Theresa Smith's Blog, page 55
April 28, 2021
Book Review: The French Gift by Kirsty Manning
A forgotten manuscript threatens to unravel the past …
Fresnes Prison, 1940: Margot Bisset, a former maid from the Riviera, finds herself in a prison cell with writer and French Resistance fighter, Josephine Murant. Together, they are transferred to a work camp in Germany, where the secrets they share will bind them for generations to come.
Present-day Paris: Evie Black lives above her botanical bookshop with her teenage son, Hugo. Nursing a broken heart, Evie receives an unexpected letter; she clutches at an opportunity to spend a magical summer with Hugo on the Cote d’Azur.
It’s here, on the Riviera, that the past envelops them and Evie attempts to unravel the official story of a famous novelist. If she succeeds, a murder from a lifetime ago may be solved.
Inspired by a true story of iconic French Resistance fighter, Agnes Humbert, whose secret journal shed light on a little-known aspect of World War II, The French Gift will captivate readers from beginning to unforgettable end.
My Thoughts:The French Gift pays homage to the women who were imprisoned in labour camps during WWII and sheds light on the little known ‘work’ they were forced to do in the most dangerous of working conditions. However, before you scroll on, thinking that you don’t need to read another WWII novel, there is a lot more to this story. It’s above all about friendship, of the life altering sort, that rare kind that is forged through shared circumstances and stoked by the embers of survival.
I really enjoyed this novel, it was structured with multiple timelines and three different female perspectives, but the author spent time nurturing each era and developing each character. She didn’t chop and change with each chapter, which I appreciated, because it allowed me to sink into each viewpoint without the constant pulling from one to the other. I was consequently able to bond with each character instead of having a preference for one over the other.
Stories about the Resistance will always interest me, I have direct family links to the French Resistance. I am also always interested in stories about writers, and The French Gift is about both of these topics. Win for me! I read this novel rapidly, it was so engrossing, even during what should have been the more difficult parts to read; the author wrote with such sensitivity and respect for the history and I have nothing but admiration for that.
The French Gift is a novel I can highly recommend. I think it would be a terrific book club choice too, particularly discussing the reveal that came towards the end. I actually began to have an inkling about it earlier on, but it would be fun to discuss with others what they thought, not just about the reveal, but also about the notion of truth with regards to revealing the past. What parts of the past need to be revealed and what parts should remain exactly where they are? A question worthy of bookish debate, certainly.
Thanks is extended to Allen & Unwin for providing me with a copy of The French Gift for review.
About the Author:Kirsty Manning grew up in northern New South Wales. A country girl with wanderlust, her travels and studies have taken her through most of Europe, the east and west coasts of the United States and pockets of Asia.
Kirsty’s first novel was the enchanting The Midsummer Garden published in 2017. Her second book, the bestselling The Jade Lily, was published in 2018 and her third, The Lost Jewels, in 2020. Her novels are also published in the US and in Europe.
Kirsty is a partner in the award-winning Melbourne wine bar Bellota, and the Prince Wine Store in Sydney and Melbourne. She lives in Melbourne, Victoria.
The French Gift
Published by Allen & Unwin
Released 30th March 2021
April 27, 2021
Book Review: From Ashes to Song by Hilary Hauck
It’s 1911 in Italy, and Pietro’s life on the family vineyard is idyllic. He has at last captured the melody of the grape harvest on his clarinet and can’t wait to share his composition with his grandfather, but before he can play, news arrives of a deadly disease sweeping the countryside. They have no choice but to burn the vineyard to stop its spread. The loss is too much for Pietro’s grandfather, and by morning, Pietro has lost two of the most precious things in his life—his grandfather and the vineyard. All he has left is his music, but a disastrous performance at his grandfather’s funeral suggests that music, too, now seems beyond his reach.
Adrift with grief, Pietro seeks a new start in America. He goes to work in a Pennsylvania coal mine where his musician’s hands blister and his days are spent in the muffled silence of underground.
When the beautiful voice and gentle heart of a friend’s wife stirs a new song in him, Pietro at last encounters a glimmer of hope. From a respectful distance and without drawing the attention of her husband, Pietro draws on Assunta for inspiration and soon his gift for music returns. But when grief strikes in Assunta’s life, Pietro is to blame. When Prohibition steals Pietro’s last pleasure, he has to do something before Assunta’s grief consumes them both.
