tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31565288232703535302024-03-18T11:02:31.185+08:00Emily Paull | Writer, Editor & Book ReviewerThe official website of West Australian writer, Emily Paull. Emily writes short stories and historical fiction, and is the author of Well-Behaved Women (Margaret River Press, 2019.) Debut novel The Dreamers to be publihsed March 2025 by Fremantle Press.
Emily Paullhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03483043817609949536noreply@blogger.comBlogger522125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3156528823270353530.post-72756928871295332632023-06-17T11:27:00.001+08:002023-06-17T11:27:06.438+08:00Guess who's a Fremantle Press author now?<p>The cat is out of the bag now - I've signed a contract with Fremantle Press to publish <i>The Dreamers. </i></p><p>Known as <i>Between the Sleepers</i> for many years and <i>The Compound</i> before that, this book is about 15 years in the making. It's been my dream to be part of the Fremantle Press family of authors for a very long time. </p><p>You can expect to see <i>The Dreamers</i> in all good bookstores from March 2025 - if that feels like a long way away, I hear you, but I think the time will fly and I'll be holding my book in my hands before you know it. </p><p>I can't wait to share Winston and Sarah's story with you all very soon. </p><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGMpmrd4lRO8mDzrtRnnbFbMcGo6ZwZqNWbQhgH0V-b-_28eQzf_iSZdq0nhzg_PgIE_uJbjja0IDUeOiOH0kjvd0cOHjFX3hrjKsXfRHhE-Cp3T6O39bDnxqxSIdZDSdZsBCiYqjwu-O5FgPOkdFgybi4ZIZH1QSo1lPDXLT1kt623bOkjHhG6YLF/s4032/IMG_0848.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGMpmrd4lRO8mDzrtRnnbFbMcGo6ZwZqNWbQhgH0V-b-_28eQzf_iSZdq0nhzg_PgIE_uJbjja0IDUeOiOH0kjvd0cOHjFX3hrjKsXfRHhE-Cp3T6O39bDnxqxSIdZDSdZsBCiYqjwu-O5FgPOkdFgybi4ZIZH1QSo1lPDXLT1kt623bOkjHhG6YLF/w480-h640/IMG_0848.jpeg" width="480" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div></div><br /><p><br /></p>Emily Paullhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03483043817609949536noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3156528823270353530.post-79596525620697530762023-06-04T14:39:00.001+08:002023-06-04T14:39:07.059+08:00The Month(s) That Was - A Fogarty Shortlisting, Lots of Books, and Some Exciting News on the Horizon<p> (I do most of my updates over on Instagram these days)</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAWZfLsut9lfNciSReniUAeE8aLHBrSw6wdEqx2-tJWIF-6PvqEPZGwV-CkYzxZBm86tSoefogBnIFzrtbgZN7HvAYBesag7tklisgtl9Gtfy1euxSkNXpytOimAuIbjW0iApdH_JgDEBN3vZZyLG4MgdJ3_Akl7mR8YEM8WFHxHTanMJA3JBjkYIx/s5000/E4D5C32F-58D9-4CA0-97EE-CDEF79FA6514.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2812" data-original-width="5000" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAWZfLsut9lfNciSReniUAeE8aLHBrSw6wdEqx2-tJWIF-6PvqEPZGwV-CkYzxZBm86tSoefogBnIFzrtbgZN7HvAYBesag7tklisgtl9Gtfy1euxSkNXpytOimAuIbjW0iApdH_JgDEBN3vZZyLG4MgdJ3_Akl7mR8YEM8WFHxHTanMJA3JBjkYIx/w400-h225/E4D5C32F-58D9-4CA0-97EE-CDEF79FA6514.jpeg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Photo by Ryan Gibson photography, courtesy of Fremantle Press</td></tr></tbody></table><p>In early May I found out that I was one of six writers shortlisted for the Fogarty Literary Award, administered by Fremantle Press, and so ensued a long month of waiting and publicity opportunities. The manuscript I was shortlisted for was 'The Dreamers' - a few of you won't recognise the name because the book has been known as 'Between The Sleepers' right up until pretty much the moment I began filling in my entry form for the competition. I've been working on this book on and off since 2008 (!) and it was extremely gratifying to see all those years of hard work pay off as the team of judges from Fremantle Press selected it out of the pool of entries. </p><p>I was shortlisted alongside five other talented local writers, all working across different genres and I look forward to reading each of these books in the months/ years to come. (Congratulations to Katherine Allum (winner!), Karleah Olson, Patrick Marlborough, Joshua Kemp and Prema Arasu - we did it!)</p><p>The Awards night itself was a beautiful, freezing, and somewhat tense affair which took place in the Edith Spiegeltent. I spent most of the night in the 'green room'/ writer's booth with some of the shortlisters and some Fremantle Press writers, as we all felt our nervousness together. We listened to readings from several Fremantle Press authors (some of which were new releases and one hadn't even come out yet) and then the six of us were presented with our certificates. As my name was called, I felt my heart warm as I heard the cheers of my friends and family in the audience. My friend Jess even did a video call with some of my writerly mates who were unable to be there in person. </p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEin-5OL-CXAWFJa_28M8hPFZBUUsTYdWOm6CVJ02GctEhdSQjg5da2xDfj7i68oLSEjmqz_6CizTzn53wuZF_mtFa9qb7vG27xD76lw2NFvkhmsJ-UIK8Y2-5jdbgExed-NArBE_wFyC97rQucqaVM7aVNLfAxghT5zF6lz0WyWsHV5NqgetrGhXBBP/s5000/7598918D-7821-4D95-94F2-6FCE03F37AEB.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2813" data-original-width="5000" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEin-5OL-CXAWFJa_28M8hPFZBUUsTYdWOm6CVJ02GctEhdSQjg5da2xDfj7i68oLSEjmqz_6CizTzn53wuZF_mtFa9qb7vG27xD76lw2NFvkhmsJ-UIK8Y2-5jdbgExed-NArBE_wFyC97rQucqaVM7aVNLfAxghT5zF6lz0WyWsHV5NqgetrGhXBBP/w400-h225/7598918D-7821-4D95-94F2-6FCE03F37AEB.jpeg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Photo by Ryan Gibson Photography, courtesy of Fremantle Press. <br /></td></tr></tbody></table><p>As soon as the night was over, I suddenly realised how cold and hungry I was! I'd been so nervous throughout the whole night that I'd been unable to eat a thing and my coat (with its pockets full of snacks) had been abandoned in the green room. It was back to reality for me!</p><p>So what else has been going on for me this year? I've been re-writing this book for most of it, as well as working full time in the library. I chaired an event at the Perth Writers' Festival this year and have been trying my best to get to as many writerly events as I can, as I always feel so much more creative afterwards. </p><p>On the book front, I'm still reading a lot but not as much as I'd like to! Some of my 2023 favourites so far are:</p><p>- The Rat Catcher by Kim Kelly</p><p>- The Bookbinder of Jericho by Pip Williams</p><p>- Duck a'la Orange for Breakfast by Karina May</p><p>- Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby van Pelt </p><p>I've been reviewing some of my recent reading for The AU Review, and <a href="https://www.theaureview.com/author/emily-paull/" target="_blank">you can check out all my reviews here. </a></p><p>I hope to have some exciting book news to share with you all soon, so stay tuned! </p>Emily Paullhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03483043817609949536noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3156528823270353530.post-60839855693517520842023-01-29T14:33:00.004+08:002023-01-29T14:33:44.819+08:00A January Update<p>January is a month that goes quickly, whilst simultaneously feeling as if it is five years long. I don't think I've ever quite come to terms with the fact that after you leave school, you don't just automatically get given summer holidays. But here we are-- January 29. We have made it. </p><p>I've been trying to build writing back in to my regular routine, aided and abetted by my wonderful writers group, the Perth History Writers' Salon. Currently, I am doing a fine-toothed-comb through of the draft I finished last year. With my rostered hours about to increase at work, I've gone back to the tried and true method of writing at night. This worked well enough for me back in my bookselling days. I just have to tear myself away from whatever excellent novel I happen to be reading at the time... easier said than done.</p><p>On the subject of excellent novels, I am very much enjoying having my own writing room/ library at our new house, even if I have already over-filled it with books... see exhibit A below. </p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlohxKWJJvZ2ZM5Rv8f1ulu_v2Vfj7AJqL7O91n1h60QcdfEISqIK58X8A6MTJwtQVjEapyIYVgscaqy3l7oWKKFZWAtGix4MwwswWSFwX86RjIlSE-IvNFFTVsV8XQbL0oL4qG9UM-LWt-t2V_bRWojGXbHlEvJ3cuXBjxYhDwMszSP5s9p7Ylw5S/s1590/3B9497D3-5480-4951-A547-4AA79AA47BEB_1_201_a.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="color: #666666;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1590" data-original-width="1125" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlohxKWJJvZ2ZM5Rv8f1ulu_v2Vfj7AJqL7O91n1h60QcdfEISqIK58X8A6MTJwtQVjEapyIYVgscaqy3l7oWKKFZWAtGix4MwwswWSFwX86RjIlSE-IvNFFTVsV8XQbL0oL4qG9UM-LWt-t2V_bRWojGXbHlEvJ3cuXBjxYhDwMszSP5s9p7Ylw5S/w283-h400/3B9497D3-5480-4951-A547-4AA79AA47BEB_1_201_a.jpeg" width="283" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #666666;">The face of a bookworm who has been forced to reckon with <br />the number of books she owns for the <br />purpose of moving house... worth it though.</span></td></tr></tbody></table><p>I've already read a number of really excellent books so far this year (although nothing beats last year's stand out, <i>Lessons in Chemistry</i> by Bonnie Garmus just yet) but if you've come here in search of recommendations may I suggest either <i>Remarkably Bright Creatures</i> by Shelby van Pelt or <i>The Book of Form and Emptiness</i> by Ruth Ozeki. </p><p>In other news, there are now less than 40 copies of <i>Well-Behaved Women</i> left for sale. This fact makes me both incredibly proud and a little sad. I've taken over the distribution of these books as of 2023, so get in contact if you would like one. They are $25 each.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3qpGQhcnrRAtRmD24ddszrEFMnKrH6Rzv0pjf223HvgEecUpLcDIu-_G-OhXKdCbNOZf3y6cadw6xh85qrE754Y2bnKMF9kX0e_Gjn51qmuf2rGTNtJ8E9Pzs3XFtvbH6NWBR0-9N17W35TKsLIu4Q_5rlwxwlXmAQZdDVjG1KbDIV7CfD5rscZC0/s4032/FB8A7801-6202-4A9C-A728-5B24FECEA870.heic" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3qpGQhcnrRAtRmD24ddszrEFMnKrH6Rzv0pjf223HvgEecUpLcDIu-_G-OhXKdCbNOZf3y6cadw6xh85qrE754Y2bnKMF9kX0e_Gjn51qmuf2rGTNtJ8E9Pzs3XFtvbH6NWBR0-9N17W35TKsLIu4Q_5rlwxwlXmAQZdDVjG1KbDIV7CfD5rscZC0/s320/FB8A7801-6202-4A9C-A728-5B24FECEA870.heic" width="240" /></a></div><div><br /></div>Finally, Perth Writers' Festival (or Literature and Ideas Festival as it is now known) is upon us. I'll be interviewing Sharron Booth, Portland Jones and Bronwyn Rennex on Saturday 25th February in the panel 'Past Perfect' so <a href="https://www.perthfestival.com.au/events/past-perfect/" target="_blank">check out this link </a>if you'd like to come along. <div><br /></div><div>That's it from me for this month- I hope you're reading something excellent. <br /><p><br /></p></div>Emily Paullhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03483043817609949536noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3156528823270353530.post-77156011223599267352022-11-26T18:29:00.000+08:002022-11-26T18:29:12.965+08:00Readers' Advisory- What to try if you've been listening to the SIX the Musical soundtrack on repeat<p> I went to see SIX the Musical in Perth last night after many years of hearing about how great it was. If you're not familiar with the concept, SIX is a kind of rock opera/ pop concert type show in which the six wives of Henry the Eighth are reimagined as pop divas competing for the role of 'lead singer in the band.' The competition? To see which one of them endured the worst treatment (and sometimes abuse) from their royal husband, Henry the Eighth. It's funny, clever, and full of girl power moments that had me cheering myself hoarse. It's currently on at Crown Theatre so do go see it if you can.</p><p>And if you've already seen it but want to know more about who these women were, aside from the well-known rhyme -- Divorced, Beheaded, Died, Divorced, Beheaded, Survived-- here are a few book suggestions for you to check out.</p><h3 style="text-align: left;"><b><i><span style="font-size: medium;">Ones I've Read</span></i></b></h3><p><b><i>- </i>The Plantagenet and Tudor Novels by Philippa Gregory</b></p><p>My introduction to the Tudor era came through reading Philippa Gregory's <i>The Other Boleyn Girl</i>, as I'm sure is the case for many armchair Tudor enthusiasts. This novel is the most well-known of a series which looks at a number of women from the Tudor and Plantagenet courts, including Elizabeth Woodville, Elizabeth of York (Henry VIII's mother and Grandmother). Though I'm less of a fan of PG's other works, like the recent Fairmile series, I love her version of the Tudor court and the way that she mixes historical record with courtly intrigue, rumour and imagination. Some of her plotlines need to be read as conjecture and not fact, but that's what you should always do when you choose a novel over an historical account, right?</p><p>My favourite of the series is the Katherine of Aragon novel, <i>The Constant Princess. </i>This was the basis for the STARZ series, The Spanish Princess, and the prequel series The White Queen and The White Princess were also based on these books. (We pretend the movie version of The Other Boleyn Girl doesn't exist.) </p><p><i></i></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #444444; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><a href="https://www.fantasticfiction.com/g/philippa-gregory/" target="_blank"><img alt="" data-original-height="479" data-original-width="316" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhAb_eRZSeJHtg14DNJYZ_cPWr3DFOD0f2eO1EBUwKb1aGPbV6mBCMTSY03f7Oy9oX4a3IOh0NgXY-24dvVKgtl2K324ym3p_3ql_Eoc5oziwg01uDBryXHH7sXM72bBMizEt52Fiu64GbmqASAD5rHM31EYGJqma0gW0ZidPSXskMbiqZgV_mFKzpz" width="158" /></a></span></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #444444;"><a href="https://www.fantasticfiction.com/g/philippa-gregory/" target="_blank">Read the Fantastic Fiction page for this author</a></span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><b><i>- </i>The Six Tudor Queens series by Alison Weir</b><div><b><br /></b></div><div>Alison Weir is the 'top-selling female historian in the United Kingdom' according to her biography, and has written non fiction and fiction about a number of historical figures from this period. Her most recent work has all been fictional, including a series of six books devoted to the six wives, and a standalone novel about Elizabeth of York called <i>The Last White Rose</i>. Weir's approach is more comprehensive than Gregory's and each novel is quite chunky. This is surprising given how some of the Queens had shorter marriages (and lives!) than others, and less is known about them, such as is the case with Jane Seymour. Again, there are moments where rumour and conjecture has to stand in to make up the gaps in the historical record, but Weir's portraits of these women does steer the reader away from relying on stereotypes. Her portrayal of Anne Boleyn takes her from conniving temptress with no morals to feminist pioneer, and for that reason, <i>Anne Boleyn: A King's Obsession</i> is my favourite book in the series.</div><div><br /></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><a href="https://www.fantasticfiction.com/w/alison-weir/" target="_blank"><img border="0" data-original-height="485" data-original-width="316" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4ZxHN3R1x3UGI3l7lg2ndMJioRwE06zH2x4sl86Wj1Dir2PX_wVGqtK4UZBw3F7pMErE2UTXGgQivvBK1QITmx_1HGmnhM55d0nuXMDGPlUFB_z95Vd7fxiC4UEkIupT6cOcNJGN6Xpoz5wX68QQWJqH1WbtEvHf4Bt5XmGj3ys1uU4ytlx81yEvF/s320/anne%20boleyn%20book.jpg" width="208" /></a></span></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.fantasticfiction.com/w/alison-weir/" target="_blank">Read the Fantastic Fiction page for this author.</a></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div style="text-align: left;"><b>- The Wolf Hall trilogy by Hilary Mantel</b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b><br /></b></div><div style="text-align: left;">I was heartbroken when Dame Hilary Mantel passed away earlier in the year. Her novel, <i>Wolf Hall</i>, following Thomas Cromwell in the court of Henry the VIII around about the time of 'The King's Great Matter' (i.e. his attempts to divorce Katherine of Aragon and marry Anne Boleyn) was released in 2009 and won that year's Booker Prize. The sequel, <i>Bring Up the Bodies</i> came out in 2012, which was the year I began bookselling. I remember buying a copy of it as the first thing I got with my staff discount! The finale, <i>The Mirror and the Light</i> came out in 2020. This trilogy does show portrayals of several of the Queens (although not Catherine Parr, as Cromwell was beheaded before she married the king-- he was beheaded a few days after Henry married Katherine Howard.) More literary in tone, this is a slower read but it's really worth the time and effort, and once you've read the books I do recommend that you watch the excellent BBC series with Mark Rylance as Cromwell. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTk7SRe9mgmZ6xic2m_41KQoe-K-ul86952pnHO16AmkwJtHNoxozrAWvucUuNSyxejlgEYjvd_zsgPBF063MTl3glcm8IEl6GXBH584vYJf0oNTE50din-PJBj5VyfC-q8p7J7ndBFJO-i9d61pQOxxH5gwpBVJNTFaC0An7sI355lLf0MS8jaRIm/s500/wolf%20hall.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="315" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTk7SRe9mgmZ6xic2m_41KQoe-K-ul86952pnHO16AmkwJtHNoxozrAWvucUuNSyxejlgEYjvd_zsgPBF063MTl3glcm8IEl6GXBH584vYJf0oNTE50din-PJBj5VyfC-q8p7J7ndBFJO-i9d61pQOxxH5gwpBVJNTFaC0An7sI355lLf0MS8jaRIm/s320/wolf%20hall.jpg" width="202" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.fantasticfiction.com/m/hilary-mantel/thomas-cromwell-trilogy/" target="_blank">Read the Fantastic Fiction page for this series.</a></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><h3 style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i><b>Ones I'd Like to Read</b></i></h3>I've just pulled all of the books about Queens and medieval ladies and lords sitting on my shelves that I've yet to read... as you can see, there are quite a few! There are also some I'd like to read that I don't have here, or haven't put in the picture. I've attached links to the Fantastic Fiction or Goodreads page for each, so feel free to click through if you're looking for something else to read to scratch your SIX itch! </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOx-eoGcRfHvMIWqZGOYdd1qb5NhCFoJNAGBpIez1Vwol7brV8oNlHeS9XQe6RRm9kE14kbTJGKj9qmoQ43hWgjmhZuphZfoDt3pL47BebifmcUtmt2igljKo6qhX63d-4-5iD_hT3K5tolUaYB7FUCZnExSzCRdeEnw8FNUji-RnoMHQCdtxLLfAd/s4032/tudors.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOx-eoGcRfHvMIWqZGOYdd1qb5NhCFoJNAGBpIez1Vwol7brV8oNlHeS9XQe6RRm9kE14kbTJGKj9qmoQ43hWgjmhZuphZfoDt3pL47BebifmcUtmt2igljKo6qhX63d-4-5iD_hT3K5tolUaYB7FUCZnExSzCRdeEnw8FNUji-RnoMHQCdtxLLfAd/w480-h640/tudors.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="https://www.fantasticfiction.com/h/joanna-hickson/catherine-de-valois/" target="_blank">- <i>The Agincourt Bride </i>and <i>The Tudor Bride </i>by Joanna Hickson (about Catherine de Valois, Queen Consort of Henry V)</a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="https://www.fantasticfiction.com/w/alison-weir/dangerous-inheritance.htm" target="_blank">- <i>A Dangerous Inheritance</i> by Alison Weir<i> </i>(about Lady Katherine Grey, sister to Jane Grey, the Nine Days Queen)</a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="https://www.fantasticfiction.com/m/livi-michael/war-of-the-roses-trilogy/" target="_blank">- <i>Succession</i> by Livi Michael (about Margaret of Anjou, Queen Consort of Henry VI)</a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/15814396" target="_blank"><i>- The Creation of Anne Boleyn</i> by Susan Bordo (Non Fiction)</a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="https://www.fantasticfiction.com/f/elizabeth-fremantle/tudor-trilogy/" target="_blank">- <i>The Queen's Gambit, Sisters of Treason</i> and <i>Watch the Lady </i>by Elizabeth Fremantle </a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="https://www.fantasticfiction.com/a/laura-andersen/" target="_blank">- <i>The Boleyn King</i> by Laura Andersen</a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="https://www.fantasticfiction.com/d/christie-dickason/principessa.htm" target="_blank">- <i>The Principessa</i> by Christie Dickason (court of James I)</a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="https://www.fantasticfiction.com/s/c-j-sansom/shardlake/" target="_blank">- <i>Dissolution</i> by CJ Sansom (first book in the Matthew Shardlake series, mysteries in the Tudor court)</a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="https://www.fantasticfiction.com/o/anne-obrien/queen-of-north.htm" target="_blank">- <i>Queen of the North</i> by Anne O'Brien (Court of Richard II)</a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="https://www.fantasticfiction.com/b/tracy-borman/frances-gorges-historical-trilogy/" target="_blank"><br /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="https://www.fantasticfiction.com/b/tracy-borman/frances-gorges-historical-trilogy/" target="_blank">- <i>The King's Witch</i> by Tracy Borman (Court of James I)</a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="https://www.fantasticfiction.com/d/suzannah-dunn/" target="_blank">- <i>The May Bride </i>and <i>The Confession of Katherine Howard </i>by Suzannah Dunn (Jane Seymour and Katherine Howard respectively)</a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="https://www.fantasticfiction.com/g/annie-garthwaite/cecily.htm" target="_blank">- <i>Cecily</i> by Annie Garthwaite (Cecily, Duchess of York, great grandmother of Henry VIII)</a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/29430787-young-and-damned-and-fair?from_search=true&from_srp=true&qid=wJjbMbsw2p&rank=1" target="_blank">- <i>Young and Damned and Fair</i> by Gareth Russell (Non Fiction about Katherine Howard)</a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Have you read any of these, or have you read something about the Six Wives that I might like? Let me know in the comments! </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><br /></div><br /><br /><br /><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i><br /></i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i><br /></i></div><i><br /><br /></i><p></p></div>Emily Paullhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03483043817609949536noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3156528823270353530.post-50198531066090843662022-11-19T10:19:00.005+08:002022-11-19T10:19:52.055+08:00Top 10 Reads of 2022 - so far!<p>It's been a bit of time between blog posts.</p><p>So much has happened this year. </p><p>I've been adjusting to my new role as a librarian, working (somewhat sporadically) on two novels, and most recently, I've been moving house. There also seems to be all manner of chaos going on in the world at the moment. It's relentless-- after the horror of the 2020 bushfire season, we now have continual flooding; war overseas; another wave of the dreaded virus. Sometimes, it's a little bit too much. </p><p>But, when the world outside seems to be falling down around your ears, you can always read a book. It will remind you of worse things you could be enduring, or show you that others have survived the same before, or perhaps transport you to somewhere entirely more pleasant, at least for a while. </p><p>Here are ten such books which were real standouts during my 2022 reading. In 2022, I was still drawn to strong female characters, but I was also looking for humour, and a touch of lightness. I discovered a genre that I like to call 'Sad Girl Books', which is an emerging set of novels about 20 and 30 something women trying to figure it all out, without necessarily being 'chick lit'. Often these novels explore themes of mental health, and deviating from the expected patterns of life that are considered 'normal'. Think <i>Sorrow and Bliss </i>if you're not sure what I'm talking about. There are less short story collections this year, and more historical fiction. I also seem to have really enjoyed books with green covers!