At the height of the Great Depression of the 1930s it is estimated that 30,000 unemployed Australian men took to the road in search of work, often leaving their wives and children to struggle on in the cities and towns. A few women did the same. They took whatever work came their way, fruitpicking, laboring, … Continue reading Book Review – The Battlers by Kylie Tennant
In My Garden – Pittosporum tenuifolium James Stirling
Pittosporum is an evergreen flowering plant found across Australasia, Oceania, eastern Asia and some parts of Africa. Some species are no more than shrubs while others grow into trees of up to 12 metres in height. The leaves spiral around slender woody branchlets and are oval in shape, often with a waved margin. The flowers … Continue reading In My Garden – Pittosporum tenuifolium James Stirling
Book Review – When a Marquis Chooses a Bride by Ella Quinn
This delightful Regency romance is part of a series called The Worthingtons but can be read as a standalone novel. Dorothea 'Dotty' Stern has come down from the country to stay with her friend Lady Charlotte Carpenter for the Season with no immediate thought of marriage. When she meets the the dour and reputedly heartless … Continue reading Book Review – When a Marquis Chooses a Bride by Ella Quinn
Sir Philip Sidney – The Death and Burial of a Most Noble and Valorous Knight
Sir Philip Sidney (1554-1586) Even in his own lifetime, Sir Philip Sidney was seen a peerless knight. Born in 1554, he was the eldest son of Sir Henry Sidney and Lady Mary Dudley, sister of Elizabeth's favourite Robert, 1st Earl of Leicester. In 1571 Philip Sidney began a tour of the Continent with the aim … Continue reading Sir Philip Sidney – The Death and Burial of a Most Noble and Valorous Knight
Book Review – Crimson and Bone by Marina Fiorato
Near the beginning of Crimson and Bone Annie Stride, the main character of the novel, describes a room in the house of pre-Raphaelite painter Francis Maybrick Gill as 'a jewel box of a place'. Much the same could be said of this novel with its vibrant descriptions of the physical surroundings, of the characters and … Continue reading Book Review – Crimson and Bone by Marina Fiorato
Book Review – Whipbird by Robert Drewe
Whipbird is the story of a family reunion. Hugh Cleary, a Melbourne barrister with a recently acquired vineyard in the Ballarat area, has decided to celebrate the 160th anniversary of his forebear Conor Cleary’s arrival in the colony of Victoria in 1854. Over 1000 of the possible 2946 descendants of Conor and his three wives … Continue reading Book Review – Whipbird by Robert Drewe
My Reading – August 2017
The Three Miss Kings by Ada Cambridge Sacred Hearts by Sarah Dunant A time of love and tartan : A 44 Scotland Street novel by Alexander McCall Smith Percy Grainger by John Bird Tomaree by Debbie Robson
One Minute Book Review – Tomaree by Debbie Robson
Tomaree begins in 1972 with Peggy Lockwood returning to Nelson Bay, a coastal town in New South Wales where she had grown up. In 1943 Peggy had married an American naval Lieutenant, Tom Lockwood, who was stationed at Nelson Bay and, as a war bride, Peggy had moved to the United States following the war. … Continue reading One Minute Book Review – Tomaree by Debbie Robson
In My Garden (Almost) – The Aspidistra
Gardening sources describe the aspidistra as a flowering perennial plant; however, for most people it is a leafy pot plant that can survive in dark corners of either the house or the garden. The aspidistra is native to eastern and southeastern Asia where it grows in the shade under trees and shrubs. There are over … Continue reading In My Garden (Almost) – The Aspidistra
Book Review – Sacred Hearts by Sarah Dunant
Sacred Hearts is set in the Benedictine convent of Santa Caterina in Ferrara in 1570, a time of upheaval with changes brought about by the Counter-reformation, the Church's response to the Protestant Reformation, threatening to alter the way the nuns lives are lived. The Church reformers have not yet set their eyes on Santa Caterina … Continue reading Book Review – Sacred Hearts by Sarah Dunant
Catherine Meyrick 