In 1904 Ruby May is a children’s nurse (we learn it is an occupation that should never be confused with the lesser  “nursemaid”) and is employed by the prestigious Norland Institute in London. After being unable to travel with her present family to America, she is reassigned to Hardcastle House in the wilds of Yorkshire to look after the four children of mill-owner, Charles England.
 
His wife, Lilian, the Mrs England of the title, is distant, detached and forgetful. She spends most of her time in her rooms, takes a lot of baths and shows scant interest in her children or the staff. There is no housekeeper and it is her husband who makes the decisions about the running of the household which Ruby finds most unusual, including his insistence that the children be locked into the nursery at night.
 
Ruby is puzzled by Mrs England’s odd behaviour and through her growing affectionate relationship with the children, her friendship with the tutor and other individuals such as the blacksmith Sheldrake, Ruby slowly peels back the layers of the truth. The narrative is interspersed with flashbacks in Ruby’s own life which also gradually reveal her own secrets.
 
Apart from having the main character a nurse rather than the ubiquitous governess, this has many of the classic elements of every gothic story that features a grand house with dysfunctional rich family and the usual array of brooding men, disgruntled servants, secret liaisons, missing letters and locked doors. It’s Jane Eyre meets Rebecca complemented with a dash of Downton Abbey, the Yorkshire glooms as per Wuthering Heights and much gas-lighting - in both the illuminative and psychological senses.
 
The writing, descriptions and historical detail are fine and although it is true to the Edwardian era there is the odd modernism or anachronism in dialogue that occasionally leaps out *. However, the penultimate paragraph is a gem and may make you re-evaluate everything you have taken to be true in the story.

I enjoyed it well enough while reading it, but perhaps I've read too many similar books and it didn’t quite do as much for me as it seems to have done for the majority of reviewers elsewhere.
 
Three stars.


Booktopia
 
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* If someone can prove to me that toasting marshmallows on forks over fires was common practice in mid-late 19th Century Australia - as opposed to America - then I stand corrected. 

Celebrity memoirs are not normally high on my reading list, but this one was recommended to me and I have been delighted with the discovery. The book isn't an autobiography, rather a random selection of vignettes and memories and in no particular chronological order.

It dips in and out of Byrne's rough Dublin childhood and early years of struggles; darts off to a Hollywood system that bemused and baffled him; alludes to serious episodes involving clerical abuse when he was in a seminary, yet skirts around utter condemnation, and is frank about his battles with alcoholism, his family's foibles and sister's mental health issues.

It has laugh-out-loud moments involving discovering God and religious education with the nuns (reminds me of that other irreverent Irishman, Dave Allen) and his early Hollywood fumbles in his first big blockbuster movie, including faking love-making to a pink pillow while dressed in a full suit of armour. Meeting his idols Richard Burton and Laurence Olivier have a poignancy all their own.

This extract celebrates Byrne's first stage appearance as a shepherd with cotton wool beard in a school nativity play:-

"Goose Gavin with jug-handle ears and a big, red face landed the role of St. Joseph. Burkey, who had fleas that jumped out from under his collar, was Mary, dressed in a blue curtain. The baby Jesus was a rubber doll. There were angels and wise men who came from the East with nice presents.
The Virgin Mary said to the wise men:
---- Youse shouldn't have gone to all that trouble, youse --
---- Not YOUSE!!! the nun shouted. Youse is what common people say. The holy family aren't from the tenements.

[further description and dialogue referencing the wise men, the twins who made up the donkey plus the angel, who is discreetly unnamed.]

I have bad news, the angel said and looked at me strangely. I glanced down and saw piss coming like a snake from the angel toward me, then flowing under my shepherd's sandals. There is an evil king  who's going to kill all the little babies in Israel, so baby Jesus, Mary, and Joseph have to fly into Egypt. 
So, the holy family put the  rubber doll on the donkey's back and Goose Gavin said
---- Thanks for everything. Goodbye now."

Contrasted with these other frank excerpts:-

"I struggle with authenticity. Being truthful. Both to myself first and to other people.
Is it possible to be completely honest with myself? To admit my fears, my demons, prejudices, the petty envies, the unfulfilled desires? I want to live an authentic life. To take off the mask requires courage. I admit my fragility, my vulnerability and weakness."
​...

I am by nature an introvert. For a long time I was ashamed of this. As if it were somehow a moral failing ... I can be sociable too. But it drains me of energy and I have to find refuge in solitude again."

