Theresa Smith's Blog, page 69
August 10, 2020
#MWFDIGITAL: Clare Bowditch – Your Own Kind of Girl
Clare Bowditch is a storyteller who lives in Melbourne with her husband Marty, their three teenage children, a white groodle, and one lone surviving free-ranging guinea pig. In terms of ‘the fancy stuff’, Bowditch is a bestselling ARIA Award-winning musician (Best Female Artist), Rolling Stone Woman of the Year (Contribution to Culture), Logie-nominated actor (for her role as ‘Rosanna’ on hit TV show Offspring), and a former ABC broadcaster who still misses her talk-back callers very much, and hopes they’re doing okay out there. In her spare time, Bowditch does a lot of public-speaking and event-running. She uses humour and the collective terror of ‘public-singing’ as tools to teach skills around courage and self-leadership. She is also the founder Big Hearted Business, a love project designed to support creative people in their businesses, and businesses with their creative thinking. As a musician Clare has performed and toured with the likes of Leonard Cohen, Paul Kelly, Cat Power, John Butler, Snow Patrol and Gotye. The person she enjoys touring with the most is her drummer and husband, Marty Brown.
[image error]
Your Own Kind of Girl
ARIA Award-winning singer and actress Clare Bowditch confronts her inner critic in this no-holds-barred memoir.
This is the story I promised myself, aged twenty-one, that I would one day be brave enough – and well enough – to write.
Clare Bowditch has always had a knack for telling stories. Through her music and performing, this beloved Australian artist has touched hundreds of thousands of lives. But what of the stories she used to tell herself? That ‘real life’ only begins once you’re thin or beautiful, that good things only happen to other people.
YOUR OWN KIND OF GIRL reveals a childhood punctuated by grief, anxiety and compulsion, and tells how these forces shaped Clare’s life for better and for worse. This is a heartbreaking, wise and at times playful memoir. Clare’s own story told raw and as it happened. A reminder that even on the darkest of nights, victory is closer than it seems.
With startling candour, Clare lays bare her truth in the hope that doing so will inspire anyone who’s ever done battle with their inner critic. This is the work of a woman who has found her true power – and wants to pass it on. Happiness, we discover, is only possible when we take charge of the stories we tell ourselves.
Published by Allen & Unwin
Released October 2019
Read my review here
[image error]
My Thoughts:
What an energetic session this was, lots of laughter and very much like a conversation between friends, I enjoyed it a lot. Clare has just signed her second book deal, pretty much just as Melbourne has gone into hard lock down.
Your Own Kind of Girl took Clare a long time to write. She started and abandoned many times over until she at last found the right time. But she also says that it took a long time to write because when you write about self-doubt, inevitably, self-doubt gets in the way. She also felt a lot of shame while writing it, but feels no shame in sharing it – a notable distinction, I feel. Clare believes it’s really important who you let read that first draft. Don’t show the wrong person the first draft! Another thing I liked: in the telling of any story, the excruciating part is what you have to leave out. Clare is talking specifically of her book, which is memoir, but I feel this is accurate for any writing.
Grief underpins much of Your Own Kind of Girl, specifically, the loss of Clare’s sister in childhood. I loved this: Grief ties us to life. It’s at this point that the session became quite emotional, as Clare shared that her mother is in palliative care, during Covid. For her family, this is like revisiting the grief they have already previously experienced. Clare then said that in many ways, Your Own Kind of Girl is a love letter to her mother. It was such a privilege to bear witness to Clare’s honesty and strength. I liked her well enough before this session, but now, I think she’s utterly fabulous. I can’t wait for her next book, and I don’t even need to know anything about it!
[image error]
August 9, 2020
#MWFDIGITAL: Jing-Jing Lee – How We Disappeared
Jing-Jing Lee was born and raised in Singapore. She obtained a master’s degree in Creative Writing from Oxford in 2011, and has since seen her poetry and short stories published in various journals and anthologies. She is the author of How We Disappeared, If I Could Tell You, and And Other Rivers. She currently lives in Amsterdam.
