The Looking Glass House

Readers who love Alice in Wonderland will delight in this fictional telling of the relationship between young Alice Liddell and Christ Church mathematics tutor Charles Dodgson, who would eventually publish under the pen name Lewis Carroll.

The Looking Glass House is told through the eyes of Mary Prickett, governess to Alice and her sisters. Mary is a real person in history but much of her narrative is fictional. Mary aspires to an increase in station, one she hopes to gain from her association with the Liddell family, the most important family in Oxford.

The role of governess quickly proves limited and tedious. Her charges are unappreciative, her life is bland and her suitor Mr Wilson is much less than she desires and feels she deserves.

Mr Dodgson gradually becomes part of the family and develops a close relationship with Alice. Mary looks at the educated, cultured young teacher with different eyes, mistaking his eagerness to be included in Liddle family occasions as an expression of his interest in herself.

Mr Dodgson is fascinated by young children and in particular Alice. He takes her photo, writes her letters professing his affection and lavishes her with attention. One lazy afternoon on a boat trip down the river, Alice demands a story.

“Alice,’ he said. His voice was unsure. “Alice… Alice was beginning to get very tired of sitting on the riverbank and of having nothing to do.”

Mary sabotages the friendship by presenting it in an unsavoury light to Mrs Liddell and Charles and Alice are separated. Charles focuses on his stories and the rest is literary history.

Vanessa Tait is Alice Liddell’s granddaughter and provides a section at the end of story explaining what is fact and what is fiction. The two are cleverly and closely woven together as Vanessa had access to family letters and oral history in addition to public references. The fiction has a deliciously believable flavour.

I found the issue of Dodgson’s relationship with Alice thought provoking. It came under scrutiny at the time and led to Mrs Liddell ending his relationship with Alice and her family. While this was portrayed as the result of Mary’s rumor mongering and that the affections was excessive rather than inappropriate, I found myself wondering.

In the summary explanation, Vanessa Tait notes: The gossip at the time in Oxford and the tradition in my family too, was that Dodgson was too fond of Alice. But she decides based on her research that Dodgson’s intentions were not romantic or otherwise but “that does not mean is was not in love with her in his own way.”

I felt visibly relieved that the fairy tale was still intact.

The Looking Glass House is an entertaining read and lovers of historical fiction will thoroughly enjoy it. Fans of Alice in Wonderland will enjoy it even more

Reviewed by Sandy Fussell

Title: The Looking Glass House

Author: Vanessa Tait

Publisher:  Allen & Unwin (Corvus)

Publication Date: August 2015
RRP: $39.99 

Format: Paperback

Type: Adult fiction

Skin: Song of the Kendra

I was only half a chapter into Skin when I started looking for signs of a sequel. I checked the media release. I checked the author notes. Unfortunately, there was no mention of more books to follow so I read this book much slower than I usually would. I wanted to savour.

Skin is my favourite kind of historical storytelling - a well-researched ancient history backdrop woven into skillful fantasy story-telling that mirrors the myth and magic beliefs of the period.

The time is 28 AD. The place is Southwest Britain. It’s a pivotal moment in history, when the Britons are to meet the Romans in battle for second time. There’s no spoiler here. History has already told us they didn’t win. This book is about the events in Ailia’s tribelands directly preceding the Roman invasion.

Ailia is a young woman of ‘no skin’ in a tribe where skin is everything. It’s identity, the right to learn and the right to marry. It’s freedom, choice and spiritual inclusion. Only those with skin can participate in the tribal ceremonies that celebrate the Mothers, the guardians of the earth.

Deer. Salmon. Stone. Beetle. The North wind. Skin was our greeting, our mother, our ancestors, our land. Nothing existed outside its reach.

Beyond skin there was only darkness. Only chaos.

Ailia has a good life, given the times and her lack of skin. Abandoned as a baby at Cookwoman’s door, the old woman took her in and treated Ailia as if she was her daughter. Ailia is the favourite of the Tribe Queen who allows Aila to help her bathe and dress. She even draws the attention of an elite young warrior.

