‘No one is allowed to escape the symbols of occupation until …what? Amnesia sets in and the country forgets itself?’
The novel opens in occupied France‘No one is allowed to escape the symbols of occupation until …what? Amnesia sets in and the country forgets itself?’
The novel opens in occupied France in 1943. Dominique Aury feels a desperate need to do something: she loves her country and simultaneously hates it. She wants work that is not German propaganda, and it is becoming harder to find each day. She meets Jean Paulhan. They become colleagues and eventually lovers. He is an older man, with a wife. She has been married and has a child. She has also changed her name. Dominique becomes caught up in the French Resistance and she helps a woman she knows only as Pauline Réage to escape. (Those who have read ‘The Story of O’ may recognise these names.)
‘Names are good like that, you can reinvent yourself with a new one.’
This novel is a meditative reflection on how a story comes to be written, and who and what it might really be about. In part, this novel is about Dominique as O, rather than ‘The Story of O’. In part it is about the occupation of France., and about memory of the past. Only a man, it was thought, could write such a story. Dominique sets out to disprove this and becomes enmeshed.
‘There is a young woman, known only as ‘O’, walking through a city park with her lover.’
Dominique intends the story for her married lover with no wider circulation, but it is published. And once published, the story is no longer confined. The private becomes public, knowledge is assumed.
‘It occurs to her that is what O is doing: consenting to be the possession of strangers. And in this sense, in the event of publication, would she not become her character?
‘The Story of O’ has its own life quite independent of the author, it is part of O, it is part of France, it is part of the past. And what does it mean, when a story becomes detached from its context, when a private fairy tale becomes public property? And then, when, the author and recipient grow older, where does the fairy tale fit then?
‘But that’s the problem with the past. It never stays past.’
This is another beautifully written novel by Steven Carroll. The themes of the novel, of surrender, submission and shame apply to O and to France during this period. Both will move on, but the past cannot be ignored.
‘The lover for whom the love letter was written is gone. That world has passed. This one is not hers anymore.’
Note: My thanks to NetGalley and HarperCollins Publishers Australia for providing me with a free electronic copy of this book for review purposes.
‘It was like a murder of crows had muscled in on a couple of pigeons.’
Back in the 1980s, Annie Jones was part of a mildly successful band named Love T‘It was like a murder of crows had muscled in on a couple of pigeons.’
Back in the 1980s, Annie Jones was part of a mildly successful band named Love Triangle. But her dreams were derailed by family responsibilities. Thirty-five years later, with her parents now dead and her three children grown, Annie wonders whether she can try again.
But families are complicated. Annie’s family is together in the days before Christmas, to attend her father’s funeral and will then celebrate Christmas together. They are all staying in the home of her late parents. Meet Molly and her partner. Molly is pregnant with her first child. Meet Simon, his wife and child, who have flown in from Germany, and Naomi and her child. And then, there are the other two members of Love Triangle: Annie’s ex-husband Paul, and his partner Brian.
Molly wants Annie to help look after her baby, Simon wants Annie to sell the house. At least Naomi seems content. Can Annie find her own space, and freedom to pursue her dreams? Or is it too late?
‘This was impossible, Annie thought. How was she supposed to know who knew what about whom and if they did know how they had found out, and how long they had known for and what they were planning to do with information they may or may not have? This felt like picking up an Agatha Christie novel halfway through. It was a murder mystery, and the victim was Annie’s whole history.’
Ms Dettmann has peopled her novel with a delightful (mostly) collection of very human characters, with their anxieties, concerns, dreams, and regrets. Most of our view of events is delivered from the perspectives of Annie and Molly. There’s humour here, as well as all the complicated dynamics of family. An enjoyable read.
Note: My thanks to NetGalley and HarperCollins Publishers Australia for providing me with a free electronic copy of this book for review purposes.
‘Waipuldanya began life as a piccaninny on the Roper River in the south- east corner of Arnhem Land.’
Philip ‘Waipuldanya’ Roberts OBE (1922 – 24 Novem‘Waipuldanya began life as a piccaninny on the Roper River in the south- east corner of Arnhem Land.’
Philip ‘Waipuldanya’ Roberts OBE (1922 – 24 November 1988) was a traditional doctor, activist and adviser to the Commonwealth Government of Australia on Aboriginal policies and programs. This book is his autobiography, as told to Douglas Lockwood, and was first published in 1962.
