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Review :: THE LAST REUNION :: Kayte Nunn
Burma, 1945. Bea, Plum, Bubbles, Joy and Lucy: in search of adventure, attached to the Fourteenth Army, fighting a forgotten war in the jungle. Assigned to run a mobile canteen, navigating treacherous roads and dodging hostile gunfire, they become embroiled in life-threatening battles of their own. Oxford, 1976. A woman slips into a museum and steals several rare Japanese netsuke, including the famed fox-girl. Despite the offer of a considerable reward, these tiny, exquisitely detailed carvings are never seen again. London and Galway, 1999. On the eve of the new millennium, Olivia, assistant to an art dealer, meets Beatrix, an elderly widow who wishes to sell her late husband’s collection…
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#HERSTORY :: The Daughter of Victory Lights :: Kerri Turner
Tonight I’m sharing my review of The Daughter of Victory Lights by Kerri Turner, which is one of the gorgeous novels in Harlequin Australia’s HERSTORY : Women Who Rebel campaign. This was a wonderful read! Here’s the synopsis from the publisher’s website (and you can check it out on Goodreads here): 1945: After the thrill and danger of volunteering in an all-female searchlight regiment protecting Londoners from German bombers overhead, Evelyn Bell is secretly dismayed to be sent back to her rigid domestic life when the war is over. But then she comes across a secret night-time show, hidden from the law on a boat in the middle of the…
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Kidlit :: Fantastically Great Women Who Saved the Planet :: Kate Pankhurst
Hello and happy International Woman’s Day! I have always loved reading stories about wonderful women, and now as a mum it’s really important to me to share those sorts of stories with my daughter. Luckily there’s a bunch of amazing kids’ books around that put the spotlight on women and their achievements. This one, Fantastically Great Women Who Saved the Planet by Kate Pankhurst, arrived in my letterbox a few weeks ago and became an instant favourite in our house (my daughter begged my to read it with her literally the very moment we opened the package!). Here’s some info about it from the Bloomsbury website: From bestselling author and…
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Q&A :: Alison Stuart :: The Postmistress / The Goldminer’s Sister
Ok so it’s no secret I loved Alison Stewart’s The Postmistress when I read it over Christmas (if you haven’t heard me rave about it yet you can check out my review here). I was so thrilled to find out that not only is Alison working on another book set in Maiden’s Creek, but it is coming out really soon! Alison was kind enough to answer some questions I had for her about her books and writing. Check out our little Q&A below. Do you remember when the idea for The Postmistress first came to you, and what inspired you to write it? I was asked by…
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Review :: The Girl in the Painting by Tea Cooper
I’m finally sitting down tonight to write up my thoughts on the first book featured in Harlequin Australia’s HERSTORY campaign. I really enjoyed Tea Cooper’s The Woman in the Green Dress when I read it last year (check out my review here), so I was excited to see whether I got along as well with her latest release – The Girl in the Painting. Spoiler alert – I totally did! Check out the synopsis and then we can talk more about it below! What is Tea Cooper’s The Girl in the Painting about? Maitland 1913 Miss Elizabeth Quinn is something of an institution in Maitland Town. For longer than anyone could remember she and…
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Book Stack :: HERSTORY: Women Who Rebel
I love reading historical fiction, especially based around the lives of Australia women – regular women who did extraordinary things, and who have largely been written out of history. Harper Collins Australia (Harlequin Books) have published some of my favourite books of this type over the past few years, so when I saw they were running a special HERSTORY: Women Who Rebel campaign I was super excited and keen to read along. Which also meant I was delighted when the team at Harper Collins kindly sent me a stack of the first four books being featured in the campaign! There’s a different title being featured each month, and I’m really…
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Review :: The Boy with Blue Trousers by Carol Jones
I’m delighted today to be sharing my review of Carol Jones’ historical fiction novel The Boy with the Blue Trousers, as part of a blog tour with publisher Head of Zeus. Read on below the synopsis to find out what I thought. What is Carol Jones’ The Boy with the Blue Trousers about? On the goldfields of 19th-century Australia, two very different girls are trying to escape their past. 1856, China. In the mulberry groves of the Pearl River Delta, eighteen-year-old Little Cat carries a terrible secret. And so, in disguise as a boy in blue trousers, she makes the long and difficult passage to Australia, a faraway land of untold riches…
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Review :: The Familiars : Stacey Hall
I love a gorgeous cover so it probably goes without saying that I was thrilled to find a copy of Stacey Halls’ The Familiars in the March Bookish Escape Crate (those bronze foil details!). The subject of the novel sits pretty firmly inside my wheelhouse too – I’m always fascinated by stories about traditional or folk medicine, and the ‘wise’ women who practised it, as well as their persecution during ‘witch’ trials. Here’s a bit about the book (from Goodreads)… Young Fleetwood Shuttleworth, a noblewoman, is with child again. None of her previous pregnancies have borne fruit, and her husband, Richard, is anxious for an heir. Then Fleetwood discovers a…
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Review :: The Orchardist’s Daughter :: Karen Viggers
I love to read books by local authors, so I was absolutely delighted to receive a copy of Karen Viggers’ new novel, The Orchardists’s Daughter, in the mail from Allen & Unwin. Here’s the plot summary from the Allen & Unwin website – read on below to find out what I thought. Sixteen-year-old Mikaela has grown up isolated and homeschooled on an apple orchard in southeastern Tasmania, until an unexpected event shatters her family. Eighteen months later, she and her older brother Kurt are running a small business in a timber town. Miki longs to make connections and spend more time in her beloved forest, but she is kept…
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Review :: The Widow of Ballarat :: Darry Fraser
I was really keen to read Darry Fraser’s The Widow of Ballarat after getting a taste of her writing in HQ Fiction’s Christmas release Our Country Christmas – I really enjoyed her story The Drover Comes Home for Christmas. (as an aside, this is one of my favourite things about those kinds of anthologies/short story collections – it is such a great way to discover new favourite authors!). Check out the synopsis below, and then my review under that! What is Darry Fraser’s The Widow of Ballarat about? 1854, Ballarat, Victoria When Nell Amberton’s husband is shot dead by a bushranger, there are few who grieve his passing, and Nell…