But Ailia is destined to be more than a maid in Cookwoman’s kitchen and a warrior’s mistress. Being denied learning can’t smother her desire for knowledge. When she meets the mysterious Taliesen and falls in love, she begins an illicit journey. The Mothers have a plan for Ailia. Britain needs its Kendra and Ailia might be the chosen one.

Every obstacle is placed in her way because without skin, she is unworthy. Even Ailia doubts her calling.

This is a novel about identity and belonging as Ailia struggles to find out who she is. She desperately needs to know her skin so she can be part of the tribe and be found worthy by the Mothers. But skin is more than a name and the Mothers already know this. Skin is something far bigger than humanity.

What I love most about this novel is it is tangible. The world is realistic and the fantasy rings true. I felt like I was walking the grass of Car Cad and the Mothers didn’t mind at all.

PS Dear Ilka, please write a sequel. Or a prequel. Or another book set in Iron Age Britain.

Book Club Notes can be found here. This book would make an excellent Book Club choice.

Reviewed by Sandy Fussell

Title: Skin

Author: Ilka Tampke

Publisher:  Text Publishing

Publication Date: $19.99 RRP

Format: Paperback

Type: Adult fiction 

The Trivia Man

Kevin struggles to make sense of the world. Women in particular are extremely confusing but his social awkwardness doesn't worry him because he prefers his own company. Even when he plays in the trivia competitions he loves, he’s happiest as a table of one.

The only person Kevin is comfortable with is his nephew, Patrick. Kevin’s sister, Elizabeth, is dismissive and barely tolerant of her brother, amazed when one of her friends takes an interest in him. She disapproves of his friendship with Patrick because she is afraid that her son will grow up to be like his uncle.

At a trivia game, Kevin meets Maggie. Maggie is entangled with an old boyfriend, who uses their past relationship and her desire to rekindle it, to his advantage. Kevin and Maggie are nothing alike but they understand each other.

The Trivia Man is narrated from multiple viewpoints – Kevin, Maggie, Elizabeth and Patrick – which cleverly gives the reader three different insights into who Kevin is and why he behaves the way he does. Maggie’s clear perception, Elizabeth’s derisive disdain and Patrick’s childhood innocence add layers to Kevin’s characterisation.

This is a warming story of friendship and family – and fitting in – even if you are a square peg.

Reviewed by Sandy Fussell

Title: The Trivia Man

Author: Deborah O’Brien

Publisher:  Bantam, Random House

Publication Date: $32.99 RRP

Format: Paperback

ISBN: 9780857988027

Type: Adult Fiction

The Love Song of Miss Queenie Hennessy

Queenie is dying.  Harold is walking all the way to her. If only she can hold on. She begins another letter to him. One filled with truth; a no-holds-barred missive about things kept secret for twenty years. Now, instead of waiting to die, all the patients in palliative care learn the importance of how to live life, with their end transformed into a rage to live. 

All over England, everyone’s attention is caught by Harold Fry’s journey to Queenie. Its countdown is marked on maps, printed in newspapers and passed on by word of mouth and Twitter. And as Harold walks across England, Queenie writes all that has remained unspoken as atonement for their lost years.

This is a deeply moving story of love. Queenie makes us think of and believe in, the many faces of love and different ways of loving. It is a book about living life to the fullest and dying with dignity. Through Queenie’s voice, Rachel Joyce reveals a variety of human emotions - good and bad.

I began to read Queenie’s story and found myself regretting I hadn’t read the The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry, the previous book which Joyce calls ‘the companion’ to this one. But as the story progresses, a great deal is learnt about the relationship between Queenie and Harold I felt that the story can stand independent of the companion. 

Stunning emotive prose glides throughout the book and leaves the reader breathless with its beauty. I adored every word I read and praise the writer who left me with such a memorable experience.

Reviewed by Anastasia Gonis 

Title: The Love Song of Miss Queenie Hennessy

Author: Rachel Joyce

Publisher: Random House

Publication Date: October 2014 $ 32.99RRP

 Format: Paperback

ISBN: 9780857522764

Type: Fiction

Nation

by Terry Pratchett

Random House. Adult/Junior Fiction. Hardcover RRP $49.95

Reviewed by Sandy Fussell

Two kids. Two cultures. An ending you won’t expect.

