Showing posts with label Literary Fiction. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Literary Fiction. Show all posts

Friday 2 February 2024

Book Review: The Roadmap of Loss by Liam Murphy

 The Roadmap of Loss

by

Liam Murphy

Publisher: Echo Publishing
Publication date: 3rd January 2024
Genre: Literary Fiction  
Pages: 368
RRP: $32.99AU (trade paperback)
Source: Courtesy of the publisher 
 

Review: The Roadmap of Loss

The Roadmap of Loss is an affecting story about loss and grieving. Liam Murphy's writing is lyrical and evokes a sense of melancholy.
 
Mark Ward has always struggled with his sense of self carrying the burden of guilt over his father leaving him and his mother when he was five years old.
 
After his mother's sudden death, Mark finds a bundle of letters from his father to his mother. Letters filled with love set against the landscape of his travels across the United States. Mark decides to take his father's letters, pack up his life in Melbourne and retrace his father's journey, 20 years on, hoping to find closure.
 
I loved that The Roadmap of Loss was set in the 1990's, no mobile phones and no GPS made road travel exciting, dangerous and often spontaneous.
Mark is a young man with an enormous chip on his shoulder; angry, abusive and sullen. Perfect characterization made me neither like or dislike him. He brought problems onto himself so there was no sympathy, which was something he didn't want anyway.
 
Mark reads each of his father's letters as he arrives at the next destination and in a unique writing style the chapters start again from number one after each letter.
The Roadmap of Loss is a sombre read however there are also unexpected snippets of humour that actually had me laughing.
 
Liam Murphy's plethora of memorable characters that come in and out of Mark's life make for entertaining reading as he travels ten thousand hard and lonely miles across America.
I never knew how the story would evolve as Mark had a low regard for his own life and often danced with the idea of ending it.
 
The Roadmap of Loss is an insightful exploration of grief and the restorative power of forgiveness. A great read for those that enjoy lyrical prose and literary fiction.
 
My rating 4 / 5  ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Wednesday 26 April 2023

Book Review: Blood & Ink by Brett Adams

 Blood & Ink

by

Brett Adams

Publisher: Fremantle Press

Publication date: 2nd October 2022
 
Genre: Crime Fiction
 
Pages: 384
 
RRP: $32.99AU  (Paperback)
 
Source: Courtesy of the publisher
 

My review of Blood & Ink

Blood & Ink was a literary delight!
 
Protagonist Jack Griffen is so well portrayed as the academic; mild mannered  and a little muddleheaded, he is always relating everything back to literature.
 
Jack, feeling down on his luck since his wife and daughter left him to live in the US, throws everything into his job as Professor of Literature at UWA. He enjoys mentoring international student Hieronymus Beck, who is writing a crime novel. Jack sees Hieronymus as his protege.

When Hiero leaves behind his manuscript outline for Jack to read over he soon realises that Hiero is acting out the murders in real life. Knowing the police would never believe him he races across the globe to try and prevent the next murder. Each pending murder is coded as a puzzle that Jack must first decipher. What ensues is a fast paced, adrenaline fuelled cat-and-mouse game as Jack is always one step behind Hiero at every turn.
Once the police become involved Jack becomes the prime suspect and whilst trying to outwit the murderer he must also outmanoeuver the police.

Brett Adams has given his readers a sharply plotted and gripping crime thriller with many literary tie-ins throughout.
A writer who would know more than me about the makeup of a successful novel will recognise
the clever addition of these structural characteristics.

I loved the addition of exFBI, now Scotland Yard criminal profiler, DCI Marten Lacroix, tough and witty. This woman needs her own series!

Blood & Ink is an adrenaline fuelled read. It reads like a hard-boiled detective story, only with a literature professor as the lead character.

I can seriously see this on the big screen.
 
My rating 4 / 5 ⭐⭐⭐⭐
 
About the author
 
Brett Adams was raised in country Western Australia and lives in Perth. He has a PhD in Computer Science that taught him to love puzzles, and a family who taught him to love stories (or vice versa). He writes fiction across a range of genres, and has been known to plant an easter egg or two. 