This is a short volume, less than 200 pages, but is packed with wit, humanity, lyricism, introspection, joy and loads of Irish charm. Gabriel Byrne might have never quite achieved superstar status, but will be a familiar face to many from stage, TV and film. When or if he retires from acting, he has all the makings of an excellent author.

Five stars.

booktopia

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The Irish Famine of the 1840s is still one of the most disgraceful events in British history: a time when the potato crop failed due to blight and countless thousands of people were evicted from their tenancies, became destitute and starved. The government in London either ignored the issue or mishandled it to such an extent that some estimates state a million people died while at least another million were forced to emigrate. 

With this background, one only takes up any book about the Famine with caution, knowing full well you are going to face some distressing scenes. And this is certainly the case with this novel although the author manages to balance the most harrowing episodes with the human need to help others and the importance of family strength.

Principally set in and around the town of Skibbereen in County Cork, Mary and John Sullivan and their four children are faced with the many challenges that come their way after their potato harvest fails. ​When they are evicted from their cottage for being unable to pay rent, John labours on hare-brained government employment schemes in shocking conditions, for irregular and poor pay. Mary brings in a few pennies with her needlework. Malnourished and with having to pawn or sell their warm clothes, sickness is ever present.

Trying to do what he can for everyone is the remarkable, selfless doctor Dan Donovan who is the Medical Officer for the Skibbereen Union Workhouse and risks his own health with long working hours. Burying children whom he helped to deliver only to witness them dying from disease, exposure and hunger tears him apart. Father John Fitzpatrick pleads for help with higher authorities but is too often dismissed or ignored.

The writing is uncomplicated and the narrative flows well. Some reviewers have commented on its simplicity or the lack of in-depth characterisations which I think is rather unfair. Expressions of individuality in such a major crisis don't need analytical exploration. Trying to survive, being united and putting others first is what this novel is all about and although there are many shocking and tear-jerking passages, there is also courage, hope and determination to get through which ultimately adds to a satisfying story. (The author's notes reveal that much of the background is based in truth taken from the diaries of the real Dr Donovan.)
​

Four stars

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​

Someone bears a grudge against the Adler family, but is it against all four of them or just one? Could it be the father, Thomas, a real estate agent who has something to hide after an indiscretion at a bucks’ night? Or is it against his interior designer wife, Viv, who’s a kleptomaniac? Their son, Eli, refuses to say why he suddenly dropped out of university and his underage sister, Tarryn, is running a risky online business. Told in four personal narratives, none of them know each other’s secrets.
 
It starts out innocently enough with what seems to be childish vandalism with eggs thrown at their house under cover of darkness but soon escalates into more serious damage to their property, including fire. The police are of little help so the family are left to investigate in their own way.
 
The characters are clearly defined. Thomas and Viv are all about appearances and success and so are at odds with the less-driven Eli and Tarryn, who is an edgy, cynical teenager.
 
This is a smooth, binge-worthy read for anyone who likes a rapid-fire thriller. With each family member having something to hide that is only revealed to one another as the novel unfolds, it works well for the most part. Not everything is fully resolved and the conclusion leaves a few unanswered questions which may appeal to some readers but not those who like all the loose ends in their novels tidied up.
 
This is the first Robyn Harding book I’ve read and will definitely look out for more of her titles. Recommended as a great reading alternative when you’ve exhausted all the thrillers on television!
 
(Thanks to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster Australia for the ARC.)
 
4 stars.

 
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​Whenever we consult our favourite recipe book for that special dish we probably don't give a thought to the fact that once upon a time recipes were not ordered in the way we recognise today, i.e. a list of ingredients giving the correct proportions, followed by a carefully detailed method. Once, recipes were far more vague that left it up to the reader to figure out what might be meant by a "quantity" or "scoop" of, say, flour, sugar, butter or apples (two, six, ten?) A spoonful might meant a teaspoon or a tablespoon (try adding a tablespoon of cinnamon to your apple pie and see what happens!) Experienced cooks would have kept the recipes in their heads but without better guidance it must have resulted in many a cooking disaster for the beginner!

Recipes didn't take the form we know today until writers like Eliza Acton came along and started to pull them into shape for the average cook. This novel re-imagines the life of Eliza Acton and that of her kitchen assistant, Ann Kirby, in dual narratives. 

