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
Book reviews
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
Book Review – Gilgamesh by Joan London
Gilgamesh by Joan London begins in 1918 with Frank Clark an Australian soldier in a convalescent hospital in England meeting Ada who is there ‘to visit the soldiers’. He invites her to come with him back to Australia, to ‘go far away to a country where there will never be another war’. Ada accepts the … Continue reading Book Review – Gilgamesh by Joan London
Book Review – The Red Tent by Anita Diamant
The Bible is filled with so many, many stories that it is easy to read superficially without thinking much beyond the words on the page. One story easily overlooked is that of Dinah, the daughter of Leah and Jacob, the Old Testament Patriarch, father of the twelve men who formed the tribes of Israel. Dinah … Continue reading Book Review – The Red Tent by Anita Diamant
Book Review – Jungfrau by Dympna Cusack
Jungfrau is the story of three independent young women who have been friends since university, living in Sydney in the mid-1930s. Eve is an obstetrician who has recently returned to her Catholic faith, Marc a social worker with progressive philosophies who lives life to the full and Thea, a teacher, sensitive and lacking the clear-eyed … Continue reading Book Review – Jungfrau by Dympna Cusack
Book Review – New Boy : Othello Retold by Tracy Chevalier
This retelling of Othello (part of the Hogarth Shakespeare series of contemporary retellings) is set in a suburban Washington elementary school in the 1970s. When Osei, the son of a Ghanaian diplomat, arrives in the all white school, he immediately finds a friend in the popular and pretty Dee, but his arrival upsets the balance … Continue reading Book Review – New Boy : Othello Retold by Tracy Chevalier
Book Review – A Writing Life: Helen Garner and her Work by Bernadette Brennan
Helen Garner is one of Australia's best loved writers. Her first novel Monkey Grip was published in 1977 and since then she has published further novels, short stories, full length non-fiction works, screenplays, as well as numerous essays, articles and newspaper columns. A Writing Life: Helen Garner and her Work (2017) by Bernadette Brennan is … Continue reading Book Review – A Writing Life: Helen Garner and her Work by Bernadette Brennan
Book Review – The Golden Age by Joan London
The Golden Age is a Perth convalescent hospital for children recovering from poliomyelitis. Under the care of dedicated nurses and physiotherapists, the children are taught to use their limbs again and to gain the independence necessary for their return to the outside world. In this nurturing environment, cut off from their familiar lives with family … Continue reading Book Review – The Golden Age by Joan London
Book Review – Birdcage Walk by Helen Dunmore
Birdcage Walk by Helen Dunmore begins and ends with short chapters set in the present. The story proper commences in 1789 with a man burying a woman’s body in an isolated glade in the fading darkness before sunrise. Three years on Lizzie Fawkes begins her story - she is newly married to widower, John Diner … Continue reading Book Review – Birdcage Walk by Helen Dunmore
Book Review – The Muse by Jessie Burton
This dual narrative novel begins in London in 1967 with Odelle Bastien, a young woman from Trinidad who works in a shoe shop while nursing the dream of being a writer. When Odelle finds a new job as a typist at the Skelton Institute, an upmarket art gallery, she is encouraged in her ambitions by … Continue reading Book Review – The Muse by Jessie Burton
Catherine Meyrick 