 
 

Tuesday 21 March 2023

Book Review: The Sun Walks Down by Fiona McFarlane

 The Sun Walks Down

by

Fiona McFarlane

Publisher: Allen & Unwin
 
Publication date: 5th October 2022
 
Genre: Historical Fiction 
 
Pages: 416 (Paperback)
 
RRP: $32.99AU
 
Source: Courtesy of the publisher
 

My review of The Sun Walks Down

The Sun Walks Down is an evocative story of unsettledness, dispossession and survival in a harsh, arid land, all centred around the search for a six-year-old boy lost in the desert.
 
McFarlane is a skilled writer who has penned a powerful period story set over one week during September 1883. The author keenly depicts the impact the ruthlessness the desert region of Australia has on individuals and families. 

A wide and varying cast of nuanced characters are introduced in this predominantly character driven novel. The reader is given a thorough insight into their feelings for the land and each other. I found it hard to develop a connection to any of the characters, even the lost boy, as the story flits back and forth with no real focus on any one family or character. I did however feel a connection to the land through McFarlane's descriptions of the remoteness and bleakness of the setting. I liked the inclusion of the strange blood red sunsets and how the characters frequently mentioned its ominous feel which is such a comparison to today where catastrophic events of nature are immediately communicated around the world through electronic means. We no longer have that awe or confusion over unusual solar activity.

The story was a touch slow for me but if you are a lover of beautiful writing and literary fiction I am sure The Sun Walks Down will be a book you will enjoy.

My rating 3 / 5   ⭐⭐⭐

About the author

Fiona McFarlane is the author of the novel The Night Guest, which was shortlisted for the Miles Franklin Literary Award, and a collection of short stories, The High Places, which won the International Dylan Thomas Prize. Her short fiction has been published in the New Yorker, Best Australian Stories and Zoetrope: All-Story. Born in Sydney, Fiona teaches creative writing at the University of California, Berkeley.
 
 

Wednesday 15 March 2023

Book Review: The Tower by Carol Lefevre

 The Tower

by

Carol Lefevre

Publisher: Spinifex Press

Publication date: 4th October 2022

Genre: Women's Fiction

Pages: 256 (Paperback)

RRP: $32.95AU

Source: Courtesy of the publisher via RM Marketing 

My review of The Tower

I had previously enjoyed Carol Lefevre's novella Murmurations so was looking forward to reading her latest offering.
 
The Tower is an eclectic collection of short stories that are connected and bound together by themes of grief, betrayal, ageing and a need to belong. Carol Lefevre writes heartfelt stories about strong women who battle through adversity.
 
Widowed after a long marriage, Dorelia sells the family home and buys a house with a tower; a place to unwind, find peace and rewrite the stories of older women treated poorly by literature. Her three grown children, although busy with their own lives, feel the need to advise Dorelia on how to live her life.
 
This collection has stories of love, loss and the highs and lows of motherhood, all wrapped around themes of ageing and finding inner peace.
Every alternate story features Dorelia, her move to the tower, her battles with her well-meaning daughters and reminiscences of her younger years.
 
When I first started the book I didn't feel the connection between the stories, other than the theme of motherhood and loss, but as I read on and names from one story appeared in another the connections between the characters became clearer and the stories became more cohesive.
 
The Tower, although a collection of short stories, reads a lot like a novel and even has a few twisty surprises throughout.
 
Deeply imagined and vividly portrayed The Tower is a book that will speak to your heart.
 
My rating 4 / 5   ⭐⭐⭐⭐  
 
About the author
 
Carol Lefevre holds a PhD in Creative Writing from the University of Adelaide, where she is a Visiting Research Fellow. Her novel Nights in the Asylum, was shortlisted for the Commonwealth Writers’ Prize, won the Nita B. Kibble Award for Women Writers, and the People’s Choice Award. If You Were Mine (2008) was published by Vintage. She has published short fiction, essays, and journalism, and a non-fiction book, Quiet City: walking in West Terrace Cemetery (Wakefield Press, 2016). She has written two books with Spinifex Press - The Happiness Glass and Murmurations.