Born into a comfortable family and occupying much of her time writing poetry, Eliza's secure world is turned upside down when her father has a financial failure and takes off to France, leaving Eliza and her mother to find some way of making ends meet. They start a boarding house near Tonbridge, Kent, but to her mother's dismay, Eliza decides that she will look after the kitchen and meals. Eliza's publisher had once suggested she write a cookery book rather than more poetry and eventually she begins her project, assisted by Ann. Her mother hates the idea ("Ladies do not cook!") and still holds out hope. "Only marriage and money bring freedom," she reminds her. "Without them you will grow old and lonely and bitter, a hated old maid who must serve others for a pittance." When an opportunity does arise, Eliza has to make her decision. Marriage and a comfortable but boring life, or to risk all and publish her book?

In Ann's narrative, we experience the grim reality of the starving poor in Victorian England. Her demented mother may have to be confined in an asylum, and her father who has only one leg struggles with drink and finding any kind of secure work. With their  pompous do-gooding and righteousness, the local vicar and his wife turn out to be both a blessing and a curse on Ann's family. Fortunately her brother has found work in the kitchen of a London gentleman's club under the famous French chef Soyer and Ann dreams of the day she, too, might also cook for a living. Eventually, her path leads her to Eliza's boarding house and the wonderful partnership of cooking and friendship is formed.

The descriptions of everything from street scenes to Victorian parlours are as lush and extravagant as some of the recipes and the narrative moves seamlessly between the experiences of the two women. Like a mouth-watering, rich meal, this novel is to be savoured slowly and not rushed. (I imagine readers may want to know what some of these Victorian recipes tasted like and there could be a run on old copies of Eliza Acton's book, maybe even the opportunity for a new tie-in edition.)

Five stars.

Thanks to Edelweiss for the ARC. Links to international book sites be will added closer to publication date.

(Annabel Abbs' two earlier novels both received Editors' Choice awards from the Historical Novel Society. See my reviews of The Joyce Girl and Frieda.)

​One of the most written-about individuals from British history would have to be Winston Churchill and apart from a couple of biographies on his wife, Clementine, very little is known about the women in his life, especially his daughters.
​
The Churchills had five children, four girls, Diana, Sarah, Marigold and Mary, and one son, Randolph. The son, as might have been expected, was the one who was groomed to follow in his father’s footsteps as a politician yet was almost a failure and perhaps a disappointment to his father.

One daughter, Marigold, sadly died when just a toddler due in part to an inexperienced nanny's lack of foresight, but the other three are the subject of this book.

Churchill’s famous gene of “black dog depression” would be passed on, but how each child coped with it makes for interesting comparisons.

As the first-born, Diana, had problems in such a dynamic family and her retiring and diffident nature became a trial and would ultimately create mental health issues. Next was Sarah who made a name for herself as an actress on the stage and in movies in Britain and in America. Passionate and talented, she also had her demons, loving the wrong men and fighting a battle with alcohol. The youngest daughter, Mary, was the one who seemed to have weathered the storms the best and helped under the influence of the trustworthy last nanny, Maryatt Whyte, known as Moppett, who raised her to be enterprising and level-headed. Her accomplishments were many, her home and public life far more serene than those of her sisters. 

Although during their early childhood they remained remote from their parents in the manner of high society of the day it was not until much later that Clementine saw the errors of her ways and became closer to her children. In fact, it looks as if Winston was the better parent and he always found the time to have fun with them. Although they had their differences and challenges, he never stopped supporting them. In return, the girls all adored him which shows him in a surprising new light considering his status and also as a father of his time.

Well-researched and insightful, this is a marvellous book for anyone interested in people who live in the shadow of greatness or who just want to discover more about women who have been hidden in that shadow.

Five stars

(Also see my review of “Before Wallis”, Rachel Trethewey’s book on the lady friends of the Duke of Windsor.)


 
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Booktopia

The story of the discovery of Tutankhamun's tomb in Egypt continues to fascinate nearly a century after the event took place. Even though it has been debunked, some still believe there was a curse attached to those individuals who disturbed the Pharaoh's eternal rest. It was archaeologist Howard Carter who did the disturbing, bankrolled mainly by Lord Carnarvon. One of those two did die not long after the tomb was opened, but others who were there on that momentous day when the seals  of the tomb were broken lived on for many more years. Among those others present was Lady Evelyn Herbert (later Beauchamp), daughter of Lord Carnarvon, and this is a fictional retelling of her part in that famous event.