Inspired by true events, From Ashes to Song is a story of unconventional love, hope, and the extraordinary gifts brought to America by ordinary people in the great wave of immigration.
My Thoughts:
After an initial slow start that had me doubtful as to whether or not this was the book for me, From Ashes to Song turned out to be a richly rewarding read. It follows the lives of Pietro and Assunta, two young people who separately immigrate to America at the same time, travelling over on the same boat. Their lives become connected rapidly in the way that migrants often did on account of working together and living in the same neighbourhoods, befriending the same people and facing the same barriers and challenges to adjustment within their new country.
Grief is a recurring theme throughout this novel which is really a reflection on the times. This was before the miracle of antibiotics, a time when you could lose a child to the type of infection we treat with ease today. Work practices are also so much safer now, the type of mining disasters as detailed within this novel far less of an occurrence. And while this story was liberally peppered with tragedy, I didn’t feel it was overdone, rather, a representation of what life must have been like. For Assunta, who bears the most tragedy within this novel, her experiences were compounded by isolation, living in an entirely different continent to her family and support network. I felt that the author captured the effects this would have had on a person quite accurately.
‘The music orchestra of joy, clamouring brass of death. Every instrument he could think of, each playing its own tune – intense pain, intense joy, nothing that could exist together, a mighty cacophony, drowning him in music. His head felt on the brink of imploding.’
Woven into every part of this story is music. Pietro is a musician, but he not only plays the clarinet, he is a composer. All sound is interpreted as music to him, it’s everything. I did really love this, the way in which the music was such a part of Pietro’s soul and how the author translated this music feeling onto the page. At times, the music allowed Pietro to communicate the most important things at the best time. At others, it was a barrier he couldn’t get past. Even when he tried to live without it, he couldn’t. He was a musician through and through.
‘After she fell asleep, Pietro came down and opened his notebook to write the song that had come to him for his new child. A song barely touching on the immensity of his joy, there may not have been song enough in the whole world to capture such joy.’
From Ashes to Song is an excellent read, a beautiful tribute to the early 20th century Italian immigrant experience into America. It’s peopled with richly developed characters and a complex storyline that will appeal to fans of historical fiction family sagas.
Thanks is extended to Sunbury Press for providing me with a copy of From Ashes to Song for review.
About the Author:Hilary Hauck is the author of From Ashes to Song, her debut novel. A writer and translator, her work has appeared in the Mindful Writers Retreat Series anthologies, the Ekphrastic Review, Balloons Lit. Journal, and the Telepoem Booth. She moved to Italy from her native UK as a young adult, where she mastered the language, learned how to cook food she can no longer eat, and won a karate championship. After meeting her husband, Hilary came to the US and drew inspiration from Pennsylvania coal history, which soon became the setting for her debut novel. Hilary is Chair of the Festival of Books in the Alleghenies, past president of Pennwriters, and a graduate of RULE. She lives on a small patch of woods in rural Pennsylvania with her husband, one of their three adult children, a cat with a passion for laundry, and an oversized German Shepherd called Hobbes—of the Calvin variety.
[image error]From Ashes to Song
Published by Milford House Press (Sunbury Press)
Released 13th April 2021
April 26, 2021
Book Review: The Beautiful Ones by Silvia Moreno-Garcia
They are the Beautiful Ones, Loisail’s most notable socialites, and this spring is Nina’s chance to join their ranks, courtesy of her well-connected cousin and his calculating wife. But the Grand Season has just begun and already Nina’s debut has gone disastrously awry. She has always struggled to control her telekinesis: the haphazard manifestations of her powers have long made her the subject of gossip – malicious neighbours even call her the Witch of Oldhouse.
But Nina’s life is about to change, for there is a new arrival in town: Hector Auvray, the renowned entertainer, who has used his own telekinetic talent to perform for admiring audiences around the world. Nina is dazzled by Hector, for he sees her not as a witch, but ripe with magical potential. Under his tutelage, Nina’s talent blossoms – as does her love for the great man.
But great romances are for fairy-tales, and Hector is hiding a secret bitter truth from Nina – and himself – that threatens their courtship.