[image error]
How We Disappeared
The heart-rending story of survival and endurance in Japanese-occupied Singapore
Singapore, 1942. As Japanese troops sweep down Malaysia and into Singapore, a village is ransacked, leaving only three survivors, one of them a tiny child.
In a neighbouring village, seventeen-year-old Wang Di is bundled into the back of a troop carrier and shipped off to a Japanese military brothel. After sixty years of silence, what she saw and experienced there still haunts her.
And in the year 2000, twelve-year-old Kevin is sitting beside his ailing grandmother when he overhears a mumbled confession. He sets out to discover the truth, wherever it might lead, setting in motion a chain of events he could never have foreseen.
Weaving together two timelines and two very big secrets, this evocative, profoundly moving and utterly dazzling debut opens a window on a little-known period of history, and heralds the arrival of a thrilling new literary star.
Published by Oneworld
Released March 2020
[image error]
My Thoughts:
A rather sombre and heavy themed session to finish my Sunday MWF, but this was also one of my most anticipated and it didn’t disappoint. After outlining the historical context of the novel – the invasion of Singapore by Japanese forces in the second world war – and introducing the topic of ‘comfort women’ – local women taken captive by the Japanese and forced into military brothels – the author gave a short reading. A second reading came later on in the session, from a different character perspective.
Trauma is the key theme within How We Disappeared. Jing wanted to demonstrate the after effects of what war does to a person, not just immediately after, but decades on, the cumulative trauma and ongoing psychological injury. Through fragmented storytelling, she has tried to replicate the experience of repressed memory trauma.
The experience of women is in the foreground of the novel. A Singaporean herself, Jing says that Singapore has a long history of reverence for boys. Men are considered better, and women are leftovers. This cultural belief is ingrained and intergenerational. The shame associated with rape is heavy within Asian women. The majority of those who were captive comfort women didn’t want to return home after the war. Shame for their family was matched with the reactions from the family, where more concern was given to perceptions and community standing than actually helping the woman deal with their trauma. Jing was very emotional throughout this part of the interview, pressing the point that to force a woman into not talking about their trauma is to force a kind of death onto them. The repression causes part of them to disappear. Trying, for the rest of your life, to not remind people of your existence is a repeated death. The title of the novel, How We Disappeared, is directly related to this process.
A few other interesting things popped up in the discussion as well. Ghosts. Apparently, for people of Chinese descent, August is ghost month. I kind of love the idea of a whole month dedicated to ghosts. On a somewhat sadder note, finding out what a cardboard lady is was sobering. There are a lot of elderly women in Singapore who are hovering around the poverty line. Too old to work, they either don’t qualify for welfare or the welfare they get is far too little to live on. So they roam around malls and markets and just collect cardboard for recycling and live off the recycling money. I find this desperately sad and in total contrast to my perceptions of the wealth within Singapore. Which segues nicely into the next topic.
One of the characters is a twelve-year-old boy named Kevin. His place within the story is to provide relief from all the trauma and heavy storylines. And not just for the reader. Initially, he offered Jing a much needed breather whilst writing. The other reason she wrote in Kevin, was to show Singapore from a child’s perspective, which actually mirrors the world view, and is a contrast to the Singapore that is depicted via the main character’s trauma.
Jing concluded the interview with what she hopes is the takeaway message of the novel. She wants readers to see Singapore as more than what it is now. That it is a place with its own history. This left me pondering deeply. I’ve been to Singapore, and the majority of it is shiny and new. You have to look for the history. It is there, it’s just more hidden than what we’re used to. I really loved this session and the emotion Jing displayed throughout was moving. She is clearly very attached to the history that she has written about. It’s this kind of passion that infuses itself into the writing. I’ve had a review copy of this novel for quite some time, but have held off, knowing that this novel would not be easy to read. From attending this session though, I am now compelled to read it for that very reason.