We first meet Evelyn, or Eve, in the early 1970s when she is frail and struggling to recover from a series of strokes. Her memory of the recent past is blank or fading, but she clearly remembers everything that happened fifty years before.

Cared for by her loving husband, Brograve, and daughter, Patricia, she is approached by a stranger, Ana Mansour, who claims to be an Egyptian archaeologist looking for objects allegedly missing from Tutankhamun's tomb and of which she believes Eve knows the whereabouts.

The novel takes rather too long to get to the mystery of the missing pieces although anyone who has seen, or read, recent revelations in print and in television documentaries about what really happened prior to the official opening of the tomb will know that certain items were sneakily appropriated by the discovery team. Some of them ended up in Highclere Castle - Lord Carnarvon's estate, the building familiar to anyone who watched the TV series Downton Abbey - while others disappeared. 

Although she'd fancied she might be an archaeologist herself, Eve's younger self isn't as disciplined or circumspect as that profession requires and she isn't good at keeping secrets. The older Eve is also trusting when she should be more cautious given her state of health and it is her patient husband, Brograve, who is the stable influence.

Curiously, on some levels this novel is more about growing old, dealing with the loss of one's faculties and living in the past than it is about some weird Egyptian curse. This may well make some readers impatient with it especially if they looking for more of a fast-paced thriller but it still has its pluses as a story of a little-known woman who witnessed history in the making.

Three and-a-half Stars

​(With many thanks to Edelweiss for the ARC)

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Mercy Blain’s house in Adelaide burns down and she is traumatised. She has not just lost her home and belongings, but also her refuge from the world for the past two years. Broken by a series of devastating personal events, she has struggled with her mental health.

She accepts temporary accommodation with her ex-husband Eugene and his new lover but knows she can’t possibly stay with them and must try to find a way of breaking out of the anxiety and shadows she has created for herself. When she comes across an elderly man selling a battered 0ld Daihatsu Hijet campervan, with hand-painted flowers on the bodywork and the words ‘Home is wherever you ARE’, she buys it.

Mercy’s spontaneous escape route is partly brought on by trying to dislodge a huntsman spider walking across her windscreen and with her loyal dachshund Wasabi by her side, plus an unexpected box of human ashes under a bench for company, she embarks on her journey of redemption and recovery along the Stuart Highway all the way across Central Australia to Darwin.

With a vehicle that has a top speed of 70 kph and bodywork held together on a wing a prayer, naturally there are hold-ups and diversions along the way. Mercy encounters an assortment of characters including breezy grey nomads, an imagined Outback serial killer and a tabloid journalist who unfortunately recognises her.

She also meets the Scotsman, Andy, who is on his own personal journey and while travelling in tandem with him Mercy finally begins to gain control of the panic attacks that have crippled her life. On the rare occasions her ex-husband manages to contact her - telecommunications being highly unreliable in the Outback- he repeatedly pressures her to return to face the music in an upcoming enquiry but Mercy is determined to complete the journey on her own terms and still make it back on time.

This entertaining and rewarding “road” story has its adventure and whimsy while never shying away from the serious mental health issues that can be brought on by life’s unpredictable events, by stress, and the unreasonable demands of perfection we often place on ourselves. Mercy is a likeable and finely-drawn character, someone with whom many readers will identify and enjoy spending time with. Highly recommended.
​
With many thanks to NetGalley for the ARC.
 
Five stars

Amazon
​
Booktopia

 
This is described in the promotional blurbs as a Gothic novel with shades of Daphne Du Maurier’s famous “Rebecca” that featured the house called Manderley. In this case, the house is Sargasso, built on the coast of Victoria by Hannah’s architect father.

Hannah, an only and lonely child, grows up at Sargasso from the age of seven. After her father dies, she goes away to a new life in Melbourne, returning when she inherits the house as an adult. She is undecided what to do with the place; renovate and sell, or stay. When her mysterious childhood companion, Flint, reappears as an adult her life gets complicated and she breaks up with her boyfriend Tristan.

The novel has tandem chapters, “Now” and “Then”, so we experience Hannah’s innocent childhood years with Flint as well as the increasingly dark present with them as adults. The reader knows that Flint is other-worldly but who is he, what does he want? Although we have hints, these questions are never really answered. There’s a slow build-up to the predictable final resolution that is less than satisfying.

