Theresa Smith's Blog, page 83
February 18, 2020
Top 10 Tuesday
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Top 10 Tuesday was originally created by The Broke & the Bookish and is now hosted by Jana @That Artsy Reader Girl. It features a different bookish theme each week and this week……
Top 10 Books That Gave You A Book Hangover
I follow Top 10 Tuesday each week on All The Books I Can Read with 1girl2manybooks but this is the first theme that’s prompted me to actually have a go. Plus, it’s usually way too late when I read the posts and I’ve pretty much missed Tuesday. Anyway, here goes…
The last 10 books that gave me a book hangover:
Greenwood by Michael Christie
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The Long Petal of the Sea by Isabel Allende
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My Brilliant Friend by Elena Ferrante
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The Glorious Heresies by Lisa McInerney
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Bone China by Laura Purcell
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Confession with Blue Horses by Sophie Hardach
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The Dutch House by Ann Patchett
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Invented Lives by Andrea Goldsmith
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City of Girls by Elizabeth Gilbert
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The Secrets We Kept by Lara Prescott
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February 16, 2020
Book Review: A Long Petal of the Sea by Isabel Allende
About the Book:
September 3, 1939, the day of the Spanish exiles’ splendid arrival in Chile, the Second World War broke out in Europe.
Victor Dalmau is a young doctor when he is caught up in the Spanish Civil War, a tragedy that leaves his life – and the fate of his country – forever changed. Together with his sister-in-law, the pianist Roser, he is forced out of his beloved Barcelona and into exile.
When opportunity to seek refuge arises, they board a ship chartered by the poet Pablo Neruda to Chile, the promised ‘long petal of sea and wine and snow’. There, they find themselves enmeshed in a rich web of characters who come together in love and tragedy over the course of four generations, destined to witness the battle between freedom and repression as it plays out across the world.
A masterful work of historical fiction that soars from the Spanish Civil War to the rise and fall of Pinochet, A Long Petal of the Sea is Isabel Allende at the height of her powers.
My Thoughts:
A Long Petal of the Sea is a beautifully moving love letter to Chile and while Allende never disappoints, even with the bar set so high, I was still swept away by how glorious this novel is. It is in many ways stylistically reminiscent of narrative non-fiction. The Spanish Civil War preceding WWII and the political turbulence of Chile throughout the decades from the 1940s through to the 1990s is finitely detailed. But as is the way with Allende, she can even write political history with a fluidity that is almost poetic.
‘This is a novel, but the events and historical individuals are real. The characters are fictional, inspired by people I’ve known. I have had to imagine very little, because as I was doing the exhaustive research I carry out for each novel, I found I had more than enough material. This book wrote itself, as if it had been dictated to me.’ – Isabel Allende
I loved this novel. It is, in my opinion, a modern master piece. Chile is like its own character, with just as much presence as Victor or Roser within any scene. This is a novel that is so enriched by culture, love, compassion, and loyalty. Reading it was a joy that I was reluctant to let go of. Victor and Roser just might be my favourite literary couple of all time now. Their love, particularly as their marriage aged, was such a beautiful testimony to devotion and kinship, an evolution of feelings between two people who have lived in the face of loss and know that freedom can be, and is all too often, transient. The poetry of Pablo Neruda prefaces each chapter, offering context and beauty of prose that compliments this story to perfection. All the stars for this one. And then some.
Thanks is extended to Bloomsbury for providing me with a copy of A Long Petal of the Sea for review.
About the Author:
Isabel Allende—novelist, feminist, and philanthropist—is one of the most widely-read authors in the world, having sold more than 74 million books. Born in Peru and raised in Chile, Isabel won worldwide acclaim in 1982 with the publication of her first novel, The House of the Spirits, which began as a letter to her dying grandfather. Since then, she has authored more than twenty three bestselling and critically acclaimed books, including Of Love and Shadows, Eva Luna, Daughter of Fortune, Island Beneath the Sea, Paula, The Japanese Lover and In the Midst of Winter. Translated into more than forty two languages. Allende’s works entertain and educate readers by interweaving imaginative stories with significant historical events.