This is the story of a man who straddled two cultures and was aware of the influence of both on his life. As a youth, Waipuldanya was taught how to track and hunt, how to live off the land. He introduces us to a way of life which had been largely untouched for thousands of years. He introduces us to a way of life which, while it was rich in meaning, full of ritual and beliefs, was considered inferior by ‘white-feller’ society.
‘Unfortunately for us, the alien laws of England, written centuries after our own, do not list interference with a sacred tree as a punishable offence, although heavy penalties are provided for sacrilege committed elsewhere – whether in a Christian Church, a Moslem Temple, or a Chinese Joss-House.
Is it surprising, therefore, that we resent compliance with supreme laws compulsorily applied to our lives without consultation?’
Waipuldanya , known in the ‘white-feller’ world as Philip Roberts, trained as a medical assistant and travelled far and wide to treat remote Indigenous people suffering from diseases such as leprosy and yaws. He learned how to read medical slides, with Dr ‘Spike’ Langsford. Later he was taught, by Dr Tarlton Rayment, how to operate an X-ray machine.
I read this book, conscious of how little I know about Indigenous cultures and beliefs. I finished wanting to know more.
Ivan Novak was putting out his garbage bins one evening in Sydney’s west, when he was shot dead. His father, Milan, leader of a cThe price of loyalty.
Ivan Novak was putting out his garbage bins one evening in Sydney’s west, when he was shot dead. His father, Milan, leader of a criminal gang, wants revenge. Milan is sure that Ivan was murdered by a rival gang, and revenge is a job for Ivan’s younger brother, Johnny.
There is plenty of tension between the various ethnic gangs in western Sydney. Old fears and suspicions, together with the trauma of war, have accompanied those who have fled in their former homelands.
While Johnny is part of the gang his father leads, he is torn between his loyalty to his Croatian heritage and his love for his wife Amy and their son Sasha. Amy wants the three of them to break free from this wave of violence, of attack and retribution. She moves temporarily with Sasha to the home of her parents. The violence escalates and others become involved.
Johnny wants to be with Amy and Sasha, but he also wants to prove himself to his father. Johnny has a plan which just may enable him to meet the expectations of both. In the meantime, can he keep his family safe? In this fast-paced debut novel, Ms Peck explores the causes and consequences of ethnic gang violence as well as conflicting loyalties. There are a couple of twists which help sustain the suspense. And the outcome?
Well, we can hope for a violence-free future …
Note: My thanks to NetGalley and Text Publishing for providing me with a free electronic copy of this book for review purposes.
This book edited by Molly Glassey, includes fifty essays which provide a six part look at 2020 and at what might happen next.
Most of us wiMoving on ….
This book edited by Molly Glassey, includes fifty essays which provide a six part look at 2020 and at what might happen next.
Most of us will remember the bushfires that saw out 2019 and saw in 2020. Many of those who lost their homes are still waiting to have those homes rebuilt. And after the bushfires some of us experienced hailstorms, and then others were flooded. Before we could catch our collective breath, the COVID-19 pandemic struck.
Here we are in 2021, the COVID-19 pandemic continues. There has been a global recession, political turmoil, and several other disasters. Life (for those of us fortunate enough to be alive) has changed. International travel is a distant dream (or a nightmare, depending on your viewpoint), mask-wearing and social distancing are part of life.
These fifty essays, from contributors to ‘The Conversation’ examine 2020 and start discussion about what might happen next.
The contributors include: Michelle Grattan, Peter Martin, Raina MacIntyre, Joëlle Gergis, Peter Greste, Thalia Anthony, Shino Konishi, Fiona Stanley, Benjamin Scheele, Jacinta Koolmatrie, Susan Carland, Geoff Plimmer.
While I found all the essays valuable, I was most interested in Part III ‘The New World’.
Now that her mother has died, Mary Jekyll faces ruin. Her mother’s income was endowed, and now Mary i‘Mary Jekyll stared down at her mother’s coffin.’
Now that her mother has died, Mary Jekyll faces ruin. Her mother’s income was endowed, and now Mary is alone and penniless. As Mary deals with her mother’s estate, she finds a reference to money being paid for the upkeep of ‘Hyde’. Could this be a reference to Edward Hyde, once her father’s friend, and an escaped murderer? If it is, there is a reward for information leading to his capture. Mary immediately consults Sherlock Holmes.
