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After Story
After Story | Larissa Behrendt
When Indigenous lawyer Jasmine decides to take her mother, Della, on a tour of England's most revered literary sites, Jasmine hopes it will bring them closer together and help them reconcile the past. Twenty-five years earlier the disappearance of Jasmine's older sister devastated their tight-knit community. This tragedy returns to haunt Jasmine and Della when another child mysteriously goes missing on Hampstead Heath. As Jasmine immerses herself in the world of her literary idols & including Jane Austen, the Bront& sisters and Virginia Woolf & Della is inspired to rediscover the wisdom of her own culture and storytelling. But sometimes the stories that are not told can become too great to bear. Ambitious and engrossing, After Story celebrates the extraordinary power of words and the quiet spaces between. We can be ready to listen, but are we ready to hear?
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Cathythoughts
After Story | Larissa Behrendt
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Thanks Carolyn! The book looks great. And yes these these Koalas will definitely make me smile when I am scrubbing my pots , only they may be too cute to use for scrubbing 😁😘 Thankyou ! @CarolynM

Cathythoughts @CarolynM and I just discovered the lovely bookmark hiding in the book 😘 it will make a Litsy appearance when I read the book 👍🏻😘 2y
AmyG How cute-the koala sponges! Have a wonderful birthday 🎂 (edited) 2y
Cathythoughts @AmyG They are so cute 🥰 Thankyou. X 2y
See All 11 Comments
TrishB Oh I loved this book ♥️ 2y
batsy Awww! Adorable koala sponges. 2y
Cathythoughts @TrishB Oh great 👍🏻❤️ 2y
Cathythoughts @batsy They are sweet 😁 2y
LeahBergen I love the scrubbies! 🐨 2y
Cathythoughts @LeahBergen They are dotes 💕 2y
CarolynM Please use the koalas 🙏 I love the thought of them in a sink in Cork😆 Hope you had a good day😘 2y
Cathythoughts @CarolynM Thanks ! Had a lovely day and Bookclub last night 👌🏻 I‘ll use one little scrubbie so 👍🏻😂 2y
51 likes11 comments
review
TrishB
After Story | Larissa Behrendt
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Pickpick

All the love for this one ♥️
It‘s about grief, parenting, racism, colonialism, mother/daughters and then intermingled with a literary tour. Learned so much, without it being preachy or annoying. Really made me think. And so much love for Della.
#booked2023 #giftedbyalitten thank you @CarolynM

squirrelbrain Perfect review! I felt too that I learned so much, about ‘English‘ literature as well as about Indigenous Australian culture, but it didn‘t feel forced at all. 2y
TrishB @squirrelbrain I‘m up for that literary tour! 2y
CarolynM Lovely review. I 'm so glad you enjoyed. I particularly liked the way it showed everything (places, people, ideas) through the eyes of both mother and daughter with their different experiences and memories as filter. I thought it was really well done. 2y
See All 11 Comments
Megabooks Oh wow! Stacked! 2y
Cinfhen I‘ve already stacked but it sounds wonderful!!! 2y
TrishB @CarolynM yes I thought that was really clever- showing how we interpret things so differently. 2y
TrishB @Megabooks @Cinfhen hope you love it too 🤞🏻 2y
Cathythoughts Great review ♥️ 2y
TrishB Thanks Cathy- I really loved the book @Cathythoughts 2y
Centique I loved this too - I‘m so glad it‘s getting lots of Litsy love. 😍 2y
TrishB @Centique me too 😁♥️ 2y
96 likes6 stack adds11 comments
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TrishB
After Story | Larissa Behrendt
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I often wonder this too Della!!

Cathythoughts 👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻 2y
Bookwomble I often wonder when the moment was that men realised women were really good at things, and instead of acknowledging that and building an equitable community, decided to deny it in order to bolster their fragile egos. Whenever it was, you can bet it was started by some entitled tool with a comb-over 😏 2y
TrishB @Bookwomble yes definitely 😂 2y
84 likes3 comments
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TrishB
After Story | Larissa Behrendt
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Can‘t get away from David Copperfield this week!

