The Eye of the Sheep

The Eye of the Sheep, the second adult book by Sofie Laguna, is the winner of the 2015 Miles Franklin Literary Award. It is a magnificent piece of literary work as was her previous book, One Foot Wrong. When I read the first book I sat for a long time in wondrous adoration at the language and expressive ability of this gifted writer. Right at the beginning of this six part book, I could see why it had won the award.

Jimmy the narrator is six years old when the story begins. He is a child with learning difficulties and small for his age. He is hyperactive and his external mind is limited and so is his expression. But, his internal world of thought and powers of observation, are rich and sharp.  It is the internal voice that narrates the story. It is to this voice that readers will offer accolades.

Robby is Jimmy’s older brother. He loves Jimmy but feels resentful because his mother pours all of herself into caring for Jimmy and Robby feels there is nothing left for him. He retreats into silence which is his salvation as it dams up all the churning emotions inside that he must at all cost, keep locked away. His body lives in the house but the rest of him has left his limited life, and gone far away where it beckons his body to join it.

 Paula, their asthmatic mother, is physically abused by her drunken husband Gavin who is the end product of a violent and abusive father. She offers herself to him when he’s angry at the fact that he with her, created an imperfect child. This is how she shields her children from any onslaught. She eats cakes and sweets to fill the emptiness created by promises that follow each bashing, that things will change.

These powerful characters and their at times brutal roles weave through themes of family and generational abuse, alcoholism, love and sacrifice. It is in the outstanding climax, when the superb character Liam appears, that we see the effect that abandonment and other mistreatment has on children and how it shapes their lives.

This book has so much in it I feel unable to do justice to such outstanding work. The writing speaks for itself. Sofie Laguna has created a moving book of incredible beauty and substance. It will be thought about and reread many times.

Reviewed by Anastasia Gonis

Title: The Eye of the Sheep

Author: Sofie Laguna

Publisher: Allen & Unwin

Publication Date: 23 July, 2015 $29.99 RRP

Format: Paperback 

ISBN: 9781743319598
Type:  Literary Fiction

The Bookshop That Floated Away

I didn’t know what to expect when I got this book. I loved the title and the unique idea of a floating bookshop/barge. I was intrigued. Sarah Henshaw had little knowledge of boats and their navigation when she set out for six months along unknown waterways with only a map.  But wasn’t alone.  She was accompanied on The Book Barge by a strong sense of freedom, and a determination to enjoy life and its endless possibilities.

The Book Barge, which is still afloat today, carries scars of battles lost and won to stay on the water (although at times it floats away). Towards this end is a constant bartering of books for food and toilet facilities, or a bed at stops along waterways where Sarah is forced to work the locks single-handed.

Dark days overshadow the brilliance of the topography, meeting eccentric characters, and sharing her book knowledge and endless cups of tea with strangers. There is the impact on personal relationships and the financial strain when the venture isn’t bringing in much-needed money.

Many anecdotes around private issues transform into light-hearted entertainment in this inspiring and life-changing journey full of challenges. She treasures the memorable meetings with unbelievable people and shares her hilarious situations and stories. As it ends, the reader will be forced to ask: is all this possible?

The Bookshop That Floated Away is told in sharp, articulate narrative. The extraordinary metaphors and detailed descriptions highlight Henshaw’s command of language and establish her well-read history.

Reviewed by Anastasia Gonis

Title: The Bookshop That Floated Away

Author: Sarah Henshaw

Publisher: Allen & Unwin

Publication Date: July 2014 $19.99 RRP

 Format: Paperback

ISBN: 9781472108050

Type: Non Fiction

Cracked

This stunning debut novel is about first love, friendship, surviving when your world is falling apart,

and staying true to yourself at any cost, even when everything is cracked and you feel broken and alone.

Clover Jones is fifteen years old. She’s a former Steiner student with great potential, intelligence and artistic talent. She finds school boring. She’s a rebel, fighting against everything and everyone in her search to escape from her mother’s ‘flipside of reality.’ She worries about no food in the fridge, the threat of nuclear bombs, ice caps melting, and the end of the world amongst countless other things, including the fact that she doesn’t know where or who her dad is.