In addition to her work as a writer, Allende devotes much of her time to human rights causes. In 1996, following the death of her daughter Paula, she established a charitable foundation in her honour, which has awarded grants to more than 100 non-profits worldwide, delivering life-changing care to hundreds of thousands of women and girls. More than 8 million have watched her TED Talks on leading a passionate life.
She has received fifteen honorary doctorates, including one from Harvard University, was inducted into the California Hall of Fame, received the PEN Centre Lifetime Achievement Award, and the Anisfield-Wolf Lifetime Achievement Award. In 2014, President Barack Obama awarded Allende the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation’s highest civilian honour, and in 2018 she received the Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters from the National Book Foundation. She lives in California. Her website is www.IsabelAllende.com
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A Long Petal of the Sea
Published by Bloomsbury Publishing
Released 21st January 2020
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I just wanted to include a photo of my edition as it differs from the one pictured on the publisher website. I love the metallic shimmer and the slip case has a beautiful textured feel to it as well. It’s so lovely that beautiful books are still being made, despite the large-scale shift to mass produced paperbacks and digital editions.
February 13, 2020
The Week That Was…
Happy Valentine’s day! 
Love and kindness go hand in hand. For me, Valentine’s day has always been about spreading joy more than romance. So here’s to friendship that has risen out of a mutual love of books and the joy that bookish love and connection brings to each of us.
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Joke of the week:
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Book of the week:
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What I’m reading right now:
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Until next week… 
February 12, 2020
Thinking out loud… Content warnings for books
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We’ve all read a book (or many) that contains something that we find personally offensive, distressing, or off putting. Many of us might have certain themes we’d prefer to avoid, I certainly do. But how do we go about this? I’m finding it increasingly difficult to be able to identify if a book is going to contain one of my ‘trigger’ themes. Blurbs are not always as comprehensive as they should be, and even when they are, they still don’t tend to fully disclose content. Which brings me to a point of concern: that potentially distressing content is being considered as a ‘plot twist’ or a ‘plot surprise’ that needs to be kept secret so as not to ‘spoil the story’.
I have a few issues with this.
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Everything we watch, from movies to television shows and even documentaries, have a rating and are prefaced with a content warning. Yet books are not, and as anyone who reads will know, just because you’re reading it instead of watching it doesn’t make it any less distressing. Imaginations are vivid landscapes and once seen, it’s very difficult to un-see. So why can’t publishers put a content warning in the front of a book, indicating that it contains potentially distressing material? You could surely word up a warning, alluding to the theme without fully ‘spoiling’ the story. And anyway, I’d honestly rather know what I’m in for because finding out that a child has been sexually abused, as just one example, is not a plot twist I relish.
What does everyone else think on this? Are there any themes you would prefer to avoid that you’ve been distressingly caught out on? Would you like to see relevant content warnings in the front of books and to what sort of themes do you think it should extend to? Whose responsibility is it to warn readers? The author, or the publisher?
February 11, 2020
Book Review: Bjelke Blues edited by Edwina Shaw
About the Book:
‘Bjelke Blues gives heart and soul to the remembrances of the men and women who were at the end of police batons… at the front line fighting for justice and decency’ – Matthew Condon, journalist and author of Three Crooked Kings, Jacks and Jokers, All Fall Down and The Night Dragon
With stories by: Nick Earls, Melissa Lucashenko, Bob Weatherall, Sam Watson, Raymond Evans, Anne Jones, John Willsteed, Matt Mawson, David Margan, Dan O’Neill, Mandy Nolan, Andrea Baldwin, Sean Mee & many more
My Thoughts:
‘Joh was not a Premier that Queensland should be proud of. He reduced it to a state ridicule in the 1970s and later brought it into disrepute. He set out to harm the lives of many people. He used the legal process to cower his opponents with unaffordable costs. His regime was a rapacious destroyer of some of Queensland’s most wonderful assets. That any survived is a tribute to the Queensland conservation movement. He was a fool who supported a quack with some snake oil cure for cancer, and a charlatan who claimed to be able to run cars on hydrogen. He corrupted what had been an effective, efficient bureaucracy committed to serving the public into an organisation which was only to serve the political party in power. He used his position to gain favours for himself and his favourites. He was corrupt and he appointed corrupt people to high places.’