Mau is on his way home from Boys Island when the world ends. Now he can never complete the ceremony that will make him a man. The Nation, everyone and everything in it, is gone.

Ermintrude, who decides she would rather be called Daphne, is shipwrecked in the tidal wave that destroys the Nation. She is the only survivor but soon discovers there is someone else on the island.

Initially, Mau and Daphne have nothing in common. She is a distant descendant of the English king, a child of privilege and money. Mau is an islander boy who has led a life isolated from the world outside Nation’s island archipelago. To him, Daphne is a ghost girl, one of the ‘trousermen’. To Daphne, Mau is a savage.

As they struggle to overcome the language barrier, they soon realise they share more important things – resourcefulness, tolerance, and compassion. Daphne learns the ways of the Nation and Mau even tries on a pair of trousers. As other people find their way to the island, Mau and Daphne find themselves rebuilding the Nation. It’s not easy. There are many obstacles to overcome – the growing group, cannibalistic sea raiders and mutineers and the ethereal voices of the grandfathers insisting on telling Mau what to do.

Inspired by the eruption of Krakatoa and with a touch of the Atlantis legend, Nation is a satire expertly wrapped in humorous story-telling. Themes of nationhood, coming of age, religious belief and identity are explored but never at the expense of the story. From beginning to end, this is a wonderful read.

http://www.terrypratchett.co.uk/

Stella Makes Good

by Lisa Heidke

Allen and Unwin. Adult Fiction, Australian. Paperback RRP $29.99

Stella is happily separated from her husband. He has moved out and living with a new partner. Stella has the children and the house and everything is perfect.

Having a drink with her best friends, Carly and Jesse, at the local pub begins as an innocent catch up but ends with Carly and Stella discovering what the supposedly ordinary suburban neighbours get up to behind closed doors. All quite a giggle until a face in the crowd seems familiar.

Carly and Stella are torn between protecting their friend, Jesse, or revealing to her that, maybe, her life is all a lie. When all gets too much, Jesse seems to know the answer… but is it the right one?

One night changes everything for all three women. Carly starts to look at her own marriage and her and her husband’s fidelity. Stella reassesses her life and maybe Mike, the wonderful single doctor, is just what she needs, or is she waiting for the fall? Jesse is having trouble keeping her overworked husband happy at home and keeping herself sane. Let’s have another Chardy…

This is a funny but frank and honest look at life, and what we make of it. There is danger, excitement, suspense and romance. In the end do we really want to know the truth?

I read Stella Makes Good in a single day. I was swept up in the drama surrounding the three women and could easily relate to all of them. My problem with this book is that it was too short and I wanted more. I will now search out more of Heidke’s novels.

http://lisaheidke.com/

The Cartographer

by Peter Twohig

 4^th Estate Fiction, Australian, Adult Fiction, Paperback, $29.99

Guest Reviewer - Vicki Stanton

The Cartographer is a book unlike any I have ever read before. Told from the perspective of the eleven-year-old unnamed narrator, it draws us in to the shadowy world of working class Richmond (Melbourne) in 1959. It is a world filled dodgy, sometimes lovable characters, including his Grandfather; bent cops; oddball and damaged people; and some who are just downright mongrels in the extreme.

Twohig uses the vernacular of the times to totally immerse the reader in this world as well as many references to the comics, superheroes, music, television shows, politics, and of course being Melbourne, the football. (I laughed out loud at the line: Life can be murder when the footy season is over).

The heart of The Cartographer lies in the boy’s attempts to make sense of his world following the death of his twin but never does he do this in a maudlin way. With spirit and guts, and the help of his superhero alter-egos and his brave sidekicks (his trusty dogs) he maps his surroundings, above ground and under. 

Above all, The Cartographer is a nod to the innocence and resilience of childhood, even when viewed through glasses tinted with vice and loss.

http://www.petertwohig.com/

Vicki Stanton is the editor and publisher of Buzz Words, an e-zine for writers and illustrators for children.

Ruby Blues

by Jessica Rudd

The Text Publishing Company. Australian, Adult Fiction. Paperback RRP $29.95

Ruby Stanhope is political advisor to the Australian Prime Minister, whom she helped get elected two years before. Ruby fell into the position whilst holidaying from England, knowing nothing about the Australian political system. She was perfect for the job. Efficient, effective and with an eye for detail.

