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5★
1978 Miles Franklin award winner (and no wonder)
Nora Porteous, now in her 70s, returns from London to the Queensland house she grew up in. She calls it a house, not a home. She arrives exhausted after a long train ride up from Sydney, doesn’t remember anyone, doesn’t care to.
But she’s almost immediately bed-ridden with pneumonia so becomes a reluctant captive of the townsfolk who take solicitous care of her and insist on reminiscing. She is stunned when they show her gifts they’d saved that ...more
1978 Miles Franklin award winner (and no wonder)
Nora Porteous, now in her 70s, returns from London to the Queensland house she grew up in. She calls it a house, not a home. She arrives exhausted after a long train ride up from Sydney, doesn’t remember anyone, doesn’t care to.
But she’s almost immediately bed-ridden with pneumonia so becomes a reluctant captive of the townsfolk who take solicitous care of her and insist on reminiscing. She is stunned when they show her gifts they’d saved that ...more
A beautiful quiet book about an old woman returning to her childhood home fifty years after fleeing it. Nora escapes small town life for a bad marriage and then escapes the marriage for a life in London. As she settles back into the old Queensland house, she reminisces about her life, her family and her decisions. This is a short, sad book that somehow presents a complete picture of a women caught in a time where wanting anything other than a marriage and kids was almost impossible and captures
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I read this because it was the first book that the women read in Liz Byrski's A Month of Sundays which I read and enjoyed a month or so ago. The women in the bookclub had enjoyed this and their comments made me want to read it for myself.
It was a slow read - more based on descriptions of characters and places than plot-driven. At times it was a little difficult to understand what was happening and whether Nora, the main character, was remembering events or dreaming them or whether it was current ...more
It was a slow read - more based on descriptions of characters and places than plot-driven. At times it was a little difficult to understand what was happening and whether Nora, the main character, was remembering events or dreaming them or whether it was current ...more
I enjoyed the recount and shift from present to past. At times I found the protagonist difficult to relate to as some of her decisions were so stupid.
Jan 06, 2014
Kerry
marked it as to-read
Jul 22, 2014
Chris
marked it as to-read
Jan 22, 2017
Michele
marked it as to-read
Apr 12, 2017
Jax
marked it as to-read
Apr 02, 2018
Kim
marked it as to-read
Jul 27, 2022
Tess
marked it as to-read
Feb 05, 2024
EmJay
marked it as to-read