And this begins a story which, while it starts slowly, becomes engrossing in a fantastical way. Mary’s search for Hyde leads her to Hyde’s daughter, Diana. Diana becomes part of Mary’s household and the search continues. At the same time, women are being murdered in Whitechapel …
‘I have paused to show you Mary staring into the mirror because this is a story about monsters.’
Mary’s search continues, and her household grows. Meet Beatrice Rappacini, Catherine Moreau and Justine Frankenstein and learn their stories. Together with Holmes and Watson, they will discover a secret society of scientists dedicated to creating monsters. Can they be stopped? And what about the women being murdered in Whitechapel?
‘What was the use of propriety when it kept one from getting things done?’
It took me a while to get into this story but once I did, I enjoyed the flow of it and the interactions between the various characters. And their adventures continue: there are (at least) two more books in the series.
Fast forward to Australia, 2028. It’s not far away … Picture parking meters as poker machines, virtual (ins‘Well, Prime Minister … it’s the Luddites.’
Fast forward to Australia, 2028. It’s not far away … Picture parking meters as poker machines, virtual (instead of actual) radio shock-jocks … ASIO surveillance of a Charles Dickens Reading Group at Low Expectations, and the Communist Party of China as a multinational corporation.
Prime Minister Adrian Fitzwilliams’s finely honed political instincts tell him that now is the time to call a snap election. Will he ever have another opportunity like this? His cabinet team is barely adequate, which is as good as it gets, the doctors have finally stopped protesting about the GP changes and (perhaps best of all) the Australian Greens are in receivership. Winning the election should be a lay down misère. In the absence of any organised credible opposition, what could possibly go wrong?
Meet the Luddites. The Luddites have their own rules. They have no virtual presence (no website, no social media) they use carrier pigeons to communicate, and all their candidates are called Ned Ludd. Yes, they have changed their names by deed poll, and they intend to run a candidate in every seat.
And somehow, they are a step ahead of the government at every turn. Policy announcements, nude protests, clever use of media.
I laughed my way through this novel, enjoying the fictional chaos and trying hard not to see any real parallels in current politics. Great satire, and just what I needed.
‘It can’t be a coincidence. Something’s very wrong.’
In the world of Nevermoor, Morrigan Crow is finally learning mastery of her Wundersmith skills. It‘It can’t be a coincidence. Something’s very wrong.’
In the world of Nevermoor, Morrigan Crow is finally learning mastery of her Wundersmith skills. It is an exciting time for Morrigan. But all is not well in Nevermoor: the Wunimals are becoming ill. It is a terrifying illness, which spreads from Wunimal to Wunimal transforming them into vicious Unnimals and then leaving them hollow. What has caused this illness, and can it be cured?
All members of the Wundrous Society are involved in either trying to take care of the infected Wunimals, looking for a cure or trying to keep the other inhabitants of Nevermoor safe.
And Morrigan? She is learning new skills, but she’s exposed to danger at a time when her patron Jupiter North is preoccupied with the illness they’ve called ‘Hollowpox’. There is a promise of a cure, but is it genuine? Can Nevermoor be protected? Can the Wunimals be saved?
I have enjoyed each of the three books in this series and will now wait (patiently, of course) for the fourth instalment. If you enjoy fantasy, then I recommend this series.
‘Sydney’s not full. And it’s not failing because of density. It’s just fed up with too much development too fast and too close, development that is ug‘Sydney’s not full. And it’s not failing because of density. It’s just fed up with too much development too fast and too close, development that is ugly, greedy, undercontrolled and importunate.’
I read this book because, while I have never lived in Sydney, I have spent quite a bit of time there both personally and professionally. I spent some time in the beautiful Education Department building in Bridge Street in the early 1980s (since sold by the NSW government) and in other buildings around the CBD. I have enjoyed walking around the inner city especially Surry Hills and Potts Point. But these days, my visits are occasional (for medical reasons or cultural purposes) and more often my rare trips terminate in what the real estate world now calls ‘Outer South Western Sydney’ (around Tahmoor and Picton).
