This novel is a sequel to Preservation, over 32 years on, Sydney born Eliza Grayling, a mature spinster, looks after her blind, alcoholic, grieving and reclusive father, the former Lieutenant Joshua Grayling. She knows that his behaviour is influenced by an old enemy from the past.
Through the influence of the former lascar, Srinivas, Joshua is offered the chance for a reckoning with his nemesis. Unable to dissuade her father Eliza is forced to join him as his carer and eyes, on their chartered boat the Moonbird. A voyage ensues into Bass Strait and the Furneaux Islands in search of a missing ship, its cargo, and the elusive Mr Figge.
A saga of incidents unveils as the additional party consisting of a pair of convict brothers, a doctor studying marine life, and the cross-dressing master, sails from one island to the next in search of the missing ship. On the way they meet strangers who are sealers and their 'tyereelore' wives and George Robinson’s men who are attempting to round up the indigenous people.
The dangers of venturing into the islands give an atmosphere of foreboding, mixed with wonderful descriptions of the dangerous marine environment, birds and rugged islands. Jock Serong’s writing evokes the landscape in vivid detail and his characters are well drawn, especially Eliza who narrates the story in the first person. As historical fiction the reader perceives the period depicted in the book as an accurate reflection of the lives of the island inhabitants. I felt the plot was a little too contrived at times but readers who stay the course will be rewarded with the outcome.
Clouds by Angie and Alli Simpson. Illus. by Lucy Fleming
Aladdin, 2021. ISBN: 9781534439535. (Age:6+)
Clouds is a thoughtfully written rhyming story about the treasured memories of growing up and the bond between a mother and daughter over a period of time. Making shapes and dreams out of clouds has long been a past-time for children and adults all over the world. This book expands on that and tells of a mother remembering and sharing her daughter’s journey as she walks along a beach.
The illustrations by Lucy Fleming are quite striking in their own right and complement the text beautifully.
Clouds was inspired by Australian singer Cody Simpson’s lullaby. He is the son and brother of the authors, Angie and Ali Simpson. At the end of the book is personal information of how the story evolved.
Themes Clouds, Imagination, Mother/Daughter Relationships, Life Journey, Dreams.
Kathryn Beilby
White throat by Sarah Thornton
Clementine Jones bk. 2. Text Publishing, 2020. ISBN: 9781922330031. (Age:Adult) Recommended for crime lovers.
First seen in Lapse, Clementine Jones is back, this time hiding out in Queensland’s Great Sandy Straits, while house-sitting for a friend. Her Aunt Helen, who organises a campaign to protect an endangered turtle, lives nearby and has recruited her to help with legalities. When Helen’s body is found at the bottom of a quarry and is pronounced a suicide, Clem is convinced that it is murder and is determined to find the killer. She uses her connections with the Wildlife Association to try and find clues to the many suspects. There is the mining company that wants to open a port and will destroy the turtles’ habitat, the local mayor who supports and retirees who will gain some monetary security. All had some vested interest in having the mining company win, but who is ruthless enough to kill Helen for gain?
The themes of environmental protection versus corporate greed are current and timely and provide an engrossing background to this fast-paced thriller. The beautiful Queensland coast, threatened by mining and housing development as well as the loss of the little turtle's habitat, are described vividly. Clem too has a personal struggle about deciding to return to the rat-race of being a corporate lawyer or going back to the small country town where she coached a winning football team.
Clem uses all her skills as an ex-corporate lawyer to delve into the motives of the people she interviews, each suspect described vividly and when things get tough, she is relieved to have Torrens, ex-con and friend, to help her out. Add in two wonderful dogs who are heroes, and the book is a winner.
The action in the last third of the book is breath-taking and had me on the edge of the seat, and I look forward to more of Clem’s adventures.
Themes Endangered species, Murder, Greed.
Pat Pledger
Hugo's Runaway Legs by Alys Jackson and Leigh Brown
With rhyming language that just begs to be read aloud, this amusing picture book is sure to be a hit with young children.
Hugo Holt woke up one day to find his legs had run away. Without the slightest sigh or fuss they hopped aboard a local bus.
Hugo is determined to recover his runaway legs and tries out different legs to see if they are fast enough to catch up with the bus. He tried a toad’s legs and children will laugh out loud at the pictures of him hopping and leaping. Then he tries out a deer’s legs, hippo’s legs, penguin’s feet, brown bear’s legs, cheetah’s legs and giraffe’s legs none of which can catch the bus. Each set of feet is accompanied by hilarious illustrations by Leigh Brown that complement the text and very small children will have lots of fun guessing what animal owns the legs before the verse is read out to them.