But now Ruby’s life is falling apart. The never-ending fights with her partner, Luke, who got her her job in the first place, have escalated to the point where she never seems to have time for him, only for her job. Her long-distance sister, her gay aunt and pregnant partner are all trying to pin her down for her birthday. Then there is her new assistant who is over enthusiastic, super-capable and way too perky for Ruby’s frame of mind. Ruby is turning 30. A disaster slowly building up from the inside and waiting to explode.

With Ruby’s hectic schedule everything that could go wrong does and with the Prime Minister facing a losing battle with published leaks and bad press, Ruby’s job gets harder and harder.

With the complications of past male friend, present boyfriend and cute, single vet being served up on her platter, it’s a wonder Ruby has time to sleep. But Bettina, her new assistant, helps her in that department … accidentally.

Ruby Blues is a funny but could be a very real story of a woman who has it all except for the hidden obstacles that seem to ensure she doesn’t keep it. Ruby Blues is the sequel to Campaign Ruby, both of which I loved and would recommend to read separately or together.

The Reading Stack reviewed Campaign Ruby in January 2011.

The Proper Care and Maintenance of Friendship

by Lisa Verge Higgins

Allen and Unwin. Adult Other. Paperback RRP $27.99

Reviewer - Barbara Brown

Four girls, friends since high school. All now comfortable in their own worlds. They meet up when they can. But then Rachel Braun dies. The daredevil of the group, her death is a surprise but not completely unexpected. After all, she did spend her life travelling the world for the next thrill – jumping out of planes, off mountains and buildings.

The three that are left behind each receive a letter from the grave asking them each to do one small favour. The stay-at-home busy housewife/mum Kate is asked to jump out of a plane. Easier said than done, since Kate has a fear of heights. But when Kate lands on terra firma in front of the two remaining friends her life takes a big jump as well.

Sarah is an international relief worker/nurse living in a backwater town in Africa helping the locals survive against disease, bandits, starvation and the government. Her task seems simple and something she has longed to do. She is requested to search the world for her one true love. With the help of her friends, Sarah confronts the past which will allow her to continue with the future.

Jo, the advertising mogul, once voted ‘least likely to breed’, is given a request that she is positive has been a mistake. Not only is it wrong but how could Jo, the girl who grew up in foster homes and was never really loved by anyone, care for and rear Rachel’s seven-year-old daughter?

Rachel, it seems, really didn’t know what she was thinking when she wrote these three friends’ their letters… or could Rachel see past what Kate, Sarah and Jo are too blind to acknowledge?

The Proper Care and Maintenance of Friendship has been put on the top of one of my favourite stories to read. A wonderful story that I did not want to end.

http://www.lisavergehiggins.com/

How it Feels

by Brendan Cowell

Picador. Australian, Adult fiction. Paperback, RRP $22.99

The artist, the businessman, the bouncer and the girl. Three best mates and a girl friend growing up in the Sutherland Shire, all finishing their final year of school together – out for the last hurrah. Over the course of their last night as high schoolers an action soon becomes a chain reaction and nothing will ever be the same again…

Over a decade later, at the wedding of two of the friends drugs, debauchery, alcohol, sex, lies, deceit come to a head with powerful consequences.

Neil, Gordon, Stuart and Courtney – four friends, four tortured souls. One becomes famous, two find each other and another dies. What happened to this friendship and the twisted existences of these main players?

How it Feels is a book that is powerful, graphic, interesting and modern. It is very dark, disturbing and confronting with a touch of comedy. I can’t say I liked it but then I couldn’t put it down. I won’t stop talking about it either.

Dark Matter

by Michelle Paver

Hachette (Orion). Adult, Horror. Paperback RRP $26.99

Reviewer - Sandy Fussell

Subtitled A Ghost Story, Michelle Paver’s Dark Matter is equally an exploration of isolation and what happens to a man segregated from society.

When Jack is offered the opportunity to join an Artic expedition to Gruhuken, he embraces the opportunity for change and new experiences. His companions are wealthy, educated and well prepared. But circumstances conspire and one by one they are forced to leave the Artic.