The Beautiful Ones is a charming tale of love and betrayal and the struggle between conformity and passion, set in a world where scandal is a razor-sharp weapon.
My Thoughts:I discovered Silvia Moreno-Garcia last year through her novel, Mexican Gothic, which I absolutely loved. The Beautiful Ones is a very different story, and yet, I recognised it instantly as the work of Silvia Moreno-Garcia and was thrilled to see the versatility of her writing. Mexican Gothic was historical fiction with gothic, supernatural, and horror themes. The Beautiful Ones is also historical fiction, but of an entirely different theme and atmosphere. It put me in mind of a classic, to be honest, along the lines of the Bronte sisters merged with Austen. This is a clever novel, well written, with all the nuances of 19th century high society on full display.
‘It was all over. Not merely his courtship of Nina, but his eternal pursuit of Valérie herself. He had been able to love her, hopelessly, for years and years. She was married, she was far from him, and when he saw her again, she was cold. Yet his love did not diminish, his adoration of this woman did not cease. He was chained to her, to this brilliant ideal of a perfect love. Because he had always known that if he could have Valérie in his arms again, all would be well. It would be as though the decade that separated them had never happened and they would return to the happy days of their youth when everything was possible. It was as if he could unwind the clock with her aid. And once this happened, there would be nothing but joy. But then she had spoken and revealed the true reason why she had cast him aside, and Hector realized with horror that this perfect love he’d built in his heart was ugly and grim. Had he known Valérie was difficult? Yes. Had they fought before? Yes. He had, nevertheless, failed to understand her cruelty.’
The Beautiful Ones is a love story, following the familiar trajectory of a young woman falling in love with a man who is in love with another who is undeserving of that love. There is a slight supernatural element to the story in that Hector and Nina are both telekinetic; this is in fact what initially draws them to each other. I enjoyed this element of the story and it fit well within the era. Nina’s struggles to fit in were further hampered by this special skill of hers and I appreciated the way in which this defined her and made her push back against the constraints of conformity and the expectations of her social class. I really liked both Nina and Hector, not just together, but also singularly. Valérie, on the other hand, the villain of this story, was despicable. There were no lengths she was unwilling to go to in order to fulfil her own miserable needs. Silvia Moreno-Garcia shines in the area of character development, giving us both good and evil ones, as well as those that possess the traits of both.
‘He was struck with the incongruity of it all, wondering how he had arrived at this precious moment. So securely she had nestled in his heart, it was impossible to map his trajectory. “How did I ever find you?” he asked as he moved to her side. “You didn’t. I found you. At the library of the De Villiers, at the party of the Haduiers, and that night I went to Boniface,” she said lightly. He thought that truly it had been so, but that he had also been drifting toward her since the beginning, magnetized, a compass that had spun wildly and then gently settled upon a true north. Not love at first sight, because those fancies were best left for books and songs, but she had extended her hand and invited him to follow her into a dance, and he had found after a few steps that though he had never danced it before, he did not want to stop.’
The writing throughout this novel is divine. Poetic at times and infused with the atmosphere of the era. It really was a treat to read: a classic storyline with a fresh and unique twist. I’m looking forward to seeing what Silvia Moreno-Garcia comes up with next. Her versatility is admirable and makes her an exciting author to be a fan of.
Thanks is extended to Jo Fletcher Books for providing me with a copy of The Beautiful Ones for review.
Silvia Moreno-Garcia is the multi-award-winning author of Mexican Gothic (a New York Times bestseller), Gods of Jade and Shadow (one of Time magazine’s top 100 fantasy novels of all time), among others, The Beautiful Ones, Certain Dark Things and the forthcoming noir thriller Velvet was the Night, she has also edited several anthologies, including the World Fantasy Award-winning She Walks in Shadows (a.k.a. Cthulhu’s Daughters). Born and brought up in Mexico, she now lives in Vancouver, Canada.
The Beautiful Ones
Published by Jo Fletcher Books (Quercus Books)
Released 27th April 2021
April 25, 2021
The Week That Was…
Finally being settled in my own home after so many months of in-between has led to the return of my reading mojo. At least, that’s what I’m putting it down to.