[image error]
#MWFDIGITAL: A Touch of Magic
This session was a bit different to the others so far, because this one was a discussion panel. Moderated by Angela Meyer, the other guests were Jan Carson, author of The Fire Starters, and Robbie Arnott, author of The Rain Heron. Both of these authors write magical realism, and while their novels are vastly different, their reasons for injecting magic into their writing were quite similar, as well their views on using magical realism as a conduit for writing heavy themes.
[image error]
I actually enjoyed hearing from both authors, however, looking over my notes after the session revealed a leaning towards what Jan had to say. My reason for this is pretty obvious to myself as Jan’s novel is about Northern Ireland’s Troubles, which is a topic I’ve been keenly interested in since about 1995, and everything Jan had to say about present day Northern Ireland within this context was captivating.
The question was asked of both authors as to whether or not magical realism allows for reality to be more effectively addressed because you are essentially ignoring it.
Both gave a firm yes.
Robbie made the point that he can create a world that mirrors the issues we are currently facing but without the drag of worrying about accuracy in terms of who the President is and if he’s got the timeline of something right. With total invention comes creative freedom.
Which links in with what Jan said. The Fire Starters is set in contemporary Belfast, and by using absurd fantastical elements alongside life as it is in Belfast, she can give readers a ‘sucker punch’, a call to wake-up and have a reaction.
Robbie agreed, stating that thinking of something in highly imaginative terms often gives a person a new perspective on an existing crisis.
I enjoy reading magical realism, so much of what was discussed throughout the entire session really resonated. I’m interested in reading both of these novels now. The session was a lively one and so much more was explored, particularly regarding writing violence, but my notes got a bit thin towards the end as I became more engrossed in what they were saying!
[image error]
August 8, 2020
#MWFDIGITAL: Jessie Tu – A Lonely Girl is a Dangerous Thing
Tu trained as a classical violinist for more than 15 years. Failing to succeed as a professional musician, she taught music at Kambala, St Ignatius College, MLC Burwood, Kings School, Newington College. She’s taught at refugee camps in the Middle East, volunteered with AUSAID in The Solomon Islands, travelled to complete residencies in the U.S, and now works as a journalist at Women’s Agenda. She’s won several poetry and writing awards, and her first book of poetry was released in 2018. A Lonely Girl is a Dangerous Thing is her first novel.
[image error]
A Lonely Girl is a Dangerous Thing
Growing up is always hard, but especially when so many think you’re a washed-up has-been at twenty-two.
Jena Lin plays the violin. She was once a child prodigy and now uses sex to fill the void left by fame. She’s struggling a little. Her professional life comprises rehearsals, concerts, auditions and relentless practice; her personal life is spent managing the demands of her strict family and creative friends, and hooking up. And then she meets Mark – much older and worldly-wise – who consumes her. But at what cost to her dreams?
When Jena is awarded an internship with the New York Philharmonic, she thinks the life she has dreamed of is about to begin. But when Trump is elected, New York changes irrevocably and Jena along with it. Is the dream over? As Jena’s life takes on echoes of Frances Ha, her favourite film, crucial truths are gradually revealed to her.
A Lonely Girl is a Dangerous Thing explores female desire and the consequences of wanting too much and never getting it. It is about the awkwardness and pain of being human in an increasingly dislocated world – and how, in spite of all this, we still try to become the person we want to be. This is a dazzling and original debut from a young writer with a fierce, intelligent and audacious voice.
Published by Allen & Unwin
Released July 2020
[image error]
My Thoughts:
This was an extremely personal and in-depth session, of the likes where you wish there was a transcript you could repost. I found Jessie’s honesty about herself and how this translates into her work so engaging to listen to. The conversation dug into several themes with immense depth.
Jessie says she is very driven by anger. She was careful to point out that this doesn’t mean she isn’t open to discussion about the things that anger her; in fact, this drive compels her to seek the opposite: open, frank, constructive discussion. She attributes this anger to coming from a place where she is driven by a need to change the world. Specifically, this is about female agency. She feels, with certainty, that she will always write from the perspective of an Asian woman because she wants to universalise the voice of Asian women. In this, she wholly acknowledges that her character, Jena, is informed by many of her own past experiences.