Cathythoughts Great quote 👍🏻♥️ 2y
TrishB @squirrelbrain @Cathythoughts learning so much unexpectedly from this book! 2y
81 likes1 stack add3 comments
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TrishB
After Story | Larissa Behrendt
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Very excited to receive a lovely copy of this book 😁 thank you Carolyn, it‘s so much appreciated. It will be on the soon to be read pile!
Thanks again 😘

LeahBergen This sounds good! 2y
bnp Intriguing. I'll look forward to your comments when you've read it. 2y
CarolynM Hooray! At last. Merry Christmas 🎄 2y
See All 6 Comments
squirrelbrain Oooh, so good! And @CarolynM is lovely to share all these Aussie books with us! 2y
TrishB @CarolynM @squirrelbrain she is very good 😁 2y
TrishB @LeahBergen @bnp hoping to get to soon! 2y
86 likes6 comments
review
squirrelbrain
After Story | Larissa Behrendt
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Pickpick

I loved this book!*

Jasmine and her Mum, Della, both Of Aboriginal descent, travel to the UK for a literary tour. We learn about a terrible tragedy many years ago and how it still reverberates through their lives.

*I loved it so much that, halfway through, I tried to buy a copy for a friend but you can‘t get a hard-copy over here, only Kindle so that makes it even more special!

Thank you so much for gifting it to me @CarolynM 😘

squirrelbrain The author uses the English literary canon to explore colonialism and racism in Australia, and I loved that I learned alongside Della, about authors such as Dickens, Woolf and Shakespeare, but it didn‘t feel patronising at all. I also loved seeing each day from both Jasmine and Della‘s differing perspectives. 2y
TrishB This sounds fab 👍🏻 great review. 2y
Aimeesue Fab review! Thanks! 2y
See All 7 Comments
CarolynM So glad you enjoyed it, Helen 🥰 I can send you a BD copy for your friend if you like. 2y
squirrelbrain Aw thank you, that‘s so kind of you to offer @CarolynM but I wouldn‘t want you to go to the trouble. I chose something else instead for my friend! 2y
KarenUK This sounds fantastic! Stacked! 2y
Centique I loved this too! I‘m so glad it worked for you. It felt like I was going on the literary tour myself 😍 2y
77 likes8 stack adds7 comments
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squirrelbrain
After Story | Larissa Behrendt
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Thank you so much for the beautiful, thoughtful gifts! @CarolynM

I adore the tea towel, with all of the Australian animals in various reading poses! It looks just like us when we go camping, except we usually only have wild rabbits around us, and probably not the nice weather either! 🤣

And the books both sound wonderful; right up my street. I‘m glad that you chose two of your recent favourites and I‘m sure I‘ll love them if you did! 😘

erzascarletbookgasm Lovely. The tea towel is so cute! 2y
youneverarrived Lovely 😍 and thank you for the beautiful postcard from Gladstones ❤️ 2y
LeahBergen I love the tea towel! ❤️❤️ 2y
See All 7 Comments
LeeRHarry I really enjoyed After Story - hope you do too 😊 2y
squirrelbrain I‘m sure I will @LeeRHarry if both you andCarolyn liked it! 2y
squirrelbrain You‘re welcome Katie! @youneverarrived 2y
CarolynM Glad to see they arrived🙂 Hope you enjoy them. 2y
54 likes7 comments
review
Centique
After Story | Larissa Behrendt
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Pickpick

A really lovely read as recommended by @CarolynM and @Rissreads A daughter invites her mother to join her on a literary tour of London - a last minute change when her friend can‘t go. Her mother has never left Australia before and the pair are somewhat estranged after a trauma in the family history. Each day of the tour we see from the mother and then the daughter‘s POV, showing how very different their perspectives are. They both think deeply ⬇️