The refrain is sure to be one that children will want to sing out as well.
' This,' he wailed, ' is pure disaster. These legs are fast but the ... bus ... is ... faster! ’
They will be relieved when Hugo finally uses a horse’s legs to catch the bus and discover that Hugo’s legs have run away because they were not used enough. The final stanza will have children in fits of giggles, while they learn about appropriate amounts of exercise and sitting:
And so his legs agreed to stay and Hugo plays and plays ... all day! In fact he never thinks of sitting and that is why his ... bum is quitting!
The humour, easy flow of language and illustration on the front cover will ensure that this is a favourite with young children.
Themes Legs, Exercise.
Pat Pledger
The left-handed booksellers of London by Garth Nix
Allen & Unwin, 2020. ISBN: 9781760631246. (Age:14+) Highly recommended.
It is 1983 and Susan Arkshaw is on a quest to find her father. She travels to London, hoping that crime boss Frank Thringley can help her, but Merlin kills him with a silver hatpin before she can get any answers. With creatures from the Old World after her, she joins up with Merlin and his sister Vivien, who are looking for the murderer of their mother and must overcome incredible odds to keep the modern world safe.
Nix’s wonderful imagination takes the reader into a world where there are left-handed booksellers who fight evil, Merlin being one of them, and right-handed booksellers like Vivien who are intellectuals and solve problems. Anyone who has travelled to London and visited the big bookstores there will recognise the authenticity of their description and enjoy the idea of left-handed booksellers. The combination of the world in 1983 and the fantasy world of legends is handled deftly, and I had no problem with suspending belief as I followed the amazing adventures of Susan and her book-selling friends.
The main characters are fully fleshed out. Susan is a determined, brave and thoughtful young woman, while Merlin is enormously attractive, whether dressed as a young man or woman. Vivien is clever while the villains in the story are dastardly.
The Left-Handed Booksellers of London was even better on a second read and will go on my shelf of feel-good reads to be turned to when I need an outstanding action-packed story, beautifully written and with memorable characters. Fans of A corner of white by Jaclyn Moriarty and Diana Wynne Jones would enjoy this. Teacher’s notes are available from the publisher.
In Basra province, Iraq, in 1978, two young girls vow friendship, cutting their thumbs and combining their blood; sisters forever. Huda is the common village girl and Rania is the privileged daughter of the sheik. Then time leaps forward to Baghdad 2002 and we learn that something has come between the two friends, they have become distanced and distrustful. The country is Iraq during the time of Saddam Hussein, a time of oppression and brutality at the hands of the mukhabarat or secret police.
Then a third woman enters their lives, accompanying her husband’s posting as deputy ambassador. Ally is a friendly but naive Australian seeking to unravel the secrets of her American mother’s life in Iraq many years ago. Huda, winning a highly prized position as secretary in the Australian embassy, is coerced into becoming an informant for the mukhabarat, befriending the Australian woman, and reporting on her movements.
At the heart of the novel is the question of friendship. Can there truly be friendship between people of different wealth, different life experiences, different responsibilities and expectations? Huda and Rania are trapped in a world of fear and oppression. The foreigner, Ally, can step out of it at any time. Their lives intersect, there are secrets and betrayals, but can there also be an authentic connection despite their world situations?
In her author’s note, Wilkinson tells us that the novel was inspired by her experience living in Baghdad under Saddam Hussein, with one of her closet Iraqi friends a secret police informant reporting her every move. That puzzle of their relationship, vacillating between warm friendship and doubting distrust underscores the novel, and is a question that many travellers may confront at some time as they navigate worlds with vast discrepancies in wealth and freedoms.
The other question this novel raises is the issue of cultural ownership – who has the right to tell which stories? Having spent many years travelling the world, Wilkinson argues for the commonality at the heart of our lives. However the question arises, would Huda or Rania assert a claim to a more authentic voice, if they were the writers? Can Wilkinson really know what their lives were like, the pull of history and religion, the fear and betrayals? These are all issues worth exploring. Discussion questions at the end of the book could be helpful conversation starters.
When apricots bloom is a powerful story, of brave people forced to make difficult decisions in order to protect their loved ones, forced into deceptions but trying to still maintain core values of friendship, love and loyalty. And the reader will also discover the many beauties of Iraq, the art, legendary cities, sights and smells, and the apricot blossoms.
‘Sensational’ is how William Yang has described Frayne’s landscapes, and there is no better word. They are truly sensational. But anyone who has perused Frayne’s collection of portraits Theatre of life, would not expect any less. The same gaze that caught the light and shade and expressions of a face, is now turned to the landscapes of South Australia, presented in this beautiful volume, each turn of the page presenting a pair of images that compare and contrast shapes, colours and mood.