Jack decides to continue on alone, taking the scientific measurements and looking after the huskies. But is he alone? When the sun disappears for the polar night, Jack learns to fear.

This is a story for those who like Artic tales, and ghost stories. But you might not want to sit up alone and late at night in bed to read it.

http://www.michellepaver.com/

Pillars of the Earth

by Ken Follett

Pan Macmillan. Adult Historical Fiction. Paperback RRP $24.95

This is a work of enormous scope. Set in medieval 12th century England, it revolves around the fictional Knightsbridge Cathedral. Even more than the absorbing details of cathedral building history, are the lives of the people who live, work and wield power there.

Three strong story threads build not only the cathedral of stone and coloured light but also a vivid and intimate tale that stretches across lives in different social strata. This is a time where great privilege and power is in the hands of a few, the kingship is in constant turmoil and the villages suffer through it all.

The Master Builder Tom and his blended family offer an insight not only into village family life but also an exploration of a man confronted with a difficult decision. He loves his family but there are times when it seems he loves the cathedral even more.

Prior Philip is a good man who is sometimes blinded by the laws and rites of the Church. He is an excellent organiser and planner and his work often brings him into conflict with the ambitious elements of the Church. The building of the Cathedral, the successes and failures, map his own progress against a backdrop of the historical power struggle between State and Church.

Lady Aliena’s life of luxury is brutally overturned by the political climate. Her struggle to re-establish a place in society and restore her brother to his inheritance is constantly thwarted by William Hamleigh. William’s violent cruelty is protected by his position as the son of an earl, his usefulness to the scheming Bishop Waleran and his service to the king.

It’s a complex story. A medieval tapestry weave. A must read.

http://www.ken-follett.com/

Last Chance Café

by Liz Byrski

Pan Macmillan. Australian, Adult Fiction. Paperback RRP $32.99

Reviewer - Barbara Brown

I was looking forward to opening Last Chance Café and getting lost again in the wonderful writings of Liz Byrski - and I was not disappointed. This time around I have also recommended it to my husband to read as it is a wonderful story of relationships and secrets.

Margot is on the verge of turning 70 when she realises she has never accomplished what she set out to achieve in her twenties. Is it too late for an older woman to reinvent herself and follow a passion long ago lost?

Dot was Margot’s best friend but had disappeared on one of her many adventurous journ

eys. An accomplished journalist and activist, she returns to the local Melbourne suburb in spectacular fashion. Can a secret that she has kept hidden from her best friend since the 60’s be kept locked up or will it help heal Dot and her tortured life to bring it out into the open?

Phyllida is Margot’s completely opposite sister. She has been married for 50 years and on the night of their anniversary, Donald, her husband, is rushed to hospital with an aneurism. The one constant thing in Phyllida’s life has changed. Can a woman who has never looked at anything other than what is face value start to read between the lines and see all the deceits and lies that may have been there?

These three women may be the crux of this story but there are many minor players who are just as important and strong in Last Chance Café - Margot’s two daughters and ex-husband, the old Polish woman and her nephew, and the young activist neighbour of Dot’s. A wonderful story with a historical background of Australia’s awakening to the 60’s.

The Reading Stack reviewed Liz Byrski’s Bad Behaviour in September 2009.

http://www.lizbyrski.com.au/

Five Bells

by Gail Jones

Random House Australia. Adult Fiction, Australian. Paperback RRP $29.95

Five Bells is my favourite Kenneth Slessor poem and I was immediately drawn to the title and the promise of a revisit to the Circular Quay area where I spent my early twenties.

The first page did not disappoint. Five Bells is a book of beautiful images painted from a number of different viewpoints.

James is looking for absolution. He recalls the best memories of his life – his childhood friendship with Ellie. He is coming to meet her at the Quay, hoping the years have changed nothing, and she will make him happy again.

Ellie remembers the past vividly and hopes James still feels the same, emotionally and sexually, and that there is a second chance for them. It is Ellie’s optimistic descriptions of a Quay bathed in light that I loved most.

Pei-Xing is a Chinese immigrant whose past has followed her to the Quay. She visits her former jailer and torturer, with grace and gentleness.

Catherine is a tourist from Ireland, looking to escape the pain of her brother’s accidental death.