Centique …about their personal history and also the differences between the literary London history they are seeing compared to their own Aboriginal history and stories, harmed and/or lost through colonialism. There is a LOT in here about writers - Brontes, Austen, Hardy etc etc which I thoroughly enjoyed too 2y
Centique Oh and there‘s a story about owls in the book, hence a visit from this little porcelain guy…. 😉 2y
LeahBergen This sounds lovely! 2y
See All 9 Comments
LeeRHarry Thought this was great too 😊 2y
CarolynM Such a good book! So glad you enjoyed it😘 2y
kspenmoll Sounds wonderful- 2y
Rissreads This book was a pleasant surprise ❤️ 2y
Jeg I loved this book. If we ever get back to travelling I‘d love to follow their path. 2y
Centique @Jeg I‘m hoping to go to London with my daughter in a couple of years but this might be a bit too much literary travel for her. I‘ll definitely see a few things though! 2y
67 likes1 stack add9 comments
review
Rissreads
After Story | Larissa Behrendt
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Pickpick

This book was a delightful surprise! I fell in love with the characters who all provide different perspectives of the same story. It was very clever in addressing the past with the present. #Ozfiction at its best! 🖤💛❤️

CarolynM You and puss are both looking very comfortable there😻😻 It‘s a great book isn‘t it? I loved it. 2y
Jeg I loved the story too. If I ever travel again would love to follow their trail. 2y
31 likes2 comments
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LiteraryinPA
After Story | Larissa Behrendt
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Hi to my #lmpbc group members @shellleigh33 @Kayla.Adriena and @Mccall0113 ! I‘m so excited! This is a busy week at work so naturally what I am more interested in is what book to pick for the next round. 😋

Here are some ideas I had. Any you like or dislike? There are always more options if we don‘t find a winner with these.

For other Littens, if you‘ve read any of these and think they‘d be good (or not) for a book club, let us know! 💗

See All 15 Comments
LeeRHarry I‘d vote for After Story - loved it 😊 also the Nina Lacour sounds good - am a big fan of the author 😊 2y
Karisa I just finished The Sentence and loved it. Ghosts, bookstore, big modern issues, folklore, and a beautiful love story at its heart. 2y
HeatherBookNerd The Sentence is one my favorite books so far this year. 2y
Kayla.Adriena I'm really into rom coms right nw 2y
Kayla.Adriena Ugh sorry fingers were too quick. I vote for The No Show, however I also love Nina Lacour and have been wanting to read Yerba Buena so I vote for that one too ! 2y
CarolynM I also loved After Story. 2y
Mccall0113 Good morning new bookish friends! I haven‘t read any of these and have no preference! Thanks 2y
Viji I read The Sentence a few weeks ago and it‘s one of the best books I‘ve read recently. Great characters! 2y
BennettBookworm I recommend no show even tho I‘m not in the group!! ☺️ 2y
shellleigh33 I have not read any but the all sound so good. I am excited with what ever you pick 2y
LiteraryinPA Everyone is so flexible! So since I already own Yerba Buena I think I‘ll go with that. But if anyone else wants to choose The No Show for theirs, it looks like there‘s interest there too! @Mccall0113 @Kayla.Adriena @shellleigh33 2y
72 likes15 comments
review
MrsMalaprop
After Story | Larissa Behrendt
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Pickpick

😭🥰💕 I adored this novel. Yes @CarolynM it was easy to read and yet covered so much ground, exploring some dark terrain. I fell in love with Della and Jasmine. Behrendt cleverly explored their different perspectives of the same events, reminding me to be empathetic. So often we don‘t really know all that others have been through. #ozfiction #bekind ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️1/2

squirrelbrain Great review! Was going to stack, but realised I already did! (edited) 3y
CarolynM 3y
Jeg I loved this too. Have it on a pile of maybe books for book club. 3y
MrsMalaprop @Jeg I pondered it for book club too! (But don‘t think I‘ll choose it 😉). 3y
Jeg @MrsMalaprop if you want to pick it, do. I‘d love to read it again and I bet you could lead a great discussion. 3y
37 likes5 comments
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MrsMalaprop
After Story | Larissa Behrendt
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On eye witness testimony…👀

CarolynM This passage struck me too. Having been in that eye witness situation myself, I can tell you it's damn near impossible to accurately recall details and the pressure you are under to do so does not help. 3y
25 likes1 comment
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MrsMalaprop
After Story | Larissa Behrendt
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“Life just passes you by and the next thing you know it‘s Christmas all over again.”