Tuesday 16 June 2020

Blog Tour Book Review & Giveaway: Playground Zero by Sarah Relyea

Playground Zero
by
Sarah Relyea

Publisher: She Writes Press
Publication date: 9th June 2020
Genre: Historical Fiction
Pages: 416
Format Read: eBook
Source: Courtesy of  Stephanie Barko - Literary Publicist


1968. It’s the season of siren songs and loosened bonds—as well as war, campaign slogans, and assassination. When the Rayson family leaves the East Coast for the gathering anarchy of Berkeley, twelve-year-old Alice embraces the moment in a hippie paradise that’s fast becoming a cultural ground zero. As her family and school fade away in a tear gas fog, the 1960s counterculture brings ambiguous freedom. Guided only by a child’s-eye view in a tumultuous era, Alice could become another casualty—or she could come through to her new family, her developing life. But first, she must find her way in a world where the street signs hang backward and there’s a bootleg candy called Orange Sunshine.




Playground Zero is a finely written work of Historical Fiction set in Berkeley, California during the years 1968 – 1971. The story follows Alice Rayson from the age of 10 to 13 years, when she and and her family lived in Berkeley. Alice finds it hard to fit in after moving from Washington, D.C. where she had many friends. Berkeley had a very different culture to Washington, D.C. With her parents, Marian and Tom, concentrating on their own lives and problems they give Alice free reign to make her own decisions and mistakes. With her father’s frequent absences and her mother’s apathy Alice feels she has no one to talk to and confide in.
Sarah Relyea’s look back at the psychedelic 60’s through the eyes of a pre-teen was eye-opening and heart-breaking. She includes details of the political unrest of the time, the Peace and Freedom Movement, civil protests, demonstrations and police confrontations.
Told in multiple points of view the Rayson family were finding their place during a time of great political upheaval for America with the ongoing controversy over the Vietnam war and the protests at the Berkeley Campus of the University of California.
Sarah Relyea’s writing is profound and haunting. With short sentences that flow effortlessly this is a literary style I enjoy reading.
Alice is a child living a lonely life desperately trying to fit in, be accepted, knowing what is right and wrong but lacking the maturity to say no, she tests the limits and runs wild.
Playground Zero is not a book to rush through. It is better to read it slowly, absorb the words and immerse yourself in the characters, their development and capture a picture of Berkeley at a crucial time in history.
⭐⭐⭐⭐
Photo credit:Hunter Canning Photography

Born in Washington, D.C., Sarah Relyea left the Berkeley counterculture at age thirteen and processed its effects as a teenager in suburban Los Angeles. She would soon swap California’s psychedelic scene to study English literature at Harvard. Sarah is the author of Playground Zero: A Novel and Outsider Citizens: The Remaking of Postwar Identity in Wright, Beauvoir, and Baldwin. She remains bicoastal, living in Brooklyn and spending time on the Left Coast.
 

Visit the listed blogs to follow the rest of the tour.

Giveaway:
Thanks to Stephanie Barko Literary Publicist I have one eCopy of Playground Zero to give away. This competition is open internationally and closes at Midnight AEST 23rd June 2020.
Entry is via the form below. 
 
This giveaway is now closed and the winner was... SARAHMARY

Friday 20 March 2020

Book Review: Symphony for the Man by Sarah Brill

Symphony for the Man
by
Sarah Brill




Publisher: Spinifex Press 
Publication date: March 2020
Genre: Fiction
Pages: 256
RRP: $29.95 AUD
Format read: Paperback
Source: Courtesy of the publisher  

1999. Winter. Bondi. Harry’s been on the streets so long he could easily forget what time is. So Harry keeps an eye on it. Every morning. Then he heads to the beach to chat with the gulls. Or he wanders through the streets in search of food, clothes, Jules. When the girl on the bus sees him, lonely and cold in the bus shelter that he calls home, she thinks about how she can help. She decides to write a symphony for him.