Jessie says that one of her main reasons for writing the novel was to attempt to expunge the shame of reaching for predominantly white spaces throughout her own life. Specifically, but not exclusively, this relates to the shared experiences between Jessie and her character, Jena, as orchestral violinists. She links the continual reaching for these white spaces to migrant guilt. This guilt, that is carried through the generations, stems from the daily exposure to family history, particularly the difficult history, the struggles, the losses, the enduring pain. This intergenerational guilt then leads to a feeling of never being enough, a need to constantly reach beyond as a means of honouring ancestors and all that they went through, so that subsequent generations could live a better life.
A Lonely Girl is a Dangerous Thing is about loneliness, that broad universal experience that transcends everything. Jessie feels that loneliness, for millennials, can be attributed to their ‘mandatory’ online existences. She believes that when the percentage of online engagement is greater than face to face interactions, some essence of being human becomes lost. Loneliness can lead to people compromising their own safety. It’s here, at this point, where her character is.
The discussion explored, in great detail, issues of race and dating, specific to Asian women, and the way in which racial preferences can lead to sexual and domestic violence. There was so much said here of worth, and yet, it’s impossible to summarise. This was an excellent session and I feel I have a wealth of context now in terms of reading A Lonely Girl is a Dangerous Thing and appreciating it all the more.
[image error]
#MWFDIGITAL: Victoria Hannan – Kokomo
Victoria Hannan is a writer, photographer and creative director living in Melbourne. Her writing has appeared on McSweeney’s Internet Tendency, 3:AM Magazine and in her monthly TinyLetter about swimming pools.
Kokomo, her first novel, was written at artist-in-residence programs in Brazil, Tasmania and Iceland. Kokomo was the 2019 winner of the Victorian Premier’s Literary Award for an Unpublished Manuscript.
[image error]
Kokomo
A stunning debut novel from the winner of the Victorian Premier’s Literary Award for an Unpublished Manuscript.
When Mina receives an urgent call from her best friend back in Melbourne, her world is turned upside down. Her reclusive mother, Elaine, has left the house for the first time in twelve years.
Mina drops everything to fly home, only to discover that Elaine will not talk about her sudden return to the world, nor why she’s spent so much time hiding from it. Their reunion leaves Mina raking through pieces of their painful past in a bid to uncover the truth.
Both tender and fierce, heartbreaking and funny, Kokomo is a story about how secrets and love have the power to bring us together and tear us apart.
Published by Hachette Australia
Released 28th July 2020
[image error]
My Thoughts:
This was a very personal and introspective session. The discussion of the novel and its two main characters frequently seemed to weave in and out of the author’s own life experiences. When asked about the likeness between herself and the main character, Mina, Victoria said that there is a definite emotional resonance, some shared life experiences, and a view of the world combined.
We began with an author reading of the first chapter, a reading that was prefaced with an apology from Victoria for ‘all the penises’. This first chapter has been for Victoria, the most worrisome. It’s a chapter that she dearly loves, the aim of it all along to be funny, but from the beginning it’s had mixed responses. From those who know her, they get the joke. From editors, ‘I love the first chapter but it’ll have to go.’ And yet, it stayed, something Victoria feels extremely lucky about.
When asked what Kokomo is about, Victoria gave what she calls, her elevator pitch, followed by this, the shortened version: ‘A book with a lot of dicks in it.’ From what I’ve gleaned today, I’d say this is both actual and metaphorical. More specifically, the novel is about bodies and sex, grief, and the juxtaposition between staying and leaving. It’s written to be both intimate and observational. Later in the session, Victoria gave another reading, from much further into the novel, of the other character perspective, Mina’s mother.