It might depend on one’s reading preferences and/or sympathy for individuals suffering through an alternate reality whether they find this novel an enjoyable experience. Angry and controlling male characters in women’s fiction have little attraction for me, so I failed to grasp any real understanding of Hannah’s besotted behaviour - and even more so if it was all in her imagination. Other readers will no doubt feel quite different from me. 
 
Three stars.

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Although this book is categorised as crime fiction, it also qualifies as historical fiction, being set in Northern New South Wales in the mid-1960s.

Hal is twelve years old and, while wandering around the bush outside the town of Moorabool with his younger brother Evan, comes across a German Shepherd that has been brutally killed and dumped in a drum. The boys remove the animal and try to give it a decent burial. Although disturbed by the discovery, being a fan of Sherlock Holmes, Hal decides to investigate. Could it be connected to the nearby sinister “Highway Palace”, an abandoned caravan with a dark history?

The owner of the dog is Mick Goodenough (pronounced Good-No), a detective recently exiled from Sydney and demoted to probationary constable in the rural town. When he discovers the burial, he recognises the warning signs of a potentially dangerous psychopath on the loose. But he is up against the convoluted undercurrents of life in a small town including adultery, corruption, racism and even apathy.

Apart from Hal and Mick, these are an interesting range of characters. There’s the local power couple, the Curios, who have ambitious and ruthless plans for land development. The police sergeant Bradley may be in their pocket and Hal’s parents’ marriage is under stress. While her husband is away, Hal's mother starts receiving menacing phone calls from someone who whistles the Elvis tune, "Are you Lonesome Tonight?" Could he also be the perpetrator of the killings?

As things escalate at a terrifying rate, narrow-mindedness and prejudice sees the finger immediately pointed at the Aboriginal community without due diligence of the facts. Mick has his work cut out for him proving the truth, while Hal’s youthful enterprise and intelligence is a refreshing twist on the usual stock investigative characters.

This book must come with a warning as there is graphic violence with both animal and human torture that some readers may find hard to take, but its plotting, authentic dialogue and Australian country atmosphere can’t be faulted.

Four stars.

With thanks to Edelweiss for the ARC.

(Not on sale in the USA until 2021.)


 
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​

As a bit of a nit-picker, the dodgy grammar in the title of this book astonished  me, as surely it ought to be "The Three Misses Allen"?  However, to give it the benefit of the doubt, the summary sounded interesting enough and I always try to be more tolerant of any book that can rise above its failures in editing.

There are two parallel stories here set in South Australia. We have distant cousins Roma and Addy dealing with personal issues in modern days, and three sisters, Ruby, Adeline and Clara, in the 1930s.

Recently-widowed Roma escapes to Remarkable Bay where she buys a run-down guesthouse and starts to renovate it. Between jobs in the film industry, the high- octane Addy comes to help her. Along the way they get involved with two men who are also cousins, Connor and Blake. All four individuals have links to the three Misses Allen from the 1930s, who stayed at the guesthouse but whose lives were less lucky for various complex reasons.

This is pretty much a relationships soap opera, although I personally much preferred the 1930s components as they raised more moral questions about behaviour, responsibility and family duty, unlike the pity-me self-absorbed characteristics of the modern women. The nice blokes in this story deserve a medal for putting up with them and rarely rolling their "aqua-blue" eyes in exasperation!

On the more sombre side, domestic violence is, and was, a fact of life, but I dislike reading it and usually skim such passages in print. Unfortunately, I found Addy's character to be so unlikable, foul-mouthed and inconsiderate of others that she left me borderline with sympathy for her situation.

Anyhow, I did struggle to the end knowing the modern girls would happily dance off into the surf with their Chris Hemsworth look-alikes, but was disappointed that there wasn't more of tragic Clara's story which could have had a more positive outcome than it did.

There were some glaring errors with names from the 1930s story (Ruby/Roma) being mixed up with the modern one, so this again reflects on shoddy editing at the final proof stage. 

Two-and-a-half stars.

Booktopia.com

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This is an Aussie crime novel with a difference. There are no grisly Outback serial killers, city gang shoot-outs or corrupt cops – too often the standard fare of the Australian crime genre.

Detective Grant Johnson from the town of Fresh Well has a suspicious fire to investigate and a lot of shenanigans to negotiate.

In the rural village of Stony Creek, someone has burnt down the tiny school. The culprit is likely to be someone indulging in an illicit cigarette shortly before a meeting of the school’s Parents and Citizens association. Naturally, there is a main cast of characters with something to hide.