You know how sometimes you read a book and you need to constantly remind yourself that it’s fiction? Well, with this one, I had to constantly remind myself that it WASN’T fiction. I moved to Queensland towards the end of 1987, but I was still in primary school and oblivious to politics, as the majority of eleven-year olds often are. As I got older, I of course became aware of Joh Bjelke-Petersen, but only in the sense of him as a former premier who farmed peanuts in Kingaroy and had a wife named Flo. We moved to Queensland from Victoria in the late 1980s for a ‘better life’. I’m wondering now what memo my parents got that farcical notion from. Don’t get me wrong, Queensland is my home and has been ever since then, but it seems odd, that as so many were leaving Queensland to escape the tyranny of Joh Bjelke-Petersen and his police state, that we would be traveling in the opposite direction. Must have been the sunshine.
Bjelke Blues is all about resistance during the nineteen years that Joh Bjelke-Petersen reigned as Premier of Queensland. It’s the kind of book that has you laughing while also crying and beating your head against the table. This was Queensland? It beggars belief. Countless remembrances written by a wide variety of Queenslanders make up the content of this book. Ordinary people who protested for a better Queensland; people who were openly harassed in the most appalling manner and subjected to violence, arrest, surveillance, and financial penalty by the police for the most ridiculous reasons. This is the sort of stuff that you read about under police states; life in the USSR during the Cold War. But no, this was Queensland from 1968 through to 1987. A democratic state within a democratic country. Like I said, I had to frequently remind myself this wasn’t fiction.
There’s a lot of ground covered within this book and it’s all utterly fascinating, yet also horrifying. It’s also kind of uplifting and hopeful, particularly when you consider those who relentlessly ‘fought the good fight’, despite knowing that the police were not ever going to be on their side. The corruption was astounding, the bogus laws appalling, the archaic views of Bjelke-Petersen horrifying. The racism, sexism, homophobia, and widespread prejudice against youth, certain religions, creative people, university students, people with a modicum of intelligence…the list goes on. What a frightening time to have lived in Queensland. This book tells so much, and at times, yes, it’s downright distressing to read about how certain people were treated. But it’s so important, as people who live in a democratic nation, to read a book like this, a history from within your own country that is not too distant, where the echoes can still be heard within the voices of politicians getting voted in today, not just in Queensland, but all over Australia.
Thanks is extended to the author for providing me with a copy of Bjelke Blues for review.
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Read for #2020ReadNonFic hosted by Book’d Out
Category: History
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Bjelke Blues
Published by AndAlso Books
Released September 2019
February 9, 2020
Book Review: Big Lies in a Small Town by Diane Chamberlain
About the Book:
North Carolina, 2018: Morgan Christopher’s life has been derailed. Taking the fall for a crime she did not commit, she finds herself serving a three-year stint in the North Carolina Women’s Correctional Center. Her dream of a career in art is put on hold – until a mysterious visitor makes her an offer that will see her released immediately. Her assignment: restore an old post office mural in a sleepy southern town. Morgan knows nothing about art restoration, but desperate to leave prison, she accepts. What she finds under the layers of grime is a painting that tells the story of madness, violence, and a conspiracy of small town secrets.