Walking around the centre of Sydney or catching the train (during non-peak times) is enjoyable. Trying to drive around in Sydney or using public transport during peak times is horrific. To me, Sydney looks full. How can Sydney accommodate more people? This is the question I kept in my mind as I read Ms Farrelly’s book.
From reading this book (and from my own observations) too much of the development is driven by profit: short-term profit by government as public assets are exchanged for money; and longer-term profit by developers fitting as much income-generating activity into as little space as possible. And the people? For me, that is the heart of Ms Farrell’s message. Most of the development or redevelopment disregards what people want or need. Especially people on low incomes. And what about the people whose lives have been disrupted by WestConnex?
If cities are meant to be about and for people, then people’s views should be considered. Ms Farelly mentions the newDemocracy model. I was fortunate enough to be part of the group selected to look at Housing Choices in the ACT, and I think that the process followed there was a good example of citizen involvement. I am one of those people, Ms Farrelly, who lives in and likes Canberra. And Canberra has problems of its own: travel can be problematic for those without access to a car, especially in the more remote suburbs. But development in Sydney troubles me more. The endless urban sprawl, the impact (on the environment and on people’s health) of the commuting between home and work, the reclamation of public space for private development.
Ms Farrelly raises several important questions in this book If you have an interest in Sydney, if you care about cities meeting the needs of their inhabitants, then I recommend reading this book. The issues raised by Ms Farrelly apply to all large cities.
Note: My thanks to NetGalley and Pan Macmillan Australia for providing me with a free electronic copy of this book for review purposes.
Alexandra Gracie, now a successful lawyer based in New York, tries to keep her family in the background. ‘You don’t know me, but you’ve seen my face.’
Alexandra Gracie, now a successful lawyer based in New York, tries to keep her family in the background. As ‘Girl A’, she is the one who escaped her family home, the ‘House of Horrors’, where she and her siblings were neglected and abused. But the death of her mother in prison requires Alexandra to return to the UK to deal with her mother’s estate.
As I read this novel, I was overwhelmed by questions about how abuse victims can be invisible for so long and what drives people to become abusers. I thought that Ms Dean managed a fine balance in the novel. She was able to convey the impact of abuse without an overload of graphic detail. For me, the central question became: how do children who survive such horrific abuse function as adults? There were once seven siblings. Those who survived have difficult relationships with themselves, with each other and with outsiders. To face the future, Alexandra must revisit the past. She also needs to negotiate with her siblings. Will they agree to her plan for the family home? I think that Ms Dean has created a masterpiece peopled with well-developed characters. It is difficult to read and unbearably sad in places. I finished the novel, hoping for a better future but knowing that the past will always be present.
‘But now I’m wondering. I mean, how do you know what’s suspicious and what isn’t?’
On the sleepy shores of Shoreham, UK, no-one would expect anything s‘But now I’m wondering. I mean, how do you know what’s suspicious and what isn’t?’
On the sleepy shores of Shoreham, UK, no-one would expect anything suspicious in the death of a ninety-year-old woman. After all, Peggy Smith did have a heart condition. But Peggy’s carer Natalka is concerned. Peggy had told Natalka that she was sure that someone was following her. And then, when Natalka is helping clear out Peggy’s flat, she is held at gunpoint by a masked figure. What on earth is going on? Peggy Smith had been a ‘murder consultant’ and had plotted deaths for several authors, many of whom acknowledged her in their novels. Could Peggy have been killed? And if so, by whom and why?
Natalka approaches DS Harbinder Kaur who initially sees nothing of concern. But Natalka, who teams up with Peggy’s friends Edwin, once a television producer, and Benedict, a coffee shop owner who was once a monk, is determined. DS Kaur, who is dealing with some a few issues of her own, becomes part of the investigation. What a great murder mystery! Full of interesting characters, each with a different perspective, with layers of information to examine. There are clues to investigate, and red herrings to sift and sort.
This is my first Elly Griffiths novel, but it will not be the last.
If you enjoy well-plotted mysteries, then I can recommend this!
‘PS : thanks for the murders. ‘
Note: My thanks to NetGalley and Houghton Mifflin Harcourt for providing me with a free electronic copy of this book for review purposes.
‘I don’t have a plan. Each step seems to follow the one before.’
