Where the crawdads sing

The marsh near Barkley Cove, North Carolina, is the setting of Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens, a story about a young girl left to fend for herself as, one by one, family members leave home. Catherine (Kya) Clark is six years old when the story begins. Kya has learned much about the marsh from her older brother, Jodie, including how to navigate her way in the family boat through the waters near her home. This ability becomes the life support for the young girl as she is able to travel to Barkley Cove to swap mussels for enough supplies to keep her alive and refuel the boat. Most of the community is hostile to people who live in the marsh but Kya is befriended by Jumpin' and his wife, Mable.

The reader follows Kya's story as she not only learns to become self sufficient but also studies her surrounding environment in detail. It is this passion for collecting and documenting shells and feathers that leads to a frienship with Tate, a former friend of Jodie. Together the two youngsters explore the marsh and the creatures living in it. However, life changes for Kya in 1969 when the local football hero, Chase Andrews, is found dead near the fire tower and the townsfolk immediately conclude that he was murdered by the Marsh Girl.

This book is much more than a murder mystery, it is a story of survival - an escape from family violence - the need to learn to trust people plus a love of the environment leading to a life long passion.

Hell Bay

I enjoy reading books, usually crime novels, set on the islands off the coast of Scotland. Recently a friend suggested that I might also like the books written by Kate Rhodes set on islands off the coast of Cornwall.

Ben Kitto is taking a break from the murder squad in London to return to the island where he grew up - Bryher, part of the Scilly Isles. His plan to help his uncle build boats in his boat yard is put on hold when a young girl disappears and is later found washed up on to the beach. She has been murdered. Ben volunteers to assist with the investigation and is appointed to lead the enquiry with the assistance of a young officer, Eddie Nickell.

Ben knows that the person who murdered Laura is still on the island but working out who is responsible proves to be a major challenge. Many of the suspects were friends of Ben when he lived on the island which provides him with some inside information but also makes the investigation harder. In this close knit community he discovers a variety of family and inter-family tensions, plus family violence. Ben also discovers that one of the islanders has been threatening other residents if they do not sell their land to him. There is also a drug smuggling operation involving several young island residents.  As Ben and Eddie attempt to unravel what is really going on a young man also disappears and his body is also located in the sea.

The book is not just about solving the crime. The complex relationships that abound in this small island community plus the descriptions of the island itself are important features of this novel.

The Arsonist

On 7 February 2009 approximately 400 bushfires broke out in the state of Victoria. Among the devastation caused by the fires, 173 people died and 2,029 homes were lost. Some of the bushfires were started by arsonists.

The week preceeding the bushfires Victoria experienced a heat wave with temperatures regularly above 40 degrees celsius. On the 7th February the temperature in Melbourne reached 46 degrees. It was hotter in Gippsland. This was also the time of the Millenium Drought (2001-2009).

In The Arsonist: a mind on fire, Chloe Hooper describes the devastation of the fire near Churchill in Gippsland and the attempt to find and prosecute the person who started it. Eleven people died during this fire and 145 homes were destroyed.

The book is divided into three sections - the detectives, the lawyers and the courtroom. The author describes how the police investigated the cause of the fire and how they located the perpetrator. This is followed primarily about the work of the Legal Aid lawyers attempting to build a case to defend the suspect who was autistic. A summary of the court case follows with the verdict. Thoughout the books the author includes descriptions of some of the events that occurred on Black Saturday as people attempted to defend their homes from the inferno and / or escape from the area. Interviews with many of the survivors are included.

This work is a valuable record of how bushfires have a long term impact on communities, families and the state as a whole. It is made all the more relevant considering the severe bushfires that recently occured in eastern Australia including Victoria.

This book was the first title discussed at the RHSV Book Club in March 2020 which I did not attend but I will still try and read the books.

Bushfire - Black Saturday

The Starless Sea

A wonderful escape into a stange and challenging world is provided in this work of fantasy by Erin Morgenstern. This is a world of stories and books exisiting underground and entered by doors that few people can enter.

When Zachary Ezra Rawlins discovers a book, Sweet Sorrows, in the university library he wants to find out where the book came from, especially as part of his story appears in the book.  This quest leads him on an incredible adventure until he eventually comes upon the Starless Sea.

Zachrary meets other storytellers and seekers of books including Dorian and Mirabel as his adventure takes him through the many passageways and doors in the world of storytelling hidden beneath the earth. The stories are often intertwined and sections added as the search for an ending to the story continues. What is past and what is present? Characters often have many lives. Events of the past encroach upon the future. This is indeed a wold of mystery.