Prior to Kokomo, Victoria had written a lot of short pieces about bodies and sex, as well as three novels. The novels she labels as all bad, never to be seen again, but they were a training ground, each offering an exercise in sustaining a narrative that is novel length. The third novel was the one that led to the top line idea for Kokomo. At a point where she was at a bit of a cross roads in her life/career, Victoria ended up applying for a heap of writing residencies in far flung countries, got one in South America, quit her job, and wrote the first draft of Kokomo over there.
Ironically, Victoria actually hates the Beach Boys song Kokomo.
[image error]
#MWFDIGITAL: Charlotte McConaghy – The Last Migration
Charlotte McConaghy has been writing from a young age. She has both a Graduate Degree in Screenwriting and a Masters Degree in Screen Arts, and has worked in script development for film and television for several years. She has written a number of speculative fiction books but The Last Migration is her first literary novel. She lives in Sydney.
[image error]
The Last Migration
A dark past. An impossible journey. The will to survive.
How far you would you go for love? Franny Stone is determined to go to the end of the earth, following the last of the Arctic terns on what may be their final migration to Antarctica.
As animal populations plummet and commercial fishing faces prohibition, Franny talks her way onto one of the few remaining boats heading south. But as she and the eccentric crew travel further from shore and safety, the dark secrets of Franny’s life begin to unspool. A daughter’s yearning search for her mother. An impulsive, passionate marriage. A shocking crime. Haunted by love and violence, Franny must confront what she is really running towards – and from.
The Last Migration is a wild, gripping and deeply moving novel from a brilliant young writer. From the west coast of Ireland to Australia and remote Greenland, through crashing Atlantic swells to the bottom of the world, this is an ode to the wild places and creatures now threatened, and an epic story of the possibility of hope against all odds.
Pub date: 4 August 2020
Penguin Random House Australia
[image error]
My Thoughts:
This was a lovely session. It opened with an author reading of the first chapter of The Last Migration and I am so keen now to keep on reading it. Charlotte has made a leap from writing YA speculative fiction to literary fiction. The key theme of the novel is loss and from that, the courage to endure and move forward from loss. The main character is coping with her own monumental loss at the same time that the world is facing catastrophic environmental loss, and it’s the link between these two that form the backbone of the story.
Charlotte wanted to write a story that explores the question of home. Do you need a place for it to be considered home, or can the element that makes it home be something else? She believes that people can be home. Can a person be migratory yet still have a home? Charlotte believes so, and demonstrates this through her main character.
The Last Migration is heavily influenced by Ireland, its landscapes, history, weather patterns, and mythology. She likens her main character to a Selkie, although only in essence, as The Last Migration is not speculative fiction.
Charlotte says she never set out to write a novel about climate change, but when you write about the natural world today, you have an obligation to engage with the climate crisis. It cannot be ignored. While on the surface, it may depict a bleak picture, The Last Migration is ultimately a book about reclaiming hope. Humans, Charlotte feels, are at their most destructive when they lose hope. There is power in hope. The Last Migration takes an existential look at the emotional impact of the entire loss of the earth’s creatures.
Charlotte’s next novel is called Creatures All and is about wolves and the Scottish Highlands. It’s all about the healing power of nature, a theme, Charlotte says, that will always be present within her writing.
[image error]
#MWFDIGITAL: Kevin Kwan – Sex and Vanity
Kevin Kwan is the author of the international bestsellers Crazy Rich Asians, now a major motion picture, China Rich Girlfriend and Rich People Problems. Born in Singapore, he has called New York’s West Village home since 1995.
[image error]
Sex and Vanity
The iconic author of the bestselling phenomenon Crazy Rich Asians returns with the glittering tale of a young woman who finds herself torn between two men.
On her very first morning on the jewel-like island of Capri, Lucie Churchill sets eyes on George Zao and she instantly can’t stand him. She can’t stand it when he gallantly offers to trade hotel rooms with her so that she can have a view of the Tyrrhenian Sea, she can’t stand that he knows more about Casa Malaparte than she does, and she really can’t stand it when he kisses her in the darkness of the ancient ruins of a Roman villa.