Ain‘t that the truth 😂? Loving this book so much, especially Della‘s musings.

CarolynM It's great, isn't it? One of those books that is very easy to read, but still gives you plenty of food for thought. 3y
Jeg I loved this book to bits. 3y
34 likes2 comments
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MrsMalaprop
After Story | Larissa Behrendt
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Just a little bit excited to start this #ozfiction by impressive indigenous Australian Larissa Behrendt. #currentlyreading #firstnationfiction

P.S. With matching nails 😉😆

erzascarletbookgasm Pretty nails and cover! 👌 3y
LeeRHarry Really enjoyed this one - hope you do too 😊 nice 💅🏻 😊 3y
CarolynM One of my favourites last year. Enjoy! Lovely nails too😍 3y
Cathythoughts Sounds good 👍❤️ 3y
49 likes4 comments
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CarolynM
After Story | Larissa Behrendt
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#12booksof2021 #9thbookof2021 #September

I was surprised by how much I liked this story of an indigenous Australian mother and daughter visiting literary sites in England.
@Andrew65

Andrew65 Sounds great. 3y
Jeg If I ever travel again I‘d like to follow their path. Also thought about making it my pick for book club. (edited) 3y
63 likes2 stack adds2 comments
review
CarolynM
After Story | Larissa Behrendt
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Pickpick

Oh wow, I just loved this! An Aboriginal mother and daughter on a 10 day tour of literary sites in the UK, provide dual perspectives on what they are seeing and the people they are travelling with and dual perspectives on their family history and relationships. I loved the characters and I loved the way it challenged some of white Australia's assumptions about history, art and culture. Just wonderful #ozfiction

Cathythoughts Lovely review & picture 💫 3y
MrsMalaprop I really need to get to this one! 3y
CarolynM @MrsMalaprop I think you'll like it🙂 3y
See All 10 Comments
Centique And how gorgeous it looks in your garden! I see I have already stacked it or else I would again. Sounds wonderful! 3y
Cinfhen Striking cover, beautiful photo #Stacked 3y
erzascarletbookgasm Sounds good! And beautiful photo! 🧡 3y
LeeRHarry I loved this one too - now I need to go to her backlist 😊 3y
squirrelbrain Sounds wonderful - stacked! 3y
LeahBergen Gorgeous photo! 3y
Reggie Ohh I like how the real flowers seem to go onto the cover. And the review was great, too. 3y
80 likes14 stack adds10 comments
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Gillyreads
After Story | Larissa Behrendt
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Still buying books

9 likes1 stack add
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Jeg
After Story | Larissa Behrendt
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Pickpick

Finished this morning. I didn‘t want it to end so I‘m going to start reading it again, don‘t think I‘ve ever done that before. It‘s the best book I‘ve read for a while. It resonated with me in many ways. It‘s a beautiful story.
#joysbooks2021
@MrsMalaprop

LiteraryinPA Wow, what an endorsement! I‘ll have to check it out! 3y
LeeRHarry Glad you loved it - I haven‘t stopped thinking about it since I read it - initially gave it 4 stars but maybe it should be 5. 3y
Tamra I‘m interested! 3y
CarolynM I've got a copy here beside me because I keep meaning to start it but then getting distracted by other things. Time to get on with it, I think! 3y
17 likes6 stack adds4 comments
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Jeg
After Story | Larissa Behrendt
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So much in this book. Couldn‘t get the pen thing to work to point out main part of quote but it‘s the paragraph that starts There‘s a difference between———- Next paragraph good also.

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Jeg
After Story | Larissa Behrendt
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I‘m only part way through this very new book. At a time when I can‘t travel it‘s wonderful to read. A joyful trip from my armchair. And it‘s so much more. Review when I finish. An Aussie author. I‘m sure most readers would enjoy.
@MrsMalaprop

LeeRHarry Really enjoyed this one 😊 3y
CarolynM Hoping to get to this one soon🙂 3y
11 likes2 comments