Sarah accidently sees P & C chairwoman Jennifer having it off with the Principal, Brock.

Shocked, she then returns home to spring her husband Ian having it off with the babysitter, Madison, Jennifer and Andy’s teenage daughter.

Andy is secretly conducting an internet relationship with old flame Abi but forgets to delete his computer's History.

From his verandah, Madison’s elderly grandfather Mack watches the comings and goings of white utes set about mysterious liaisons involving cigarettes and comes to his own conclusions.

Shades of the English bedroom farce but Aussie-style, this is a most refreshing change of pace from grim or intense crime fiction. You know everyone will end up with egg on their faces as things unravel, but the journey is a light-hearted ride that will have you grinning and even laughing out loud in places.

Oh, what a tangled web is woven and in one word - Delightful!
 
Four stars

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​This is the second novel by Alison Stuart set during the 1870s and to feature the gold-mining town of Maiden’s Creek in the Gippsland area of Australia. (Although not essential to have read the first, The Postmistress, it does help to set the scene and the background of some of the secondary characters.)
 
Eliza Penrose arrives from England, expecting to be met by her brother, Will. However, he is not there and she soon learns from her uncle, mine-owner Charles Cowper, that he is dead, having fallen accidentally from a tailings heap late at night, presumably being drunk. Eliza is devastated.

When it seems that there had been a falling-out between uncle and nephew shortly before his death, Eliza is determined to get to the truth of the matter.
 
Meanwhile, after a disastrous early encounter with him, Eliza is increasingly drawn to widowed mining engineer, Alec McLeod, and their relationship slowly blossoms. However, all is put at risk by discoveries of underhanded greedy practices in the operation of the mines and danger from those who would stop at nothing, not even murder, to protect their evil schemes.
 
This is a really entertaining page-turner, as well-crafted as the earlier novel and with plenty of gold-mining history (some of it based on real events) woven beautifully throughout.
 
(Click here for my review of The Postmistress.)
 
Four stars.
 
Booktopia
 
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​

Lexie leaves her three-year-old daughter Bella with the other mothers in her playgroup while she pops out to the shop for biscuits. When she returns six minutes later, Bella has disappeared. None of the other mothers or children realise she is no longer there.  She has just vanished.

And so the nightmare begins for Lexie and her husband Marty as the mystery become ever more tangled the longer the little girl is missing.

Could Lexie have left the gate open accidentally so that Bella wandered off on her own? Does an unexpected visit to the playgroup by one of the husbands hold the clue? What are the motivations behind one of the mothers, Tara, and her secret blog? Why did schoolteacher Brendan lie about his whereabouts? And what about Lexie and Marty themselves - why did they move from England and have to change their surname? All these clues and many more form the background to this story. And then there's the jaded cop, Caruso, who fears the worst has come to this small town near Australia's capital city, Canberra.

This is a fast-paced and mostly well-constructed thriller (ideal for wintry afternoons!) and it certainly keeps you guessing with nearly every character having secrets or up to no good. The setting of Canberra was familiar to me, having myself been part of similar mothers' groups there in the past, and for those who know the city, the town Merrigang has aspects of Hall, Tharwa, Murrumbateman and Gundaroo. The inclusion of "trial by social media" with its trolls and hysteria is an all too accurate reflection of what can happen in our times when a child goes missing. Lexie's neurosis and wavering doubts about Marty which had their foundation in an earlier event felt overworked at times but 
fortunately, unlike real life, there is a happy - if slightly too pat - outcome to this story otherwise I wouldn't recommend it as a light read.


3 1/2 stars

(Australian booksellers below, the book does not appear to be available in other countries as yet.)

Booktopia
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It is the late 1960s somewhere in country Victoria, Australia.

Farmer Tom Hope’s unreliable wife Trudy has just abandoned him on some sort of whim that he doesn’t understand. He soldiers on alone as best he can, making lists of things that perhaps he should have done, or done better, in order to keep her happy.

And then just as spontaneously sometime later Trudy returns to him. Although she’s pregnant to another man, the kind-hearted Tom takes her back. When little Peter is born, Tom discovers that he was meant to be a father and he and the lad become close.

All this is again thrown into jeopardy when Trudy becomes a born-again Christian and spirits little Peter away to a cult commune on Phillip Island. Tom is bereft until a Jewish woman, Hannah Babel, arrives in town, with an ambition to set up a bookshop.