</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlAC6z40DIEzOLcSw7TSfsRv0g-iHFQtiqlHeklQ369EUGWvGic3fQXOMG78eiorJfKStXrPNkwTYf65rggklDRGwTbPvKAsrpT6mzV2jac7BLZfG5ZDNwhnfshP-9eFfWl4RdAMPJ1Bwx9lV3Jgkwmfcp8rZrabHgFDfWQfiaPVJmPWoWd6WiTXOC/s1080/Best%20Reads%20of%202022.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="1080" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlAC6z40DIEzOLcSw7TSfsRv0g-iHFQtiqlHeklQ369EUGWvGic3fQXOMG78eiorJfKStXrPNkwTYf65rggklDRGwTbPvKAsrpT6mzV2jac7BLZfG5ZDNwhnfshP-9eFfWl4RdAMPJ1Bwx9lV3Jgkwmfcp8rZrabHgFDfWQfiaPVJmPWoWd6WiTXOC/w640-h640/Best%20Reads%20of%202022.png" width="640" /></a></div><p>So, in no particular order, here they are: </p><p><b><i>Lessons in Chemistry</i> by Bonnie Garmus</b></p><p><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;">Chemist Elizabeth Zott is not your average woman. In fact, Elizabeth Zott would be the first to point out that there is no such thing as an average woman. But it’s the early 1960s and her all-male team at Hastings Research Institute takes a very unscientific view of equality. Except for one: Calvin Evans; the lonely, brilliant, Nobel–prize nominated grudge-holder who falls in love with—of all things—her mind. True chemistry results.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;">But like science, life is unpredictable. Which is why a few years later Elizabeth Zott finds herself not only a single mother, but the reluctant star of America’s most beloved cooking show </span><i style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;">Supper at Six</i><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;">. Elizabeth’s unusual approach to cooking (“combine one tablespoon acetic acid with a pinch of sodium chloride”) proves revolutionary. But as her following grows, not everyone is happy. Because as it turns out, Elizabeth Zott isn’t just teaching women to cook. She’s daring them to change the status quo.</span></p><p><b><i>Joan</i> by Katherine J Chen</b></p><p><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;">Girl. Warrior. Heretic. Saint? A stunning secular reimagining of the epic life of Joan of Arc, in the bold tradition of Hilary Mantel's Wolf Hall</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;">1412. France is mired in a losing war against England. Its people are starving. Its king is in hiding. From this chaos emerges a teenage girl who will turn the tide of battle and lead the French to victory, an unlikely hero whose name will echo across the centuries.</span></p><p><b><i>Dinner with the Schnabels </i>by Toni Jordan</b></p><p><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;">Things haven't gone well for Simon Larsen lately. He adores his wife, Tansy, and his children, but since his business failed and he lost the family home, he can't seem to get off the couch. Simon is permanently unemployed and permanently unshaven.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;">His larger-than-life in-laws, the Schnabels - Tansy's mother, sister and brother - won't get off his case.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;">To keep everyone happy, Simon needs to do one little job: he has a week to landscape a friend's backyard for an important Schnabel family event.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;">But as the week progresses, Simon is derailed by the arrival of an unexpected house guest. Then he discovers Tansy is harbouring a secret. As his world spins out of control, who can Simon really count on when the chips are down?</span></p><p><b><i>The Marriage Portrait </i>by Maggie O'Farrell</b></p><p><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;">Florence, the 1550s. Lucrezia, third daughter of the grand duke, is comfortable with her obscure place in the palazzo: free to wonder at its treasures, observe its clandestine workings, and to devote herself to her own artistic pursuits. But when her older sister dies on the eve of her wedding to the ruler of Ferrara, Moderna and Regio, Lucrezia is thrust unwittingly into the limelight: the duke is quick to request her hand in marriage, and her father just as quick to accept on her behalf.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;">Having barely left girlhood behind, Lucrezia must now make her way in a troubled court whose customs are opaque and where her arrival is not universally welcomed. Perhaps most mystifying of all is her new husband himself, Alfonso. Is he the playful sophisticate he appeared to be before their wedding, the aesthete happiest in the company of artists and musicians, or the ruthless politician before whom even his formidable sisters seem to tremble?</span></p><p><b><i>Love and Other Puzzles</i> by Kimberley Allsopp</b></p><p><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;">Rory's life is perfectly predictable, ordered and on track – just the way she likes it. She walks her 12,000 steps a day, writes her to-do list, and each night she prepares her breakfast chia pods and lays out her clothes for the next day. She's doing everything right. So why does everything feel so wrong?</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;">Deep down, she knows her life and career – not to mention her relationship – are going nowhere, and so Rory, in a moment of desperation, takes an uncharacteristic step: letting the clues of </span><i style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;">The New York Times</i><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;"> crossword puzzle dictate all her decisions for a week. Just for a week, she reasons. Just to shake things up a bit. What could possibly go wrong?</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;" /></p><p><b><i>Tunnelling to the Centre of the Earth</i> by Kevin Wilson</b></p><p><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;">Kevin Wilson's characters inhabit a world that moves seamlessly between the real and the imagined, the mundane and the fantastic. "Grand Stand-In" is narrated by an employee of a Nuclear Family Supplemental Provider—a company that supplies "stand-ins" for families with deceased, ill, or just plain mean grandparents. And in "Blowing Up On the Spot," a young woman works sorting tiles at a Scrabble factory after her parents have spontaneously combusted.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;">Southern gothic at its best, laced with humor and pathos, these wonderfully inventive stories explore the relationship between loss and death and the many ways we try to cope with both.</span></p><p><b><i>The Paris Bookseller</i> by Kerri Maher</b></p><p><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;">When bookish young American Sylvia Beach opens Shakespeare and Company on a quiet street in Paris in 1919, she has no idea that she and her new bookstore will change the course of literature itself.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;">Shakespeare and Company is more than a bookstore and lending library: Many of the prominent writers of the Lost Generation, like Ernest Hemingway, consider it a second home. It's where some of the most important literary friendships of the twentieth century are forged--none more so than the one between Irish writer James Joyce and Sylvia herself. When Joyce's controversial novel </span><i style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;">Ulysses</i><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;"> is banned, Beach takes a massive risk and publishes it under the auspices of Shakespeare and Company.</span></p><p><b><i>The Fossil Hunter</i> by Tea Cooper</b></p><p><em style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;">Australia, 1847</em><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;">. The last thing Mellie Vale remembers before the fever takes her is sprinting through the bush with a monster at her heels—but no one believes her. In a bid to curb Mellie’s overactive imagination, her benefactors send her to visit a family friend, Anthea Winstanley. Anthea is an amateur paleontologist convinced she will one day find proof that great sea dragons swam in the vast inland sea that covered her property millions of years ago. Mellie is instantly swept up in the dream.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;" /><em style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;">1919</em><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;">. Penelope Jane Martindale arrives home from the battlefields of World War I intent on making peace with her father and commemorating the deaths of her two younger brothers in the trenches. Her reception is disappointing. Desperate for a distraction, she finds a connection between a fossil at London’s Natural History Museum and her brothers’ favorite camping spot—also the last place they were seen before falsifying their ages to join the army. But the gorge has a sinister reputation: seventy years ago, several girls disappeared from the area. So when P. J. uncovers some unexpected remains, the past seems to be reaching into the present. She’s determined to find answers about what happened all those years ago . . . and perhaps some closure on the loss of her brothers.</span></p><p><b><i>Chai Time at Cinnamon Gardens</i> by Shankari Chandran</b></p><p><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;">Welcome to Cinnamon Gardens, a home for those who are lost and the stories they treasure.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;">Cinnamon Gardens Nursing Home is nestled in the quiet suburb of Westgrove, Sydney – populated with residents with colourful histories, each with their own secrets, triumphs and failings. This is their safe place, an oasis of familiar delights – a beautiful garden, a busy kitchen and a bountiful recreation schedule.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;">But this ordinary neighbourhood is not without its prejudices. The serenity of Cinnamon Gardens is threatened by malignant forces more interested in what makes this refuge different rather than embracing the calm companionship that makes this place home to so many. As those who challenge the residents’ existence make their stand against the nursing home with devastating consequences, our characters are forced to reckon with a country divided.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;" /></p><p><b><i>After Story</i> by Larissa Behrendt</b></p><p><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;">When Indigenous lawyer Jasmine decides to take her mother Della on a tour of England's most revered literary sites, Jasmine hopes it will bring them closer together and help them reconcile the past.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;">Twenty-five years earlier the disappearance of Jasmine's older sister devastated their tight-knit community. This tragedy returns to haunt Jasmine and Della when another child mysteriously goes missing on Hampstead Heath. As Jasmine immerses herself in the world of her literary idols – including Jane Austen, the Brontë sisters and Virginia Woolf – Della is inspired to rediscover the wisdom of her own culture and storytelling. But sometimes the stories that are not told can become too great to bear.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;" /></p><p><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;"><br /></span></p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Lora, serif; font-size: 14px;">I'll link a few of my favourite WA based independent bookshops here if you're interested in checking any of these out. And of course, as a librarian, it would be remiss of me to not mention that you can also source these from your local library!</p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Lora, serif; font-size: 14px;"><a href="https://www.rabblebooksandgames.com.au/" style="background: transparent; color: #bf8b38; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">Rabble Books</a></p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Lora, serif; font-size: 14px;"><a href="https://beaufortstreetbooks.com.au/" style="background: transparent; color: #bf8b38; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">Beaufort Street Books</a></p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Lora, serif; font-size: 14px;"><a href="https://typefacebooks.com/" style="background: transparent; color: #bf8b38; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">Typeface Books</a></p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Lora, serif; font-size: 14px;"><a href="https://www.diabolikbooks.com.au/" style="background: transparent; color: #bf8b38; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">Diabolik Books and Games</a> </p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Lora, serif; font-size: 14px;"><a href="https://www.openbook.com.au/" style="background: transparent; color: #bf8b38; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">Open Book </a></p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Lora, serif; font-size: 14px;"><a href="https://newedition.com.au/" style="background: transparent; color: #bf8b38; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">New Edition</a></p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Lora, serif; font-size: 14px;"><a href="https://crowbooks.com.au/" style="background: transparent; color: #bf8b38; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">Crow Books</a></p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Lora, serif; font-size: 14px;"><br /></p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Lora, serif; font-size: 14px;">Have you read any of these, or did you have a favourite that didn't make this list? Tell me all about it in a comment down below. My TBR is ever-growing, with your help.</p><p><br /></p>Emily Paullhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03483043817609949536noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3156528823270353530.post-47920653245005535062022-06-05T11:58:00.001+08:002022-06-05T11:58:00.175+08:00Book Review: The Winter Dress by Lauren Chater<p><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Raleway;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14px;"></span></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Raleway;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYobf7mGqKLuayBWhY9yP-mq8BIYRhFNMVKKUXl2bL-81__9mZZ5-gwscM8k0VK1LQJ8i15S3HssCx5zjzrS97u6mvglZ6OTjlAwSIM2qA9iS8C3iaQRhFk72-_HNQqnyBzgrpe-97dI_vb8anspPBJe7YivwJ5JdytE_oDNKMWjNO-8PXFFPqgqpA/s1024/winter%20dress%20au.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="768" data-original-width="1024" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYobf7mGqKLuayBWhY9yP-mq8BIYRhFNMVKKUXl2bL-81__9mZZ5-gwscM8k0VK1LQJ8i15S3HssCx5zjzrS97u6mvglZ6OTjlAwSIM2qA9iS8C3iaQRhFk72-_HNQqnyBzgrpe-97dI_vb8anspPBJe7YivwJ5JdytE_oDNKMWjNO-8PXFFPqgqpA/w640-h480/winter%20dress%20au.png" width="640" /></a></span></div><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Raleway;"><br /><i><br /></i></span><p></p><p><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Raleway;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14px;"><i>This review was originally published by<a href="https://www.theaureview.com/books/book-review-lauren-chater-the-winter-dress/"> The AU Review</a> on April 22, 2022.</i></span></span></p><p><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Raleway; font-size: 14px;">Shipwrecks, court fashions and the Dutch art trade of the 17th Century take centre stage in</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Raleway; font-size: 14px;"> </span><strong style="box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: Raleway; font-size: 14px;">Lauren Chater’s</strong><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Raleway; font-size: 14px;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Raleway; font-size: 14px;">third historical novel, </span><strong style="box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: Raleway; font-size: 14px;"><em style="box-sizing: inherit;">The Winter Dress</em></strong><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Raleway; font-size: 14px;">. Chater was inspired by a shipwreck discovered in 2014 off the island of Texel, containing a dress perfectly preserved underwater for four hundred years. The dress was later found to have belonged to Jean Kerr, Countess of Roxburghe, a lady-in-waiting to Queen Henrietta Maria.</span></p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: Raleway; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word;">In the fictional counterpart to this history, the dress belongs to Anna Tesseltje, who began her life as a merchant’s daughter, but was forced to become a laundress after his death. By chance, Anna is elevated to the position of lady’s companion to Catharina van Shurman, a celebrated artist and advocate for women’s education. Anna and Catharina were said to be close, but the discovery of Anna’s dress on a boat belonging to the Dutch East India Company indicates that the pair parted company…</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: Raleway; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word;">Four hundred or so odd years later, textiles historian Jo Baaker receives a phone call from a childhood friend whom she hasn’t seen since she left Texel at sixteen, after her parents’ tragic death. Bram and his diving crew have found some artefacts on a well-known shipwreck. Among these artefacts is a shockingly well-preserved dress which just might be the making of Jo’s career, but the catch is, she’ll have to go home to Texel in order to see it.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: Raleway; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word;"><em style="box-sizing: inherit;">The Winter Dress</em> is a sumptuous novel of Dutch history, evocative of <strong style="box-sizing: inherit;">Deborah Moggach</strong>‘s <em style="box-sizing: inherit;">Tulip Fever</em> or <strong style="box-sizing: inherit;">Jessie Burton</strong>‘s <em style="box-sizing: inherit;">The Miniaturist, </em>but with a modern-day mystery element à la <strong style="box-sizing: inherit;">Kirsty Manning</strong> or <strong style="box-sizing: inherit;">Natasha Lester</strong>. To read this book is to feel like you are walking through the tapestry lined halls of the von Shurman house, or standing with the aristocracy at a ball held by the Winter Queen; or even diving alongside a hulking wreck in the midst of a storm. Both of the novel’s storylines are evenly weighted; Jo’s struggles to protect her stake in the discovery when other interested parties come sniffing around are just as interesting as Anna’s struggles to live in a world where all she has to her name is an old dress belonging to her mother.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: Raleway; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word;">The novel’s focus is on what fashion and textiles can tell us a lot about history and culture. Jo’s frequent frustration at the way this field is seen to be trivial mirrors that of writers whose area of interest is the histories of women; who are more often than not, absent from the historical record. I would have liked to have seen this thread teased out more.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: Raleway; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word;">Indeed, the book is almost economical with words in some areas, and while I enjoyed it very much, I wouldn’t have minded at all if there were one hundred or even two hundred more pages. In particular, I would have liked to see the research process in the modern day storyline unfold in real time, rather than having Jo and her colleague’s discoveries revealed in summary; discoveries that the reader had already learned through reading Anna’s parts of the books. There were also a few intuitive leaps for the sake of moving the plot along that might prove a little irritating to those who know how long and arduous historical research really can be.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: Raleway; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word;">I loved learning about Jo’s backstory; her complicated relationship with her parents’ memory was a barrier to be overcome before she could truly reconnect with Texel. In learning to understand them better, she seemed to become a stronger person over all. Her friendship with Gerrit, a man from her mother’s past, allowed both Jo and the reader to see that the memories of a grieving sixteen year old are not always the most reliable.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: Raleway; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word;"><em style="box-sizing: inherit;">The Winter Dress</em> is a stunning, fast-paced historical novel which is sure to please Lauren Chater fans and attract new readers alike. There’s a little bit of something for everyone; mystery, the hint of romance, court life, shipwrecks.. the list goes on.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: Raleway; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word;">It’s the perfect book to curl up under a blanket with, and enjoy with a piping hot cup of tea.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: Raleway; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word;"><img alt="" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-137667" height="48" loading="lazy" src="https://www.theaureview.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/full-star.png" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; height: auto; max-width: 100%; outline: 0px; transition: all 0.3s ease-in-out 0s; vertical-align: middle;" width="50" /><img alt="" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-137667" height="48" loading="lazy" src="https://www.theaureview.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/full-star.png" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; height: auto; max-width: 100%; outline: 0px; transition: all 0.3s ease-in-out 0s; vertical-align: middle;" width="50" /><img alt="" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-137667" height="48" loading="lazy" src="https://www.theaureview.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/full-star.png" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; height: auto; max-width: 100%; outline: 0px; transition: all 0.3s ease-in-out 0s; vertical-align: middle;" width="50" /><img alt="" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-137667" height="48" loading="lazy" src="https://www.theaureview.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/full-star.png" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; height: auto; max-width: 100%; outline: 0px; transition: all 0.3s ease-in-out 0s; vertical-align: middle;" width="50" /><img alt="The Winter Dress" class="alignnone wp-image-132883 size-full" height="48" loading="lazy" src="https://www.theaureview.