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What I’ve been reading:
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Joke of the week:
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What I’ve been watching:
This was really interesting. Each episode features a new story with new characters with a different twist on the ‘soulmates’ concept. There’s some thought provoking themes within each episode. I’ve never been a big believer in the notion of soulmates so I quite enjoyed seeing this picked apart in such a clever way.
This was a lot of fun but also not without its thought provoking themes, particularly around cultural approbation, colonialism, and how history is told. It’s funny and intelligent, by the creators of Parks and Recreation (a favourite of mine) and very addictive. The main character, Nathan Rutherford, is ridiculous and incredibly selfish, but his best friend Regan is sensational, so it all balances out – as it’s meant to.
Jane Harper’s The Dry, starring Eric Bana. I actually liked this more than the book. Excellent film, stunning cinematography, and really terrific performances. I particularly liked how they worked in the flashback scenes. I’d watch this again.
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Until next week… 
April 22, 2021
#2021StellaPrize Winner: The Bass Rock by Evie Wyld
I’m thrilled to pass on the news that The Bass Rock by Evie Wyld is this year’s Stella Prize winner! If you need a reminder on why I love this novel so much, read my review here.
The Bass Rock is published by Penguin Random House Australia.
April 21, 2021
Book Review: The Jam Queens by Josephine Moon
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Award-winning jam maker Aggie is determined to take her Barossa Valley cafe to new heights. She has put the pain of unsuccessful IVF treatments and a broken relationship behind her, and is focused on the many wonderful possibilities life still holds in store.
When an invitation to travel across Australia on the Ghan for her mother’s seventieth birthday comes her way, she is at first apprehensive. But the trip offers a precious opportunity to spend some quality time with both her disgruntled mother, Valeria, and her distant daughter, Holly, as well as her meddling great-aunt, Myrtle. The four generations of the family, all single women, will be reunited at last.
As the iconic train chugs its way beneath majestic desert skies, Aggie’s difficult past resurfaces, her business comes under threat, and long-held family rifts reignite. To complicate things further, she’s distracted by the attentions of a handsome younger man on his own search for meaning in some of the country’s most remote and magical places.
By the bestselling author of The Cake Maker’s Wish, this is a sweet and soulful story about women being there for each other through the stickiest situations. It celebrates the joys and sorrows of life, and reveals the essential ingredients of the true recipe for happiness.
My Thoughts:This was pure magic. Like food for your soul. There’s so much in this book that I could relate to and I absolutely loved the overarching theme of hope that was ever-present throughout. I cried, I laughed, I drooled over the delicious descriptions of the jams, from the standard flavours through to the more unusual combinations. I’m a bit of a fancy jam fan and some of these I’d love to try. I really loved how jam was added to drinks and other types of food I wouldn’t normally think to add jam to. Very inspiring!
There were many parts of this story that reached right into my consciousness, but this part right here about parenting: absolutely yes. I feel this so often with each of my teenagers. Much of the story orbits around motherhood and mother figures, it was so insightful and deeply moving at times too.
‘Oh, everyone went on about how difficult the early years of motherhood were – the exhaustion, the sleeplessness, the breastfeeding woes, the lack of personal space and time. But in so many ways, those days were easier. Her daughter had loved her then. Valeria had been Agatha’s moon and sun and stars. Her daughter had believed what she’d had to say, unquestioning. It was later that her child had caused her to lie awake all night for entirely different reasons. It was later that she’d seen all the faults of her mothering in front of her face. Agatha had become a mirror for all her failures.’
I particularly enjoyed the trip the characters took on the Ghan. I’ve always been intrigued by that train trip and I was able to revisit Uluru through the pages of this novel – such a majestic and special place that Josephine captured to perfection. The entire Ghan trip was written with so much atmosphere, I honestly felt like I was taking the trip along with the characters, it was all so vividly realised.
This is a gorgeous story that will stay with you long after you’ve turned the last page. It’s coming up to Mother’s Day and you won’t find a better book than this to give as a gift.
Inspired by The Jam Queens, I recreated Aggie’s special hot chocolate, with Baileys and raspberry jam. It was divine!
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Thanks is extended to Penguin Random House Australia for providing me with a copy of The Jam Queens for review.