The daughter of an American-born Chinese mother and a blue-blooded New York father, Lucie has always sublimated the Asian side of herself, and she adamantly denies having feelings for George. But several years later, when George unexpectedly appears in East Hampton, where Lucie is weekending with her new fiancé, she finds herself drawn to him again. Soon, Lucie is spinning a web of deceit that involves her family, her fiancé and ultimately herself, as she tries to deny George entry into her world – and her heart.
Moving between summer playgrounds of privilege, peppered with decadent food and extravagant fashion, Sex and Vanity is a truly modern love story, a daring homage to A Room with a View, and a brilliantly funny comedy of manners set between two cultures.
Pub date: 2 July 2020
Penguin Random House Australia
[image error]
My Thoughts:
I really enjoyed this session. Kevin is such a funny, expressive guy, and yet, in a surprising twist, he admitted partway through the interview that this was merely a role he assumed for public functions. In truth, Kevin Kwan the author is a very different man to Kevin Kwan the regular person. He says that it takes a lot of effort to come across as an extrovert in public, but that it’s all in the name of entertainment, which is the business he moves in nowadays.
He initially began writing fiction as a personal hobby, a means of escape from his daily life, and he had no publishing aspirations at all. Fast forward to now, all four of his novels have film rights sold. With Sex and Vanity, Kevin is hoping to repeat the Crazy Rich Asians formula and has signed on as a producer, which will see him retain a lot of creative control – as he did with Crazy Rich Asians.
Sex and Vanity is like a clean slate for Kevin, a move away from the first trilogy. He’s always loved A Room with a View, it’s his favourite book, and he feels as though Sex and Vanity has been percolating away, drawing inspiration from all over, for the last decade. Amongst the novel’s key themes is the exploration of the complications of being caught between two cultures when you are Eurasian. It’s also a love letter to pasta apparently – I feel this is a big drawcard for me!
Sex and Vanity is the first book in a new trilogy, but Kevin warns this is not a conventional trilogy. Rather than focusing on taking the characters forward through the books, the link is through cities, hence the name, Cities Trilogy. Sex and Vanity is set in New York, from there, onwards to London, and then Paris, the trilogy therefore a tribute to Kevin’s favourite three cities. For Crazy Rich Asian fans, Kevin hints that there are a lot of “Easter Eggs” buried in Sex and Vanity. You just need to find them. I honestly can’t wait to read it!
[image error]
August 7, 2020
#BookBingo2020 – Round 8: Themes of Inequality
[image error]
This era within Walking also seemed to coincide with changing views about quality of life, along with equality of care. But goodness, medicine was certainly an ‘old boys’ club back then, rife with bigotry and sexism, much to the shame of our country that allowed such views to be so firmly institutionalised and influential. When bigotry overrides quality of care, you know you have some serious issues on hand.
Visit my full review on this book here.
[image error]
I’ve teamed up once again with Mrs B’s Book Reviews and The Book Muse. It’s going to be a little different for 2020, the card has less squares, allowing us to run bingo on the second Saturday of each month. Also, for the first time since beginning bingo, I haven’t specified genre, type, or even fiction or non-fiction for the categories. 2020 is all about themes, and from there, the choice is wide open.
Hope to see you joining in! If you want to play along, just tag us on social media with your bingo posts each month. You can also join the Page by Page Book Club with Theresa Smith Writes over on Facebook, where we all post in the same place on the same date and chat over each other’s entries. Alternatively, drop a link each month into the comments of my Saturday bingo post so I can follow your progress blog to blog.
#BookBingo2020
August 6, 2020
The Week That Was…
What is going on with this week? On the same day, dishwasher fail and robot vacuum fail. My two most beloved labour saving appliances! New robot vacuum is on order, dishwasher to follow. But on the bright side, guess what starts this weekend?
[image error]
So keen! I am planning to blog about each session I attend, so heads up, there will be extra posting from tomorrow onwards throughout the festival period.