So begins a poignant and gritty tale of homelessness and shelter, of the realities of loneliness and hunger, and of the hopes and dreams of those who often go unnoticed on our streets. This is the story of two outcasts – one a young woman struggling to find her place in an alien world, one an older man seeking refuge and solace from a life in tatters. It is also about the transformative power of care and friendship, and the promise of escape that music holds.


 

I’m finding it hard to put my thoughts about this beautiful book into words.
Set in the winter of 1999 when the streets of Sydney were being cleaned up for the coming Olympics.

Symphony for the Man is a beautifully written story about a homeless man, living in a bus shelter in the seaside suburb of Bondi, and a young woman, an introvert, lacking direction in her life.

The woman see harry asleep in the bus shelter and wonders what she can do for him. She wants to do something that no one else has done. She decides to write a symphony for him.

I loved how Brill portrayed Harry’s thoughts. Every word was so real and utterly believable, from Harry’s compulsive clock watching every morning to his interactions with other homeless men and care worker Brian.
I felt more invested in Harry’s story than I did in the unnamed young woman. Although I did enjoy her growth once she had a purpose given to her by Harry, her life changed, she changed.

In this nuanced story Brill gives us the human side to homelessness and shows that there is compassion everywhere in the small acts of kindness that people preform everyday. Like the Vietnamese restaurant that gives Harry food after closing, the librarian that offers shelter and comfort, the cafe worker who without question gives Harry a coffee and Brian the care worker who trolls the streets at night looking out for the homeless never expecting a thanks.

Sparkplug Films have optioned the film rights for the book and I would love to see this on the screen. That closing scene would be amazing! There is plenty to be sad about in this story but there is also so much to take heart from.
If you have every passed a homeless man on the streets and wondered at their circumstances this is the read for you.

*Note: Must be read whilst listening to Beethoven’s Eroica.

🌟🌟🌟🌟 

My rating   4/5

photo credit: Spinifex Press
Sarah Brill grew up in Perth and began writing at the age of 15. She initially focused on playwrighting but also wrote for film and radio. She attended four National Young Playwrights Workshops before graduating to the National Playwrights Conference in 1994 
Her first novel Glory which dealt with anorexia was published by Spinifex Press in 2002. After the birth of her children Sarah became interested in sustainability and permaculture. In 2017 Sarah completed a Masters of Sustainable Built Environment and currently works in organics diversion. Sarah lives in Sydney with her partner and three sons. Symphony for the Man is her second novel. 





This review is part of the Book Lover Book Review Aussie Author Challenge 
and the Australian Women Writers challenge
 
 

 

Saturday 21 September 2019

Book Review: Exit West by Mohsin Hamid

Exit West
by
Mohsin Hamid


Publisher: Penguin Books
Publication date: 7th March 2017
Genre: Literary Fiction/ Magical Realism
Pages: 229
Format Read: Paperback
Source: Courtesy of World of Books

 

In a city far away, bombs and assassinations shatter lives every day. Yet, even here, hope renews itself, welling up through the rubble. Somewhere in this city, two young people are smiling, hesitating, sharing cheap cigarettes, speaking softly then boldly, falling in love.

As the violence worsens and escape feels ever more necessary, they hear rumour of mysterious black doors appearing all over the city, all over the world. To walk through a door is to find a new life – perhaps in Greece, in London, in California – and to lose the old one for ever . . .

What does it mean to leave your only home behind? Can you belong to many places at once? And when the hour comes and the door stands open before you – will you go?

 

Exit West is not a novel I would normally pick up to read. It was the Fairy Book Club’s chosen novel for August/September book of the month. It’s always good to go out of your comfort zone and read something different.

