The Grass Castle in Aussie Readers

Dec 10, 2013 Brenda rated it it was amazing

Shelves: arc, own-read, aussie-authors, sent-by-publisher, 2014-release, contemporary-fiction

Abby Hunter was a struggling student, studying in Canberra and involved in research with kangaroos. Beautiful creatures, the grace and elegance of their movements captivated her continually. She loved working outside; having grown up on a farm in Victoria she had never wanted to work behind a desk. Now her training was taking her to places she loved, working with wild animals – the respect she had for the animals had her working closely with them, but keeping her distance; not invading their spa Abby Hunter was a struggling student, studying in Canberra and involved in research with kangaroos. Beautiful creatures, the grace and elegance of their movements captivated her continually. She loved working outside; having grown up on a farm in Victoria she had never wanted to work behind a desk. Now her training was taking her to places she loved, working with wild animals – the respect she had for the animals had her working closely with them, but keeping her distance; not invading their space.

The day she met Cameron Barlow, she was waiting for him up in the hills to interview her about her research. Cameron was a journalist, and wanted a human interest story – her PhD supervisor who was an ecologist with a world-wide reputation for his excellence in science encouraged her to meet with the media – it would further her career he said. The WRX Cameron arrived in told her all she needed to know about this city boy, or so she thought.

Abby was a loner; she preferred her own company and didn’t do the social situations at all well – her young past was buried deep, and she had no desire to get too close to anyone – she wouldn’t risk having to discuss her family or her life. The afternoon she was checking her tagged kangaroos in the Brindabella Ranges near an old, deserted homestead, she was surprised to notice an old woman seated nearby. But when Abby witnessed her collapse, she raced to her side, helping her while she regained her composure. And so Abby met Daphne Norrington, the original owner of the homestead they were beside.

As Abby and Daphne became close friends, they both realized each other had secrets – deep, long ago secrets laden with grief. Daphne reminded Abby of her beloved Gran whom she had lost while she was a teenager – she had loved her Gran and so immediately felt comfortable with Daphne, sensing the old lady needed a friend, as she did. But the trauma of the past was seeking release – Abby was feeling more and more overwhelmed. And Daphne found herself drifting into the past – she couldn’t get past the grief which was always there, threatening her sanity. Would these two women be able to release the secrets that bound them? Together could they forgive and move forward?

I thoroughly enjoyed this wonderfully moving story. The characters were well crafted though at times I wanted to shake Abby! Daphne was delightful, a sweet old lady, but I wanted to shake her at times too! The way the past was woven into the present was beautifully done, everything blended and wound its way to a very satisfying conclusion. I have no hesitation in recommending this novel highly.

With thanks to The Reading Room and the publisher for my copy to read and review.
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Dec 15, 2013 Shelleyrae at Book'd Out rated it it was ok

Shelves: arc-are, provided-by-publisher, aussie-author

The Grass Castle is a quiet, introspective novel exploring the themes of displacement and belonging, grief and healing.

Abby Hunter is a struggling PhD student who prefers the isolation of her fieldwork in the Brindabella mountain ranges to the bustling activity of the university lab. Wary of relationships since her mothers death, she is content with the company of the Kangaroo's she is studying, but a chance meeting with elderly matriarch Daphne Norrington, and the gentle persistence of journali ...more

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Jul 10, 2017 Kathryn rated it really liked it

Shelves: australian-authors, reading-list-2017, 4-stars, fiction

This had a slow start to it, but gradually I got drawn into Abby’s and Daphne’s lives and wanted to know their stories. Set in the ACT - in Queanbeyan and more rural areas, the description of some of the countryside is lovely. Abby is studying kangaroos, so there are some aspects of kangaroo management discussed.

A large portion of the book relates to mental health and suicide, so there could be some aspects that touch some triggers for some people.

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Jan 04, 2017 Kira rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Shelves: historical-fiction, aussie-author, contemporary

This book sounded good, but didn’t live up to the expectations I had of it. Abby studies Kangaroos and meets Cameron, a journalist. At the same time we get to see Daphne’s story, about her time growing up in the same wilderness Abby now spends most of her days.