This book is presented as a true crime history: the shocking murder of an eight-year-o‘I don’t have a plan. Each step seems to follow the one before.’
This book is presented as a true crime history: the shocking murder of an eight-year-old girl in 1932 which led to the last mob lynching in Prohibition Era Kansas. While this murder is part of the book, it is more widely a history of Kansas from the late nineteenth century told through the lives of several different families, starting in 1881.
I was interested to read that the impetus for writing this book, which took Ms Hill sixteen years around her other life commitments, was the restoration of the 1907 Shirley Opera House in Atwood, Kansas. Ms Hill and her husband bought the Shirley Opera House in 2003, and research into its history led Ms Hill to a reference to the Owl Café, a business within the building in the 1930s. The Owl Café was the last place eight-year-old Dorothy Parker was seen alive.
In April 1932, Dorothy Parker was abducted while walking home from school. Her body was later found hidden in a haystack. A local farmer, Richard Read, confessed to Dorothy’s rape and murder. A mob removed him from his jail cell and hanged him.
Those are the bare bones around which Ms Hill constructs a narrative, starting in 1881 two years after Pleasant Richardson Read (Richard) was born.
I struggled with parts of this narrative: I am ambivalent about having Richard Read narrate (in first person) part of the story. On one hand, we cannot know what he was thinking, on the other hand it served to describe some of the challenges of homesteading in Kansas during this period. For me, this book works better as an account of life of several families in Kansas between 1881 and 1932 than it does as an account of Dorothy Parker’s murder.
There are a few seemingly disparate strands to this story: a bridge, an attempted bank robbery, an apa‘This wasn’t how life was supposed to turn out.’
There are a few seemingly disparate strands to this story: a bridge, an attempted bank robbery, an apartment viewing, and a hostage drama. And it is brilliant, the way in which Mr Backman draws these disparate strands together.
But who is the robber, and what motivated the robbery? And where is the robber? After the robber lets the hostages go, the police find the apartment is empty.
The police sit down with the witnesses: surely their statements will help the police find the answers? The problem (well, one of them anyway) is that each witness has a quite different version of what happened. And the policemen involved have some issues of their own.
‘It’s harder than you think to take people hostage when they’re idiots.’
This story is so ridiculously funny that I could not put it down. In any case, I needed to see just how Mr Backman would draw all these disparate strands together. It is cleverly done, and he brings each of the characters to life as they deal with their stresses and anxieties.
Did I say ridiculously funny? As some stage, as the various pieces come together, the story moves beyond ridiculously funny to breathtakingly human.
‘My life returns to me in images, smells and sounds, but never feelings. I feel nothing.’
We meet Nahr in ‘The Cube’, a high technology Israeli prison ‘My life returns to me in images, smells and sounds, but never feelings. I feel nothing.’
We meet Nahr in ‘The Cube’, a high technology Israeli prison where Nahr is in solitary confinement. Incarcerated in a cell under constant surveillance, Nahr narrates her story. She is a child of a family displaced in the Palestinian exodus of 1948 (the Nakba), a family that fled to Kuwait.
‘Palestinians learned the first time in 1948 that leaving to save your life meant you would lose everything and could never go back.’
Nahr receives some visitors in her cell, mostly journalists who are less interested in Nahr’s story than they are in confirming their own views. The past serves only to reinforce their fears. But these visits take Nahr (and us) from the present into her story.
Nahr grew up in a Palestinian ghetto in Kuwait. She, her mother, grandmother, and her brother Jehad form a family unit. Her father is absent, requiring Nahr to become the family breadwinner. She is responsible for earning enough money to support her brother’s education. A young woman, who dreamt of marriage and children, of perhaps having her own beauty shop, Nahr has few choices when it comes to earning money. She is led into prostitution by Um Buraq, and into a double identity.
This a complex, layered story. Nahr’s life changes after Iraq invades Kuwait. Another move, another change for Nahr. All choices, it seems, are dangerous. A failed marriage, a search for family roots, delving into Palestinian politics. Nahr’s brother joins the resistance. He is arrested, tortured, and released after Nahr pays. The family decides to leave for Jordan. Can Nahr find a place to belong? And how will Nahr know? Her mother embroiders caftans, her brother encourages her to visit Palestine.