Each of the four characters sees the Quay through different eyes and experiences. It begins to rain. Who will fulfil the prophecy of Five Bells?

While I thoroughly enjoyed this story I wanted more closure for the late introduced fifth character. She drew them together but her own story was unfinished – and it eats at me still.

the body in the clouds

by Ashley Hay

Allen and Unwin. Australian, Fiction, History. Paperback RRP $29.99


Three men, three different times, one thing in common – Dawes Point in Sydney and what they all see from that one special spot.

Second Lieutenant William Dawes arrives in New South Wales in the late 1700s ready to explore the sky from a world away from the cultured life in England. Here in Sydney Cove there are tales of savages and animals that are larger than alligators. But Dawes sits on an outcrop and dreams of his observatory where he can lie and watch the magnificent and beautiful bright blue and white sky so different from the dreary grey colours on the other side of the globe.

Ted Parker, a young man looking for work in the 1930s, dreaming of becoming a part of the construction of the magnificent structure that will soon become the Sydney Harbour Bridge. Ted sits near Dawes Point and watches with envy as the workers climbing all over the metal curves. Ted soon finds a job on the barge underneath the workers – he is happy, he is part of the ‘team’. But he still dreams of sitting on top of the world.

Dan Kopek is an expat from Australia working as a banker in London. He hasn’t been home for over ten years. It is the 21st century and the other side of the world isn’t that far anymore but Dan finds it hard to get home – to see his mother, his neighbour, best friend Charlie and Charlie’s grandfather who was Charlie’s only living relative and who also took Dan in as well. Charlie is a famous photographer and she has a special spot for the Sydney Harbour Bridge, because that’s where her grandfather flew, the only man to survive falling from the bridge whilst it was being constructed. Dan sees Charlie’s photograph advertising Sydney in the London Tube and feels it may be time to go home.

All three men are attached to Dawes Point. And what they all see - is something or someone falling from the sky. Is it part of their belief in what is real and what isn’t or is it that all three men have a bond with each other through time.

The body in the clouds is a wonderful story, a little bit of history, a little bit of a love story - with a surprising twist at the end.

http://www.ashleyhay.com.au/

Hale and Hardy

by Paul Carter

Pan Macmillan Australia. Adult fiction, Australian. Paperback, rrp $34.99

Reviewed by Barbara Brown

Doctor John Hale and his wife have emigrated from the mother land to to Melbourne to escape and forget. But travelling half way around the world doesn’t help and the couple go their separate ways. Life takes a huge backwards step until one night Hale finds himself sitting in his car when he notices a sign on a run-down church ‘Unless you change direction you will end up where you are going.’

Seeing the sign as an epitaph, Dr Hale decides to leave the hustle and bustle of Melbourne and move to the slower, more relaxed lifestyle of a country doctor.

Every chapter in Hale and Hardy is a story in itself. Paul Carter is a country GP in central Victoria writing about a world he knows well - the people and animals that surround small rural communities. Although some may think that country life is slow and dull, Paul Carter has created a wonderful cast of fascinating characters. There is tragedy, love, companionship, grief, happiness all told with a delightful humour that kept me intrigued right to the last page.

I hope there will be another book continuing the story of Doctor John Hale. And if you are wondering who is Hardy, all I can say is he is a remarkable companion, listener and philosopher. Read the book. You won’t regret it.

Room

by Emma Donoghue

Picador. Adult fiction. Paperback rrp $32.99

Reviewed by Barbara Brown

What sort of story do you get when you have a small boy who has never been outside one room?

Jack has just turned five and he and his Ma live in Room. Jack has been brought up in Room and thinks that he and his Ma and Old Nick are the only ones in the real world. The un-real world is in the television.

Old Nick kidnapped Ma seven years before and has kept her in a sound proof reinforced room. Now Ma is worried for her and Jack’s life. Old Nick got angry and cut their power a few days ago. What if he doesn’t turn it back on? Ma has to ‘unlie’ to Jack about the real world to try and get him to help lead the escape to Outside.

Can Jack really save himself and Ma? How can an isolated five-year-old manage to get help from the real world all by himself? ? Will Jack be able to interact with others when he has only ever known Ma?