Hannah is a survivor of Auschwitz and the subsequent refugee turmoils in Eastern Europe followed by the 1956 Hungarian uprising. But she keeps all of this to herself, especially the loss of her only son Michael to the gas chambers.

Although much older than him, Tom is drawn to Hannah’s exuberance and vivid personality and they are soon a couple. Meanwhile, Hannah sets up her bookshop and gives the local district much to gossip about, although in her heart she struggles with her past and the heartache of great loss.

More dramas follow involving little Peter and his mother, with further separations and angst (including a few murders) before all is finally resolved.

The narrative flows beautifully and makes for compulsive reading. Tom’s character is a delight, a man who is really too thoughtful and sentimental to be a farmer yet who sticks to the path he has chosen without giving up.

Peter is worldly beyond his years although his expeditions to try and be reunited with Tom do seem a little implausible for a lad of only six or seven.

Trudy is an unstable air-head, but Hannah is difficult to like in spite of everything she has endured. Eventually, her bookshop does succeed but there are gaps in her history that are glossed over, such as how she finds her way out of various near-death situations to return to Budapest unscathed, and where she gets so much money to buy her bookshop. Also, although one should have sympathy for her, her determination to pander to her grief without care of what it does to Tom means she can alienate the reader.

There are a few dark passages but there is also charm and comfort to be found in this book, especially in its descriptions of the ordinariness of country-town Australia and the goodwill of its people.

Four stars.


(Various covers on these sites)
 
Booktopia
 
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​Edie is not unduly saddened when she learns that her former mother-in-law, Anna, has died. She blames the woman for the death of her only child, Daniel, and the subsequent break-up of her marriage to Anna’s son, Joe.

This is the powerful scenario at the heart of this book and when Edie is dismayed to discover that she and Joe are joint inheritors of Anna’s ancestral home in Sicily, it sets up a dramatically fluctuating story that will challenge Edie to face her demons and ultimately alter nearly everything that she believes to be true.

But this is so much more than a novel about complex contemporary relationships and healing, there are also mysteries and crimes, all tinged with shades of the gothic, and even echoes of the paranormal.

The descriptions of the decrepit and ghostly Villa della Madonna del Mare and its gardens are exquisite and spine-tingling. Yet at the same time the author doesn’t detract from the plastic-strewn seedy side of modern-day Sicily, with its undercurrents of dark dealings by the Mafiosi, family secrets and revenge.

None of the characters is perfect which makes them all interesting, and the ways they find hope and new beginnings come together in a pleasing way. Although the main villain is fairly obvious from early on, there is an unexpected relationship twist that adds another dimension to Edie’s opinions about Anna.

I often tend to gloss over too many lavish descriptive passages in books, but the skill created here makes them all a pleasure to read in full as they help you to absorb the atmosphere and tension.

It is a truly satisfying read! I galloped through this in a couple of days and will definitely look for more titles by author Louise Douglas.

Five stars.


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Booktopia

Most people know the story of how King Edward VIII gave up the throne in 1936 for the love of Wallis Simpson and that thereafter the couple became the Duke and Duchess of Windsor.
 
Many books have been written about them, although less is known about the former significant others in the Duke’s life. This book explores the lives of three women, any one of whom could have become his wife and possibly changed the course of British history - or at least given our present Elizabeth II a few more decades of quiet family life before being loaded down with the responsibilities of a monarch.
 
Rosemary Leveson-Gower met the Prince of Wales during World War I when she worked as a nurse in a hospital set up by her mother. Edward fell for her and with an aristocratic background she might have seemed the perfect bride. But his father, King George V, was of the old school who believed the heir to the throne should only marry approved unblemished girls - and preferably princesses from Europe - plus he mostly disapproved of the match due to some of her unconventional relatives. It simply would not do for the future queen to have a mother with multiple marriages and a gambling brother! It seems ludicrous today, given the subsequent doings of the House of Windsor, and so the royal family lost the beautiful and appealing Rosemary who went on to prove her worth in other ways, sadly dying at the same age as Princess Di, only 36, in a plane crash.
 
Edward’s penchant for chic, thin, married women with bossy tendencies began with the next choice, Freda Dudley Ward. Much of his correspondence to her still exists, he was totally besotted with her, writing and phoning her many times a day until he suddenly ditched her for the next woman in a similar mould. Freda’s notoriety as one of Edward’s women overshadows her history of a firm social conscience when she set out to help people during the Great Depression, World War II and later. The Feathers Association she founded still operates today helping disadvantaged youth in the London area.
 
