Olmec Obituary

Olmec Obituary is the first novel of L J M Owen and the first in her Intermillennial Sleuth series - series of archaeological mysteries. Dr Elizabeth Pimms is an archaeologist and a librarian who finds herself trying to unravel stories that are thousands of years old.

When her father unexpectedly died, Elizabeth had to return to Australia from Egypt where she had been working as an archaeologist. Her family needed her to help pay the bills and to assist in looking after her young brother so she took a position in a library where her father had worked.

Then she was offered part-time unpaid work investigating skeletons located in a cave in Mexico. The skeletons were possibly three thousand two years old. Elizabeth enjoyed working on this assignment but she soon discovered that all was not well and that some of the information that she had been given was incorrect. Who can she trust to help her unravel the mysteries conveyed in the skeletons of people who had died so many years ago?

Anzac & Aviator

Anzac & Aviator: the remarkable story of Sir Ross Smith and the 1919 England to Australia Air Race by Michael Molkentin was written to commemorate the centenary of this event.

Ross Macpherson Smith was born in South Australia on 4 December 1842 and was brought up on the family sheep station before attending Queen's School in Adelaide as a boarder. After leaving school  Ross worked in the warehouse of Harris Skarfe.

In 1910 he joined the Commonwealth Military Cadet Corps as a member of Adelaide's mounted cadet squadron. This was the year that a group of cadets, including Ross, travelled overseas to inspect military establishments and armament factories in Europe and North America. It was in England on 1 August 1910 that Ross and the other cadets watched aeroplanes taking off and landing at Brooklands aerodrome. Thus began his desire to be a pilot.

In 1914 Ross enlisted in the AIF's Light Horse Brigade as an NCO - first stop Egypt and then Gallipoli (the horses remaining in Egypt) and then back to Egypt. When the men left Australia they thought that they would be home again within a year. Ross and his fellow soldiers had not envisaged being away from home for four plus years. In 1916 Ross applied to transfer to the Australian Flying Corps as he wanted to learn to fly areoplanes. He eventually was accepted and learned initially to be a navigator before being trained as a pilot.

This book, written by Michael Molkentin, provides an interesting and detailed account of the life of a young pilot encountering the new world of flight, initially during the confines of war but then imagining the possibilities of world exploration. After the war Ross, his brother Keith plus Jim Bennett and Wally Shiers, undertook to fly from London to Darwin - a trip taking twenty-eight days. In 1922 Ross and Keith planned an even larger project - a round the world flight. Unfortunately during final testing of the plane there was an accident resulting in the death Ross and Jim Bennett. Sir Ross Macpherson Smith was twenty-nine when he died.

Molkentin has written not only of the life of this pioneer of Australian (and world) aviation but has provided the reader with an understanding of the the exciting and dangerous times when young pilots and their crews set out to test the possibilities of flight as a form of transport for the future. When you look at photos of the plane in which Ross and his team flew from London to Darwin you become aware of the the challenge of the undertaking that they undertook.

The author includes information about the available resources he had access to for this book as well as suggestions for further research.

The Great Divide

Another gripping Australian crime novel, this time by L J M Owen.

When Detective Jake  Hunter takes a short term post at Dunton in Tasmania, in order to have a break from working in the Melbourne, he anticipates a quieter life. However events occurring during the second week of his posting suggest that this may not be the case.

A young boy disappears from a campsite during the night and when Jake and a search party look for the boy a body is discovered in a nearby vineyard. Solving the murder of Ava O'Brien reveals a world of prejudice, fear, lies, mistrust, mutilation, murder and cover up, over many years, involving the local community.  The former girls home that operated in the grounds of the vineyard appears to be the focal point of many unexplained events.

Another murder and attempted murder further complicated the investigations and it soon became obvious to Jake that finding someone to trust in this town was next to impossible. Fortunately the forensic pathologist, Dr Meena Gill, supported his investigations and her discoveries enabled him to follow new leads.

Much of the material revealed in this book is confronting and the reader is kept guessing as the pieces of the puzzle are gradually uncovered to eventually reveal the perpetrators of years of horrendous crime in this small town. A compelling read.

About the author - L J M Owen

Bitter Wash Road

Paul Hirschhausen (Hirsch) had only been stationed at the one person police station at Tiverton in rural South Australia  for three weeks when the Sergeant at Redruth Police Station contacted him about reported rifle shots near the Tin Hut in Bitter Wash Road. Returning from the incident Hirsch received another call instructing him to go to Muncowie where a body had been located near the road. The victim was later identified as a sixteen year old school girl who appeared to have been a victim of a hit and run accident.

Hirsch  had previously been a detective stationed in Adelaide until he reported criminal activities occurring in the department resulting in the arrest of a number of his fellow officers. Hirsch was demoted to the rank of constable and banished to the country where he was accused of being a maggot by the Redruth police. Not ideal working conditions. However Hirsch was determined to make the best of his new situation and set out to familiarise himself with his new community and its characters.