Truly exquisite are the variations of light; landscapes disappearing into a mist, brilliant colours cast by a setting sun, shadows in clouds and fields, and also urban landscapes with lines and planes that at times recall the still scenes of Jeffrey Smart. (Master of stillness (2018) was also published by Wakefield Press.)
There is humour too in some of the titles: ‘Land of Milk and Honey’, ‘Land of Potatoes and Dorpers’, ‘Formalism Cows’, and the satirical ‘Corona Nightscape’ and ‘Rush Hour, Corona Time’. Some are magical: ‘Hey Mr Sandman, Bring me a Dream’ and ‘Pram, as in a Dream’, the latter recalling for me French director Alain Resnais’ strange situating of figures in geometric frameworks. But Frayne’s work is not posed in that way, rather it is the amazing capture of a moment when everything just works together.
Hours could be spent contemplating these scenes; the book is a treasure that will reward revisiting many times over. And for the curious, or the visitor to this state, there is also an index by region at the end.
Themes Landscapes, Light, Photography.
Helen Eddy
The empire of dreams by Rae Carson
Girl of Fire and Thorns, bk. 4. Greenwillow, 2020. ISBN: 9780062691903. (Age:14+) Highly recommended.
I eagerly picked up this outstanding fantasy novel, based on the name of the author. I had really enjoyed the Girl of Fire and Thorns trilogy many years ago and was delighted to see another book in that extraordinary world. Carson has given her fans a stand-alone novel telling the story of Red Sparkle Stone as she grows into a young woman. The court will not accept her as one of Empress Elisa’s heirs, so she decides to join the elite Royal Guard, a group which has never had a woman warrior in it.
Red is indomitable, determined to prove her worth as a guard, but also as a young woman making her way in a man’s world. She allows herself to gradually befriend some of the new recruits and when danger faces the empire, she works with Ivan another young recruit and friend of the prince Rosario, to find who is trying to oust the empress.
There is plenty of action and adventure for thrill seeking fans, but the theme that stood out for me was that of soldier sickness. The story is told in both the past in chapters titled Then and the present entitled Now. Red’s heartbreaking upbringing and treatment as a child slave is disclosed in flashbacks, while what is happening with the recruits and her gradual emergence as a leader is told in the present. Red occasionally has moments when her past overwhelms her and she sometimes needs to find a safe small place to sleep, but she has learnt to live with this. The author gives an enlightening note about PTSD at the back of the book.
This is a coming-of-age story and will appeal to fans of Tamora Pierce while older readers may enjoy going on to A deadly education by Naomi Novik. I found myself rereading the Girl of Fire and Thorns trilogy and can see why fans of the book asked Carson to write Red’s story.
Pip (or Pip@256X#YY.3_7 to be precise) is exactly what the title of this novel implies, a future friend. She lives 1001 years in the future and has little contact with anyone except her immediate family and pets. She has many amazing gadgets but is constantly confined to her living space due to an unhealthy outside environment. Her only real company is a robot, Pip 2, who is her exact duplicate.
Pip accidently stumbles into a time travel portal created by her inventor parents and arrives in the year 2019. She exits the portal through a toilet seat in Rahul’s parent’s shop. Rahul (who also loves to invent) is missing his friend, who has moved away, so it is no surprise that lonely Rahul and Pip easily begin to enjoy each other’s company. Rahul must keep Pip’s real identity a secret from his parents, school and the wider community. This becomes even harder when Pip’s two pets also travel through the portal.
Rahul struggles to help Pip work out how to return to her time, thwart Pip 2 who is up to no good back in 3020, keep the future pets (who have full command of the English language) hidden and try to make everything seem normal. No problem! The situation is not helped by the presence of a nosy, bully of a classmate who believes in a multitude of conspiracy theories.
David Baddiel has mixed humour with a time travel adventure and gives the reader an insight to a possible future world. This novel is about friendship and helping each other and the story highlights the importance of caring for an environment now, so that in the future it does not resemble Pip’s original world.
I enjoyed the twist at the end of the novel that clearly demonstrated how the future is created by the present.
David Baddiel is a bestselling author and his background as an English comedian is evident in his writing, as his stories use humour to capture and entertain his readers. The appealing, colourful book cover and black and white comic style illustrations by Steven Lenton add to the comedy and action of the novel.
You can watch David Baddiel read an extract of the book here .
Jane Moore
The promise by Lucy Diamond
Macmillan, 2020. ISBN: 9781529027020. (Age:Adult)
Dan likes working to a spreadsheet, so when his brother Patrick dies suddenly one night after an argument, Dan’s answer is to draw up a chart of tasks to help fill the gap left behind – this means stepping in to support the grieving Zoe and three children.
