Charles Frazier wrote Cold Mountain, one of 1997’s brilliant books, and now here is his third book, Nightwoods. It’s one of those books I didn’t want to end, a story I became completely caught up in. It’s set in the Appalachian Mountains of North Carolina. Luce and her sister have had a rough childhood with an alcoholic mother and a father who couldn’t leave WWII, so Luce is living alone in an old, deserted mountain lodge, caretaking. Then her sister Lily is killed by her husband, and her young twins, mute because of what they have witnessed, are put into Luce’s care. But the husband escapes jail, and comes after the twins because he believes they know where Lily hid his stolen money. Frazier is brilliant in taking us into the mountains and making us become part of this story. Just loved this book. One of this year’s best. Oh, and Ellie had her little baby on friday morning. Remy and Ellie are doing well.
I’m sorry its been a while since I’ve written about the books I love. Two reasons: one was a fabulous two weeks in London, two was Ellie who wants to have her baby too early. Still, Ellie is holding on, and we wait day by day. Back to books - I did love The Broken Ones. Irwin is a Queensland author, it’s his second book and it’s great. Speculative fiction, set in the near future, with everyone acquiring a personal ghost, a ghost who says nothing, just stands there and looks at you. Of course, this gets wearing and society is starting to fall apart. Detective Oscar Mariani’s personal ghost is a young boy he doesn’t recognise but is his constant companion while Mariani investigates a series of murders involving young girls and arcane symbolism. The trail leads to the upper levels of power. I find it really exciting to read a new (for me) Australian author who writes like a dream. I felt this book is a must-read, and I’ve chosen it for our October bookclub.
Steve Hamilton won this year’s Edgar Award for this book. It’s a win which I wholeheartedly concur with. A brilliant book. Mike is 18. When he was 8 something terrible happened to his parents which traumatised him so much he stopped speaking. He discovered while living with his uncle that he had an ability with locks. He could open any lock, whether a safe or a padlock. The wrong people discovered his ability and have forced him into doing things he really didn’t want to do. He’s now in jail and is writing down what happened to him, so we learn his story bit by bit, like peeling an onion. It’s a cracker of a read, with teenage romance and a hero determined to uncover his past, a damaged soul you cheer for .
Yes, there’s a new Michael Ondaatje coming September. It’s called The Cat’s Table, it’s fiction, and it is the story of a 10 year old boy Michael leaving Ceylon in the 1950s on the Oronsay, going to London to meet up with his mother who left him a couple of years previously. It’s the story of the voyage, the people he met on the ship and the adventures he had. It’s a wonderful book and I thought I’d quote a few lines from it. Michael is talking about a Celonese man going to England to teach there, he wouldn’t be a wealthy man ‘But he had a serenity that came with the choice of the life he wanted to live. And this serenity and certainty I have seen only among those who have the armour of books close by.’ This language is why I love reading Michael Ondaatje.
I’ve read a few of Seymour’s books and they have been good, but this new one is fantastic. It’s the story of Badger, a policeman seconded to the security services because he’s brilliant at surveillance. He can stay for days in a covert rural observation post, not moving, invisible. MI6 decide they want him for a job in Iran. The Engineer is a master in the manufacture of IEDs and MI6 have decided he must die. His wife will undergo cancer treatment somewhere in Europe. There is an Israeli sniper already waiting, but first MI6 must discover when and where he is going. Badger and his partner have to find their way into Iran, then to a marsh near the Engineer’s home, where they will wait and listen for this information. And of course if Badger gets caught, his death will be deniable by the British Government.
Of all the Australians who fought in World War II, none saw more action nor endured so much of its hardship and horror as the crew of the cruiser HMAS Perth. In three tumultuous years they did battle with the forces of Nazi Germany, Fascist Italy, the Vichy French and, finally, the Imperial Japanese Navy where, off the coast of Java in March 1942, they met an overwhelming enemy naval force. Firing until her ammunition literally ran out, HMAS Perth was sunk with the loss of 353 of her crew. Another 328 men were taken into Japanese captivity, most to become slave labourers on the Burma-Thai railway. Only 218 men, less than a third of her crew, survived to return home at war’s end. Mike will be coming to Bookoccino on thursday August 11 at 6:30 to talk about his book. If you’d like to join us, call on 9973 1244.
Alan Hollinghurst’s The Stranger’s Child is keeping me glued - it’s a fabulous story of two families, starting just before WWI. Cecil is a poet, he comes to stay for a weekend with the Sawle’s and the repercussions of this visit occur through the generations. It’s rather like a Brideshead Revisited. I’m fascinated with the English country house way of life and the way Hollinghurst spins this story is fascinating.
Yes, I know we’ve had people at the front of the store looking at the poster for Marion’s lunch at Barrenjoey House saying ‘She’s Al Grassby’s daughter’, but as you know, she’s been on MasterChef and now has a delightful cookbook, Marion: Recipes and Stories from a Hungry Cook. If you’d like to join us for lunch on wednesday July 20, call us to book. And no, she wont be talking about New South Wales politics!
By Tom McNeal. What happens if you’ve got the chance to go back to that love that had you hooked in your teens/20s but for some reason (in this case university) the love slides away and later you marry another man. This is delightful, fabulous, great. It’s McNeal’s second adult novel, and I hope there will be many more. One of those stories I just didn’t want to end.
Barbara Toner’s book What to Do About Everything is nothing short of a gem. Barbara came last week to talk about her book, and I learnt how to fold a Tshirt so it looks like new, how to fold fitted sheets, how to buy a property - what to look for, what it’s going to cost you, how the whole real estate system works. It’s a fabulous book, rather like a Stephanie Alexander’s Cook’s Companion for the home. Everything you will want to know, on every possible subject. It’s an essential, easy reference book.