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/half-star.png" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; height: auto; max-width: 100%; outline: 0px; transition: all 0.3s ease-in-out 0s; vertical-align: middle;" width="50" /></p><h3 style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; clear: both; color: #333333; font-family: Raleway; font-size: 2em; font-weight: 500; line-height: 1.1; margin: 0px 0px 30px; overflow-wrap: break-word;">FOUR AND A HALF STARS (OUT OF FIVE)</h3><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: Raleway; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word;">Lauren Chater’s <em style="box-sizing: inherit;">The Winter Dress</em> is out now from <a href="https://www.simonandschuster.com.au/books/The-Winter-Dress/Lauren-Chater/9781760850227" style="background-color: transparent; box-sizing: inherit; color: #3e63b6; outline: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: all 0.3s ease-in-out 0s;">Simon and Schuster</a>. Grab yourself a copy from Booktopia <a href="https://booktopia.kh4ffx.net/c/2237739/585979/9632?prodsku=49231095&u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.booktopia.com.au%2Fthe-winter-dress-lauren-chater%2Fbook%2F9781760850227.html%3Futm_source%3DECN%26utm_medium%3DCSE%26utm_campaign%3DECN_CPC&intsrc=PUI2_4434" style="background-color: transparent; box-sizing: inherit; color: #3e63b6; outline: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: all 0.3s ease-in-out 0s;">HERE</a>.</p><div><br /></div><div class="sharedaddy sd-sharing-enabled" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; clear: both; color: #333333; font-family: Raleway; font-size: 14px;"></div>Emily Paullhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03483043817609949536noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3156528823270353530.post-55005688947867345462022-06-01T11:56:00.004+08:002022-06-01T11:56:00.181+08:00Book Review: Dinner with the Schnabels by Toni Jordan<p><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Raleway;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14px;"></span></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Raleway;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisyLDFbJ-jNp8Ps3-dY9WbfF9TuJSdVpkWfAj-IoW3QCwHirYR_Xn0NiTNmcVRfhIlWntdsX_GFDSqAWf0Run4-mYHdxD7eb8S7geOXpdBYbfPIrB0DKvUtSJV6agTMfstKOQBavsEwYgzeXRe89nzVTxDohjKyKEypbY3E9tc4VYl84W-liqCmZOf/s1024/schnabels%20au.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="768" data-original-width="1024" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisyLDFbJ-jNp8Ps3-dY9WbfF9TuJSdVpkWfAj-IoW3QCwHirYR_Xn0NiTNmcVRfhIlWntdsX_GFDSqAWf0Run4-mYHdxD7eb8S7geOXpdBYbfPIrB0DKvUtSJV6agTMfstKOQBavsEwYgzeXRe89nzVTxDohjKyKEypbY3E9tc4VYl84W-liqCmZOf/w640-h480/schnabels%20au.png" width="640" /></a></span></div><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Raleway;"><br /><i><br /></i></span><p></p><p><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Raleway;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14px;"><i>This review was originally published on <a href="https://www.theaureview.com/books/book-review-toni-jordan-dinner-with-the-schnabels/">The AU Review</a> on April 21, 2022.</i></span></span></p><p><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Raleway; font-size: 14px;">If you thought it was too soon for a pandemic novel, you might just be put off by the premise of</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Raleway; font-size: 14px;"> </span><strong style="box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: Raleway; font-size: 14px;">Toni Jordan’s</strong><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Raleway; font-size: 14px;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Raleway; font-size: 14px;">newest book,</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Raleway; font-size: 14px;"> </span><em style="box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: Raleway; font-size: 14px;"><strong style="box-sizing: inherit;">Dinner with the Schnabels</strong>…</em><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Raleway; font-size: 14px;">don’t be! Known for her versatility across both the contemporary and historical genres, the Melbourne-based novelist has just published her first novel with Hachette.</span></p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: Raleway; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word;"><em style="box-sizing: inherit;">Schnabels </em>follows down-on-his-luck former-architect Simon Larsen, who has been forced to make a few changes to his life post-lockdown. After losing his firm, and then his house, Simon has found himself in something of a rut. To make matters worse, his wife’s family seem to be watching his every move – in particular, his mother in law, who has never expected much of Simon in the first place. In fact, Simon wouldn’t blame his wife, Tansy, if she decided to leave him.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: Raleway; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word;">The novel takes place over the space of one week and is structured around Simon’s attempts to finish a landscape gardening job for a childhood friend of Tansy’s after the previous company pulled out of the job at the last minute. At the end of said week, Gloria Schnabel is hosting a memorial for her ex-husband who died the year previously. Simon doesn’t exactly understand why seeing as David Schnabel was as absent as a husband and father could be… at least to his oldest three children.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: Raleway; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word;">Also attending the memorial is David’s daughter from his second marriage, Monica, who surreptitiously ends up crashing with the Larsens. And a highly unconventional houseguest is just the beginning. Soon, Simon must contend with a parade of issues which may just prevent him from finishing the first paying job he’s had in months. Which begs the question, is this the beginning of the end for the Larsens?</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: Raleway; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word;">Like Jordan’s previous novel, <em style="box-sizing: inherit;">Tiny Useless Hearts</em>, <em style="box-sizing: inherit;">Dinner with the Schnabels</em> is a kind of farce. It’s hilarious, yes, but then the pathos of this novel sneaks up on the reader. One moment, you are giggling uncontrollably at something adorable or gross one of the children says; the next you are clutching at your heart and holding back tears. It would be easy to imagine this novel adapted as a TV miniseries featuring most of the cast of <strong style="box-sizing: inherit;"><em style="box-sizing: inherit;">Offspring</em></strong>. In fact, the only criticism I could possibly level at this novel is that it was near-impossible to put down, and I was nearly late to a brunch because I didn’t want to stop reading it.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: Raleway; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word;">At times, I was reminded of the suburban charm of a <strong style="box-sizing: inherit;">Liane Moriarty</strong> novel. Jordan’s characters are larger than life in the best possible way, from social media influencer Mon (who has everyone fooled for a hot minute), to the surprising twist on the mother in law trope that is Gloria. Simon himself is a layered point of view character, and though the book is in third person, the reader is still privy to the warped way he sees his own situation, which lends the book a dramatic sense of irony.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: Raleway; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word;">And yes, it’s a pandemic novel. It’s not about the spread of the virus or about people getting sick and having to wear masks. But, it is about a man who is having to pick up the pieces after the major economic upheaval that came with COVID-19, as well as having to re-evaluate just what is truly important in his life. I hope that this may be the beginning of many insightful post-pandemic novels to come. And, I hope that all the authors who turn their pens to this particular chapter of our history are as clever as Toni Jordan.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: Raleway; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word;">I couldn’t rate it any other way. <em style="box-sizing: inherit;">Dinner with the Schnabels</em> is a 5-star read for sure. Run, don’t walk.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: Raleway; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word;"><img src="https://www.theaureview.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/full-star.png" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; height: auto; max-width: 100%; outline: 0px; transition: all 0.3s ease-in-out 0s; vertical-align: middle;" /><img src="https://www.theaureview.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/full-star.png" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; height: auto; max-width: 100%; outline: 0px; transition: all 0.3s ease-in-out 0s; vertical-align: middle;" /><img src="https://www.theaureview.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/full-star.png" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; height: auto; max-width: 100%; outline: 0px; transition: all 0.3s ease-in-out 0s; vertical-align: middle;" /><img src="https://www.theaureview.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/full-star.png" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; height: auto; max-width: 100%; outline: 0px; transition: all 0.3s ease-in-out 0s; vertical-align: middle;" /><img src="https://www.theaureview.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/full-star.png" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; height: auto; max-width: 100%; outline: 0px; transition: all 0.3s ease-in-out 0s; vertical-align: middle;" /></p><h3 style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; clear: both; color: #333333; font-family: Raleway; font-size: 2em; font-weight: 500; line-height: 1.1; margin: 0px 0px 30px; overflow-wrap: break-word;">FIVE STARS (OUT OF FIVE)</h3><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: Raleway; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word;">Toni Jordan’s <em style="box-sizing: inherit;">Dinner with the Schnabels</em> is out now with <a href="https://www.hachette.com.au/toni-jordan/dinner-with-the-schnabels" style="background-color: transparent; box-sizing: inherit; color: #3e63b6; outline: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: all 0.3s ease-in-out 0s;">Hachette Australia</a>. Grab yourself a copy from Booktopia <a href="https://booktopia.kh4ffx.net/c/2237739/585979/9632?prodsku=50643304&u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.booktopia.com.au%2Fdinner-with-the-schnabels-toni-jordan%2Fbook%2F9780733645129.html%3Futm_source%3DECN%26utm_medium%3DCSE%26utm_campaign%3DECN_CPC&intsrc=PUI2_4434" style="background-color: transparent; box-sizing: inherit; color: #3e63b6; outline: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: all 0.3s ease-in-out 0s;">HERE</a>.</p>Emily Paullhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03483043817609949536noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3156528823270353530.post-47704414760810896872022-05-29T11:54:00.001+08:002022-05-29T11:54:00.190+08:00Book Review: If You're Happy by Fiona Robertson<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhec-PqlpSTGoQpveQWIOo3hJa-sDii5RwlsSb1bp03g4ARBr60iZGrJy8hhd3d_vRHMfcPTzliZZ6wQaPkcITmRQpzEdar7LJX-_2fNwK9isFhJxDskLJzEDx0-EI_6r5i470PoJ44EeXYnuaJf75QvYD9AthFMY36tiqDDP0DM5B1alqHdtU5p166/s1024/if%20youre%20happy%20au.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="768" data-original-width="1024" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhec-PqlpSTGoQpveQWIOo3hJa-sDii5RwlsSb1bp03g4ARBr60iZGrJy8hhd3d_vRHMfcPTzliZZ6wQaPkcITmRQpzEdar7LJX-_2fNwK9isFhJxDskLJzEDx0-EI_6r5i470PoJ44EeXYnuaJf75QvYD9AthFMY36tiqDDP0DM5B1alqHdtU5p166/w640-h480/if%20youre%20happy%20au.png" width="640" /></a></div><br /><em style="box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: Raleway; font-size: 14px;"><br /></em><p></p><p><em style="box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: Raleway; font-size: 14px;">This review was originally published by <a href="https://www.theaureview.com/books/book-review-fiona-robertson-if-youre-happy/">The AU Review</a> on March 24, 2022.</em></p><p><em style="box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: Raleway; font-size: 14px;">“They are having sex when the wind starts up, whispering and sighing outside.”</em></p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: Raleway; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word;">So opens the first story in <strong style="box-sizing: inherit;">Fiona Robertson</strong>‘s Glendower Award-winning collection, <em style="box-sizing: inherit;"><strong style="box-sizing: inherit;">If You’re Happy</strong></em>. The University of Queensland Press team are no strangers to publishing powerful short fiction that challenges the conventions of the form in this country; counting among their authors Stella Prize longlisted<strong style="box-sizing: inherit;"> SJ Norman</strong>, national treasure <strong style="box-sizing: inherit;">Tony Birch</strong> and 2021 Steele Rudd Award recipient <strong style="box-sizing: inherit;">Laura Elvery</strong>. Robertson easily takes her place among these literary heavy hitters with her debut collection, a catalogue of people reaching their breaking points and deciding whether to fight on or to give in.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: Raleway; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word;">The collection opens with “Tempest”, an impactful snapshot of a marriage that takes place during a Texan Hurricane. At first, all seems well between Shelley and Jay. But, as Shelley stands facing down the eye of the storm, she has a moment of clarity about her life which may or may not pass with the coming danger.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: Raleway; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word;">It is one of a number of stories in this collection which centres around a natural disaster of some kind – a sinkhole in the backyard of a recently divorced woman is the central concern of “The Ground Beneath”. And in “Aftershocks”, a grieving daughter who works on a cancer ward must come to terms with being shown a different side to a favourite patient who has become a kind of surrogate mother to her. There are accidents that take place on snowy mountains, characters who almost freeze to death in record snowfalls, and characters who reassess their choices as they find themselves stuck inside flooded caves.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: Raleway; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word;">Nature is truly a wild card in this collection, both unpredictable and menacing. Yet human nature can also be the cause of chaos, as Robertson shows us in stories like the eponymous “If You’re Happy”. In this story, a childless man rescues an abandoned child from a car outside his apartment building. He calls the authorities, yet by the time they arrive, he’s formed an attachment to the child and does not want to hand the baby over. Here, as elsewhere, Robertson deftly shows the reader how even the most reasonable of protagonists can somehow do unreasonable things.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: Raleway; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word;">Many of the pieces in <em style="box-sizing: inherit;">If You’re Happy</em> might be described as a kind of flash fiction. They provide the reader with a brief snapshot into some sort of personal hell, such as that of “Birthday Wishes”, in which an elderly woman mourns the gradual decline of her beloved husband. Some take on a hint of the magical, such as “Last Game” and “The Fluttering”, whereas others are brutally grounded in the real world. The collection showcases the dexterity of its writer within a form that can contain as many genres and styles as any literary canon.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: Raleway; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word;">Robertson is clearly a student of the school of leaving them wanting more, a popular approach in Australian short fiction. And she often ends her stories right at the moment where the reader has finally worked out what the point of the whole piece has been – something which is both deeply frustrating and, for lovers of short fiction, highly addictive. She ends her stories at such an early point in many cases that it leaves the reader’s head spinning, meaning that this collection won’t be for everyone. But for those who love to be challenged, it makes it a collection that begs for immediate rereading.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: Raleway; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word;">There are twenty-four stories in this collection, each one with a vivid setting and lifelike characters. Though the book does seem to zip all over – thematically, geographically, and in terms of the point of view – there is a sense of unity pulling this book along and a logic to the way the book has been laid out. Were there some stories that pulled harder than others? Absolutely.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: Raleway; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word;">And yet, within the pages of <em style="box-sizing: inherit;">If You’re Happy</em>, the eagle-eyed reader may be able to chart the progress of a writer who we won’t have seen the last of yet. If you’re happy about this and you know it, clap your hands.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: Raleway; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word;"><img alt="" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-137667" height="48" loading="lazy" src="https://www.theaureview.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/full-star.png" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; height: auto; max-width: 100%; outline: 0px; transition: all 0.3s ease-in-out 0s; vertical-align: middle;" width="50" /><img alt="" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-137667" height="48" loading="lazy" src="https://www.theaureview.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/full-star.png" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; height: auto; max-width: 100%; outline: 0px; transition: all 0.3s ease-in-out 0s; vertical-align: middle;" width="50" /><img alt="" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-137667" height="48" loading="lazy" src="https://www.theaureview.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/full-star.png" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; height: auto; max-width: 100%; outline: 0px; transition: all 0.3s ease-in-out 0s; vertical-align: middle;" width="50" /><img alt="" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-137667" height="48" loading="lazy" src="https://www.theaureview.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/full-star.png" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; height: auto; max-width: 100%; outline: 0px; transition: all 0.3s ease-in-out 0s; vertical-align: middle;" width="50" /><img alt="If You're Happy" class="alignnone wp-image-137668 size-full" height="48" loading="lazy" src="https://www.theaureview.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/no-star.png" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; height: auto; max-width: 100%; outline: 0px; transition: all 0.3s ease-in-out 0s; vertical-align: middle;" width="50" /></p><h3 style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; clear: both; color: #333333; font-family: Raleway; font-size: 2em; font-weight: 500; line-height: 1.1; margin: 0px 0px 30px; overflow-wrap: break-word;">FOUR STARS (OUT OF FIVE)</h3><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: Raleway; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word;">Fiona Robertson’s <em style="box-sizing: inherit;">If You’re Happy </em>is available now from <a href="https://www.uqp.com.au/books/if-youre-happy" style="background-color: transparent; box-sizing: inherit; color: #3e63b6; outline: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: all 0.3s ease-in-out 0s;">UQP</a>. Grab yourself a copy from Booktopia <a href="https://booktopia.kh4ffx.net/c/2237739/585979/9632?prodsku=50594261&u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.booktopia.com.au%2Fif-you-re-happy-fiona-robertson%2Fbook%2F9780702263460.html%3Futm_source%3DECN%26utm_medium%3DCSE%26utm_campaign%3DECN_CPC&intsrc=PUI2_4434" style="background-color: transparent; box-sizing: inherit; color: #3e63b6; outline: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: all 0.3s ease-in-out 0s;">HERE</a>.</p>Emily Paullhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03483043817609949536noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3156528823270353530.post-62606446877157204102022-05-25T11:52:00.001+08:002022-05-25T11:52:00.193+08:00Book Review: The Paris Bookseller by Kerri Maher<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAD2dADgOcZuadCuHGK4WBv-sa-07eQu-YGq7mXDxJtUpjvq8YG0XDLyjJqwXgas2R9NlnSY26Q9SLGf2XoCGfHxxLfmuLyJNzt_okfhbbhr2k7p1CujmE0_xQCuenMxxecbpIN0_WZ4tOZBphXwMOaG35tuXcGf055ucneSgzU1tDToyqCzTJ0x7K/s1024/paris%20bookseller%20au.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="768" data-original-width="1024" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAD2dADgOcZuadCuHGK4WBv-sa-07eQu-YGq7mXDxJtUpjvq8YG0XDLyjJqwXgas2R9NlnSY26Q9SLGf2XoCGfHxxLfmuLyJNzt_okfhbbhr2k7p1CujmE0_xQCuenMxxecbpIN0_WZ4tOZBphXwMOaG35tuXcGf055ucneSgzU1tDToyqCzTJ0x7K/w640-h480/paris%20bookseller%20au.png" width="640" /></a></div><br /><p><br /></p><p><span style="box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: Raleway; font-size: 14px;"><i>This review was originally published on <a href="http://theaureview.com/books/book-review-kerri-maher-the-paris-bookseller/">The AU Review </a>on March 4, 2022. </i></span></p><p><strong style="box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: Raleway; font-size: 14px;">Kerri Maher’</strong><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Raleway; font-size: 14px;">s latest novel,</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Raleway; font-size: 14px;"> </span><strong style="box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: Raleway; font-size: 14px;"><em style="box-sizing: inherit;">The Paris Bookseller</em></strong><em style="box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: Raleway; font-size: 14px;">,</em><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Raleway; font-size: 14px;"> is bound to appeal to fans of bestselling author,</span><strong style="box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: Raleway; font-size: 14px;"> Natasha Lester.</strong><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Raleway; font-size: 14px;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Raleway; font-size: 14px;">Not only does it take as its setting Paris during the 1920s, but it features at its core the little known history behind the setting up of the iconic Shakespeare and Co bookshop.</span></p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: Raleway; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word;">Readers may be interested to know, as I was, that the Shakespeare and Co bookshop as we know it today is actually the second iteration of the store; the first having been set up in 1919 by Sylvia Beach and closed during the Second World War. Legend has it that the shop was ordered to be closed down after Beach refused to sell a copy of <em style="box-sizing: inherit;">Finnegan’s Wake</em> to a Nazi officer; but when the officers returned later there was no trace of the store to be found. Friends of Beach’s (among them, perhaps, <strong style="box-sizing: inherit;">Ernest Hemingway</strong>) had helped her to hide all traces that there had ever been a bookshop in that spot. But I am getting ahead of myself, and ahead of this wonderful novel.