While trying to discover what really happened to Melia Donovan Hirsch discovered, near Bitter Wash Road, another body which was considered to be a suicide. A friend of Melia had also disappeared. Although he had only been in Tiverton for a short time Hirsch was aware that all was not right in the area and he gradually uncovered a cover-up of crimes carried out by supposedly respected community leaders of the district.

The descriptions of the countryside in this crime novel by Garry Disher allow the reader to almost feel and taste the dust and feel the heat in the sparse farming community and the small run down settlement of Tiverton. As we journey with Hirch as he endeavours to investigate what really happened to the two females we also learn about the police corruption he experienced in Adelaide and the corrupt activities of his fellow colleagues at Redruth.

A fast paced, enjoyable Australian crime novel. Garry Disher has recently written a sequel to Bitter Wash Road - Peace.

Garry Disher and Bitter Wash Road

Angel Mage

I love the way that Garth Nix transports the reader into his wonderful world of fantasy. I have read a number of his books previously and this one lives up to all expectations.

Angel Mage is set in the seventeenth century in an alternative world where angels with varying powers can be summoned as required by those with the power to do so. It is into this world that Liliath, who 'died' more than a century earlier when the kingdom of Ystara was destroyed, returns to complete a quest. However assistance is required for this task as she may need to use the powers held unknowingly by others.

In the kingdom of Surance, four young people - Agnez, a musketeer; Simeon, a doctor; Dorotea, a mage and icon maker; and Henri, a clerk - travel to Lutace where they meet and gradually discover the common power that binds them. Lutace is a centre of magic struggling to survive from a growing outside threat emanating from some of former citizens of Ystara - the Reclusers. There is also a struggle for power among the branches of the defence forces defending the Queen and the kingdom. It soon becomes obvious that a new force has arisen releasing the beastlings and causing a threat to the citizens of Surance.

When the Queen orders an expedition into Ystara to be undertaken to locate lost treasure, the full powers of evil threatening the power of the mages in Surance is revealed. Another great book from Garth Nix.

These are the names: Jewish Lives in Australia 1788-1850

In 1800 Uriah Moses arrived in Sydney aboard the convict ship, Royal Admiral (2) - one of my twelve convict ancestors to arrive in Australia by 1808. However what makes Uriah different from my other convicts is that he was a Jew, definitely a member of a minority group at the time. But Uriah was not alone as shown by John S Levi in the second edition of this book outlining what is known of the lives of approximately 1,600 Jews who came to Australia between 1788 and 1850.

In 921 pages biographies of the first Jews in this country are compiled from a range of existing records. The biography for Uriah, for example, provides a brief summary of where he was born, his dates of birth and death, the ship that brought him to Australia, when and where he was sentenced, marital status on arrival in Australia and the number of children he eventually had. These notes are followed by a summary of his crime, trial and sentence. The rest of the biography details Uriah's life in New South Wales including life in the Hawkesbury region where he spent the rest of his life. Information is taken from records kept of the lives of convicts (and former convicts) in the colony as well as from newspapers, post office directories and records of religious institutions (synagogue and church). From time to time in the biography there are references to other Jews known by Uriah, including two who signed the copy of his will. Reading the biographies of these people provided a little additional information about Uriah's life.

The introduction to These are the Names provides a brief outline of the history of the survival of Jews in Europe for hundreds of years before some migrated to England, life of Jews in England in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries plus an informative summary on the life of Jews in the colonies. The information in this book therefore provides useful information leading to a better understanding of the lives of people in the Jewish community who, for various reasons, ended up living in Australia.

Changing Australian Education

The subtitle to this book by Alan Reid is 'How policy is taking us backwards and what can be done about it'.

In this book Alan Reid looks at the current state of Australian education policy and the need to change, the problems with Australian education policy, discusses changing the education narrative including the process for thinking about the future of education in Australia then suggests new policy directions specifically for Australian education.

In the first section of the book the author outlines his concerns about the way education in Australia and other countries is evaluated. He discusses at length the world wide education evaluation programs, particularly the standardised testing that occurs in the OECD Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA). Fifteen year old students from a selection of schools from 72 countries (2015) sit scientific literacy tests plus reading literacy or mathematical literacy tests. PISA testing occurs every three years and the tables are constructed providing current world rankings and whether a country has moved up or down the ladder. [The results of the 2018 tests were recently announced resulting in media concern about the state of education in Australia compared with the rest of the world - article in Sydney Morning Herald 6 December 2018] Alan Reid argues how PISA provides inaccurate readings of Australian educational outcomes especially as the tests are held on a narrow section of the curriculum, the current tests are done on computer which benefits some students over others, only a selection of schools in a selection of countries take part and in some cases a country is represented by one city or region, styles of education vary from country to country and generally the tests do not provide a reading of educational standards generally. The style of education in schools varies greatly in different countries as we have seen when comparing education in some countries with the emphasis on achieving the highest results with schools in Australia where students are encouraged to participate in sport and other interests as well as their studies.