Room is a wonderful story told through the eyes of Jack. A boy who, after escaping Room, has to learn everything, from wearing shoes to walking up a staircase. Although the story of Ma and Jack is horrifying, but told through Jack eyes, it is an uplifting story of a child’s innocence and resilience. I cried and cried. Brilliantly written. Brilliantly crafted.

http://www.emmadonoghue.com/

The Vintage and the Gleaning

by Jeremy Chambers

The Text Publishing Company. Australian, Adult Fiction. Paperback rrp $32.95


Twenty-first century in central rural Australia. A white boy raised by nuns in the dusty outback with young mission Aborigines. Smithy left the home as soon as possible to live the life of a top gun shearer. Weathered and well travelled throughout the farms, he marries and has a son, Spit.

Smithy’s whole life is spent working and drinking and when his wife dies, Smithy and his son continue living in their small winemaking town near the Murray River, working in the vineyards. Medical problems force Smithy into sobriety and his world is opened up in a new unfamiliar way. He realises Spit, who is married with a child, is starting to go on the same downhill bend Smithy travelled.

When a local woman, Charlotte, asks for a place to stay the night before her violent husband, Brett Clayton, gets out of gaol, Smithy opens his humble home to her. The two begin a strange relationship, not friends, not lovers, but confidant and listener. While Charlotte pours out her soul, Smithy listens and silently reflects on his own life.

 

Without alcohol scattering and confusing his consciousness, his clarity of his past shrouds him with guilt, regret and long lost feelings. Looking back Smithy realises that he wasn’t a good husband and he hopes his loving dead wife will be able to forgive him, wherever she is. Can he help Charlotte and Spit and then be able to redeem himself?

Kiss me Deadly

Tales of Paranormal Romance

edited by Trisha Telep

Random House. Short stories, Adult fiction, Fantasy. Paperback rrp $18.95

‘Lucky 13’ authors have written thirteen stories of mysticism, romance, death, fantasy, mysteries. Kiss me Deadly is a great book to read in small spits and spurts but if you are held captive from story to story like me, you will keep reading in one long stretch until the end is reached. And you will be hungry for more.

Here the reader will find a range of themes and fantasy subgenres - dark angels (Dungeons of Langeais), the dead waking (Many Happy Returns), maras (walking nightmares)(Fearless), ghosts (Vermillion) and even Peter Pan grown up (The Spy Who Never Grew Up).

The selection criteria for inclusion in this anthology was that stories had to be about the paranormal and they had to include romance. But be warned, the romance is nothing expected. Readers who don’t like romance but like a bit of horror and some wicked plots, will enjoy Kiss me Deadly.

The Reading Stack reviewed The Eternal Kiss, a companion collection of vampire stories also edited by Trisha Telep in September 2009.

Madigan Mine

by Kirstyn McDermott

Picador (Pan Macmillan Australia). Adult Fiction, Australian. Paperback, rrp $32.99


The story starts with Madigan’s funeral. Alex is sorry she’s dead but relieved the relationship is over and she can’t reach out to him again. He wants to leave the past behind and that includes any association with the “marionettes”, his name for Madigan’s friends and followers. He wants to forget the bad memories.

Madigan was the love of his young life, a childhood sweetheart. When her family moved overseas he was devastated. Many years later she returns, keen to renew their friendship. They quickly become lovers.

As a little girl, rich and beautiful, Madigan always got what she wanted. ‘Mine’, she used to yell. Now Alex belongs to her. He’s aware of her possessiveness but it’s not a problem for him. “Madigan, mine,” he thinks in return.

At first, Alex refuses to see that Madigan’s behaviour is often irrational and unbalanced. She has a genetic heart condition that could kill her any day and uses her fear of death to justify increasingly erratic activity. Alex readily believes her excuses. Because she is sick. Because he loves her.

His friend Ruth warns him that Madigan is dangerous but Alex ignores her advice. As Madigan becomes more irrational and threatens Alex with a knife, the relationship unravels. By the time she commits suicide, they have parted.

But Madigan has found a way to hang on to Alex even in death and her purpose is chilling. This dark and supernatural thriller will keep you awake at night but that won’t stop you from reading it. A real page-turner.

http://kirstynmcdermott.com/