About the Author:Josephine Moon was born and raised in Brisbane, and had a false start in Environmental Science before completing a Bachelor of Arts in Communication and then a postgraduate degree in education. Twelve years and ten manuscripts later, her first novel The Tea Chest was picked up for publication and then shortlisted for an ABIA award. Her bestselling contemporary fiction is published internationally. Her books include The Tea Chest, The Chocolate Promise, The Beekeeper’s Secret, Three Gold Coins, The Gift of Life, The Cake Maker’s Wish and The Jam Queens. In 2018, Josephine organised the ‘Authors for Farmers’ appeal, raising money to assist drought-affected farming communities. She is passionate about literacy, and is a proud sponsor of Story Dogs and The Smith Family. She now lives on acreage in the beautiful Noosa hinterland with her husband and son, and a tribe of animals that seems to increase in size each year. She wouldn’t have it any other way.
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The Jam Queens
Published by Penguin Random House Australia
Released 13th April 2021
April 19, 2021
#thefoxchasetour #Book Review: The Chase by Candice Fox
The new novel by New York Times #1 bestselling author Candice Fox is an electrifying cat-and-mouse thriller set in the Nevada desert.
Candice Fox has been described by the Sydney Morning Herald as ‘one of Australia’s finest new gen crime writers’ and her latest novel is another thrilling ride, as a mass prison breakout lets loose 650 of the country’s most dangerous prisoners.
‘Are you listening, Warden?’
‘What do you want?’
‘I want you to let them out.’
‘Which inmates are we talking about?’
‘All of them.’
When more than 600 of the world’s most violent human beings pour out from Pronghorn Correctional Facility into the Nevada Desert, the biggest manhunt in US history begins.
But for John Kradle, this is his one chance to prove his innocence, five years after the murder of his wife and child.
He just needs to stay one step ahead of the teams of law enforcement officers he knows will be chasing down the escapees.
Death row supervisor turned fugitive-hunter Celine Osbourne is single-minded in her mission to catch Kradle. She has very personal reasons for hating him – and she knows exactly where he’s heading . . .
My Thoughts:Gripping from the first page, The Chase is an electrifying cat-and-mouse thriller where there is more than one cat and a whole lot of mice. Written with her trademark humour and offering multiple perspectives throughout, this highly anticipated new release from Candice Fox exceeded my expectations and then some.
I love the way Candice creates her characters, all shades of grey; good, bad, and in-between. The story was funny, shocking, horrific, thrilling, moving, and above all, entertaining. I hesitate to say that this is Candice Fox at her best because I love all of her novels but suffice to say, she is in top form and it doesn’t get much better than this.
John Cradle’s pursuit to prove his innocence alongside Celine Osbourne’s pursuit to lock him back up offered a particularly striking storyline, but there is so much more to The Chase than these two characters. There are other escaped criminals, other law enforcement officers, other lay people who are in the sights of the escapees; and then there’s the million-dollar question: who orchestrated the break out and what are they planning now that they’re out?
This is an immensely busy story with a huge cast of characters, but it all works so well. There’s one particular escapee that I want to mention who amused me greatly for the way in which he demonstrated how age can be a factor in underestimating someone. Let’s just say, if there’s been a prison breakout nearby, best not to stop and pick up strangers off the side of the road, no matter how old they are. Old does not equate to infirm. And age is no barrier to barbecuing.
The only problem with finishing a Candice Fox novel is knowing that you now have to wait for her next one. But it’s always worth the wait. Always.
Thanks is extended to Penguin Random House for providing me with a copy of The Chase for review.
Follow #thefoxchasetour here:
Hades, Candice Fox’s first novel, won the Ned Kelly Award for best debut in 2014 from the Australian Crime Writers Association. The sequel, Eden, won the Ned Kelly Award for best crime novel in 2015, making Candice only the second author to win these accolades back to back. Her subsequent novels – Fall, Crimson Lake, Redemption Point and Gone by Midnight – were all shortlisted for the Ned Kelly Award. In 2015 Candice began collaborating with James Patterson. Their first novel together, Never Never, set in the vast Australian outback, was a huge bestseller in Australia and went straight to number one on the New York Times bestseller list in the US, and also to the top of the charts in the UK. Their later novels – Fifty Fifty, Liar Liar, Hush Hush and The Inn – have all been massive bestsellers across the world. Bankstown born and bred, Candice lives in Sydney.