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: Raleway; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word;"><em style="box-sizing: inherit;">The Paris Bookseller</em> is the story of Sylvia Beach, a young woman who loves books. She writes, true, but her real passion is for reading and for connecting books with readers. Inspired by the woman she loves, who runs a French language bookstore, American ex-pat Beach decides to set up an English language bookstore nearby; something she accomplishes with a little help from her mother’s savings account.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: Raleway; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word;">Soon, Shakespeare and Co becomes the centre of the literary community consisting of writers such as Hemingway, Stein and (much to Sylvia’s delight) <strong style="box-sizing: inherit;">James Joyce</strong>. Sylvia idolises Joyce and when she hears that the great man is in Paris, lives in hope that he will come to her shop. She gets more than she bargained for, however, when Joyce becomes something of a friend – if indeed, James Joyce could be said to have had any of those.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: Raleway; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word;">Joyce appears to be afflicted with a problematic ego. One which means that all his relationships are about how others can serve him and not the other way around. People seem to forgive him because he is ‘a genius.’ He lives off the charity of others, and when his work in progress, <em style="box-sizing: inherit;"><strong style="box-sizing: inherit;">Ulysses</strong>, </em>is banned in the United States for being obscene, Sylvia comes to his rescue. She will publish the book, under the umbrella of Shakespeare and Co. The novel tells the story of exactly <em style="box-sizing: inherit;">why</em> this is the only book the store ever published.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: Raleway; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word;">The writing in this book is exquisite, taking the reader not only to Paris but back in time. Bibliophiles and history buffs alike will rejoice in the detail and atmosphere that Kerri Maher creates on the page. I found myself thinking not only of a comparison to Natasha Lester, but also to <strong style="box-sizing: inherit;">Paula McLain</strong>‘s enduring breakout novel, <strong style="box-sizing: inherit;"><em style="box-sizing: inherit;">The Paris Wife</em>,</strong> and last year’s sensational <strong style="box-sizing: inherit;"><em style="box-sizing: inherit;">The Paris Library</em></strong> by <strong style="box-sizing: inherit;">Janet Skeslien Charles</strong>. Perhaps I just have a liking for books about literature set in Paris. But, if that’s the case then the publishing world does too, because the appetite for this sort of book shows no sign of slowing down. (And speaking of appetites, whilst reading this book I had to fight a strong urge to wander down to the patisserie on a daily basis in search of croissants.)</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: Raleway; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word;">Maher’s approach to using real people in her novel shows a deep respect for the people she is portraying. Even the mercurial figure of Joyce, portrayed here warts and all with his bad behaviour and constant taking of advantage, is treated with sympathy. Maher’s approach seems to acknowledge that relationships are often far more complex than historical research can ever seek to show. She explores Beach’s life and her friendships with a sense of care. Likewise, the inclusion of LGBTQIA+ characters, and the related discussions of the attitudes of the time are included in a sensitive fashion, rather than to sensationalise the book or make it feel more cosmopolitan. Sylvia’s preference for women is laid out on the page from the very beginning, and isn’t revealed as something shocking or traumatic to be overcome– she just is.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: Raleway; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word;">If you’re looking to travel to Paris in the 1920s; if you loved <em style="box-sizing: inherit;">Midnight in Paris</em>; or if you’re interested in literature and the history publishing, then this is the book for you. You don’t even have to have read <em style="box-sizing: inherit;">Ulysses.</em></p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: Raleway; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word;"><img alt="" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-137667" height="48" loading="lazy" src="https://www.theaureview.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/full-star.png" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; height: auto; max-width: 100%; outline: 0px; transition: all 0.3s ease-in-out 0s; vertical-align: middle;" width="50" /><img alt="" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-137667" height="48" loading="lazy" src="https://www.theaureview.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/full-star.png" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; height: auto; max-width: 100%; outline: 0px; transition: all 0.3s ease-in-out 0s; vertical-align: middle;" width="50" /><img alt="" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-137667" height="48" loading="lazy" src="https://www.theaureview.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/full-star.png" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; height: auto; max-width: 100%; outline: 0px; transition: all 0.3s ease-in-out 0s; vertical-align: middle;" width="50" /><img alt="" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-137667" height="48" loading="lazy" src="https://www.theaureview.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/full-star.png" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; height: auto; max-width: 100%; outline: 0px; transition: all 0.3s ease-in-out 0s; vertical-align: middle;" width="50" /><img alt="" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-137667" height="48" loading="lazy" src="https://www.theaureview.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/full-star.png" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; height: auto; max-width: 100%; outline: 0px; transition: all 0.3s ease-in-out 0s; vertical-align: middle;" width="50" /></p><h3 style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; clear: both; color: #333333; font-family: Raleway; font-size: 2em; font-weight: 500; line-height: 1.1; margin: 0px 0px 30px; overflow-wrap: break-word;">FIVE STARS (OUT OF FIVE)</h3><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: Raleway; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word;">Kerri Maher’s <em style="box-sizing: inherit;">The Paris Bookseller</em> is out now through <a href="https://www.hachette.com.au/kerri-maher/the-paris-bookseller-a-sweeping-story-of-love-friendship-and-betrayal-in-bohemian-1920s-paris" style="background-color: transparent; box-sizing: inherit; color: #3e63b6; outline: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: all 0.3s ease-in-out 0s;">Hachette Australia</a>. Grab yourself a copy from Booktopia <a href="https://booktopia.kh4ffx.net/c/2237739/585979/9632?prodsku=50562316&u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.booktopia.com.au%2Fthe-paris-bookseller-kerri-maher%2Fbook%2F9781472290779.html%3Futm_source%3DECN%26utm_medium%3DCSE%26utm_campaign%3DECN_CPC&intsrc=PUI2_4434" style="background-color: transparent; box-sizing: inherit; color: #3e63b6; outline: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: all 0.3s ease-in-out 0s;">HERE</a>.</p><div><br /></div><div class="sharedaddy sd-sharing-enabled" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; clear: both; color: #333333; font-family: Raleway; font-size: 14px;"></div>Emily Paullhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03483043817609949536noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3156528823270353530.post-41889363233002003742022-05-23T09:14:00.004+08:002022-05-27T09:53:35.804+08:00Book Review: For Emma and Elvis by Charles Hall<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3ItcEfFROoUdlrzPLr18P1thedZcY_bb1Vqgb3mdGMZUAKwsqv79F72BH9KD9uzaLs_mGeQnCWxHc34jyx6VEjruUowt-MWrtgAlFH3Lk3GFfBu_9gq1kB4Pztjt__b1O_obin2tIJhj23DWikjgiq2Wm_6XIFP0P44mLu4q1QXwk7FE6CP7lrNQl/s1024/for%20emma%20and%20elvis%20au.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="768" data-original-width="1024" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3ItcEfFROoUdlrzPLr18P1thedZcY_bb1Vqgb3mdGMZUAKwsqv79F72BH9KD9uzaLs_mGeQnCWxHc34jyx6VEjruUowt-MWrtgAlFH3Lk3GFfBu_9gq1kB4Pztjt__b1O_obin2tIJhj23DWikjgiq2Wm_6XIFP0P44mLu4q1QXwk7FE6CP7lrNQl/w640-h480/for%20emma%20and%20elvis%20au.png" width="640" /></a></div><i><p><i><br /></i></p>For Emma and Elvis</i> is the second novel from Australian author and musician, Charles Hall. In the summer of 1977, Michael Byrne returns to London after a trip to Spain with his wife Emma and her young son, Declan. They are greeted by the news that Elvis Presley is dead. But when Michael goes to the local newsagent to read the paper, he discovers some even more shocking news which will have personal ramifications for his and Emma's life together. Emma's ex-husband- and Declan's father- Paul Hegarty, has been injured while working on a story in Tanzania. Though Michael wants nothing more than to erase Paul from their lives, he has no choice but to tell Emma what has happened. <p></p><p>From there, the book jumps back in time to 1968, Australia, when Emma and Michael first met. Michael, a dogsbody for a local music agency, has a talent for photography, and is an all about nice guy. His best mate, Johnny, is full of surprises. The two of them strike up a friendship with two young women at a show for local artists, The Green Roots, when it is raided by the police. Michael ends up driving the girls home- or at least attempting to, as Johnny has forgotten to put petrol in Michael's Kombi the last time he borrowed it. But the meeting is a fateful one, for soon Lucy and Johnny are an item, and Emma has moved in with Michael, promising that there shall be no funny business between them. Famous last words. </p><p>The book that follows is full of love and loss, pining, jealousy, politics, music, and photography. Michael's love for Emma survives a decade of long absences. No matter what else is happening in his life, Emma is always a constant, and everything always comes back to the fact of her. </p><p>The book is written in Michael's voice and adopts a very casual, conversational style. At first, the first person present tense style is a little jarring, particularly as the book moves back in time, but I was quickly absorbed into the book and pulled along by the narrative. A particular highlight of the novel was the setting; Hall deftly builds a realistic seeming sense of Australia in the 1960s and 1970s as Mike and Johnny tour around in the Kombi Van trying to forget the women they love (and failing). <i>For Emma and Elvis</i> is frequently funny, too, such as when Johnny hides a set of keys belonging to some of their dropkick employers on the wheat bins inside a loaf of bread to stop them coming after the boys. A few things that stuck out to me were just how often Johnny said some variation of 'stone the crows' (there may just be a drinking game in that) and a seeming obsession with the makes and models of certain cars. For some readers, this probably added to the sense of place and time, but to me it did seem somewhat unnecessary. That being said, I was absorbed quickly into this book and ended up reading it across a single day. </p><p>I particularly liked the complexity of the heroine Emma, who was a well-drawn complex human being. There is a clear delineation in her character from the darkness in her past to her behaviour later on in the book, and though she at times does some very unlikeable things, you always feel sympathy for her and want her and Michael to be okay. Often this type of heroine veers into manic pixie dream girl territory, but Hall manages to make his Emma a real person- though I still don't understand what she ever saw in Paul!</p><p>This book is kind of an Australian <i>High Fidelity</i> in a lot of ways, and would appeal to readers who enjoyed Barry Divola's <i>Driving Stevie Fracasso</i>. </p><p>Thanks to Charles Hall for sending me a copy of the book to review! <a href="https://icoe.com.au/ourbooks/ourbooks.php#container_ForEmmaAndElvis" target="_blank">You can buy a copy of the book here.</a></p><p>**Please note that this book has trigger warnings for sexual assault, rape and domestic violence. </p>Emily Paullhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03483043817609949536noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3156528823270353530.post-14579456882903508112022-05-22T11:51:00.003+08:002022-05-22T11:51:35.991+08:00Book Review: Chai Time at Cinnamon Gardens by Shankari Chandran<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjji8CWNiYZHO_AyUDrQ4mXbg2q8erU_mV8BwncxcwDKU0h2sN5jBwQOLFhMEe9BKZSAmuau08fsnFJxeGeei2qo5rzVDwnN3rrUacfeyewypkVoQlupmtb4oKoSisX7rH2LaYbW3JRv69kcUQTxAfJhD1IrjmHPmQa-kVD2Hw421TEIa1TJQi9-j94/s1024/cinnamon%20gardens%20au.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="768" data-original-width="1024" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjji8CWNiYZHO_AyUDrQ4mXbg2q8erU_mV8BwncxcwDKU0h2sN5jBwQOLFhMEe9BKZSAmuau08fsnFJxeGeei2qo5rzVDwnN3rrUacfeyewypkVoQlupmtb4oKoSisX7rH2LaYbW3JRv69kcUQTxAfJhD1IrjmHPmQa-kVD2Hw421TEIa1TJQi9-j94/w640-h480/cinnamon%20gardens%20au.png" width="640" /></a></div><br /><i><br /></i><p></p><p><i>This review was originally published by <a href="https://www.theaureview.com/books/book-review-chai-time-at-cinnamon-gardens-is-a-compassionate-conversation-starter-about-prejudice/">The AU Review</a> on January 20, 2022. </i></p><p><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Raleway; font-size: 14px;">It is easy to imagine </span><strong style="box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: Raleway; font-size: 14px;"><em style="box-sizing: inherit;">Chai Time at Cinnamon Gardens, </em></strong><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Raleway; font-size: 14px;">the new novel by</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Raleway; font-size: 14px;"> </span><strong style="box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: Raleway; font-size: 14px;">Shankari Chandran </strong><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Raleway; font-size: 14px;">becoming an amazing television miniseries.</span></p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: Raleway; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word;">On first glance at its beautiful green cover, the reader might be forgiven for thinking that they are in for a sweet, gentle, heartwarming novel about relatively harmless retirees living in a nursing home. Instead, they are treated to a powerful, compassionate novel about friendship, family, community-building, and the racism faced by members of diasporic communities in this country.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: Raleway; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word;"><em style="box-sizing: inherit;">Chai Time at Cinnamon Gardens</em> centres around the Cinnamon Gardens Nursing Home in Westgrove, Sydney, owned by Maya Ali and her daughter, Dr Anjali Ali. Maya and her husband Zakhir invested in the refurbishment of the home in the early 1980s after moving to Australia from Sri Lanka during the Civil War. The couple put thought and care into making Cinnamon Gardens a comfortable and desirable place to live. By the present day, it has become a community within a community, where other residents who have been forced to leave their homes make a new home together. In many senses, the Nursing Home feels very much like a family. But the prejudices of some others in the community soon begin to threaten the peace and tranquility the Alis have nurtured, with Cinnamon Gardens becoming a microcosm for Australia as a whole.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: Raleway; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word;">There are so many threads to <em style="box-sizing: inherit;">Chai Time at Cinnamon Gardens</em> that it is hard to know what to talk about in this review and what to leave for the reader to discover themselves. Each of the characters who tells the story has a rich backstory and interior life. The set of them weave together to create a multi-layered portrait, so that the community and the Nursing Home at its heart is as much the protagonist of the story as Maya is.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: Raleway; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word;">Maya herself is both formidable and motherly – having moved to Sri Lanka after devastating events, she sees the hypocrisies and prejudices of Australia clearly and does not hesitate to point them out. After several attempts to follow her dreams and publish a book that the industry deems ‘too exotic’, Maya chooses instead to make a study of stereotypical Australianness in fiction. She creates an outback frontierswoman named Clementine Kelly and invents herself a pseudonym – a reclusive author named Sarah Byrne who those in publishing find so acceptable that she quickly becomes a best seller. This sub-plot, while it will amuse and delight the reader, is also a subtle critique of the whiteness of Australian publishing. It is just one of many aspects of this rich and moving novel.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: Raleway; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word;">Another sub-plot centres around the removal of a statue of Captain Cook from the grounds of the Nursing Home. The actions of Zakhir Ali in removing the statue, as well as the later furore over it faced by his family, allows the reader to more closely examine the complexity of issues to do with history and symbolism in countries where colonisation has taken place. This added layers of meaning to a debate which was happening in our own news media not that long ago.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: Raleway; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word;">At just over 350 pages, the book manages to cover discussions about politics, race, history, relationships and so much more, without ever feeling didactic or forced. This is real life, but it is also good storytelling. I hope that many readers will pick up this novel, and join the conversation that this book begins.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: Raleway; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word;"><img alt="" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-132879" height="48" loading="lazy" src="https://www.theaureview.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/full-star.png" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; height: auto; max-width: 100%; outline: 0px; transition: all 0.3s ease-in-out 0s; vertical-align: middle;" width="50" /><img alt="" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-132879" height="48" loading="lazy" src="https://www.theaureview.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/full-star.png" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; height: auto; max-width: 100%; outline: 0px; transition: all 0.3s ease-in-out 0s; vertical-align: middle;" width="50" /><img alt="" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-132879" height="48" loading="lazy" src="https://www.theaureview.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/full-star.png" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; height: auto; max-width: 100%; outline: 0px; transition: all 0.3s ease-in-out 0s; vertical-align: middle;" width="50" /><img alt="" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-132879" height="48" loading="lazy" src="https://www.theaureview.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/full-star.png" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; height: auto; max-width: 100%; outline: 0px; transition: all 0.3s ease-in-out 0s; vertical-align: middle;" width="50" /><img alt="" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-132879" height="48" loading="lazy" src="https://www.theaureview.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/full-star.png" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; height: auto; max-width: 100%; outline: 0px; transition: all 0.3s ease-in-out 0s; vertical-align: middle;" width="50" /></p><h3 style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; clear: both; color: #333333; font-family: Raleway; font-size: 2em; font-weight: 500; line-height: 1.1; margin: 0px 0px 30px; overflow-wrap: break-word;">FIVE STARS (OUT OF FIVE)</h3><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: Raleway; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word;">Shankari Chandran’s <em style="box-sizing: inherit;">Chai Time at Cinnamon Gardens</em> is available now from <a href="https://www.ultimopress.com.au/chaitime" style="background-color: transparent; box-sizing: inherit; color: #3e63b6; outline: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: all 0.3s ease-in-out 0s;">Ultimo Press</a>. Grab yourself a copy from Booktopia <a href="https://booktopia.kh4ffx.net/c/2237739/585979/9632?prodsku=50598856&u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.booktopia.com.au%2Fchai-time-at-cinnamon-gardens-shankari-chandran%2Fbook%2F9781761150319.html%3Futm_source%3DECN%26utm_medium%3DCSE%26utm_campaign%3DECN_CPC&intsrc=PUI2_4434" style="background-color: transparent; box-sizing: inherit; color: #3e63b6; outline: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: all 0.3s ease-in-out 0s;">HERE</a>.</p>Emily Paullhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03483043817609949536noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3156528823270353530.post-16324159126691694822022-01-01T09:51:00.002+08:002022-01-01T09:51:00.189+08:00Most Anticipated Reads of 2022<p>I do this every year. I sit down and I plan out my reading. I say, these are the books I'm excited about, these are the ones I will buy or borrow from the library and I will read them. And then, I see other books. Or I rediscover something from a previous year. Inevitably, there are always books that start off as 'most anticipateds' that end up as 'I'll get to you somedays.' But that's just reading life!</p><p>As I've been embarking on a sort of organisational crusade, trying to get my TBR under control for the last couple of years, I've really had to think hard about what books I bring into my house. Do I need to get it when it first comes out, or can I wait for the B-Format, or wait for the library holds queue? Will my excitement about this item be quelled by the mere fact of owning the book, instead of actually reading it? Do I <i>need</i> to read the items that everyone is talking about? Is Reese Witherspoon a reliable source of reading suggestions? (Surprisingly, or perhaps not, yes.)