~~~
Joke of the week:
It’s an utter mum joke this week!
[image error]
~~~
Book of the week:
[image error]
~~~
What I’ve been watching:
It is done! After 78 episodes, I’m taking a break from TV and have been back to reading.
I did enjoy this show though, the fourth season the most.
[image error]
~~~
What I’m reading right now:
[image error]
~~~
Until next week… 
August 5, 2020
Book Review: The Clock Winder by Anne Tyler
About the Book:
Having sacked her handyman, newly-widowed Mrs Emerson finds a replacement in Elizabeth, a lanky, awkward girl. The Emersons – there are seven grown-up children – have a reputation for craziness and Elizabeth finds herself drawn into their disorderly lives against her will. But in the end it is hard to tell whether she is a victim of the needy Emersons, or the de facto ruler of the family.
My Thoughts:
I’m a late comer to Anne Tyler, my love for her writing starting with her latest release, Red Head by the Side of the Road, earlier this year. I was so taken with the beauty, wit, and insight of her writing, that I’ve made a personal commitment to read as much of her backlist as possible – which will hopefully be all. So, from her most recent release, I’ve now stretched right back to one from 1972, The Clock Winder. From the very first page of this novel I felt this wrap of comfort slipping around me and this never left me for the duration. I just feel like Anne Tyler might be the very best author l have ever had the pleasure of reading, making me all the more satisfied that I have already begun purchasing her backlist and have several ready to go whenever the whim or need for a bit of Anne comes upon me.
The Clock Winder spans a decade with the large and rather hectic Emerson family. It begins with Mrs Emerson, recently widowed, rattling around her big house, sacking her outdoors handyman for peeing on the roses. By some twist of fate, Elizabeth happens by the house whilst headed on her way to enquire about a job as a housekeeper within the neighbourhood, and sees Mrs Emerson struggling to put her outdoor furniture from the veranda to the garage, offers assistance, and ends up staying on as the new handyman. And from this point on, the lives of Elizabeth, Mrs Emerson, and all seven of her adult children, are changed, in both good ways and bad.
Heartbreak and humour is delivered in equal measure, sometimes even in the same breathtaking passage. Everyone is a little bit crazy, a little bit out of the ordinary, a little bit too much or too little – kind of like real people, existing in a real family where the patterns and codes are really only understood by the inner circle. The conversations are sublime, absolutely priceless, and I am beginning to see that this is where Anne’s magic stems from, the intimacy that she is able to inject into any conversation or scene, bringing it to life as though you are right there with the characters, living alongside them. It’s incomparable. This novel, in a nutshell, is about a family. But it’s also about being in, and fitting into, a family, finding your place within that dynamic and the way in which this shapes who we are within the context of our other family members. We can all relate to being one person within our family and a whole other person in a different setting with other people, and this novel shows this with blistering clarity. It’s also about unconditional love, and the way in which we accept the quirks and faults of those we are related to, for better or worse, and often work around it. This is the type of fiction I crave, the very definition of a ‘comfort read’ for me.
Utterly brilliant. Just pass me the next Anne Tyler please.
About the Author:
Anne Tyler was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota, in 1941 and grew up in Raleigh, North Carolina. Her bestselling novels include Breathing Lessons, The Accidental Tourist, Dinner at the Homesick Restaurant, Ladder of Years, Back When We Were Grownups, A Patchwork Planet, The Amateur Marriage, Digging to America, A Spool of Blue Thread and Vinegar Girl.
In 1989 she won the Pulitzer Prize for Breathing Lessons; in 1994 she was nominated by Roddy Doyle and Nick Hornby as ‘the greatest novelist writing in English’; in 2012 she received the Sunday Times Award for Literary Excellence; and in 2015 A Spool of Blue Thread was a Sunday Times bestseller and was shortlisted for the Baileys Women’s Prize for Fiction and the Man Booker Prize.
[image error]
The Clock Winder
This Edition Published by Penguin Random House Australia – Vintage
First Released 1972