North Carolina, 1940: Anna Dale, an artist from New Jersey, wins a national contest to paint a mural for the post office in Edenton, North Carolina. Alone in the world and desperate for work, she accepts. But what she doesn’t expect is to find herself immersed in a town where prejudices run deep, where people are hiding secrets behind closed doors, and where the price of being different might just end in murder.
What happened to Anna Dale? Are the clues hidden in the decrepit mural? Can Morgan overcome her own demons to discover what exists beneath the layers of lies?
My Thoughts:
I have been a long-time fan of Diane Chamberlain, she’s an author whose books just gel with me, every time. Big Lies in a Small Town is, in my opinion, her best yet. This was such a good novel. Next level fiction and one I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend far and wide.
Big Lies in a Small Town is a dual timeline narrative, with a multi-layered plot that has anchors in both eras, as well as credible links between the characters across time. Both of the main characters, Morgan and Anna, were women that I formed a great deal of empathy for and I felt quite invested in their stories. As the novel progressed, I really enjoyed seeing all of the plot threads begin to knit together and there were plenty of ‘ah-ha’ moments as mysteries were solved and character connections were made.
I was surprised to read in the author note that the town in which the story was set, Edenton, is an actual town in North Carolina. While the story itself is fiction, it interested me that Diane had used an actual small town as the setting for a novel that doesn’t always paint that town in a merry way; I wondered at the possible outrage from its residents and fallout for the author. But when you read a bit further into the author note, Diane outlines some very positive things that have been happening within that town to address its painful (and shameful) history; one that is deeply rooted in slavery and segregation. It seems also that Edentonians were more than happy to have their town as the setting for the latest Diane Chamberlain novel and were supportive of her intentions and her handling of their history.
Big Lies in a Small Town has some rather big issues woven into its plot and the characters are not left unscathed. This is one of the things I’ve always enjoyed when it comes to a Diane Chamberlain novel. She’s not afraid to ‘go there’ with the big issues, stretch her characters, and shake her readers up a bit with her plot. It gives her work a credible edge, and coupled with her extensive research, makes for absorbing reading. Once again, Diane Chamberlain has delivered a cracking good release and if you’re looking for a book that has it all: drama, mystery, crime, history, absorbing characters, and plenty of shock value – you can’t go past Big Lies in a Small Town.
Thanks is extended to Pan Macmillan Australia for providing me with a copy of Big Lies in a Small Town for review.
About the Author:
Diane Chamberlain is the bestselling author of numerous novels including Necessary Lies, The Silent Sister and Pretending to Dance. Her storylines are often a combination of romance, family drama, intrigue and suspense. She lives in North Carolina with her partner, photographer John Pagliuca, and her Shelties, Keeper and Cole.
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Big Lies in a Small Town
Published by Macmillan
Released on 14th January 2020
February 7, 2020
#BookBingo2020 – Round 2: Themes of crime and justice
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Often after having read a thriller, the most common thing you’ll hear is: ‘That twist!’ I can’t say that with this one though, because In the Clearing has as many twists as a wizened old oak tree. It’s imaginatively clever, laying down pavers to walk you in one direction only to explosively change direction – again and again.
It’s clever, gripping, thought provoking, and realistic enough to raise the hairs on the back of your neck.
A perfect choice for this bingo category of crime and justice themes!
Visit my full review on this book here.
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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
February 6, 2020
The Week That Was…
This week has been more of a drag myself through it kind of a week, going from waking on Sunday with a headache that progressed by Monday to a migraine which then eased off on Thursday to a low level headache. Today is the first day I’ve felt human and fully functioning.
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Our wet season is continuing, it’s a good one this year! Although it does make me realise how lucky we are that our heat normally is absent of humidity. I couldn’t live like this all year round – wet/hot/wet/hot!
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Joke of the week:
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Thanks to my sister for bringing this one to my attention! 