</p><p>So <a href="https://www.booktopia.com.au/view-wishlist.ep?wishListUid=2145051918" target="_blank">this list </a>will be added to and edited over the course of 2022 as I read by whim, and follow my nose. If you want to purchase any of the items for yourself, or see what else I have added, that link will take you to Booktopia. </p><p>But as of January 1 2022, here are the books I am excited to see in bookstores, on library shelves, and piled up on my nightstand. </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhBEBXtHxa834vC2BrmkHAiRaJfKJQWYDqHQ6y1qpO_S1I_71-nQNeqMt4QWRrVgCQC_CoI7AKcT6sBYLnC820NbBjNSMPx8wSSsZt55Q12-Lhz3mFUG2_hZXST6w0MikmWJhglczbxD3GS3MHJkgcZe372XK18sw2c5nbqcB7puuom7RXeh5q0KMxx=s1080" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="1080" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhBEBXtHxa834vC2BrmkHAiRaJfKJQWYDqHQ6y1qpO_S1I_71-nQNeqMt4QWRrVgCQC_CoI7AKcT6sBYLnC820NbBjNSMPx8wSSsZt55Q12-Lhz3mFUG2_hZXST6w0MikmWJhglczbxD3GS3MHJkgcZe372XK18sw2c5nbqcB7puuom7RXeh5q0KMxx=w640-h640" width="640" /></a></div><br /><p><b>JAN</b></p><p>The Christie Affair - Nina de Gramont</p><p><b>FEB</b></p><p>Love and Other Puzzles - Kimberley Allsopp</p><p>If You're Happy - Fiona Robertson</p><p>Moonlight and the Pearler's Daughter - Lizzie Pook</p><p>Wild Dogs - Michael Trant</p><p><b>MARCH</b></p><p>Dinner with the Schnabels - Toni Jordan</p><p>Booth - Karen Joy Fowler</p><p>Our Wives Under the Sea - Julia Armfield</p><p>The Diamond Eye - Kate Quinn</p><p>In the Margins - Elena Ferrante</p><p>The Winter Dress - Lauren Chater</p><p><b>APRIL</b></p><p>Candy House - Jennifer Egan</p><p><b>MAY</b></p><p>The Silence of Water - Sharron Booth</p><p>Privilege - Guinevere Glasfurd</p><p>Slipping the Noose - Meg Caddy</p><p><b>JUNE</b></p><p><b><br />JULY</b></p><p style="text-align: left;">The Reunion - Polly Phillips</p><p style="text-align: left;">The House of Fortune - Jessie Burton</p><p><b>AUG</b></p><p>Her Majesty's Royal Coven</p><p><b>SEP</b></p><p><b>OCT</b></p><p>Silverborn - Jessica Townsend</p><p><br /><b>NOV</b></p><p><b><br />DEC</b><br /><br /></p>Emily Paullhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03483043817609949536noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3156528823270353530.post-7118341997442562472021-12-10T09:12:00.004+08:002021-12-10T09:12:47.098+08:00Top Ten Reads of 2021 (So far!)<p>Well, the year isn't quite over, but it's now got to that time where people are beginning to share their favourites from 2021. The lead up to Christmas is a great time to do this, because if you're anything like me, you're looking for those hidden gems you might have missed throughout the year to ask Santa for, or shopping for tricky to buy for relatives who seem to already have (or have read) everything. </p><p>My reading in December tends to be a lot of tying up loose ends anyway. Finishing off those reads that have been abandoned earlier in the year, or going back to backlist books that I've been telling myself I'll get to since January 1. Currently, I'm reading three things: I'm finishing <i>Dracula</i> which I started on Halloween, I'm reading Roger McDonald's <i>1915</i> and I just started the companion book to the ABC TV program, <i>Books that Made Us.</i> All very interesting, and yet somehow, I don't think any of them are contenders to bump anything out of the top ten! </p><p>I can see a few themes in my reading this year when I look at my top reads. I'm obviously drawn to strong female characters, and narratives about women taking back control in situations that feel dangerous. I'm drawn to things that remind me of <i>The Handmaid's Tale. </i>Unsurprisingly, I love things about bookshops and libraries. And as always, I am a sucker for a good short story collection, of which there are two in this list. I haven't tried to order them within this top ten, because I think that would just be too hard!</p><p><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjqTybsphbwBCMSVWfZU15RXLB0qlns09lNXdAc1neoHj2_GcollarR3RR0MVUdC9qqumPWXF4CcX9AN-gkxrY6B-OLdnQpdT3FEGNZR-65qBtev9jzsypZwQtz1S1ITnoVpK9C6nUPGdlehLF-lgAkYr4yxl2s7XyUO8ZLJG0vI-jdpO4pB7sjE83d=s1080" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="1080" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjqTybsphbwBCMSVWfZU15RXLB0qlns09lNXdAc1neoHj2_GcollarR3RR0MVUdC9qqumPWXF4CcX9AN-gkxrY6B-OLdnQpdT3FEGNZR-65qBtev9jzsypZwQtz1S1ITnoVpK9C6nUPGdlehLF-lgAkYr4yxl2s7XyUO8ZLJG0vI-jdpO4pB7sjE83d=w640-h640" width="640" /></a></div><br /><p><br /></p><p><b>My top reads of the year for 2021 are:</b></p><p><b><i>The Hush </i>by Sara Foster</b></p><p><b><i>The Riviera House </i>by Natasha Lester</b></p><p><b><i>She is Haunted</i> by Paige Clark</b></p><p><b><i>The Once and Future Witches </i>by Alix E. Harrow</b></p><p><b><i>The Rose Code</i> by Kate Quinn</b></p><p><b><i>Hold Your Fire</i> by Chloe Wilson</b></p><p><b><i>The Paris Library</i> by Janet Skeslien Charles</b></p><p><b><i>Ghosts</i> by Dolly Alderton</b></p><p><b><i>Outlawed</i> by Anna North</b></p><p><b><i>The Dictionary of Lost Words</i> by Pip Williams</b></p><p><b><br /></b></p><p>And of course, I want to give a few honourable mentions to:</p><p><i>Love and Virtue</i> by Diana Reid</p><p><i>Reputation</i> by Lex Croucher</p><p><i>The Secret Countess</i> by Eva Ibbotson</p><p><i>Widowland</i> by CJ Carey</p><p><i>You be Mother</i> by Meg Mason</p><p><i>The Last Bookshop</i> by Emma Young</p><p><i>Animal Wife </i>by Lara Ehrlich</p><p><br /></p><p>Normally I would link these ones to Booktopia or something like that, but by the time you see this, they probably won't be able to supply any orders before Christmas so instead, I'll link a few of my favourite WA based independent bookshops here.</p><p><a href="https://www.rabblebooksandgames.com.au/" target="_blank">Rabble Books</a></p><p><a href="https://beaufortstreetbooks.com.au/" target="_blank">Beaufort Street Books</a></p><p><a href="https://typefacebooks.com/" target="_blank">Typeface Books</a></p><p><a href="https://www.diabolikbooks.com.au/" target="_blank">Diabolik Books and Games</a> </p><p><a href="https://www.openbook.com.au/" target="_blank">Open Book </a></p><p><a href="https://newedition.com.au/" target="_blank">New Edition</a></p><p><a href="https://crowbooks.com.au/" target="_blank">Crow Books</a></p><p><br /></p><p>Have you read any of these, or did you have a favourite that didn't make this list? Tell me all about it in a comment down below. My TBR is ever-growing, with your help.</p>Emily Paullhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03483043817609949536noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3156528823270353530.post-17722229828745424582021-11-05T17:07:00.004+08:002021-11-05T17:08:26.161+08:00What I've been reading: The Hush by Sara Foster<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2_qi1gQXnjI_GgqHRUDLzQpnKZApEbB6-mxN7iV0lkHkXFgA1ThN867s1ZXCrZyYoACLL0HI-Mj3KUFgfMd28GbRmG7bjh9fXLbdcYcewZbROSSXPkepuASSADghORAJNFnl_hrHClb0/s475/58292921._SY475_.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="311" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2_qi1gQXnjI_GgqHRUDLzQpnKZApEbB6-mxN7iV0lkHkXFgA1ThN867s1ZXCrZyYoACLL0HI-Mj3KUFgfMd28GbRmG7bjh9fXLbdcYcewZbROSSXPkepuASSADghORAJNFnl_hrHClb0/s16000/58292921._SY475_.jpg" /></a></div><br />I wanted to take a second to rave a bit about a book that I have just finished reading. <p></p><p>Sara Foster's latest book, <i>The Hush</i>, was released late last month. In many ways, it was like a second debut for Foster, whose six previous books were all psychological thrillers set in the quote/unquote 'real world'. <i>The Hush</i> is still a thriller, but it does have one notable difference- it's set in a dark, possible future ten years post pandemic, and it has a dystopian feel to it that feels like an updated nod to <i>The Handmaid's Tale</i>. There is a different sort of medical emergency gripping the public's attention now, and this has led to an increasingly disturbing number of government mandates curbing the public freedoms of British citizens, in particular women. After an alarming rapid increase in the number of unexplainable stillbirths among the population, conspiracy theories begin to run rife. The novel begins with discussion of a video that has been posted on Youtube, in which an anonymous artist known as PreacherGirl exposes a disturbing trend in pregnant teenagers and their families disappearing. And one of our two main characters, sixteen year old Lainey, believes she may be about to become one of them. </p><p><i>The Hush</i> is a smart, exhilarating story of the bond between a mother and daughter caught in the middle of this political and social turmoil. Lainey's mother, Emma, knows more about what's happening in birthing suites than anyone, being one of the overworked nurses who is having to deal with the crisis each and every day. But when her own daughter seems to have been caught up in the very darkest parts of the government's secret keeping, she's forced to take drastic action. Likewise, when politically engaged Lainey finds herself in the exact kind of danger she's been protesting against, her resolve will be tested in ways that she never expected. And both of them will have to turn to a person that they never wanted to need help from. </p><p>The cast of this novel is made up predominately of strong, realistic women. Both Emma and Lainey could be called the books' 'heroine', challenging the notion that courage is only for the younger generation. In fact, it is the mothers and the grandmothers who lead the way, and lead by example, inspiring the younger characters to act in the ways that they know best-- art, social media, protest etc. The teenage characters feel particularly authentic for now, as Foster has created a core group of friends at the heart who are motivated, informed and willing to take risks for what they believe in, reminiscent of the teenagers leading the way with the climate marches that have taken place across Australia int he past years. Her writing skilfully captures the precariousness of being young and idealistic and full of bravado, whilst also being in the vulnerable position of needing to finish school and pass exams and assignments. Lainey in particular seems to have a wide-eyed sense of innocence and anxiety, even as she is being tear-gassed by police and marching alongside her more vocal and extroverted friend, Sereena. She is a girl who loves animals, and yet takes charge when it comes to the boy she likes. Lainey is not in any sense of the word, a victim. </p><p>Likewise, Emma is a tough and compassionate nurse who has raised Lainey on her own, with only the help of the elderly grandmother who raised her after her own mother bowed out. There is a strong sense of matrilineal power that these two characters seem to have inherited, and this only solidifies the theme of motherhood as a mighty force. </p><p>I could not and did not want to put <i>The Hush </i>down, so do yourself a favour and get a copy from your local indie bookshop. </p>Emily Paullhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03483043817609949536noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3156528823270353530.post-2517409842834166932021-10-28T15:00:00.002+08:002021-10-28T15:00:00.183+08:00Book Review: Driving Stevie Fracasso by Barry Divola (HarperCollins)<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqBnvOrODe4zBCB1Fk2Skh1qZw4uPVtTJkYtmE25upPnCOO6JXjb4dI01Y8Dd2PxgQG-5eXlzIOh8_oOKlLMmWDk16fhc9ZyEJnI0ruKygm5cnysc2UP9kGmVnPXFUKUpDwZ4G_zA0P0Q/s1024/fracasso+au.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="768" data-original-width="1024" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqBnvOrODe4zBCB1Fk2Skh1qZw4uPVtTJkYtmE25upPnCOO6JXjb4dI01Y8Dd2PxgQG-5eXlzIOh8_oOKlLMmWDk16fhc9ZyEJnI0ruKygm5cnysc2UP9kGmVnPXFUKUpDwZ4G_zA0P0Q/w640-h480/fracasso+au.png" width="640" /></a></div><br /><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Raleway; font-size: 14px;"><br /></span><p></p><p><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Raleway; font-size: 14px;">** This review originally appeared on The AU Review on April 15 2021**</span></p><p><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Raleway; font-size: 14px;">The back cover of</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Raleway; font-size: 14px;"> </span><strong style="box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: Raleway; font-size: 14px;">Barry Divola</strong><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Raleway; font-size: 14px;">‘s debut novel </span><em style="box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: Raleway; font-size: 14px;"><strong style="box-sizing: inherit;">Driving Stevie Fracasso</strong></em><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Raleway; font-size: 14px;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Raleway; font-size: 14px;">makes some lofty claims. It promises </span><em style="box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: Raleway; font-size: 14px;">High Fidelity </em><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Raleway; font-size: 14px;">meets </span><em style="box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: Raleway; font-size: 14px;">The Big Lebowski</em><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Raleway; font-size: 14px;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Raleway; font-size: 14px;">meets </span><em style="box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: Raleway; font-size: 14px;">The Darjeeling Limited</em><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Raleway; font-size: 14px;">; it promises Nick Hornby, David Nicholls and Jonathan Tropper vibes. Picking it up, I thought to myself that this one novel could not possibly live up to all that.</span></p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: Raleway; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;">But here’s the thing, it can, and it does.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: Raleway; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;"><em style="box-sizing: inherit;">Driving Stevie Fracasso</em> is the story of Rick McLennan, a music journalist who has just turned forty. His girlfriend of seven years, Jane (whom he struck up a conversation with in the first place because she was wearing a Boston t-shirt and looked so uncool that she was therefore possibly the coolest person ever, if that tells you what kind of people these characters are) has just broken up with him, leaving him without a place to live. The small free music magazine that he’s been reviewing for has just fired him for having a bad attitude. When an indie publisher named Hunter contacts him and asks him to write a short book on Stevie Fracasso and the short-lived cult band Driven to Distraction, he kind of has no choice but to say yes.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: Raleway; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;">Also, Stevie Fracasso is his older brother, and they haven’t seen each other for thirty odd years.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: Raleway; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;">As part of the job, Rick has to drive to Austin to pick up Stevie (who doesn’t fly) and drive him back to New York for a special, one night only gig. So begins one of those road trips where strange characters and mini-adventures abound. The trip will force Rick to reassess all of the family drama that drove him and Stevie apart in the first place, and he might just learn a thing or two about himself while he’s at it.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: Raleway; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;"><em style="box-sizing: inherit;">Driving Stevie Fracasso</em> is one of those funny, clever books that demands you read some of the pithier sections aloud to whoever happens to be around you. Like the protagonist of <em style="box-sizing: inherit;">High Fidelity</em> before him, Rick McLennan is both smarter than everyone else when it comes to music, and completely clueless when it comes to any kind of relationship. He may be forty, but he’s got a lot of growing up to do, and being a supreme snob about music will only get you so far. (Seriously, I would never let Rick OR Barry Divola look at my CD collection or my Spotify history.)</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: Raleway; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;">Divola spectacularly creates a world of diehard music fans and grungy 90s New York dive bars, peopling it with a combination of real and imagined (but plausible) performers and critics, capturing both a love for the city of New York and for rock and roll music on the page.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: Raleway; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;">Eliot Toastman, fellow reviewer and friend of Rick’s, teaches Rick that in order to be a great music journalist, you have to take a strong position and stick to it, and that is what this book does, and where much of its humour comes from. I laughed out loud as one of the characters said that “Sunday Morning” was their favourite Velvet Underground song because it sounded like it had been written after Lou Reed had just woken up from a wonderful dream in which he was not Lou Reed. Infamously nasty to journalists, Reed takes a bit of a punching from Rick, whereas bands such as The Beatles are worshipped like heroes and linked inextricably to Rick’s coming of age.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: Raleway; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;">The structure of the book mixes these semi-flashback like scenes of Rick remembering things about his childhood with scenes in the present day. I think there are even times where he takes a tangent from his tangents, but this just seems to be the way that Rick’s brain works. His voice is so completely developed that this isn’t jarring to the reader, or confusing, and in fact, if you stick with it, there’s always a point. Despite this book being one of the funniest I’ve read in a long time, there were moments where I was genuinely on the edge of tears.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: Raleway; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;">Another comparison to <em style="box-sizing: inherit;">High Fidelity</em> comes from Rick’s terrible behaviour towards the women in his life, namely Jane. In fact, a few of Rick’s attitudes just wouldn’t fly in the media of 2021 – but his attitude needing to change so that he can be happier is kind of the point of the book. Rick is messed up; his family have messed him up, and music has always been the way he’s understood everything. Over the course of the book, and the road trip contained within it, Rick might just have to realise that it’s okay for things to change, whether they be people, sounds, or cities.</p><div><br /></div>Emily Paullhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03483043817609949536noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3156528823270353530.post-24040727700964670122021-10-21T14:57:00.001+08:002021-10-21T14:57:00.196+08:00Book Review: She is Haunted by Paige Clark (Allen and Unwin)<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEim6H7YkOsW3lYyVINGLDKaNR3z9eGWpurQkZ7wGtXwLDkTVh7NPV2-HS-Grpx_X8y2a1JkPUTOORHIqtcsd1AtoBJHUGSFB7avCQ_ZvCo-3LlemVzKNoj-QGbUrYQVySE15DOxluDySbs/s1024/sih+au.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="768" data-original-width="1024" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEim6H7YkOsW3lYyVINGLDKaNR3z9eGWpurQkZ7wGtXwLDkTVh7NPV2-HS-Grpx_X8y2a1JkPUTOORHIqtcsd1AtoBJHUGSFB7avCQ_ZvCo-3LlemVzKNoj-QGbUrYQVySE15DOxluDySbs/w640-h480/sih+au.png" width="640" /></a></div><br /> <p></p><p><em style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: Raleway; text-align: center;">** This review was originally published on The AU Review on July 29 2021**</em></p><p><em style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: Raleway; font-size: 1.5em; text-align: center;">A mother cuts her daughter’s hair because her own starts falling out. A woman leaves her boyfriend because he reminds her of a corpse; another undergoes brain surgery to try to live more comfortably in higher temperatures. A widow physically transforms into her husband so that she does not have to grieve.</em></p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: Raleway; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;">This is <strong style="box-sizing: inherit;"><em style="box-sizing: inherit;">She is Haunted</em>, </strong>the debut collection of short stories by Asian/Australian/American writer <strong style="box-sizing: inherit;">Paige Clark</strong>. It is the short story collection that everyone was (or should have been) talking about this July.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: Raleway; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;">As its title suggests, <em style="box-sizing: inherit;">She is Haunted</em> is informed by grief and death. In the opening story (“Elisabeth Kubler-Ross”), a woman bargains with God not to take her lover, instead allowing the deity (who is surprisingly both human, and persuadable) to take her elderly mother instead. In “Times I’ve Wanted to be You”, a woman whose husband has recently died begins to dress and act like him as a way of both keeping him with her and staving off her own grief. The titular story, “She is Haunted” is narrated by a woman who has died as she watches her family go on without her.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: Raleway; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;">Clark also uses her collection to explore other kinds of loss and haunting too, often bringing in slightly futuristic or bizarre framing concepts, such as in “Gwendolyn Wakes”, where the protagonist works at a government call centre dedicated to advising jilted lovers.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: Raleway; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;">Though relationships are largely at the centre of the collection, there are also stories which meditate on the future of our world: post pandemic and post climate change. One of the longer stories, “What We Deserve”, for example, is set in a retirement home where hygiene practices are ramped up for the ‘protection’ of the residents. While there are references that might make you think of the events of recent years, Clark is very precise in <em style="box-sizing: inherit;">not</em> making it a pandemic story. Rather, oblique references to things that were strange to us a year ago – mandatory masks, quarantine – are spoken about as commonplace and accepted.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: Raleway; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;">In “Amygdala”, the protagonist wakes up after having voluntarily had surgery on her brain to help her cope with the temperatures that regularly get above fifty degrees, yet it is not really a science fiction story. The focus is on the people, their experiences, and the evolution of their relationships to one another when impacted by these external circumstances.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: Raleway; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;">Clark is measured with all of her language choices throughout <em style="box-sizing: inherit;">She is Haunted</em>, and it is clear that she both enjoys and respects the power of words. But, nowhere is this more apparent than when she is being political. Her work clearly recognises the inherent political nature of existing in the world today, that it is always present in the background of people’s lives.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: Raleway; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;">Never one to labour the point, her writing style is polished, deliberate and pared back for maximum impact. While I am sure that there are other references in her work, the most apparent influence to me seems to be that of Margaret Atwood; the opening line to the title story (“I know a lot of things now that I am dead.”) is a direct reference to <em style="box-sizing: inherit;">The Penelopiad</em>.