I found this a challenging novel to read: difficult because of the subject matter and heartbreaking because it is difficult to see the situation improving for Palestinian refugees. The reality of displacement and dispossession is confronting and uncomfortable.
‘To be committed is to be in danger. I have never forgotten those words.’
In Nahr, Ms Abulhawa provides a complex character telling a thought-provoking story.
True crime books are often disturbing. I found this one is more disturbing than most. Why? For years, Shelly ‘Less of the worst was better than none.’
True crime books are often disturbing. I found this one is more disturbing than most. Why? For years, Shelly Knotek (Raymond, Washingon State, USA) abused, degraded, and tortured her daughters Nikki, Sami, and Tori. In 2004, she was sentenced to 22 years in prison on one count of second-degree murder and one count of manslaughter. She was found responsible for the deaths of two people, Kathy Loreno and Ronald Woodworth. Shelly Knotek is still in prison. Her husband David, who received a 15-year sentence for the second-degree murder of Shane Watson (Shelly’s nephew) has since been released.
In this book, Mr Olsen tells the stories of Nikki, Sami, and Tori, of their lives with Shelly and of how they escaped. Shelly herself showed absolutely no regard for any human life except her own. She cajoled, manipulated, and ultimately destroyed several lives. The details are distressing.
For those who wonder why the sisters did not seek help earlier: the control abusers have over their victims is often paralysing. And Shelly Knotek exercised absolute control emotionally (and often physically) over her victims. Nikki, Sami, and Tori have survived.
I did not enjoy reading this book, but I admire the courage that the sisters found to tell their stories. Reading about it is uncomfortable, living it must have been horrific.
1548, the Middle Kingdom of China is ruled by the Ming dynasty, who replaced the Yuan (Mongol) dynasty in 1‘Maybe there’s a balance to life, to fate.’
1548, the Middle Kingdom of China is ruled by the Ming dynasty, who replaced the Yuan (Mongol) dynasty in 1368. The Mongols continue to threaten, and while the Great Wall provides protection, it needs constant maintenance.
In this novel, Mr Shors has recreated a version of the legendary Chinese love story of Meng Jingnu and her beloved Fan Xiliang. Fan leaves, for a period of three months, to work on the Great Wall. But he does not return, and after he is missing for twelve months, Meng sets off to find him. Meng has unbound feet, extremely unusual for any woman of rank during this period. It is only because of her unbound feet that Meng, disguised as a man, can consider undertaking this journey.
Meanwhile, at the Great Wall, Fan works alongside a young Mongol captive, Bataar. General Yat-Sen holds their lives in his hands.
The story shifts between Meng’s journey to the wall and Fan’s life on it. There are other stories as well: the concubine Yehonala, Bataar’s father Chuluun and Meng’s co traveller Ping.
Meng’s journey is eventful. Fan’s existence at the Great Wall is fraught with danger. Meng’s letters to him have been intercepted by Yat-Sen whose greed and jealousy lead him to destroy what he cannot possess.
Thailand, 2004. Owen Sterling and his wife Sarah are on their honeymoon anticipating a bright future together wh‘If you quit, you waste gift of life.’
Thailand, 2004. Owen Sterling and his wife Sarah are on their honeymoon anticipating a bright future together when tragedy strikes. Sarah is swept away in a tsunami. Owen’s grief overwhelms him and freezes him. After a period back in the USA, he returns to Asia to try to make peace.
A chance encounter in Bangkok results in Owen meeting Suchin, a young Thai woman facing her own mortality. Suchin has a dream: she would like to see the mountains before she dies. Owen wants to make her dream a reality and buys them tickets to Nepal so they can climb into the Himalayas.
Can Suchin survive long enough to realise her dream? Can Owen face his own challenges? I found this a bittersweet read. While I initially had trouble accepting that two strangers could undertake such a journey together, I was quickly swept up in the journey. I liked Suchin and hoped (against all the odds) that she would (somehow) recover. I wanted Owen to find his way. I wanted them both to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat. Life does not always work out the way we want it to. Sadly.
It has been a while since Labor lost the last Federal election. Lost it, or threw it away with poorly explained policies? Or, in an Au‘What happened?’
It has been a while since Labor lost the last Federal election. Lost it, or threw it away with poorly explained policies? Or, in an Australian electoral environment where presidential election style campaigning seems to be the new normal, did Scott Morrison somehow seem a safer pair of hands?