When the brothers were growing up the running joke was that Patrick got the looks, and Dan got the brains. Patrick was the popular one, happily married and a successful property owner. An underlying thread of resentment that coloured their relationship, is now compounded by remorse and guilt over the bitter last words on the fateful night.
Dan’s plans go smoothly at first; he fulfils his role of helpful brother-in-law and fun-loving uncle to the children, and he feels on top of the landlord tasks, until he discovers an unexplained maintenance line in the accounts. Then the problems start.
Diamond’s story starts slowly and fairly predictably, but the twist draws the reader in, to find out how Dan will handle the unravelling secrets. It is his character, a bit of a nerd, good intentioned but a little naive, that really makes this novel. The promise is a realistic depiction of the love but also the little jealousies within a family, and the young children are also portrayed with warmth and humour. All in all an enjoyable read.
Private detectives Cormoran Strike and Robin Ellacott delve into the cold case involving the disappearance and probable murder of Dr. Margot Bamborough. Bamborough’s daughter Anna and her partner give the agency a year to see if they can solve the mystery. No easy feat with the disappearance happening in 1974 and the agency already stretched.
Margot Bamborough left her inner London medical practice due to meet an old friend in a nearby pub, but she didn’t keep her appointment and was never seen again. The D.I. in charge of the case at the time did not conduct the case well and was eventually removed with mental health issues. His notes on the case were disorganised and were littered with strange symbolism. The general opinion at the time was that Margot was abducted and murdered by Creed a serial killer who operated in the Clerkenwell area, but his cellar had no traces of Margot.
Strike at his uncommunicative best is trying to cope with his Aunt’s cancer and declining health in Cornwall, as well as being continually texted by his half brother to come to a family reunion with his raging pop star father, along with calls from his ex partner who is having problems dealing with her life in general. Robin on the other hand is having flashbacks to traumas in her past triggered by one of the subcontractors in the agency and her protracted divorce from Michael. Adding to all of this is their inability to tell one another not only their feelings but also aspects of their investigations.
Galbraith, has, in this fifth Strike novel given the readership a tome of 927 pages! Despite this the plot keeps moving with several minor investigations and the emotional family circumstances of both Strike and Ellacott. The circumstances of the Margot mystery are of course complicated. After so much time, with some of the participants dead and memories unclear, not to mention the poor police procedures the probability of finding any facts to give Anna closure is remote. There are numerous characters and a great many red herrings, which require the reader to have a very good memory for misplaced facts and movements. I’ve no doubt there will be a great desire for Comoran and Robin to solve the Margot Bamborough case, it was certainly mine!
I heartily recommend Troubled Blood, Galbraith is a gifted storyteller and Strike and Ellacott are marvellous characters, I can’t wait for the next in the series. And of course, Galbraith is a pseudonym for J K Rowing.
Mark Knight
Themes Crime, Murder, Relationships.
Before the storm by Di Morrissey
Pan Macmillan, 2020. ISBN: 9781760781736. (Age:15+) Highly recommended.
Ellie had a successful job in the IT industry until a colleague double crosses her to take her team. Ellie decides to quit her job. She is then left with no idea of what she is going to do next. Needing a change of scenery, she decides to go and stay with her grandfather in Storm Harbour, a place she spent some time while growing up.
On returning to Storm Harbour Ellie starts helping her grandfather who runs the local paper The Storm Harbour Chronicle. She organizes the papers IT and gets them up to date. She also has a go at writing some stories for the Chronicle, and finds that she enjoys writing for the paper and researching for the stories she is writing.
Ellie and her grandfather uncover some shady deals that are happening within the local council and find that there are some people not happy with them poking around. While this is going on Ellie has a secret that has been affecting her life for years and now she is back in Storm Harbour the memory of those events are becoming more real, and having a greater impact on her.
Ellie is faced with choices when she is offered her old job back. She talks to her grandfather and best friend while trying to make a decision about what to do. She is given some good advice. She begins to see that the worst thing you can do is keep a secret. Ellie realizes she needs to be true to herself and finally decides to act upon this advice finding that she now has the opportunity for a happy life.
I highly recommend this book, it was hard to put down once I started reading it.