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: Raleway; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;">Haunting is exactly the word that I would use to sum up the effect of reading this book; even a week after closing its final pages, I still think about re-reading it. It may be a little too out there for some readers, but I was captivated from the first story, and know that it will be a book I return to again and again.</p>Emily Paullhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03483043817609949536noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3156528823270353530.post-71071318901686419162021-10-14T14:54:00.001+08:002021-10-14T14:54:00.182+08:00Book Review: Love and Virtue by Diana Reid (Ultimo Press)<p><span style="box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: Raleway; font-size: 14px;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfGXv8DsqnqJX-Veqe5Asgq79kMBf7GVd24qaWAiEaXh8ABj77d8NZi3r6sxWHfcwzWZHkG847JajKJ-2_rIuOff10Dryo0XqeUE8BgdXE0jKsIM2wRYTxo_HJ2O32Eu_4J4CII3Hx2es/s1024/love+and+virtue+au.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="768" data-original-width="1024" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfGXv8DsqnqJX-Veqe5Asgq79kMBf7GVd24qaWAiEaXh8ABj77d8NZi3r6sxWHfcwzWZHkG847JajKJ-2_rIuOff10Dryo0XqeUE8BgdXE0jKsIM2wRYTxo_HJ2O32Eu_4J4CII3Hx2es/w640-h480/love+and+virtue+au.png" width="640" /></a></div><br /><i><br /></i><p></p><p><span style="box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: Raleway; font-size: 14px;"><i>**This review was originally published on The AU Review on September 30 2021**</i></span></p><p><strong style="box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: Raleway; font-size: 14px;">Diana Reid</strong><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Raleway; font-size: 14px;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Raleway; font-size: 14px;">was well on her way to a career in theatre, when COVID-19 saw the cancellation of </span><em style="box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: Raleway; font-size: 14px;">1984! The Musical</em><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Raleway; font-size: 14px;">, a production she co-wrote and produced. In lockdown, she decided to turn her hand to writing a book. The result is</span><strong style="box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: Raleway; font-size: 14px;"> <em style="box-sizing: inherit;">Love & Virtue</em></strong><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Raleway; font-size: 14px;">, a masterpiece of ‘millennial fiction’ which is already garnering comparisons to Sally Rooney.</span></p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: Raleway; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;">The novel follows a young woman named Michaela who has moved from Canberra to Sydney to attend University. She has received a scholarship to live in Fairfax College; there she meets the enigmatic and highly opinionated Eve, who lives in the room next door to hers.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: Raleway; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;">Eve is staunchly feminist, and has a personality which polarises her peers. While Michaela feels both drawn to her and intimidated by her, Eve is not a part of her ‘circle of friends’, rather she is someone she hangs out with separately. The nuances of their relationship, which is part attraction and part rivalry are explored throughout a number of incidents, with Michaela often forming her opinion on things in relation to Eve’s.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: Raleway; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;">Eve is shown to be highly manipulative and her identity seems to be a kind of performance at times, such as when she returns from a trip to Europe with a shaved head, as if rejecting her beauty and privilege just to be obstinate.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: Raleway; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;">Two key events drive the conflict between Eve and Michaela. The first is the revelation that one of their circle of friends is revealed to be the young man who slept with Michaela on her first night at Fairfax, when she was too drunk to consent. While Michaela feels uncomfortable about the event, Eve is militant in her insistence that his actions constituted a rape and that Michaela needs to report him to the school. Things are made complicated by the fact that this young man is now dating one of Michaela’s friends.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: Raleway; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;">The other event is the beginning of a relationship between Michaela and her philosophy professor, who is twice her age. While this man is rumoured to have a history of innappropriate relationships with his students, Michaela feels that this is different because she is the one who pursued him. She derives a sense of confidence from the fact that Paul is attracted to her, when he met her in a class that also contained Eve. The reader is left to draw their own conclusions as to whether this might be the reason she is interested in the transgression in the first place.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: Raleway; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;">Set against a backdrop of philosophy classes, and released into a post Me-Too world, <em style="box-sizing: inherit;">Love & Virtue</em> takes well-trodden ground and dissects it. Is the cliched plot of the jaded middle aged professor taking advantage of his impressionable undergrad love interest really as simple as television and movies have led us to believe, or is there more to be explored here? Reid cleverly pairs this aspect of the plot with the exploration of friendships in early adolescence, putting the focus not just on what Michaela and Paul are doing, but on Michaela and Eve’s relationship, ever present in the background.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: Raleway; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;">Michaela may be a deeply flawed narrator, but she is also extremely easy to relate to, as she feels out of place in the new environment in which she finds herself. She is not the prettiest, not the smartest, not the coolest, but she is also not the kind of insufferable character who believes she is ugly, stupid and a loser until someone else shows her otherwise. She owns a lot of her bad behaviour, even if it’s just to herself, which cleverly keeps the book’s tag line (Are you a good person, or do you just look like one?) in the forefront of the reader’s mind.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: Raleway; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;">I think the Rooney comparison is warranted. Reid’s writing has a breathtaking clarity. Her writing is sparse with adjectives, but still manages to be evocative. There is also a wryness to the voice, which seems to come from Michaela, and lends to the idea that perhaps she thinks she is more ‘special’ than she is letting on. At times, the book reminded me of the experience of reading Meg Mason’s <em style="box-sizing: inherit;">Sorrow and Bliss. </em>But, put quite simply,<em style="box-sizing: inherit;"> Love & Virtue </em>is a triumph.</p>Emily Paullhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03483043817609949536noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3156528823270353530.post-74511247850370663512021-10-07T14:52:00.004+08:002021-10-07T14:52:42.423+08:00Sometimes life is a patchwork quilt... and that's okay<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjugvE4b39l4Ec7_bAoIMW9oPaIB4yT37LCViAptfCeDOoNDuUrf0mcs8I7-jfEbOCGp5Cg_rRuX2JjFysAsMhEkf_MtoC8mQP5IiWA_RiZ_8Cw-0xwTA0MiO8LsFKQIKQIrwiz2YgdxBw/s2048/EE32E8E4-A4B5-4645-B892-93E82BE58754.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="2048" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjugvE4b39l4Ec7_bAoIMW9oPaIB4yT37LCViAptfCeDOoNDuUrf0mcs8I7-jfEbOCGp5Cg_rRuX2JjFysAsMhEkf_MtoC8mQP5IiWA_RiZ_8Cw-0xwTA0MiO8LsFKQIKQIrwiz2YgdxBw/w640-h640/EE32E8E4-A4B5-4645-B892-93E82BE58754.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><p>Do you ever find yourself making mental lists of all the things you should be doing, and then just.... doing none of them? </p><p>Yeah. Same. </p><p>At the beginning of this year, I sat down and I made a list of 21 things that I was going to try to accomplish in 2021. I tried to make these things specific, measurable, etc. But I also tried to make them things that I would enjoy. I divided my list up into family things, friend things, career things, writing things and health things. Truth be told, it was difficult to fill all 21, but I got there eventually.</p><p>I've always been a goal-oriented person. I like checking things off these sorts of lists. Every year for a while, I was trying to read my way through the Dymocks 101 best books list until I realised that when you allow the public to vote on things like that, books that really aren't your taste are always going to make it in. (Life is too short to read bad books.)</p><p>But as we all know, 2021 has been a weird year off the back of another weird year. So it really isn't any wonder that so far, I have only checked off nine things out of 2021. Some of those things, I've checked them off because I feel like I'm <i>mostly</i> in the habit of doing them, but it's a bit hard to definitively say I've mastered them... for example, reducing the clutter in my home. For the record, books do not count as clutter. Marie Kondo's 30 books rule can get in the bin. </p><p>But some of the things that I'm 'failing' at (quotes added there because I don't think I'm failing at all) are really surprising. For example, I challenged myself to write 3 short stories this year. Just 3. And so far, I've written none. I've written two flash fiction pieces and a poem in the last month, and a few months ago I started, but did not finish, a short story about a waitress who finds some stolen money in a toilet stall. And I've found my own current lack of interest in writing short stories really really surprising. If I had to analyse it, I'd say that perhaps I poured all of my energy for that sort of thing into writing Well-Behaved Women, and now I have to wait for the meter to refill. </p><p>Another example of a surprising outcome - I told myself that I wanted to get some librarian experience for my resume which I thought would help me get a job in the field eventually, but only a few months out of graduating, I found myself with a real, genuine bona fide job in a public library where I'm currently specialising in Readers' Advisory and heading up my own project. That certainly exceeded my expectations! And I truly, truly love it. </p><p>Other things I'm 'failing' at - I don't cook, I'm not consistent at exercising, and I still haven't hosted my friends for a board games night. The crocheted blanket I started in 2017 is still in pieces in a bag at the end of my couch. I told myself I'd only buy 12 new items of clothing, and while my wardrobe is feeling more organised, I think I've bent the rules there a few too many times. This blog has not yet had it's one post a month and even as I write this I'm struggling not to delete it, because it's not a writing update. </p><p>My scorecard for 2021 might look a bit rough according to my own metrics, but you know what? I think I'm doing okay. </p><p>Back onto the writing again soon, but for now I'm just reading a tonne of great books and enjoying the changes that 2021 has brought. You can follow along with some of my reading over at <a href="https://www.theaureview.com/category/books/" target="_blank">The AU Review</a> where I review mostly historical and literary fiction.</p>Emily Paullhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03483043817609949536noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3156528823270353530.post-16249967248063944692021-07-02T11:10:00.003+08:002021-07-02T11:14:35.382+08:00Mid-Year Check In<p><span style="background-color: white; font-family: arial;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="background-color: white; font-family: arial;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhP50mKCwds9pXBblg4Z02Hyhs3VEWpVBAcG_yZa-2Zbt3BEwyZZikOhjwQySo_2YCCuiVrLTVlaB263cC4oNnC3oILUDT0xWJWo2enuO67xuLMakkK3WBotIioI4hwuGswrCc7gssGzZU/s940/Untitled+design.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="788" data-original-width="940" height="536" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhP50mKCwds9pXBblg4Z02Hyhs3VEWpVBAcG_yZa-2Zbt3BEwyZZikOhjwQySo_2YCCuiVrLTVlaB263cC4oNnC3oILUDT0xWJWo2enuO67xuLMakkK3WBotIioI4hwuGswrCc7gssGzZU/w640-h536/Untitled+design.png" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: rgba(17, 23, 29, 0.6); font-family: "Open Sans", -apple-system, system-ui, "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-align: start;">By </span><a class="aiE6Dw qN-0PQ" draggable="false" href="https://www.pexels.com/@nubikini" rel="noopener" style="color: #0e1318; font-family: "Open Sans", -apple-system, system-ui, "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-align: start; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">Nubia Navarro (nubikini)</a><span style="color: rgba(17, 23, 29, 0.6); font-family: "Open Sans", -apple-system, system-ui, "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-align: start;"> from </span><a class="aiE6Dw qN-0PQ" draggable="false" href="https://www.pexels.com/photo/1522182" rel="noopener" style="color: #0e1318; font-family: "Open Sans", -apple-system, system-ui, "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-align: start; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">Pexels</a></td></tr></tbody></table><br />Trying to recall the days of old when I would post on this blog every week... </span></p><p><span style="background-color: white; font-family: arial;">Somehow, we are half way through 2021. Somehow, I have read more than 80 books. The trade-off is that since finishing my manuscript for <i>The Good Daughter</i> in March of this year, I have hardly written a word of fiction. The well is dry! In order to fill it up again, I am focussing on reading good books and just generally trying to open my mind to new ideas. I've been here before, after 'finishing' <i>Between the Sleepers</i> and starting <i>The Good Daughter</i>, and that lightning strike of inspiration will come again. (Because it has to!) I keep reminding myself of what Emma Chapman once said on her blog: you are not a tap. You can't just turn the tap on and have ideas come out on demand. So, in the spirit of not being a tap, let's talk about books. I've borrowed this 'tag' from Youtube. </span></p><p><span style="background-color: white; color: #030303; letter-spacing: 0.2px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">1. Best book you’ve read so far in 2021 </span></b></span></p><p><span style="background-color: white; color: #030303; font-size: 14px; letter-spacing: 0.2px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: arial;"></span></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDk6YagXuc9M2UbHoCJf8yqdiSOJN313u65JM_dgoWFvUfOarDrkfwqXLcKZMffRVFDV3UQnDvAUCu5vTDB1OuVESq7fhSa97xxtRVeOCFuuvooMOipq84tNdRzu3zzYCkq9VG_riXIA0/" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="462" data-original-width="300" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDk6YagXuc9M2UbHoCJf8yqdiSOJN313u65JM_dgoWFvUfOarDrkfwqXLcKZMffRVFDV3UQnDvAUCu5vTDB1OuVESq7fhSa97xxtRVeOCFuuvooMOipq84tNdRzu3zzYCkq9VG_riXIA0/" width="156" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: arial;">I've been keeping track of what the best book I read each month is but haven't really thought about what the best of the best would be. I think, at the risk of being a cliche, I would have to say <i>The Dictionary of Lost Words</i> by Pip Williams, because it's the book I wish I had written. It's historical fiction, and spans the life of a young woman who is the daughter of one of the lexicographers working on the creation of the dictionary at the beginning of the 20th century. She becomes fascinated by words and their gendered and class-based uses, and about the power dynamic behind who gets to decide how language works and what gets recorded. I really wanted to hate it because it's been so popular and it's been the bane of my existence at the library because everyone wants to read it and then they get upset when there's no copy available for weeeeeeeks, but I loved it. I loved it so much I know I'll be reading it again soon, and I do not ever get time to reread things. </span><p></p><p><span style="background-color: white; color: #030303; font-size: 14px; letter-spacing: 0.2px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="https://www.booktopia.com.au/the-dictionary-of-lost-words-pip-williams/book/9781922400277.html" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: arial;">You can find out more or buy it here. </span></a></span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCX8s6_cmqrrqVGcUCWws8O-5wdgVeDINkiaDubCbrLYaztPjes_TdgOrRQYLo-GMAa0kTcGmo8wpnjCkd7KiUG5_v5TOSggWKkgWX1bnNRZM1_u4qbP04yX9fxXgFphuOHzBnX6wxnRY/" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: arial;"><img alt="" data-original-height="460" data-original-width="300" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCX8s6_cmqrrqVGcUCWws8O-5wdgVeDINkiaDubCbrLYaztPjes_TdgOrRQYLo-GMAa0kTcGmo8wpnjCkd7KiUG5_v5TOSggWKkgWX1bnNRZM1_u4qbP04yX9fxXgFphuOHzBnX6wxnRY/" width="157" /></span></a></div><p><span style="background-color: white; font-family: arial;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="background-color: white; font-family: arial;"><br /></span></p><span style="background-color: white; font-family: arial; font-size: x-small;">I think a close second would have to be Outlawed by Anna North. It was a counter-factual historical Western dystopian sort of genre mash up book about women's body autonomy and cowboy gangs made of 'unnatural women' who roved about in the desert trying to get justice for womankind. One of the earliest books I read this year and i still think about it. Very much The Handmaid's Tale of the wild west. </span><p></p><p><span style="background-color: white; font-family: arial;"><a href="https://www.booktopia.com.au/outlawed-anna-north/book/9781474615358.html" target="_blank"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Find out more or buy it here. </span></a><br /></span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><span style="background-color: white; font-family: arial;"><br /><br /></span><p></p><p><span style="background-color: white; color: #030303; letter-spacing: 0.2px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">2. Best sequel you've read so far in 2021</span></b></span></p><p><span style="background-color: white; color: #030303; font-size: 14px; letter-spacing: 0.2px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: arial;"></span></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnspuehq1PRadp8hfr4m_UZheeYGs0fZuBPpz-NxBJgseJSHcN28VOq3zcisECp0rWU1HS5ogn-pi0Fw8UWqrhoPqp9dNp3lg0xiuWfe0ICU58A_CPPlT7NB0IymFg1fSPYTLtMv0VmTU/" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="462" data-original-width="300" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnspuehq1PRadp8hfr4m_UZheeYGs0fZuBPpz-NxBJgseJSHcN28VOq3zcisECp0rWU1HS5ogn-pi0Fw8UWqrhoPqp9dNp3lg0xiuWfe0ICU58A_CPPlT7NB0IymFg1fSPYTLtMv0VmTU/" width="156" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: arial;">I don't read a lot of series... mostly because I am impatient and I hate waiting for the next books to come out. This is why I never finished reading the Game of Thrones books. Also because the ending to the TV series definitely killed my interest...</span><p></p><p><span style="background-color: white; color: #030303; font-size: 14px; letter-spacing: 0.2px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Anyway. I guess the answer would have to be the fourth Bone Season book, which came out in February. It's called <i>The Mask Falling. </i>Hard to talk about what the book is about without spoiling earlier books but it's a series I have been reading for a few years now, very immersive dystopian fantasy set in an alternate London where this shadow government is in charge and have outlawed any kind of clairvoyance. The main character, Paige, is a very rare kind of clairvoyant who can walk in other people's dreams. </span></span></p><p><span style="background-color: white; color: #030303; font-size: 14px; letter-spacing: 0.2px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="https://www.booktopia.com.au/the-mask-falling-samantha-shannon/book/9781408865576.html" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: arial;">Find out more or buy it here.</span></a></span></p><p><span style="background-color: white; color: #030303; font-size: 14px; letter-spacing: 0.2px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /><br /></span></span></p><p><span style="background-color: white; color: #030303; letter-spacing: 0.2px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">
3. New release you haven't read yet, but want to. </span></b></span></p><p><span style="background-color: white; color: #030303; font-size: 14px; letter-spacing: 0.2px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Pretty much my whole TBR was at one point in time a new release I wanted to read but then didn't get to... next up on the TBR pile are: Locust Summer by David Allan-Petale, Katharine Parr: The Sixth Wife by Alison Weir, Widowland by C.J. Carey and Still Life by Sarah Winman. Trying to get through those all this month. </span></span></p><p><span style="background-color: white; color: #030303; letter-spacing: 0.2px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size: 14px;">
</span><b><span style="font-size: medium;">4. Most anticipated release for the second half of the year.</span></b></span></span></p><p><span style="background-color: white; color: #030303; letter-spacing: 0.2px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: x-small;">The new Lauren Groff! Here's the blurb.</span></span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOshVLE-7NaLWQJfFtBe3rS103OT2vaF6zQAloThytCUGzKiDX709CNvlt54tRqZyhCGTAvisQiiy5MfSgHbYrsD_b3Rs25lpPKCRJCfgCGSJuKdBNiRylaKwMSpVpL7GhnUbilK0ws3c/" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: arial;"><img alt="" data-original-height="462" data-original-width="300" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOshVLE-7NaLWQJfFtBe3rS103OT2vaF6zQAloThytCUGzKiDX709CNvlt54tRqZyhCGTAvisQiiy5MfSgHbYrsD_b3Rs25lpPKCRJCfgCGSJuKdBNiRylaKwMSpVpL7GhnUbilK0ws3c/" width="156" /></span></a></div><i><span style="background-color: white; font-family: arial;"><span style="color: #53565a; font-size: 14px;">Born from a long line of female warriors and crusaders, yet too coarse, too wild, too rough-hewn for 12th-century courtly life, Marie de France is cast from the royal court. To her dismay, she is sent to the muddy fields of Angleterre to take up her new duty as the prioress of an impoverished abbey.</span><br style="color: #53565a; font-size: 14px;" /><br style="color: #53565a; font-size: 14px;" /><span style="color: #53565a; font-size: 14px;">The abbey is a dreadful place- its inhabitants are on the brink of starvation, beset by disease, stoic and stern, yet plagued with an unholy tendency to gossip. Marie cannot help but pine for the decadence and comfort of France; her secret lover Cecily, her queen Eleanor, and the very court that had spited her.</span><br style="color: #53565a; font-size: 14px;" /><br style="color: #53565a; font-size: 14px;" /><span style="color: #53565a; font-size: 14px;">Yet Marie soon realises that, though she may be tied to a life of duty, she wields more power than she could have imagined. With the fearlessness that has always set her apart, she inspires her new sisterhood to awaken their spirits and finally claim what is theirs.</span><br style="color: #53565a; font-size: 14px;" /><br style="color: #53565a; font-size: 14px;" /><span style="color: #53565a; font-size: 14px;">A dazzling work of literature, Matrix gathers currents of violence, sensuality and ecstasy in a mesmerising portrait of consuming passion and womanhood.</span></span></i><p></p><p><span style="background-color: white; color: #53565a; font-size: 14px;"><a href="https://www.booktopia.com.au/matrix-lauren-groff/book/9781785151910.html" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: arial;">Preorder here.</span></a></span></p><p><span style="background-color: white; color: #030303; letter-spacing: 0.2px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br />