Me, I live in a very safe Labor seat and not a lot of campaigning takes place here. If I were to return ‘home’ to Tasmania, I would feel much more important. But I digress. I expected Labor to win the Federal election, until they ventured into the poorly explained minefield of franking credits. Memo to the Labor party, policy change can be a good thing, but it needs to be clearly articulated. And the concerns of those it applies to need to be listened to. This is not the only reason Labor lost the election of course.
In this essay, Erik Jensen compared leaders, and relative strengths and weaknesses. It is ancient history now, but I think that one reason Scott Morrison won was that he projected a confidence that Bill Shorten didn’t.
Germany, 1494. Johann Georg Gerlach is born under a rare alignment of the stars. He is called ‘Faustus’ (the lucky one) by‘Nothing is without a plan.’
Germany, 1494. Johann Georg Gerlach is born under a rare alignment of the stars. He is called ‘Faustus’ (the lucky one) by his mother but is treated badly by her husband. Faustus is fascinated by the skies and by learning: dangerous pastimes amid the superstitions of the time.
After being banished from Knittlingen as cursed, Johann meets the travelling fortune-teller, Tonio del Moravia. Learning he is offered, but there is an exchange expected. And so begins Mr Pötzsch’s retelling of the Faust legend. We journey with Johann as he learns from Tonio del Moravia and tries to survive. We journey with Johann as he tries to break away from Tonio del Moravia, but we know he is being watched and that when the time is right, he may not be able to hide.
Such a deep, dark story this is. Can Johann survive? And what about those he cares for?
‘Evil is the chaos that rails against the established truths and perpetually promises new beginnings.’
I made the mistake of reading the second book in this series first which, while it did not reduce my enjoyment of either book, did reduce the tension a little. I have also enjoyed and can recommend Mr Pötzsch’s ‘The Hangman’s Daughter’ series.
‘I first saw her spotlit by headlight, a pink plush rabbit tucked under her arm.’
Meg’s own experience with an abusive partner helps her to decide to h‘I first saw her spotlit by headlight, a pink plush rabbit tucked under her arm.’
Meg’s own experience with an abusive partner helps her to decide to help another woman who is fleeing, with two small children, from an abusive partner. Meg knows that she left it too long to leave her own partner, Keith, and as a result she is essentially estranged from her daughter Emily.
Nerine, the mother, seems incredibly stressed. Her daughters, Analiese and Colette are anxious and afraid. Meg thinks that she can help. Her home (aptly named ‘The Bolt Hole) is remote, and Meg has plenty of supplies to keep the family out of sight. Meg will provide the three of them with shelter for a few weeks until another woman is able to offer them shelter.
But Nerine is convinced that her husband will find her, and when strange things start happening around Meg’s home, Meg is concerned. Meg is in a dispute with her own ex-husband: is he trying to intimidate her, or is Nerine right?
What a bleak, heartbreaking, and incredibly beautifully written story this is. The characters are well-developed, the issues are real, and the tension is high. Nothing is straightforward, and while I worked out a few of the twists, I was not at all prepared for the ending. If you read this novel, be prepared to ride an emotional roller-coaster.
Note: My thanks to NetGalley and Text Publishing for providing me with a free electronic copy of this book for review purposes.
‘It wasn’t enough that she lived in her sea of waking dreams.’
The world around her is being destroyed by fire and extinction. At eighty-seven, her bod‘It wasn’t enough that she lived in her sea of waking dreams.’
The world around her is being destroyed by fire and extinction. At eighty-seven, her body failing, Francie is ready to die. But her three children, Tommy, Anna, and Terzo want her to live. They are sure that medical science and appropriate support at home will be enough.
‘And, after all, wasn’t living preferable to dying?’
As readers, we know the inevitability of death. As readers, in Francie’s room in the Royal Hobart Hospital, we can see the paradox in a struggle to keep Francie alive while all around her the world is burning, collapsing, being polluted. What is it we notice around us?
Anna, torn between fighting to keep her mother alive and the inconvenience of it all, notices a finger is missing. No one else does that Anna is incomplete, not even when her knee disappears a few months later.
But Anna persists. There are reasons for her persistence. Tommy would let Francie go (he knows about pain) but Terzo is determined.