Her mum is a ‘walking dictionary’, a committed environmentalist, disorganised and chaotic. She doesn’t allow Facebook, mobile phones or television. Due to these technological restrictions, Clover’s life is a shambles. At school she’s called a freak. Even her best friend and childhood companion Alison, newly returned from Canberra, ignores her.

Keek is a total individual. His parents don’t get on so he spends a lot of time riding around on his bike. It’s this bike that draws Clover and Keek closer together when he offers to teach her to ride. He opens up to Clover; shows her sides to himself that no one else sees. She in return, is able to be herself with him.

Clever and sharp prose draws the reader into this journey through adolescence. Themes that confront young people today shape and colour the novel with skill and flair. The characters are outstanding and the pages are turned quickly for everything about this writing is new. I found this novel profoundly thought-provoking. It could well be my favourite novel of the year.

Reviewed by Anastasia Gonis

Title: Cracked

Author: Clare Strahan

Publisher: Allen & Unwin

Publication Date: May 2014 $15.99RRP

Format: Paperback

ISBN: 978174336030

Type: Young Adult Fiction

It Will Get Better

Stella’s life was a merry-go-round. Witnessing her mother being bashed by her alcoholic father, she grew up lacking self esteem and allowing men to control her. She proved to be strong and resilient; that survived sexual abuse as a child, teenage pregnancy, giving up a child for adoption, countless failed relationships and two failed marriages.

Her life progress was enhanced by her habit of journaling (which she encouraged her sons to adopt). It was a way of expressing, understanding, and overcoming their fears, insecurities, anger and resentment. She saw her life as a series of seasons which would pass, so things would get better.

 Stella Gibney, sister of successful Australian actor, Rebecca Gibney, has written an inspiring and uplifting memoir without going too deeply into intimate detail. Simple and moving, it’s a story of strength and courage, and one woman’s ability to overcome obstacles that would have left others irreparably shattered or broken.

 Although it starts off slowly, it picks up momentum and succeeds in proving that people change, bad things happen to good people, and you never know how strong you are until you are faced with unexpected challenges.

Stella’s sons’ deeply moving dedication poems at the end reflect on her magnificent job of mothering, regardless of all the difficulties she faced and overcame.

Reviewed by Anastasia Gonis

Title: It Will Get Better

Author: Stella Gibney

Publisher: Allen & Unwin

Publication Date: June 2014 $29.99 RRP

 Format: Paperback

ISBN: 9781743317174

Type: Memoir

The Simple Things

In this tender story of lives lived and others barely begun, we see how much the young can learn from the elderly, and vice-versa. It addresses themes of growing up, growing old, and all that’s in between presented in Bill Condon’s unique, natural and pure style.

Stephen and his parents go to visit their elderly Aunty Lola in the country. Apart from two cards a year containing ten dollars, Stephen has little knowledge about this relative he’s never met.

 Aunty Lola and Stephen don’t hit it off at first. She scowls, constantly corrects his English, and doesn’t know what diplomacy means. But as he gets to know her, he finds that she’s not so bad, she simply expresses herself in a different way.

Aunty Lola opens up her box of life to Stephen whom she quickly grows to love.  She reveals secrets about painful experiences, and they both learn that life is full of simple things to share while creating memories to treasure a lifetime.

The young, innocent narrative voice of Stephen is as smooth as flowing chocolate and equally as tasteful. Bill Condon’s extraordinary ability to create convincing characters and capture their thoughts and speech perfectly is at work again within this well-crafted storyline.

Reviewed by Anastasia Gonis

Title: The Simple Things

Author: Bill Condon

Illustrator: Beth Norling

Publisher: Allen & Unwin PB RRP $12.99

Publication Date: Feb 2014

Format: Paperback

ISBN: 9781743317242

Type: Children’s Fiction