Having heard Jesse Blackadder in a radio interview I was keen to read this fictional book based around a family tragedy in her early life, and it didn’t disappoint. The event and its aftermath is explored through the eyes of three members of a family. We feel the pain and anguish of each of them, Read More …
Sixty Seconds, or as the cover reads ‘How sixty seconds changed everything’, begins with an author’s note which prepares you for what is about to happen. Thus we begin the book with trepidation, knowing that the family we are being introduced to is about to be shattered. We read in the paper about young children drowning in backyard pools Read More …
Terra Nullius, written by Claire G Coleman, is amazing and I don’t want to give away the story! Following the Natives and the Settlers of Australia, and the devastation of the Natives as their rights, country, communities and beliefs are destroyed, their fights, families torn apart. The story follows Jacky, running from the place where Read More …
Terra Nullius opens with a quote from Goanna’s Solid Rock, “They were standing on the shore one day, saw the white sails in the sun; Wasn’t long before they felt the sting, white man, white law, white gun”. Despite having read the blurb before requesting the book, this quote led me to assume that the Read More …
Secrets between Friends, written by Fiona Palmer, follows three women as they set sail on a cruise ship to celebrate their friendship. While on the cruise the secrets each has been holding come out – affairs, illness, unhappiness and secrets that harm their friendship. Each of the women are different to the other – Abbie Read More …
This is a tale of three women who have an unusual close relationship dating back to their teenage years. They go on a three day luxury cruise from Perth to celebrate their reunion while each one keeps secrets. There is a confused male who is himself confusing. A study of friendship which survives despite many Read More …
Jemma and Braxton grew up next door to each other. They were best friends as children, which developed into a romantic relationship and then they got married. Just after their honeymoon Jemma is hit by a car on the way to work. After being in a coma for some time she becomes conscious, but has Read More …
A few of the early nineteen letters made me giggle, although the subject was serious -memory loss as the result of a car accident. The traumatic effect was clearly outlined, as was the strength of the heroine, Jemma. The novel emphasises the impact of love, which succeeds in revitalizing her, when nothing else could. The Read More …
As a parent with young children of my own, my heart ached for Esra, Miran and Isa, the three main characters in The Ones That Disappeared. The families in this story are so full of desperation to break their cycle of poverty that they unknowingly put their children in grave danger and into the hands Read More …
Burning Down, written by Venero Armanno, is set in the 1970’s and focuses on Charlie Smoke, an old school old time boxer who got caught up in fixed matches and the underworld of boxing. Charlie has made every effort to get out of this world and live a quiet life. Then he meets Holly and Read More …