But this is not just a story about prolonging human existence no matter how cruel that process can become. It is also an allegory about the suffering world filled with metaphor about existence. ‘They had saved her from death, but only, thought Anna, by infinitely prolonging her dying.’ Anna becomes interested in trying to save the critically endangered, orange-bellied parrot. She travels to Melaleuca, on the west coast of Tasmania, where these parrots breed. Will her efforts make any difference? Or is it too late?
What an amazing novel. I am led to places I don’t want to go, to confront a reality that I wish I could ignore. I weep for Francie and for Tommy, I want to shake Anna and Terzo. But most of all, I want people to realise how inhumane we have (collectively) become while we claim (paradoxically) to care about humanity.
‘She was trying to outrun herself and failing. Words collapsing their job of conveying meaning meaningless in the face of all that was happening.’
London, 1823. David Neander, a young Jewish immigrant, is on trial for his life at the Old Bailey. His crime?A chance encounter, an unlikely romance …
London, 1823. David Neander, a young Jewish immigrant, is on trial for his life at the Old Bailey. His crime? He has been charged with the theft of half of a sheep carcass. Julia Carmichael is in the public gallery that day: she clerks for her lawyer father but is unable to sit in the court. While waiting for her father’s case, she sees David’s case. She sees the case of a young man, with limited English, found guilty and condemned to death. Julia decides that she wants to help him. Can she save his life?
The story moves between David and Julia in London in 1823 and David’s previous life in Frankfurt (1819) and Dortmund (1821). In London, David is granted a retrial, but the odds seem to be stacked against him.
In those chapters set in Frankfurt and Dortmund we learn about the discrimination David has faced, and the tragic consequences for his family of antisemitic riots in Frankfurt. Heartbreaking. But David does not want to share details of his past with Julia, which makes it difficult for her to try to organise his defence – especially when the same judge who sentenced him to death is presiding over his second trial.
While I enjoyed this story, which takes some details from a case of theft in 1790, the characters never really came to life for me. For example, even allowing for fictional licence, I found it difficult to accept Julia having quite as much autonomy as the story allows. I found David’s story heartbreakingly sad, but I struggled at times to ‘see’ the character behind the description.
Note: My thanks to NetGalley and Sapere Books for providing me with a free electronic copy of this book for review purposes.
‘If truth is not our property, then neither is authority. Listening to women becomes superfluous, …’
I have seen quite a bit of change over the past 60‘If truth is not our property, then neither is authority. Listening to women becomes superfluous, …’
I have seen quite a bit of change over the past 60 or so years. Some of those changes have been good, but right now it is hard to feel positive about the battle for equality. By the time I finished this book, I felt profoundly depressed. Why?
Ms Manne starts this book with a series of anecdotes about male privilege and how it motivates some men to act in particular ways, but specific instances quickly become a general narrative about the corrosive effects of entitlement. It hurts to recognise and acknowledge this. Not all men act in this way, but those who do seem to have way too much impact.
I read through the chapter entitled ‘Involuntary – On the Entitlement to Admiration’ (Chapter Two) with its incidents of ‘incels’ murdering women who have spurned them or whom they imagine have spurned them. I read through the chapter entitled ‘Incompetent – On the Entitlement to Medical Care’ (Chapter Five) and wept for those women who have not had their medical presentations taken seriously.
And the other eight chapters? Seven of them are a reminder (with examples) of how far we have yet to travel. The final chapter, written for Ms Manne’s daughter, contains a note of optimism.
‘Indelible – On the Entitlement of Privileged Men’ (Chapter One)
‘Unexceptional – On the Entitlement to Sex’ (Chapter Three)
‘Unwanted – On the Entitlement to Consent’ (Chapter Four)
‘Unruly – On the Entitlement to Bodily Control’ (Chapter Six)
‘Insupportable – On the Entitlement to Domestic Labor’ (Chapter Seven)
‘Unassuming – On the Entitlement to Knowledge’ (Chapter Eight)
‘Unelectable – On the Entitlement to Power.’ (Chapter Nine)
‘Undespairing – On the Entitlement of Girls’ (Chapter Ten)
While I do not think we’ll see true equality during what remains of my lifetime, Ms Manne’s optimism lightens my depression a little.
Jennifer (JC-S)
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