<span style="font-size: medium;"><b>5. Biggest disappointment.</b></span></span></span></p><p><span style="background-color: white; color: #030303; letter-spacing: 0.2px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: x-small;">Ooh this feels mean. I don't really want to say but I'm sure there have been a few. I am trying to be more ruthless though and DNF books when I'm not into them.</span></span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhREFJ_AjlXOSZ7LupzwHEbgbSfobrftMqqvYGWZCa2yINclGMsF3ZCjsCi-GBOP34vK8Z2ACiwtlg0gKYtvcUwYnwOp5_hsKSOm6DwilKqURMBlpuKvhTF-o8UXGn0Tq_aDW8T_l8TnJA/" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: arial;"><img alt="" data-original-height="459" data-original-width="300" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhREFJ_AjlXOSZ7LupzwHEbgbSfobrftMqqvYGWZCa2yINclGMsF3ZCjsCi-GBOP34vK8Z2ACiwtlg0gKYtvcUwYnwOp5_hsKSOm6DwilKqURMBlpuKvhTF-o8UXGn0Tq_aDW8T_l8TnJA/" width="157" /></span></a></div><span style="background-color: white; color: #030303; letter-spacing: 0.2px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: arial;">
<b><span style="font-size: medium;">6. Biggest surprise.</span></b></span></span><p></p><p><span style="background-color: white; color: #030303; letter-spacing: 0.2px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: x-small;">I don't really know how I am supposed to answer this one... does the question mean something you loved that you didn't expect to? Because I don't really pick up books expecting not to like them. I guess <i>Driving Stevie Fracasso</i> was surprisingly excellent, I picked it up because the author is from W.A. like me and then found myself going through the gamut of emotions while reading it. Very Nick Hornby. I recommend. </span></span></p><p><span style="background-color: white; color: #030303; letter-spacing: 0.2px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><a href="https://www.booktopia.com.au/driving-stevie-fracasso-barry-divola/book/9781460759479.html" target="_blank">Get it here.</a></span><br />
<span style="font-size: medium;"><b>7. Favourite new author. (Debut or new to you)</b></span></span></span></p><p><span style="background-color: white; color: #030303; letter-spacing: 0.2px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: x-small;">My favourite writer at the moment is Maggie O'Farrell. I'm carefully rationing out all her books so I don't run out. </span></span></p><p><span style="background-color: white; color: #030303; letter-spacing: 0.2px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">
8. Newest fictional crush.</span></b></span></p><p><span style="background-color: white; color: #030303; letter-spacing: 0.2px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: x-small;">Not book related but Patrick from Offspring, which I finally watched. I'm still mad about what happened. </span></span></p><p><span style="background-color: white; color: #030303; letter-spacing: 0.2px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">
9. Newest favourite character.</span></b></span></p><p><span style="background-color: white; color: #030303; letter-spacing: 0.2px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: x-small;">Beatrice Belladonna Eastwood, and not just because she is a librarian. </span></span></p><p><span style="background-color: white; color: #030303; letter-spacing: 0.2px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="https://www.booktopia.com.au/the-once-and-future-witches-alix-e-harrow/book/9780356512495.html" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: x-small;">(She's from <i>The Once and Future Witches</i> by Alix E. Harrow.)</span></a></span></p><p><span style="background-color: white; color: #030303; letter-spacing: 0.2px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">
<b>10. Book that made you cry.</b></span></span></p><p><span style="background-color: white; color: #030303; letter-spacing: 0.2px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: x-small;">I do not cry in books unless a dog dies. Came close to crying while reading <i>The Dictionary of Lost Words</i> though. </span></span></p><p><span style="background-color: white; color: #030303; letter-spacing: 0.2px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">
<b>11. Book that made you happy.</b></span></span></p><p><span style="background-color: white; color: #030303; letter-spacing: 0.2px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: x-small;">Most books make me happy. </span></span></p><p><span style="background-color: white; color: #030303; letter-spacing: 0.2px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><b></b></span></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSpvDGjqLHyh-__3rzDOE9rSUuqL6Ocscpei4B0IS4zJL-REpbSho-FW8PiAdg2RIhpv1hn3h-lU7RB0Boe-KgOnI4tjrNVrGpOB8glWvEJ4eSjnByXB96z977E0HT4km3BXi_cWGzqiI/" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="457" data-original-width="300" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSpvDGjqLHyh-__3rzDOE9rSUuqL6Ocscpei4B0IS4zJL-REpbSho-FW8PiAdg2RIhpv1hn3h-lU7RB0Boe-KgOnI4tjrNVrGpOB8glWvEJ4eSjnByXB96z977E0HT4km3BXi_cWGzqiI/" width="158" /></a></b></span></div><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><b>
12. Most beautiful book you've bought so far this year (or received)</b></span><p></p><p><span style="background-color: white; color: #030303; letter-spacing: 0.2px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: x-small;">I try reallllllly hard not to buy books just because they are pretty but I guess the most recent cover-buy was <i><a href="https://www.booktopia.com.au/still-life-sarah-winman/book/9780008283360.html" target="_blank">Still Life. </a></i></span></span></p><p><span style="background-color: white; color: #030303; letter-spacing: 0.2px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">13. What books do you need to read by the end of the year?</span></b></span></p><p><span style="background-color: white; color: #030303; letter-spacing: 0.2px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: x-small;">The rest of my TBR. </span></span></p>Emily Paullhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03483043817609949536noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3156528823270353530.post-78479954423778521622021-05-15T12:17:00.000+08:002021-05-15T12:17:12.253+08:00The Good Daughter Highly Commended in the 2021 Fogarty Literary Award<p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiM7W5bRfUXvXj13rwzKlRJ7-8_pvZ4m6hYgTLHuoods3L6HqRDmPLWCg3bTpUoOqz1ivqnRGrHOJxap8Gn3Kzp7OjCbRsY4KjgG6HALs-VMV9lWhg1rQqjM4R6TB1YL717zRUfBIcU_70/s2048/prateek-katyal-KNfj7yDVMF0-unsplash.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1365" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiM7W5bRfUXvXj13rwzKlRJ7-8_pvZ4m6hYgTLHuoods3L6HqRDmPLWCg3bTpUoOqz1ivqnRGrHOJxap8Gn3Kzp7OjCbRsY4KjgG6HALs-VMV9lWhg1rQqjM4R6TB1YL717zRUfBIcU_70/w266-h400/prateek-katyal-KNfj7yDVMF0-unsplash.jpg" width="266" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">Photo by <a href="https://unsplash.com/@prateekkatyal?utm_source=unsplash&utm_medium=referral&utm_content=creditCopyText">Prateek Katyal</a> on <a href="https://unsplash.com/s/photos/bookshop?utm_source=unsplash&utm_medium=referral&utm_content=creditCopyText">Unsplash</a></span></td></tr></tbody></table><br />T<span style="font-size: medium;">his past Tuesday night, I was ecstatic to learn that my historical fiction novel, <i>The Good Daughter</i>, was one of 5 highly commended entries in the 2021 Fogarty Literary Awards, run by Fremantle Press. </span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">The judges said of the book; </span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">"This gently drawn historical fiction follows the fortunes of Margaret, who believes she
will never be loved, then thinks her luck has changed when a handsome widower and
bookshop owner moves in next door. But Luke is not the man she thought he was
and, with war set to change everything, Margaret finds that she has much to learn
about literature, life and love." </span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">Fingers crossed the book will find a home soon and I'll be able to share it with you all. </span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">Congratulations to the three shortlisted writers, Brooke Dunnell, Patrick Marlborough and Georgia Tree, and the rest of the writers on the highly commended list, Alex Dook, Daniel Juckes, Luke Winter and Alice Woodland. </span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">You can read more about their manuscripts <a href="https://www.fremantlepress.com.au/" target="_blank">here. </a></span></p>Emily Paullhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03483043817609949536noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3156528823270353530.post-85121800260053780792021-05-04T15:40:00.002+08:002021-05-04T15:40:40.310+08:00Thanks but no thanks...<p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghdmdjIB4Sd0g8xzPOHzCVPMkQaKK55QxDS6NBTDoRveW01vUS4WyJLZPdutPfjRwNgNO1CMZ94v8tDARWwOZEb8Ou8paV4sPhY9KP45dia_ZrW6EzlI6Ht3VnfwMnsOV_Pc1THalKYoU/s2048/jakayla-toney-iTiXvQw91nE-unsplash.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghdmdjIB4Sd0g8xzPOHzCVPMkQaKK55QxDS6NBTDoRveW01vUS4WyJLZPdutPfjRwNgNO1CMZ94v8tDARWwOZEb8Ou8paV4sPhY9KP45dia_ZrW6EzlI6Ht3VnfwMnsOV_Pc1THalKYoU/w480-h640/jakayla-toney-iTiXvQw91nE-unsplash.jpg" width="480" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Photo by <a href="https://unsplash.com/@jakaylatoney?utm_source=unsplash&utm_medium=referral&utm_content=creditCopyText">Jakayla Toney</a> on <a href="https://unsplash.com/s/photos/rejection?utm_source=unsplash&utm_medium=referral&utm_content=creditCopyText">Unsplash</a><br /><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br />Yesterday, I had a catch up with a writer friend of mine, and we spent a bit of time talking about rejection. </p><p>Getting rejections is par for the course for a writer. You would be hard pressed to find a writer who has never received one. I think one of the most valuable skills I have gained in the decade I have been a professional writer is learning to cope when a publisher or a competition or an agent says 'Thanks, but no thanks.'</p><p>Writer and illustrator Mari Andrew posted a series of sketches on her Instagram account which showcased the range of different rejections she has received for her work (including one where they don't even bother to get her name right). You can look at those <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/COX4Y9flxoo/">HERE.</a> </p><p>It's nice to know that with enough time, even the harshest rejections can become something to laugh about, right? This made me think about my own best and worst rejections that I've received as a writer. The best are easy to pinpoint-- the kindest rejections I've received on more than one occasion have always come from Westerly magazine, and the thing that makes them easier to cope with is how personal they feel. They're never long, and they don't give individual feedback, but they're also not "Dear Writer, thanks for your time submitting your work to us but we don't want it." </p><p>The worst rejection I ever received was also personal to me but it was blunt and discouraging at the time. Now, several years later, I actually find it really funny. I won't name names, because that's not helpful, and because based on my history of weak pitches, I probably did deserve to be rejected. But getting an email less than 24 hours after pitching that said my book sounded 'boring' really hurt. </p><p>Someone once told me that the difference between writers who get published and those who don't is the ones who get published eventually are the ones who didn't give up along the way. </p><p>I know I'm not the only one who has sometimes felt so disheartened that giving up was tempting, though. </p><p>So what have I learned from rejection?</p><p>* To practice my pitching skills even if I don't like pitching</p><p>* To talk to my writer friends when I'm in need of a pick me up</p><p>* To think about writing like I would think about my day job sometimes. This is the assignment, that is the due date, this is the feedback. It's not a reflection of me as a person that it was rejected, it just wasn't fit for purpose. (Clinical, I know, but it helps.)</p><p>What was the worst rejection you ever received? Let me know in the comments. </p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p>Emily Paullhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03483043817609949536noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3156528823270353530.post-15441369403348644312021-04-05T15:44:00.004+08:002021-04-05T15:44:44.197+08:00Things I learned from doing the Unread Shelf Project<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDq-2SzaItVXjyl-l9HB3jREYUV7IA-pf30-PYZy1ituYj6D9zkoj6x_3_nelv8GVwvjhLkAWN0wBobhibXODz9uMb20I6P9I9VYeTgv15asZzbf-AtRzlBHTFGfaX9tkP4HEjvhnEjvI/s940/USP+blog+image.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="788" data-original-width="940" height="536" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDq-2SzaItVXjyl-l9HB3jREYUV7IA-pf30-PYZy1ituYj6D9zkoj6x_3_nelv8GVwvjhLkAWN0wBobhibXODz9uMb20I6P9I9VYeTgv15asZzbf-AtRzlBHTFGfaX9tkP4HEjvhnEjvI/w640-h536/USP+blog+image.png" width="640" /></a></div><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">If you follow me in Instagram, you probably know that for the last two or so years, I have been participating in something called The Unread Shelf Project. It's basically an accountability challenge which asks book lovers (and book hoarders) to be aware of how many books they are acquiring each month versus how many of those they actually read. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Now, here's the thing. I have come to terms with the fact that I have way more books in my apartment than I will ever be able to read. There is new exciting stuff coming out all of the time and it's very easy to get distracted from that great new historical fiction epic you bought. I've actually made my peace with my book buying and I'm not ashamed of how many unread books I own, because yes, it's a lot, but I'm also a writer, and a former bookseller, and I like being a part of these worlds. I like effectively owning my own library. But there are also moments when I can't fit all of my books nicely on my shelf, or I can't find something, or my apartment just feels really messy and my books become a source of stress for me, rather than one of joy. Hence, why I participate in this monthly challenge, which is run by Whitney, a reader who lives in Kansas City. You can<a href="https://www.theunreadshelf.com/" target="_blank"> read about the challenge here </a>(which has evolved from being a social media hashtag to actually having courses and website and everything, though I don't quite go that far in my participation.) The first thing that you have to do when you participate is add up all of your unread books to get your starting number. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">I won't say what my starting number was, because a) I don't exactly remember it, and b) I've since found books that I forgot to include so it wouldn't have been accurate anyway. I use an app called Book Buddy + to keep track of it all now. I will say that one of my goals for 2021 is to get my unread shelf number below 300, and that I am on track. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">There are a few things I've learned from doing this activity, and I thought I would share some of those with you today:</span></p><p><b><span style="font-family: helvetica;">1) I've learned what genres I like... and what I don't</span></b></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">I used to pick up everything and anything, but as I've gotten older, I think I've started to refine what kinds of books I am into. I love historical romance, but crime novels don't usually interest me. I don't tend to like non fiction (unless it's an audiobook). I read YA, but mostly only because they are quick to read and I enjoy the feeling of finishing a book. Part of getting my unread shelf number down is un-hauling books, as awful as that may sound, and being able to recognise that a particular book might have appealed to me when I bought it, but isn't my kind of thing now, is a blessing, because it takes the pressure off and allows me to really savour the books I read. It also means I don't pick up books I'm not all that interested in when I go book shopping anymore, even if they have great covers or if the whole world is talking about them.</span></p><p><b><span style="font-family: helvetica;">2) Audiobooks are awesome</span></b></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">I may have talked about this before, but I really got into audiobooks during 2020, and if the statistics from my library are anything to go by, so did a bunch of other people. Housework, exercise, and travelling all become a lot more entertaining when you can take your book with you, and last year I started using Borrowbox (a library app) to double up on how many books I was getting through. I would listen to books while I was jogging (I was also doing Couch to 5K) and doing housework, and also just sometimes when my eyes were really tired. It was a great way to get through dense classics as well!</span></p><p><b><span style="font-family: helvetica;">3) The first chapter really matters</span></b></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">This point occurred to me this morning as I tried reading the first chapter of all of the library books I had brought home with me recently. I decided to do something I'd seen people do on YouTube, and read the beginning of each book to see if I actually wanted to read them at all. There have been a few occasions when I have held onto a library book as long as I could, only to finally crack it open and discover that I don't like the style or it's not what I thought it was. I realised, as I did this exercise, that what I was doing there was a little bit like what it must be like for publishers reading books sent in on submission. If I have 300 books to get through, surely they must have more. </span></p><p><b><span style="font-family: helvetica;">4) Always be reading </span></b></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">To put it a different way, you can't read a lot of books if you don't read a lot of the time. If you don't make time to read, it's something that is very easy to avoid. I spend a lot of time on social media on my phone, so when I have deadlines (such as needing to submit a book review), it can be necessary to put my phone in another room. Carrying your book with you when you go out, in case you get ten minutes while you're waiting for a bus, can also be helpful, as can challenging your friends to a read-a-thon (as I did here in early February when we got locked down for another week) or inviting a friend over for a Silent Reading party. </span></p><p><b><span style="font-family: helvetica;">5) It's Okay to DNF</span></b></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">No one is going to tell you off if you don't finish something. I used to think that I had to finish every book I started, probably for the same reason I felt I had to keep every book I bought. But here's the thing-- life is too short for bad books. Or not even bad books! Just ones that don't grab you. Personally, I don't make a habit of telling people which ones I DNF, because I know a lot of authors and the publishing world is a small English village sometimes but I have started giving myself permission to not finish things. Luckily, I haven't had to invoke the DNF rule (which stands for Did Not Finish, if you aren't sure) much lately but I do know there are reviewers and bloggers out there who DNF things all the time. Perhaps that's why they're able to publish so many reviews?</span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">What about you? If you've participated in the Unread Shelf Project, what have you learned about yourself as a reader? And if you haven't participated in it, what do you think is something you do that helps you keep your TBR (to be read) pile manageable?</span></p>Emily Paullhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03483043817609949536noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3156528823270353530.post-49050768027741406792021-03-13T16:22:00.003+08:002021-03-13T16:22:25.442+08:00International Women's Day 2021<p><i><span style="font-size: x-small;">This speech was presented at the City of Vincent Library for International Women's Day 2021</span></i></p><p><i><span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></i></p><p><i><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgje7zI54AnID_3H922rLZfFN_DeoHAgDBrOIhLZQLNvLnQkOXu2zAGwWJd80EAV9V9KCZZTMpGu_FMHIACAYbHoEsTeC2w3oEpvkpjD3V350cqld7_CJq17UCwjdqVzdtVrR2gKvD5w1g/s2048/lucia-48UaeIMNAA4-unsplash.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1365" data-original-width="2048" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgje7zI54AnID_3H922rLZfFN_DeoHAgDBrOIhLZQLNvLnQkOXu2zAGwWJd80EAV9V9KCZZTMpGu_FMHIACAYbHoEsTeC2w3oEpvkpjD3V350cqld7_CJq17UCwjdqVzdtVrR2gKvD5w1g/w640-h426/lucia-48UaeIMNAA4-unsplash.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://unsplash.com/@luciadong?utm_source=unsplash&utm_medium=referral&utm_content=creditCopyText">lucia</a> on <a href="/s/photos/feminism?utm_source=unsplash&utm_medium=referral&utm_content=creditCopyText">Unsplash</a></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></i></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Until about a week ago, this was going to be a very different sort of talk. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">As women—and I have particularly experienced this as a young woman— we are expected to be many things. Neat, tidy, presentable. Cheerful, friendly. Inoffensive. Quiet. Humble. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Little girls should be seen and not heard. Isn’t that the expression?</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">There’s another expression I’ve heard a lot lately too. Boys will be boys.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">These seemingly harmless platitudes are actually doing real damage, managing our expectations of how people are supposed to behave. They are the reason that women who speak out get labelled as troublemakers, and the reason that no one says anything when someone makes a sexist joke. I’m sure every woman in this room can think of an occasion where they’ve been in a situation where someone has said something either about them, or about another woman, that they’ve found inappropriate or offensive, but they have been too uncomfortable to say anything. