Book Review: The Bellbird River Country Choir by Sophie Green

 The Bellbird River Country Choir

by

Sophie Green

 

Publisher: Hachette Australia

 

Publication date: 27th July 2022 

Genre: Contemporary Fiction

 

Pages: 432

 

RRP: $32.99AUD

 

Format read: Uncorrected Paperback

 

Source: Courtesy of the publisher via Better Reading Preview

 

 

My review of The Bellbird River Country Choir

 

Set over the twelve months of 1998 Sophie Green’s latest novel, The Bellbird River Country Choir is a totally immersive read about the importance of female friendships.
 

Five women from different backgrounds and age groups become unlikely friends when each of them, for different reasons, join the local country choir.

 

At first the women are quiet and even a little judgy however they soon start supporting each other to face their challenges allowing them to grow in self-confidence. 

 

Single mother Alex, who has moved to the country from the bustle of the city to spend more time with her young daughter, joins the choir to make friends.

Janene has lived in the town all her life. She works in her parents bakery and the choir is her social outlet.

Debbie, who is a house-keeper and nanny on a local farm, is encouraged to join the choir to foster some self-confidence.

Famous opera singer Gabrielle is back in Bellbird River staying at cousin Victoria’s family home. She needs to rebuild her confidence after surgery affected her singing voice.

Victoria, a stalwart in the local community, joins the choir, not due to loneliness since her husband left her but to support her cousin Gabrielle.

Each of the women are at a cross-roads in their life and find that confiding and trusting in one another gives them the confidence to move forward.

Sophie Green includes themes of single parenthood, life after prison, mental illness, bullying, gaslighting and regaining self-confidence. These themes flow around a centric topic of love; for children, in marriage, forbidden love, self love, love for family and friends.

 

The Bellbird River Country Choir is an easy read with likeable characters with relatable problems and realistic solutions. Well worth a read!

 

My rating 4 / 5 ⭐⭐⭐⭐

 

 About the author

 

Credit: Goodreads

Sophie Green is an author and publisher who lives in Sydney. She has written several fiction and non-fiction books, some under other names. In her spare time she writes about country music on her website, Sunburnt Country Music. She has been practising yoga since 1993 and teaching since 2002. Sophie's debut novel, THE INAUGURAL MEETING OF THE FAIRVALE LADIES BOOK CLUB, was a Top Ten bestseller and was shortlisted for the Australian Book Industry Awards for General Fiction Book of the Year 2018, and longlisted for both the Matt Richell Award for New Writer of the Year 2018 and the Indie Book Award for Debut Fiction 2018.