Physical books read this month
How pretty is this cover? 😍 It belies the content within. I love Gail Jones. Her writing is beautiful, and I was reminded this week that she is Western Australian. Quality #ozfiction
I loved this singular novel about an Indigenous Australian woman who is forced into marriage with a future prime minister. Wright is virtuosic with language, mixing Aboriginal words with English, local vernacular with literary & mythological references. It‘s a hard-hitting commentary of racism & colonialism in Australia but satirical & very funny re bureaucracy. Infused with Indigenous thought, it makes you see differently.
I heard this novel being reviewed glowingly on an Australian radio book show and added it to my long #tbr list. Written in 2011, but set mainly in the 1920s & 30s, it is a beautifully written, rural family saga about horse jumping. It felt a little Grapes of Wrath to me 🤔. I thoroughly appreciated (rather than enjoyed) this harrowing, affecting #ozfiction.
I‘m surprised I‘m the first one to review this - it came out in 2019! Set in #Australia, this is a dual timeline double mystery, with similar situations and some trigger warnings (see below). Abby finds an injured teen in the bushlands, which triggers some horrific memories for her. This is the stage for the slow reveal of the past and present, involving abduction, violence, and what it means to forgive. ⬇️⬇️⬇️
After reading her biography I really wanted to read some of her books. This is the third I have read and the first she had published in 1990. It‘s taken me a long time to get through, it was not a page turner. The way she writes is exquisite. I‘m sure if she had lived this young woman would have written many great Aussie stories. I felt a bit sad leaving Clementine , the main character and narrator, at the end of the book.