At present education policy appears to be largely designed to address the results of PISA and the Australian NAPLAN tests rather than the needs of individual students allowing them to receive a good general education. One of the outcomes should be to prepare students to participate actively in the future development of our country.

This is the 21st century and Alan Reid strongly suggests that people actively engaged with the education of young people should have a strong say in the formation of the public education policy in this country, rather than bureaucrats and politicians devising policies in reaction to standardised tests that may not have much validity except to create a story for the press.

An interesting look at education in Australia today with suggestions as to how a better, more equitable system could be devised to benefit the range of students in Australia.

NB Once this period of home education ends due to COVID-19 it will be interesting to view any changes that then flow on to education in Australian schools.

The Red Hand: stories, relections and the last appearance of Jack Irish

One of Australia's most celebrated authors of crime fiction was Peter Temple (1946-2018). His books include titles in the Jack Irish series plus Truth and Broken Shore. The Red Hand includes a selection of Peter Temple's (mostly unpublished) writing.

High Art was to be another Jack Irish novel but it was not completed.  The 100 pages provided in this book reintroduce familiar characters including Charlie Taub, Cameron Delroy plus Norm, Eric and Wilbur (permanent patrons of the Prince of Prussia Pub).  Jack had been asked to investigate the disappearance of a staff member from a university college who had been evaluating the college art collection. The reader will have to create their own ending for this story. As usual Melbourne, especially the inner suburbs, features prominently.

A number of Peter Temple's books have been filmed for television. Included in this volume is the script for a telemovie about a country football team - Ben Valentine.

This volume also includes a section containing book reviews written by Peter Temple plus short articles. One article concerned the inclusion of avid supporters of the Fitzroy Football Club in his Jack Irish novels while another is about the Melbourne Cup (horse racing is also usually a feature in Jack Irish novels). In 2011 Peter Temple gave the Miles Franklin Oration entitled "Reading the Country" which discussed the importance of setting in his work. A copy of the talk is included. Six short stories complete this compilation which is a tribute to the memory of Peter Temple - an important contributor to Australian fiction.

The Ten Thousand Doors of January

In this book Alix E Harrow has written a story about doors - the portals between two worlds that can sometimes appear in our world.

January Scaller lives in a large house in new England with her guardian, Mr Locke. As her father travels the world collecting artefacts for the Locke Collection, he is rarely at home. January lives in a world where she is not fully accepted and is used to not fitting wherever she goes. She wants to find her father when she learns that he is missing and also her mother who disappeared when January was very young.

January is normally left to her own devices at Mr Locke's house, so when she discovers a book alluding to other worlds she decides to explore. January soon discovers that she has special powers to locate and unlock doors, however as she looks for and discovers new doors an evil force closes them. She needs to learn who she can really trust as she searches for her parents.

The book begins slowly as the reader is introduced to tow stories but as the stories merge the book is difficult to put down.

Fierce Bad Rabbits: the tales behind children's picture books

This is another recent publication exploring children's literature - this time specifically the development of picture books. In this book Clare Pollard investigates some of the themes occurring in picture books, provides background information about the lives of authors that may have led to the creation of the picture book as well as looking at the variety of ways some picture books have been interpreted by adults.

Clare Pollard provides a brief history of the development of picture books for children, especially in the late ninteenth and early twentieth centuries. However it is since the 1960s that the explosion of picture books has occurred. The books discussed by the author are picture books that she enjoyed as a child or read to her children. A sample of titles include The Tale of Peter Rabbit, The Very Hungry Caterpillar, Bread and Jam for Frances, The Snowy Day, The Tiger who Came to Tea and Where the Wild Things Are.

A question to be asked is are picture books published for children or adults? Clare Pollard argues that picture books are often more complex than they appear on the surface suggesting that on analysis they can quite often be dark in subject matter.

Contrary to the belief of many adults, picture books are not just produced for preschoolers - some are definitely aimed at older readers. Children and adults may also look at picture books (and books in general) differently. Picture books may therefore be interpreted differently by different audiences.

Peace

Garry Disher's latest Australian crime novel is set in a small community, Tiverton, in rural South Australia. Constable Paul Hirschhausen (Hirsch), the sole policeman in the town, reports regularly to Sergeant Hilliary Brandl stationed in the larger town of Redruth.  Hirsch therefore feels responsibility for the members of this small community who he endeavours to get to know personally, making it easier to maintain peace and trust among the citizens. But sometimes this is easier said than done.