The story follows two young people, Saeed and Nadia, in an unnamed country on the edge of collapse. The economy was sluggish and the militants had taken over control of the city.
Nadia and Saeed meet and start a chaste relationship. Nadia’s independence and rebellious streak is a stark contrast to Saeed’s conservative personality.

The story centres around the collapse of their country and the appearance of black doors which are portals to other countries. This is the only magical realism in the story. Thousands of people are fleeing poor countries, under siege, in search of a better life.

Mohsin Hamid gives his readers an omniscient point of view which shows the feelings of the natives and the immigrants, without judgement and quite often without emotion. He reflects the fear from both sides and portrays the real struggle of displaced people who only wish to live in safety. Over time, as they move from country to country, trying to fit into a world that views then with fear and suspicion, we observe Nadia and Saeed’s changing relationship.

At times characters flit into the book, tell their story then are gone. I’m not sure whether these vignettes were of any benefit to the overall story.
I did struggle to stay focused on the overly wordy sentences. Some well over a page long!

Exit West is a story of our time for our time.

*Thank you to The Fairy Book Club and World of Books for my copy to read.



                            🌟🌟🌟 

My rating  3/5  

Photo Credit: Goodreads
 
Mohsin Hamid is the author of four novels, Moth Smoke , The Reluctant Fundamentalist , How to Get Filthy Rich in Rising Asia , and Exit West , and a book of essays, Discontent and Its Civilizations .

His writing has been featured on bestseller lists, adapted for the cinema, shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize, selected as winner or finalist of twenty awards, and translated into thirty-five languages.

Born in Lahore, he has spent about half his life there and much of the rest in London, New York, and California.




 

Tuesday 3 September 2019

Book Review: Zebra and other stories (short story compilation)

Zebra
and other stories
by
Debra Adelaide


Publisher: Pan Macmillan
Imprint: Picador Australia
Publication Date: 29th January 2019
Pages: 336
RRP: $29.99 AUD
Format read: paperback
Source: Courtesy of the publisher



A body buried in a suburban backyard.

A suicide pack worthy of Chekhov.

A love affair born in a bookshop.

The last days of Bennelong.

And a very strange gift for a most unusual Prime Minister...

Tantalising, poignant, wry, and just a little fantastical, this subversive collection of short fiction - and one singular novella - from bestselling author Debra Adelaide reminds us what twists of fate may be lurking just beneath the surface of the everyday.






Zebra and other stories is a compilation of thirteen short stories and a novella.

Adelaide’s writing is lyrical and perceptive, exploring human foibles in all its forms. She proves she can master any writing style; first person, second person and third person perspectives are all executed with perfection.

I’ve read a few anthologies and they have all had a linking element running through the stories. I couldn’t find that connection with Zebra. Some of the stories seemed like a chapter pulled from a bigger story.

In her short stories Adelaide explores love, loss and life. Some stories are humorous, some perceptive and others heart-breaking.

The title story, Zebra, is a novella featuring an unnamed female prime Minister. It is a fanciful tale of conflict solving and lost opportunities, with an ending that left me amused.

Zebra and other stories is an eclectic holiday read filled with beautiful writing however most of the stories left me wanting.


                                  🌟🌟🌟 

My rating  3/5

This review is part of the Book Lover Book Review Aussie author challenge
and book #28 in the Australian Women Writers challenge
 


 
Debra Adelaide is the bestselling author of fifteen books, including the novels The Hotel Albatross, Serpent Dust, The Household Guide to Dying and The Women's Pages and the edited collections Motherlove, Cutting the Cord, Acts of Dog, A Bright and Fiery Troop and The Simple Act of Reading. She has been sold into several territories worldwide. In 2013,she published her first collection of short stories, Letter to George Clooney (longlisted for the Stella prize). Currently a associate professor at the University of Technology Sydney where she teaches creative writing. Adelaide has also held roles as a researcher, book reviewer and literary award judge and she is the founder and managing editor of the Empathy Poems, an online collection of poems of compassion for refugees and people seeking asylum around the world.