The Wife’s Tale by Christine Wells is a novel with dual intertwining timelines. The modern strand involves Australian lawyer Liz Jones who, under the pretence of writing a novel about the 18th century Lady Nash, goes to the Isle of Wight to discretely investigate her employer’s claim to descent from Delaney Nash. As she delves … Continue reading One Minute Book Review – The Wife’s Tale by Christine Wells
In My Garden – Cistus
Cistus or rock rose is an extremely hardy evergreen shrub which requires minimal care and can stand full sunlight in summer. Originally from the Mediterranean area, it blooms through spring and summer with open single flowers that last for no more than a day. The fallen blooms are quickly replaced by newly opened flowers. The … Continue reading In My Garden – Cistus
One Minute Book Review – His Bloody Project by Graeme Macrae Burnet
This book has been shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize 2016 but don't let that put you off. It is presented as a series of documents relating to a brutal triple murder in 1869 on the west coast of Scotland. The murderer, seventeen-year-old Roderick Macrae, is the son of a poor crofter barely managing to … Continue reading One Minute Book Review – His Bloody Project by Graeme Macrae Burnet
In My Garden – Dr Clifford Parks
Dr Clifford Parks is my pride and joy - a camellia reticulata with showy deep red informal double blooms. I planted it in mid-1992 as a spindly little specimen from the local nursery. It now is over eight foot high with blooms between 5 and 6 inches in diameter; the leaves are dark green. It … Continue reading In My Garden – Dr Clifford Parks
One Minute Book Review – The Mystery of a Handsome Cab by Fergus Hume
First published in 1886, this detective mystery set in Melbourne became an international best seller, outselling Sherlock Holmes' first appearance in A Study in Scarlet. The Mystery of a Hansom Cab follows the investigation by police detective Samuel Gorby into the murder of well-connected Oliver Whyte which takes him from the mansions of St Kilda … Continue reading One Minute Book Review – The Mystery of a Handsome Cab by Fergus Hume
In My Garden – Dendrobium delicatum
Spring has certainly arrived in my part of the southern hemisphere (glorious one day, high winds and torrential rain the next) and gardens are well and truly in full bloom. Over the next few weeks I will share some of the plants in flower in my garden. Mine is a small suburban garden with a … Continue reading In My Garden – Dendrobium delicatum
One Minute Book Review – Angelica by Arthur Phillips
This is an unsettling novel where reality and the supernatural blend together. Set in London in the 1880s, it the story of a family on the verge of breakdown. Angelica has spent the first four years of her life sleeping in her parents’ room. When her father, Joseph Barton, moves her into a room of … Continue reading One Minute Book Review – Angelica by Arthur Phillips
My Reading – September 2016
Sweet Tooth by Ian McEwen The Scorching Wind by Walter Macken (There are few reviews and I was unable to a detailed review that didn't completely give the plot away.) Still she wished for Company by Margaret Irwin A Room with a View by E M Forster (Spoilers) The Happiest Refugee by Anh Do Save
Irish Heritage – Patrick Connor of Killarney
The Lakes of Killarney I visited Kerry recently , a stunningly beautiful part of the world. One set of my maternal great great grandparents, Patrick Connor and Mary White were from Killarney. They arrived in South Australia in October 1840 on board the Mary Dugdale, as part of of an immigration scheme which selected sober … Continue reading Irish Heritage – Patrick Connor of Killarney
One Minute Book Review – The Darkest Hour by Barbara Erskine
Barbara Erskine is one of my favourite writers of popular time-slip fiction. The modern narrative in this novel concerns art historian, Lucy Standish, who is writing a biography of wartime artist, Evie Lucas, about whom little is known. The historical narrative begins in the summer of 1940 at the start of the Battle of Britain … Continue reading One Minute Book Review – The Darkest Hour by Barbara Erskine
Catherine Meyrick 