Thelma Furness supplanted Freda. She was American, an identical twin, who snatched herself a British Viscount for her second marriage. Her sister was Gloria Vanderbilt with whom she would eventually start her own fashion label and together they became an item in Hollywood society. The later years for the twins were not so good, having a variety of businesses (ironically including hand-making “princess dolls”) and they dabbled in advertising. Thelma and Gloria wrote a joint memoir in which Thelma wrote that in spite of all her mistakes, she would do it all again except: “The only thing I would NOT do again is introduce Wallis Simpson to the Prince of Wales”.
 
Edward may have had a certain charm, but he was also capricious, impressionable and self-serving. He hated the stuffiness and pomp of royalty and all the duties that involved and he could have never matched the sterling loyal qualities of our present Queen. His loss was ultimately Britain’s gain.
 
While all of these women were involved in the flittering dalliances of their class, they weren’t completely shallow or insensitive to the struggles of Edward's subjects and any one of them would have been more preferable over the acidic and dangerous Wallis Simpson.
 
The book does occasionally divert at length into “then they did this, and then they did that” which can create the odd yawn or a bit of speed-reading, but on the whole it is an interesting study in how the lives of privilege and fame often end up more of a burden than a blessing.
 
Four stars

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Booktopia

​In the early 1960s, my mother and I sailed on SS Himalaya from San Francisco to Europe. On board we met another mother and daughter similar to ourselves. We were to disembark in Southampton for London while they were destined for Le Havre and Paris.
 
Mrs Olga Balk spoke French and Russian and had links to Harbin and Shanghai so she and my mother soon discovered they had much in common. Manette was a little older than me but as we were both teenage daughters having what nowadays is called a “gap year” between high school and college we also found common ground.
 
I was sad to say goodbye to my new friend Manette when she left the ship at Le Havre, but in those days before the invention of easy catch-ups through social media we still managed to keep up a pen-friendship for another ten years until we fell out of touch. The last address I had for her was in Mexico, while I had moved numerous times in UK, Canada and Africa before settling in Australia.
 
When a cousin recommended I read this book written by the subject's grand-daughter because it was an excellent story about the White Russian experience, I was instantly alerted to the fact that there in the opening pages it says it is the story of Sophia (Sonechka) Balk. It is not a common surname and I wondered if she could have been connected to my friend?
 
After a bit of digging via Ancestry and other genealogical sites, it turns out that my friend Manette (also known as Mary Ann) was, in fact, her niece, her father being Sonechka’s brother Alexander L. Balk (known as Sasha throughout the book).
 
Having a White Russian mother I have always been aware of her family’s dramatic history and what they endured in the upheavals after the Russian Revolution. So, with the realisation I'd once had a connection to a member of the Balk family as well, this gave me extra interest in this story. Although I can no longer ask her, I am sure many of the people, places and events that crop up in these pages would have been familiar to my mother.
 
At the outset, the reader needs to be aware this is a work of “creative non-fiction” and is based on diaries and other recollections that have been embellished or enhanced to make it both informative and entertaining.

We follow Sonechka’s life from one of comparative ease on a comfortable estate in the warm Crimea, through her early experiences working for a brutal Cheka [secret police, forerunner of the KGB] boss who made her count dead bodies among other more mundane clerical duties, her romance with another Bolshevik hardliner, her escape from his clutches in Moscow to comparative safety in Harbin and then on to Shanghai.
 
Her brother, Sasha, had already managed to reach the United States and constantly encouraged his sister to follow suit but the young girl was too indecisive due to her family ties and ill-founded romantic dreams. By the time her head cleared and she saw the truth and reality of what was happening around her, the Soviet noose had tightened around its citizens and getting away seemed almost impossible. 
 
In the closing notes that detail what happened to the individuals, I was disappointed (also a little mystified) to find no mention of Sasha’s second wife, the Mrs Olga Balk whom I met, nor my pen-friend Manette who seems to have been his only child. Whether this was just an oversight or there is some other facet to this intriguing family story that the author did not wish to share makes for speculation. Russians can be very hospitable and friendly people but as a result of their tumultuous history - as so well-detailed in this story - it also means they are also good at fudging the truth or resorting to secrecy if there is the need to do so! 

Still, that does not deter from recommending this as an enthralling and gripping read and it warrants four-and-a-half stars.


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