February 5, 2020
A Month of Reading: January
#BookBingo2020: 5 books
#2020ReadNonFic: 1 book
#aww2020: 4 books
#TheClassicsEight: 0 books
Total books read for January: 13 books
February 4, 2020
Book Review: The Foundling by Stacey Halls
About the Book:
From the bestselling author of The Familiars, and set against the vibrant backdrop of Georgian London, The Foundling explores families, secrets, class, equality, power and the meaning of motherhood.
London, 1754. Six years after leaving her illegitimate daughter Clara at London’s Foundling Hospital, Bess Bright returns to reclaim the child she has never known. Dreading the worst – that Clara has died in care – the last thing she expects to hear is that her daughter has already been reclaimed – by her. Her life is turned upside down as she tries to find out who has taken her little girl – and why.
Less than a mile from Bess’ lodgings in the city, in a quiet, gloomy townhouse on the edge of London, a young widow has not left the house in a decade. When her close friend – an ambitious young doctor at the Foundling Hospital – persuades her to hire a nursemaid for her daughter, she is hesitant to welcome someone new into her home and her life. But her past is threatening to catch up with her and tear her carefully constructed world apart.
My Thoughts:
Stacey Halls just might be my favourite historical novelist now. You can’t really make that call after one book, but now I’ve read her second and it’s as equally good as what her first was, so she can officially rank as a favourite now. For those who have read The Familiars, expect something different with this one – and isn’t that one of the best examples of literary talent: the ability to write each book different, to not write to formula, or stick to what worked for you before. The Foundling, like The Familiars before it, is historical fiction, but that’s where the similarities end.
‘My own daughter was inside, her fingers closing around thin air. My heart was wrapped in paper. I had known her hours, and all my life. The midwife had handed her to me, slick and bloodied, only this morning, but the Earth had turned full circle, and things would never be the same.’
The Foundling is a story of two women living lives as far removed from each other as possible. It’s a rather feminist story, which I appreciated greatly, and very atmospheric. Within each woman’s perspective, the reader was invited to step into their lives, be it gilded or impecunious, and to experience what day to day living might have been like for an 18th century woman living in London. Connected by a man and a child, these two women overcome much to eventually work together towards a mutual solution to their problem. In this, the novel really shines, as it depicts each woman assuming agency over her own life.
‘These feminine vessels we inhabited: why did nobody expect them to contain unfeminine feelings? Why could we, too, not be furious and scornful and entirely altered by grief? Why must we accept the cards we had been dealt?’
Alexandra was a complex character, not at all like what she appeared to be on the surface. She comes across as emotionally unresponsive, but she is stitched together with trauma, and as more and more details are revealed as the novel progresses, it becomes impossible to take her at face value. Bess was less complex, but driven by a mother’s love and fury at her circumstances costing her the ability to fulfil that role, and in this, she was a formidable character with much about her to be admired.
The Foundling Hospital within the novel is based upon a real place that existed within that time, but this novel is driven more by its characters than by historical events. Stacey Halls knows her craft though, and she has such a talent at creating mood and atmosphere, at conveying emotion through gesture as well as words. She is certainly an author who has earned her place as an historical novelist of note. Just as I raved about The Familiars last year, I will quite happily rave about The Foundling this year.
Thanks is extended to Allen & Unwin for providing me with a copy of The Foundling for review.
About the Author:
Stacey Halls grew up in Rossendale, Lancashire, as the daughter of market traders. She has always been fascinated by the Pendle witches. She studied journalism at the University of Central Lancashire and moved to London aged 21. She was media editor at the Bookseller and books editor at Stylist.co.uk, and has also written for Psychologies, the Independent and Fabulous magazine, where she now works as Deputy Chief Sub Editor.
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The Foundling
Published by Zaffre
Released 4th February 2020
P.S. I didn’t think you could get a more gorgeous cover than The Familiars, but the publisher has outdone themselves again with The Foundling. With its silver embossing and plethora of details, all related to the story, this book is just beautiful, a book lovers dream! 10/10 once again for outstanding cover design.
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