Souls’ Day, but she simply won’t leave the store. Tookie, who has landed a job selling books after years of incarceration that she survived by reading ‘with murderous attention,’ must solve the mystery of this haunting while at the same time trying to understand all that occurs in Minneapolis during a year of grief, astonishment, isolation, and furious reckoning.
The Sentence begins on All Souls’ Day 2019 and ends on All Souls’ Day 2020. Its mystery and proliferating ghost stories during this one year propel a narrative as rich, emotional, and profound as anything Louise Erdrich has written.
Published by Hachette Australia – Corsair
Released on 9th November 2021
My Thoughts:This is a magnificent novel. Anyone at all who loves books, bookstores, books about books, and books set in bookstores, needs to read The Sentence. As if that wasn’t enough, there is so much more to this novel, which encapsulates every single thing I love within a novel: comedy, passion, social and political history, philosophy, injustice, contemporary events examined within the freedoms of fiction, amazing characters, a complex deeply moving and involving storyline, and…a ghost. Now, the novel I read before this one also had a ghost in it, quite by coincidence, and it didn’t really work for me. Ironic that in the very next novel I read, there is a ghost, and it works for me perfectly. Just reaffirms that each book needs to be taken as a fresh new experience.
‘The touch was real, and not gentle. She was beginning to manifest. Something in the diseased air, something in the trauma of the greater conversation, something in the ache of the unknown, something in the closing down or her trial by fire, was giving her more power.’
As an added little bonus to your entertainment, Louise Erdrich has inserted herself into this novel as a character named Louise, who is a famous author and also the owner of the bookshop within the novel, so basically, herself. I thought this was fantastic. And given the contemporary nature of the novel, which spans a year from November 2019 through to November 2020, this, to me, gave it an authentic layer. It’s fiction, but it’s not, if you know what I mean. Louise is not the main character though, that’s Tookie, who I adored, despite all her prickles and sledgehammer ways. Tookie is the sort of unforgettable character that you’re talking about in literary conversations years after a book has been released. The layers to her were many and her trauma ran deep through all of them. As we walk through an intensely difficult year alongside her, we see the layers between her trauma and coping mechanisms gradually dissolve. But like all masterpieces, that’s not all there is to the story. The Sentence is an ‘own voices’ story, and it delivers with intent. The author is indigenous to America, the characters are, and the story is very much a reckoning.
‘The crevice was edging deeper. Everything seemed to be cracking: windows, windshields, hearts, lungs, skulls. We may be a striver city of blue progressives in a sea of red, but we are also a city of historically sequestered neighbourhoods and old hatreds that die hard or leave a residue that is invisible to the well and wealthy, but chokingly present to the ill and the exploited.’
The year that this story walks through is a year unlike any other for the characters within in this novel, but also, for humanity. It is the year where Covid entered and took hold of the world, and while in the grips of this worldwide pandemic, a man named George Floyd was murdered by the police in Minneapolis, igniting racial fury across the globe. This story unfolds within that space. It is a story that shows, with immense care, how the burdens of history inform the present. It’s also a novel of Americans trying to grapple with and make sense of their nation within this space and time. For a novel that contains such heavy themes and is set against such a volatile background, it is surprisingly readable and wholly enjoyable. The addition of Flora, the ghost, offered a medium through which to explore the sins of the past as well as create a platform of hope for the future. Above all, this is a novel about books and the portable power of them to anchor people and affect lives. I will close in the way in which I opened: this novel is magnificent.
Thanks to the publisher for the review copy.
November 6, 2021
The Week That Was…
Christmas is coming and Zeus is ready, dressed, and waiting to be of assistance.
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Joke of the week:
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What I’ve been reading:
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Until next week…