The characters in this story were okay, but I didn’t feel a strong connection to any of them. I would have like to have seen more of Daphne’s story, as for me that was the strongest part of this book. The plot line itself felt rather plod ...more

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Feb 09, 2014 Bree T rated it it was ok

Shelves: arc, australian, aww2014

Abby is a PhD student living in Canberra researching the movement and habitat of kangaroos. She lives a mostly isolated life in the bush tracking the animals and collecting the research she needs to write her thesis. A tragic event in Abby’s early teens has made her close herself off from the world. She lives away from her family and although she visits, they’re not exactly close. When she meets journalist Cameron, he tries to slip beneath the protective facade that Abby has constructed around h Abby is a PhD student living in Canberra researching the movement and habitat of kangaroos. She lives a mostly isolated life in the bush tracking the animals and collecting the research she needs to write her thesis. A tragic event in Abby’s early teens has made her close herself off from the world. She lives away from her family and although she visits, they’re not exactly close. When she meets journalist Cameron, he tries to slip beneath the protective facade that Abby has constructed around herself. She doesn’t ever want to get close to anyone and when she feels as though Cameron might be becoming too much of a fixture in her life, she seeks to distance herself from him.

Daphne grew up on a farm in a valley of the Brindabella Ranges. She then married a farmer and raised her own children there, in a world of horses and cattle and country living. Then the government forced them off their land and Daphne’s husband never really adjusted to the change. Some thirty years later Daphne has moved in with her daughter Pam and Pam’s husband and observes their world of babysitting their grandchildren. Occasionally she likes to visit what’s left of her old homestead, crumbling away now and it is there she meets Abby.

Abby and Daphne strike up an unlikely friendship. Abby feels able to confide in Daphne in a way that she has never with anyone else and Daphne enjoys the company of someone who isn’t part of her family and obligated to spend time with her, even if they don’t mind. Both of them have secrets and need each other’s help to move forward in their lives.

I was quite excited about this book when I began reading it but I have to say, unfortunately it did not live up to my expectations. The two stories of Daphne and Abby who function as dual narrators are interesting enough on their own but there’s a real lack of cohesion in bringing the two together and keeping them there. Abby is such a loner and although she comes across Daphne in a moment of illness and weakness, the friendship they strike up seems very unusual for Abby, given how reticent she is and how little she seems to enjoy spending time around other people. There’s the probability that Daphne reminded Abby of her grandmother, who did a large bulk of raising Abby and Daphne was clearly looking for an ear, knowing that Pam was busy with looking after her various grandchildren but to be honest, I found the scenes between Abby and Daphne extremely dull and on one occasion, more than just a little odd.

There’s a strong theme of conservation and mistakes running through this novel and at times it can feel a little preachy. Daphne’s parents presumably took their land from the Aboriginals (although her father strongly denied it, but in a guilty way) and later on, Daphne and her husband have to surrender their land back to the government for them to establish it into a National Park. Daphne remarks years later that this has been detrimental to the land, that it was better cared for when it was being farmed. The kangaroo numbers were kept down, the scrub was controlled and overall, everything was much better. Yet another government scheme that apparently went wrong. Likewise there’s also the issue of kangaroo culling but what I think it supposed to be presented as a debate falls down. Abby is concerned that the journalist Cameron is presenting his story one sided, which is a big no-no (even though Cameron says that the other side declined to comment). However this book presents the protesters as a bunch of raving lunatics intent on doing physical harm to anyone on the other side. It comes across as a bit sanctimonious and doesn’t really address the contentious issue very well. There’s no denying that kangaroos in large numbers can be pests and the fact that droughts can really strip the areas of their feed. However, they’re also a national icon and the idea of killing them simply because doesn’t sit well with many people, no matter how the scientists present their case. Killing native animals because there are too many of them is not the same as culling rabbits or wild pigs, who are only here because of human intervention. And yet there seems to be no other real workable solution.

The relationship between Abby and Cameron felt extremely underdeveloped and not just because Abby is borderline socially retarded. Abby’s first impression of him is terrible and therefore, the reader’s is too and although this can be overcome with careful and clever writing, it doesn’t seem like there’s a lot of effort that went into Cameron. He’s basically a good guy making his own way in life against his horrid parent’s wishes but he’s never really fleshed out properly and neither are his feelings for Abby. And because we’re with Abby most of the time, her feelings about Cameron are…distant. She’s not wanting to get involved because of her family history but her inner argument tends to make little sense to me and presumably even less sense to Cameron. The whole thing just felt really odd and awkward and not at all like a tormented relationship. Also, the inclusion of the mysterious “George” was very strange and far, far too convenient for any sort of believability.

I struggled through this one – some parts were interesting to me but they weren’t expanded upon enough. Others were far too embellished and I felt my eyes glazing over and would have to snap out of it and force myself back into reading. ...more

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