Christmas is approaching and, when doing his rounds, Hirsch discovers a missing dog, indications of copper theft, occasional break-ins in isolated properties, graffiti and then one of the locals drives her car into the pub. All in a days work for a country copper, particularly one who has been instructed to wear a Santa suit for Tiverton's Christmas celebration and judge the Christmas lights competition.

However in the next few days a number of serious crimes occur requiring not just the police from Redruth but also two police officers from Sydney to assist investigations. It is soon obvious that Hirsch is not being told the full story about these crimes and begins to wonder who can really be trusted. To further complicate his life someone has made a report to the Adelaide police about how Hirsch manages crimes in the town.

Descriptions of the town and surrounding dry and dusty countryside feature prominently in this novel along with the humanity and compassion of Hirsch as he strives to solve the spate of serious crimes that occur over the Christmas New Year period. Another excellent Australian crime novel.

The Eighth Life: for Brilka

The Eighth Life was written by Nino Haratischvile and translated from German by Charlotte Collins and Ruth Martin. The subtitle is For Brilka who is a young girl belonging to the eighth generation of this family saga. Brilka's aunt, Niza, spends a year writing the story of the family during the twentieth century for her niece.

The story is of a family trying to survive through tumultuous times in Georgia and Russia. It is the story of the rise and fall of a family both socially and politically including the effects of communism on daily life. The story of life in Georgia portrays a free country, a country ruled in turn by the Germans and then the Russians during the Second World War followed by the Cold War. Unfortunately, towards the end of the twentieth century,  freedom from the rule of other countries does not guarantee peace as power struggles ensue.

The book consists of eight sections, each with the name of a family member as individual stories of family members interweave to tell the family story. The ambitions of many of the characters are not always achieved thwarted by family pressures and expectations or external factors governed by political factors and war.  Consequently attempts for involvement  relating to the arts - dance, singing, writing and film - are interrupted by war, revolution, rebellion, mistrust and hatred, politically and domestically.

However a thread throughout the book is generally the strength of the female family members plus the power of chocolate - a secret recipe passed through the generations.

At 934 pages this is a good holiday read to be read with few interruptions in order to appreciate the complexities of this saga of a family and a country.

Another book showing the effects of war on a small European country is The Lace Weaver set in Estonia.

The Anarchy: the relentless rise of the East India Company

The beginnings of the East India Company can be traced back to Elizabethan times in 1599. This was a time of exploration; the quest for new lands and trade routes. Competition for supremacy between European countries, particularly England, France, Spain and the Netherlands was strong.  Initially the British government encouraged companies such as the East India Company to undertake new trading ventures but the government never envisaged that the company's interests would encompass more than trade.

This study by William Dalrymple primarily looks at the rapid growth and power of the company particularly between 1765 and 1803. In 1765 the East India Company defeated the Mughal emperor and then proceeded, using their own army, to aquire additional territory. As the power of the company expanded the British government tried to restrict the power of the company and take control of India as a colony.

Although the East India Company continued to grow during the first part of the nineteenth century it became more closely overseen by the British government. There was a rebellion in the ranks of the East India Company Army in 1857 followed by the Indian Mutiny. This resulted in the end of the role of the East India Company in India though India remained under the control of the British government until gaining independence in 1947.

William Dalrymple provides a detailed study of events during this time and looks at the role of the main players from Britain including Robert Clive, Warren Hastings, Charles Cornwallis and Richard Colley Wellesley plus French leaders in India and leaders of a number of Indian states.

I was particularly interested to look at this book as I had family members working in India as merchants, soldiers in the East India Company army then later the British army and the civil service during the nineteenth century. This book will be a useful source for background information when researching this branch of the family tree.

The book has detailed notes, an extensive bibliography and index for further research.

The Lost Pearl

Like a number of other recent novels (including Meet me at Lennons), in this book Emily Madden provides an account of the life of civilians living through events during the Second World War. As a story of lost love the book also provides a study of attitudes regarding class and people from other ethnic backgrounds as well as social changes that have occurred since the 1940s.

Catherine  McGarrie was a teenager living in Hawaii in December 1941 when Pearl Harbour was bombed. This event changed her life as Catherine and her mother left Hawaii for Australia to stay with Aunt Iris for the rest of the war. Having visited Pearl Harbour several years ago I could vividly imagine the experience of the bombing as described in the book.

In Sydney Catherine met William Bennett and they married and had four sons. When her granddaughter, Kit, was born Catherine developed a special relationship with her. However when Catherine died, Kit discovered that her grandmother had a secret that was unknown to other family members.

This is the story of Kit's quest to discover her grandmother's story. The story is told in two time frames - 1940s and 75 years later - and is set mainly in Hawaii and Sydney. During her search Kit must come to terms with her own past events and make decisions about her future.

(One of the themes in the book concerns the forced adoption of children of young unmarried mothers - a theme that also occurs in Philomena.)