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I can relate. I’m a conflict avoider in my real life. The other day, I saw a wearing a t-shirt with an image of a naked woman on it, and some horrible, sexist slogan. I didn’t feel like I could say anything about it, but I felt so sorry for the person behind the counter who had to serve him. She probably felt she couldn’t say anything either. The customer is always right, etc. Sometimes, when I almost feel brave enough to speak up about this sort of stuff, I hear a little voice in the back of my head that says ‘Why would anyone listen to you? You’re just a little girl.’</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I mean. I’m 30 in a few weeks, but sometimes I’m still intimidated by large groups of teenage boys. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Much more qualified people than me (see, here I go again) have spoken on this topic, and have written books on this topic. But I just wanted to start this talk for International Women’s Day by saying that I’m watching what’s going on and it’s making me angry. I’m angry, and I’m sad, and I’m fed up, and I am sure some of you all are too. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">On that note: what do we mean when we say, “Well-Behaved Women seldom make history”? This is a quote that often gets attributed to Eleanor Roosevelt, but actually comes from historian, Laurel Thatcher Ulrich. She first coined it in an article written in 1976, and it soon became one of feminism’s favourite quotes. Later, it became the title of her book. The book, which came out in 2008, looked at the way in which official history is made. As someone who mostly writes and reads historical fiction, I find this idea fascinating. I like to read books about the gaps in the history books we read at school, discover the stories about the women whose stories were omitted from the official records. I’m drawn to the stoicism of women like Katherine of Aragon, King Henry VIII’s first wife who was set aside so that he could marry Anne Boleyn; who rode into battle in Scotland at the head of an army whilst pregnant to stop the Scottish invading her country while her husband was away fighting in France. Of women like Nancy Wake. Even Jane Austen. Women whose existence in the world had an impact on history, whether what you were taught in school reflects that or not. Women who did things they ‘shouldn’t’ have done because they saw what needed to be done. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">But I’m also interested in how this plays out in the every day. How this is happening, right now. Just because the stand you make might only change your own life doesn’t make it any less important. This is what I was writing about when I wrote the stories that became my debut collection. How do we view the women we interact with every day? What small acts of rebellion can have a big impact? How often do we forget that our mothers, grandmothers, neighbours, the person serving us as a shop are real people because we are so caught up in our own lives?</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Well-Behaved Women was written over a period of ten years. The earliest story included (Pretending) was written while I was an undergraduate at Murdoch University, where I studied English and Creative Writing and also History. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">It was while I was doing this undergraduate degree that I became interested in women’s history. “Women’s history.” I mean, the word history is literally His Story, isn’t it? There was a module in one of the introductory units that was about witch trials. Throughout history, and in many many different countries and cultures, there have been examples of witch trials. The victims of these witch trials are usually women. Women who don’t behave the way that the power-makers – the church, the politicians, the top men of the group— want them to. You might have come across instances of this in the books you’ve read or the movies and television shows that you watched. It even happens in Outlander. Laura Bates, founder of the Everyday Sexism project (which you might like to look up), made it the basis of her debut novel for young adults called The Burning. Recently, I read Geraldine Brooks’ novel The Year of Wonders and there’s a scene in that book in which the two women who have been using herbs to treat the sick in the village are set upon and murdered because people are so scared that they begin to think that those who behave outside what their church tells them is good and normal must be bringing the plague upon them. The term witch hunt gets bandied around a lot these days in the media, but I think it’s important to remember the real history behind it. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I didn’t set out to write a collection of short stories about women or feminism, because I didn’t set out to write a collection of short stories. I describe this book as the book that snuck up on me. I thought that my first book was going to be a novel which I had written and rewritten, and pulled apart and revised again and abandoned and picked up again, and quit writing over and then relented and came back to the desk and so on. It was a historical novel (and I was a historical novelist) about Perth in the 1930s and 40s, specifically Fremantle, and it was a love story between a young man from a poor working class background and the spoilt daughter of a man who got rich making cigarettes. But in between drafts of this book (and so far there have been 11 or 12) I was writing short stories. Someone had told me when I first decided that I was going to be a writer with a capital W that I needed to build up my writer’s CV, and get a few publication credits to my name so that when publishers first see your work they recognise your name. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I categorise this advice alongside the advice that says you should build your online platform to be a writer. Well, yes, you should, but you have to have a book first, and really, the writing is the most important part. I can’t tell you how much time I have spent over the last decade of my life crying over rejections from magazines or not placing in a short story competition. I’m really good at getting rejections now. Like, really good. If there was an Olympic gold medal for rejections, I think I’d be a contender. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">But that was why I originally got into short fiction. To ‘build up my CV.’ There will be some short story purists who tell you that you’re not a real short story writer if you only do short fiction as ‘practice’ for writing a novel but that’s where I started and I bet that’s where a lot of the short fiction fanatics who say things like that started too. Short fiction gets a bit of a bad rap in Australia, even though we have some of the best short story writers in the world here. Biased opinion, of course. I got into writing short stories because I thought it was ‘the way to get published’ and then I accidentally fell head over heels in love with the form. I was one of the earliest subscribers to a magazine called Kill Your Darlings (Hannah Kent actually recognised my name when I took my copy of Burial Rites to get published at Perth Festival one year); I sought out short story collections by Australian writers and read them cover to cover, I have been a subscriber to Island magazine, Westerly, Overland, something called The Canary Press which doesn’t exist anymore, I follow the results of the ABR Elizabeth Jolley prize, and I think I’ve done just about every short fiction course I could find in person or online. I just LOVE short fiction. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">In short fiction, you cannot waste a single word. You have to know your characters so well that they can walk onto the page fully formed and start telling a reader about their problems AND THE READER HAS TO CARE STRAIGHT AWAY. I like short stories that are funny, and I like the ones that make me cry in public, like Jennifer Down’s Aokigahara, and I especially like the ones that do exactly what you’re not expecting. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">And it turns out, after ten years of writing them, I like short stories about women, and about how people relate to the women in their life; how they take them for granted, the way women can be and frequently are transgressed against without anyone even realising its happening. I like to say that I write about the things that make me anxious, and that’s definitely a thread throughout the book as well, but what ties my book together is that every story is about the idea that well-behaved women seldom make history. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">There are characters in my book whom society never thinks about. There are those that are struggling with being who they are supposed to be. Characters who are remarkable because they have broken out of the mould. Women who do awful things to each other, or to men. Men who try to do the right thing but don’t know exactly what that is. I realised, when I started to pull this collection together that I wanted to think about what being a woman in Perth, in Australia, at this particular point in time and from my own very limited perspective, mind you, can actually mean. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Originally, when the library asked me to do this talk, I had planned to start with a story about something that happened to me a few years ago, when I was writing one of these stories. I knew that there was something about it that just wasn’t working but I couldn’t put my finger on what it was. I asked another writer to give me his feedback. He had previously offered to give me feedback on my work and I was really grateful that someone who I perceived as being at a higher level than me professionally would take such an interest. I emailed the story, and then when I saw this person next, he asked if I wanted to hear what he thought. I said yes. This person was a very confident writer who had been published a few times. I’d never made it past being shortlisted for a young writers’ award when I was a big fish in a small pond. So, I sat down and got ready to take notes on this person’s feedback. He then proceeded to rip into every aspect of the story. I don’t think there was a thing he liked about it. He didn’t understand what the point of it was, he hated the characters… Right at the end of the tirade, he said “It doesn’t matter if you haven’t developed a voice yet. No one expects you to have much of a voice in your twenties.”</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I come back to that idea sometimes when I’m feeling particularly ticked off. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I don’t think he said that to be cruel. I don’t think they would even now think that it was a cruel thing to say. But I also don’t think that they would have lectured me like that if I was a man. And these sorts of subconscious differences in the way women get treated – these microaggressions—were the kinds of things I wanted to address when I put together my book. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Of course, I had a voice! Having a voice is not something that comes with age. It is not something that comes with a particular gender or sexual identity. It’s not something that you have to earn. I know now, with the benefit of hindsight, that what this writer was saying was that as a man, he wasn’t particularly interested in hearing what a twenty something had to say about ‘womens issues.’ </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">What I should have heard him saying was “I am not your target market.”</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">And yes, the story at that point in time was a little bit rough, but it wasn’t irredeemable. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Anyway, I have a book out now, and I think I’ve well and truly overtaken him if we measure success in writing by number of publications—which I don’t anymore.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I want to end this talk by telling you that you do have a voice, and your voice matters. This year’s International Women’s Day theme was Choose to Challenge. I choose to challenge the casual sexism that makes me uncomfortable. I pledge to say ‘That’s not funny’ to sexist jokes, and not to shy away when it’s within my power to let someone know that their behaviour is not okay. I pledge to lift up the women around me, and to take steps to make sure that my feminism is as intersectional as it can be. I choose to listen to the voices of others who know more—who actually know more, not just those who want me to think they do—and to have the wisdom to know the difference. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><p><br /></p>Emily Paullhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03483043817609949536noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3156528823270353530.post-35486535938100532332021-03-09T14:55:00.000+08:002021-03-09T14:55:10.808+08:00A short fiction reading list<p>I've been thinking a lot about how short fiction writers learn their craft lately. As much as we can, we learn the building blocks like plot, character, etc., but there's something intangible about short fiction that can only be learned by reading widely. This is a list of short story collections that I would recommend to anyone wanting to improve their craft.</p><p><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnEWaZP1q_aofmfXQxwUPusltzhXov_uOXoZo4E7IuWyim_TuLkD85_Yl1P2M9i3xi-30PbOTRP2DWH-NEItUQUTyKyy0_UH-RuyW-3XkSjsgN0u9tUxXhn2c7Bgpy7t-MAw5OM8Uk6Uc/s1080/Copy+of+most+anticipated.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="1080" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnEWaZP1q_aofmfXQxwUPusltzhXov_uOXoZo4E7IuWyim_TuLkD85_Yl1P2M9i3xi-30PbOTRP2DWH-NEItUQUTyKyy0_UH-RuyW-3XkSjsgN0u9tUxXhn2c7Bgpy7t-MAw5OM8Uk6Uc/w640-h640/Copy+of+most+anticipated.png" width="640" /></a></div><br /><p><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><p style="text-align: left;">Well-Behaved Women by Emily Paull</p><p style="text-align: left;">You think it, I’ll say it by Curtis Sittenfeld</p><p style="text-align: left;">Salt Slow by Julia Armfield</p><p style="text-align: left;">You know you want this / Cat Person and other stories by Kristen Roupenian</p><p style="text-align: left;">Animal Wife by Lara Erlich</p><p style="text-align: left;">Her Body and Other Parties by Carmen Maria Machado</p><p style="text-align: left;">Ordinary Matter by Laura Elvery</p><p style="text-align: left;">Australia Day by Melanie Cheng</p><p style="text-align: left;">Pulse Points by Jennifer Down</p><p style="text-align: left;">A Constant Hum by Alice Bishop</p><p style="text-align: left;">Bird Country by Claire Aman</p><p style="text-align: left;">The Weight of a Human Heart by Ryan O’Neill</p><p style="text-align: left;">This Taste for Silence by Amanda O’Callaghan</p><p style="text-align: left;">Fabulous Lives by Bindy Prichard</p><p style="text-align: left;">Skyglow by Leslie Thiele</p><p style="text-align: left;">Smart Ovens for Lonely People by Elizabeth Tan</p><p style="text-align: left;">Fabulous Lives by Bindy Pritchard</p><p style="text-align: left;">Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Strout</p><p style="text-align: left;">Like a House on Fire by Cate Kennedy</p><p style="text-align: left;">Heat and Light by Ellen van Neerven</p><p style="text-align: left;">Foreign Soil by Maxine Beneba Clarke</p><p style="text-align: left;">Interpreter of Maladies by Jhumpa Lahiri</p><p style="text-align: left;">That Thing Around Your Neck by Chimanda Ngozi Adichie</p><p style="text-align: left;">Here Until August by Josephine Rowe</p><p style="text-align: left;">Portable Curiosities by Julie Koh</p><p style="text-align: left;">The Fat Man in History by Peter Carey</p><p style="text-align: left;">A Good Man is Hard to Find by Flannery O’Connor</p><p style="text-align: left;">The Bodysurfers by Robert Drewe</p><p style="text-align: left;">The Love of a Bad Man by Laura Elizabeth Woollett</p><div style="text-align: left;">Hold Your Fire by Chloe Wilson</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Smart Ovens for Lonely People by Elizabeth Tan</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">In the Time of Foxes by Jo Lennan</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Shirl by Wayne Marshall</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Wild Fearless Chests by Mandy Beaumont</div></div><div><br /></div>Feet to the Stars by Susan Midalia<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><p></p>Emily Paullhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03483043817609949536noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3156528823270353530.post-34261763576775667712021-03-03T14:54:00.001+08:002021-03-03T14:54:54.496+08:00Book Review: Eye of a Rook by Josephine Taylor<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinAK5jwqdL6kZgycjWOg4m_Vxq6y0IAXkQoCPw-8fYzjG85RZUTFeSe5jKfptwyaBJ4Y8PU9iGsJGWuRgZ8FDFNmKqP9RRjxhSsIoolRcFd_YVTBT82I_v1dg37Q6IIBqM3qUO2zA54N8/s1024/rook+au.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="768" data-original-width="1024" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinAK5jwqdL6kZgycjWOg4m_Vxq6y0IAXkQoCPw-8fYzjG85RZUTFeSe5jKfptwyaBJ4Y8PU9iGsJGWuRgZ8FDFNmKqP9RRjxhSsIoolRcFd_YVTBT82I_v1dg37Q6IIBqM3qUO2zA54N8/w400-h300/rook+au.png" width="400" /></a></div><br /><b><i>Eye of A Rook</i></b><p></p><p><b>Josephine Taylor</b></p><p><b>Fremantle Press, 2021</b></p><p><b>(This review was originally published by the AU review on February 11, 2021)</b></p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: Raleway; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;"><strong style="box-sizing: inherit;">Josephine Taylor</strong>‘s debut novel is something a little bit different for Fremantle Press. Mixing historical fiction with contemporary, <strong style="box-sizing: inherit;"><em style="box-sizing: inherit;">Eye of a Rook</em></strong> takes a look at women’s health throughout recent centuries, shining a light particularly on attitudes to chronic illnesses and women’s pain. Based on the author’s own experiences with vulvodynia, Taylor hopes that this book will spark a conversation about invisible illnesses, and about believing that those who suffer are not simply malingerers and attention seekers.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: Raleway; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;"><em style="box-sizing: inherit;">Eye of a Rook</em> begins with its contemporary storyline. Alice and her partner Duncan are driving to see a new physiotherapist recommended by another member of Alice’s support group for vulvodynia sufferers. Vulvodynia – chronic, debilitating and unexplained nerve pain in the vulva which cannot be linked to a specific cause – has made many things near-impossible for Alice.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: Raleway; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;">Walking and sitting are painful. She has not been able to work. And her once-passionate marriage to Duncan is feeling the strain as sex becomes less and less possible. Alice wants to be able to engage in sex again, and hates what her condition is doing to her relationship.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: Raleway; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;">This is why she has made the appointment with a new (male) physiotherapist. But it is clear from Duncan’s mood as he drives them to the appointment that he is threatened by the intimate nature of Alice’s appointment. It is also clear that he does not fully comprehend the extent of Alice’s suffering. He says, <em style="box-sizing: inherit;">“I’m wondering how much you want to get better.”</em></p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: Raleway; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;">Such sentiments will likely be familiar to those with chronic conditions. It is a scenario Alice encounters multiple times throughout the book as she attempts to find a method of easing the pain. There are doctors who prescribe treatments which make her worse. And there are those whose inability to understand her illness makes them callous and uncaring. When paired with the vulnerability of literally baring herself to these medical professionals, the implication that she is “<em style="box-sizing: inherit;">dragging this on a bit”</em> comes like a slap in the face.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: Raleway; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;">Alice, an academic, turns to research in an attempt to understand the lineage of her condition. Her studies lead her to Mr Isaac Baker Brown, a surgeon who was at one time President of the Medical Society of London. A proponent of the cliterodectomy as a treatment for various ‘women’s troubles’, Alice begins to uncover the extent of the damage done to women like herself throughout history.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: Raleway; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;">Set in Baker Brown’s time, the second storyline of <em style="box-sizing: inherit;">Eye of a Rook</em> is the story of one of his patients, Emily. Like Alice, she develops vulvodynia and finds herself largely confined to a spinal couch, desperate for any remedy that might restore her to herself. Emily’s story is mediated through the experience of her husband, Arthur, and through her letters to his sister-in-law Bea – an authorial choice which mimics the lack of voice women had in advocating for their own rights.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: Raleway; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;">Arthur’s point of view is frequent at the beginning of of the novel, and then is replaced by Emily’s letters in the middle of the book before returning again at the end. I would have liked to have seen these two viewpoints each have a more complete arc of their own rather than being linked together, as the sudden appearances and disappearances of the voices made for a disjointed reading experience in parts.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: Raleway; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;">But, the slow reveal of how these two storylines intertwine towards the end of the novel, as well as the juxtaposition of the two relationships (Alice and Duncan, Emily and Arthur) make for a clever, postmodern finale. One which will reward the reader who perseveres through to the end.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: Raleway; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;">While this is not a pleasant read (it makes one very aware of their own bodies) it is an important and powerful one which both showcases the versatility and the insightfulness of its writer. I was literally punching the air in parts as Alice grew into a stronger person through her pain.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: Raleway; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;"><br /></p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: Raleway; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;">To read more book reviews from me, and the AU review team, click <a href="https://www.theaureview.com/category/books/" target="_blank">HERE. </a></p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: Raleway; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;">To purchase <i>Eye of a Rook, </i>visit <a href="https://www.fremantlepress.com.au/products/eye-of-a-rook?taxon_id=10" target="_blank">Fremantle Press's website </a>or contact your local bookseller. </p>Emily Paullhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03483043817609949536noreply@blogger.com0