A sparkling new series by Melbourne writer illustrator Zobel, will speak volumes to those kids who love all things a bit mysterious and zany as Gem’s latest spell goes remarkably awry. Practising her travel spells at Witchcraft School lands her not only in a different village but in a different time. She is in awe of her new surroundings, but convinced that she will be able to return, but the villagers of Ellsworth Pining welcome her as their new witch come to reside in the witch house on the hill, complete with its ghost, Henry, and so be able to do all the witch things that witches do to help her community. She is unconvinced and when some of the spells go wrong again she confides to Henry that she hasn’t passed Witchcraft School and has no idea of how she got to be where she is. But the Weather Watcher is missing, and the weather has been terrible ever since, and after going to the Lighthouse to see what has happened, they become embroiled in solving the mystery. Trying a new spell, one that returns things lost, she and Henry are besieged by all the village’s lost things from years gone by. She is at a loss how to right things, but is buoyed up by the support and enthusiasm of the villagers. There seems to be a beast in the village: several people, including Gem have had sights of it as it scurries from one hiding place to the next.
This is a charming story of a young girl finding her home: of fitting in with a community she at first felt was beyond her. Her bravery and adaptability, her willingness to try even though she makes mistakes, are endearing, and the fun of the story will hook readers from the first page.
And the second in the series, Little Gem and the mysterious letters will be out in 2021 with its first chapter at the end of this book as a teaser.
Themes Humour, Witchcraft, Friendship, Bravery, Spells, Village life.
Emmy, Dan and their children Coco and Bear seem to have it all. They live in a Georgian town house in London and have all the trappings of success. Emmy is an “influencer” with thousands of followers on instagram. She is Mamabare to her fans. She posts insights into her life as a mother of her two children and responds to fans (and haters) giving advice and support to other mothers.
Dan is a writer who published novel several years ago and his publisher would love him to publish another. He just doesn’t seem to be able get it right. He is conflicted, he has no study where he can write in peace and he has to fit in with the Mamabare brand.
Emmy has an agent, Irene, who has a stable of other influencers, sports stars and A listers she manages and carefully profiles. Emmy is one of her big earners and she has outlined exactly what she needs to do to retain her image and keep the endorsements coming in. Emmy is a business - a very carefully managed one. Mamabare is like producing and editing a magazine, photos are shot weeks in advance and edited to look spontaneous, there are streams on topical themes tags to her influencer friends and precision planned hash tags.
In truth Mamabare and her family is a fiction. There is a lot of air brushing and a huge amount of stage managing. When the Sunday Times reporter and photographer arrive the house was artfully untidy and Emmy was studiously imperfect to suit her image as the somewhat harassed mother of a toddler and baby.
Dan on the other hand is becoming more disturbed at the way the children are being used to promote an image especially when Coco’s birthday party is an enormous event with product endorsement and placement at its centre.
Their lives are turned upside down when the lives of Emmy and Bear are threatened, and Emmy’s Mamabare persona revealed as a fake, life changes but not as much as you would think.
Ellery Lloyd is the pseudonym for husband and wife writers Collette Lyons and Paul Vlitos. Their peek into the lives of a celebrity couple is a revelation especially for readers who are not part of the whole online “instaworld”. The careful grooming and management of these ordinary people who become extraordinary through social media, but are in reality tools for commercial gain is fascinating. But added to the mix are the disaffected followers, particularly one whose sinister intent comes into focus as the narrative reaches its climax, making this novel very readable. Emmy and Dan are not likeable characters and there is a wish by this reader for them to get their just desserts. Thoroughly recommended.
Mark Knight
Themes Crime, Influencers, Social media.
Loner by Georgina Young
Text Publishing, 2020. ISBN: 9781922330130. (Age:Young Adult, 16+) Recommended.
Winner, Text Prize 2019. The mood of this book is melancholic as we follow the aptly named young woman, Lona, as she negotiates the dramas of life after school is over. Even though she has chosen a path to follow in studying in the Art world, she has dropped out of her course and flounders in the directionless land of the introverted young person who does not really know where she should be heading. Her joys are television shows and discussions of niche-interest movies and books. Her best friend keeps her afloat with her buoyant personality, but Lona still is wallowing in the anguish of aimlessness. The voice of Lona is so original and even though she is sad she is refreshingly astute in her observations about the world in which she drifts and the people that she bumps against. Her relationships and first steps into romance are fraught with the anxiety of the introvert, and these concerns are so well voiced by the author. The struggles Lona deals with at home, in life and in her relationships become muddied and mired and yet there is something beautifully honest about Lona’s reflections about life.
This is a book with great appeal because of its honesty and insight into the difficulties of negotiating the entry into adult life when you don’t quite fit and are not filled with confidence. The voice of Lona is wise and yet needy. Although some readers will be frustrated by Lona’s inability to progress through life, most will find her observations and journey recognisable and relatable. I loved the wit and Post-modern world observations of the young woman and would recommend this to readers aged 16+. Teacher's notes are available.