The Chase
Published by Penguin Random House Australia
Released 30th March 2021
April 17, 2021
The Week That Was…
I’d say I’m all settled in now with only 13 boxes of books left to unpack. Waiting on shelves to be delivered so this will be a work in progress over time.
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Joke of the week:
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What I’ve been watching:
My youngest son and I have been watching Ben Stiller and Owen Wilson movies this week since it’s school holidays for him. We watched all three Meet the Parents movies along with Starsky and Hutch. I’d already seen them all but it’s been fun watching them with him and seeing how much he enjoys them.
I also watched The Witches with my daughter before she headed back to uni. I really liked this new adaptation. There was nothing wrong with the previous one but I don’t mind a good remake of an old favourite.
TV wise, I finished this Stan series off this week as well. Very different and clever, I quite enjoyed it.
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What I’ve been reading:
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Until next week…
April 13, 2021
Book Review: One-Night Stand by Simon Taylor
Ben Thomas made a mistake.
A one-night stand with Natasha Peters has got her pregnant. Now he has two options: give up on his dream as a comedian and get a day job or abandon his responsibility and be a total dick.
Only when Tash tells the full truth does a third possibility emerge…
This story recounts the all too relatable experience of a fleeting sexual encounter and the hilarious mess it can create. It details all the things you think you know about safe sex and is inspired by the true story of a comedian in crisis.
My Thoughts:Comedy can be hit and miss on the page. There’s genuinely funny and there’s scenes that possibly seemed funny in the author’s head but didn’t translate to the page all that well. One-Night Stand is a genuinely funny book. The author, Simon Taylor, is a comedian so the odds were in favour of this being funny. I was a bit nervous going in though. I’m not a fan of stand-up comedy and the amount of un-funny comedians I’ve seen far outweigh the funny ones. And just because you’re a comedian doesn’t mean that you’re a writer. I was glad to discover with this book that Simon Taylor is not only funny, but he’s a hell of a good writer too.
With One-Night Stand, Simon Taylor has written the very definition of a page-turner. I raced through this novel, keen to find out the very thing that the main character wanted to know as well – but you’re going to have to read the book yourself to find out what that is. Ben was pretty hopeless at the start of the story, not particularly funny and not particularly responsible in any way whatsoever. As the story unfolds, Ben grows in many ways and there are some particularly poignant moments, especially to do with his own father, that proved his worth. By the end, I had an almost motherly affection for Ben and high hopes for his happiness and success.
This book was also an insightful look at the world of stand-up comedy. It’s not an easy pathway to follow and while I expected this, I wasn’t quite aware just how difficult it is to make it as a comedian, or, in all honesty, to make anything at all, dollar wise. It’s very much a career that seems to rest partially on talent and partially on being seen at the right time by the right person. Ben’s experiences, along with those of his friends, were an eye opener.
If you’re looking for a funny, yet meaningful read, I can highly recommend One-Night Stand. I feel like this story would translate to the screen really well, the whole time I was reading it I could see it playing out in my mind. It was such a pleasure to lose myself in the pages of a genuinely funny book, exactly what I needed right now. Fingers crossed that Simon Taylor has more than one book in him.
Thanks is extended to the author for providing me with a copy of One-night Stand for review.
About the Author:Simon Taylor is a Melbourne-born comedian, who by the age of 24 became a writer for The Tonight Show with Jay Leno in Los Angeles. Since then he has written for Shaun Micallef’s Mad as Hell on the ABC and Magic for Humans on Netflix.
His one-hour comedy special was filmed at the famous Enmore Theatre in Sydney and went on to air on ABC and Network 10. Simon has also featured on shows such as Comedy Up Late and Just for Laughs.
His debut novel, One-Night Stand, is available now and has received critical praise for its humour and heart.
One-Night Stand
Published by Larrikin House
Released 1st February 2021
A Month of Reading: March
So I just realised today that March is over, almost two weeks ago. That’s what you get for moving house! Better late than never…
Total books read throughout March: 8Until next month…(so about two weeks then!)