Much of the story revolves around the symbols of the bee, key, crown, heart, feather and sword which appear regularly, often requiring a choice. The author also alludes to other works of fantasy in this book such as the rabbit (or bunny) which appears from time to time (suggestions of the rabbit in Alice in Wonderland). Readers will no doubt discover allusions to other works of fantasy.

The concept of doors leading to new worlds is not new and the author, at one stage, has characters looking for doors in a wardrobe leading to another world such as Narnia. Other books that I have recently read using this concept are Exit West and The Ten Thousand Doors of January. The doors are important in The Starless Sea not only as entry and exit ports but also, often, providing the characters with the need to make a choice, hopefully the correct choice. This is also a story about Time and Fate.

 The Starless Sea is a book written for lovers of fantasy and believers in the power of story telling.

All is True

This film was in cinemas last year but I was not able to see it at the time so I borrowed a copy from my local library. The plot of the film is based on the final years of William Shakespeare's life when he returned to his home at Stratford-upon-Avon after the Globe Theatre was destroyed by fire in London.On his return his relationship with his family members is strained, primarily due to his being an absent husband and father for much of his marriage. Shakespeare is also mourning the death of his only son, Hamnet, some years earlier.

Kenneth Branagh plays William Shakespeare, as well as producing and directing the film. Judi Dench plays Anne Shakespeare. The film was written by Ben Elton who was also responsible for the television series Upstart Crow, a satirical account of the writing of the plays (3 series from 2016).

All is True provides an interesting interpretation to part of the family life of a great, and troubled, playwright.

The Drover's Wife

In 1892 Henry Lawson published his short story, The Drover's Wife, in The Bulletin. I remember reading the story at primary school, probably in 1958 as it was part of the collection of short stories and poetry that school children read in Grade 5 in the Victorian Readers Fifth Book.

In this version of The Drover's Wife Leah Purcell has written her account of the story of the dangers faced by a woman and her young family left living in a shanty in the bush while her husband is off droving sheep for months at a time.

Leah Pucell has used the esence of Lawson's story to create a novel about the determination of a woman to protect her young family from the dangers and challengers of living outside a small outback community in the Snowy Mountains. Her husband has gone off droving again and the family is short of food. She is also expecting another baby. Her twelve year old son, Danny, has to grow up quickly as he strives to assist his mother and keep an eye on his younger siblings. This is not a retelling of Lawson's story but the author has expanded some of the incidents that occurred in the short story to assist in the creation of her own work. Loneliness and the hardship of living in the bush is one theme along with the abuse of women.  The author also examines relationships between whites and aborigines as well as the value of family.

The Drover's Wife, like Gulliver's Wife, is another example of an author creating and expanding a new world and story from a well known story.


The Drover's Wife - a short story by Henry Lawson

Miss Fisher and the Crypt of Tears

On Tuesday, as we did not have to collect grandchildren from school, we decided to go and see a film, something we have not ben able to do for some time. We decided to see Miss Fisher and the Crypt of Tears which was on at 2pm. I had watched a number of Phryne Fisher stories on the ABC and also read a number of books in the series written by Kerry Greenwood so I had a fair idea what to expect and looked forward to some light entertainment.

We arrived at the cinema complex which was very quiet and when we found our allocated seats in the large theatre it was soon obvious that we were to have an exclusive viewing of the film. As to be expected it was an entertaining, unbelievable story set overseas in England and Palestine. The Middle East scenes were shot in Morocco. After Phryne rescues a young girl from gaol in Palestine she takes her to England. The girl is determined to discover who was responsible for her mother's death and Phryne and Jack help her with her mission.

As we left the cinema I thanked my husband not only for the opportunity to escape from the realities of life for a short time but also to do so in in such an exclusive environment!

Maggie's going nowhere

To say that the life of Maggie Cotton is going nowhere would be an understatement. She has no job, after ten years of 'study' she is not allowed to return to university to continue working on a commerce degree, her mother has told her to leave home, she owes money to Centrelink and has broken up with her boyfriend. Her best friend, Jen, is also about to marry a no-hoper and Maggie is having trouble convincing Jen that she is marrying the wrong man.

Maggie needs to find a job, somewhere to live, a reliable man and a way to solve her increasing financial problems. Purchasing a dilapidated caravan with nowhere to legally park it with access to water, gas or a toilet is one problem. Proving that she can hold down a job, even when it involves volunteering for a welfare agency and op-shop also creates issues. Then there is her relationship with men which is not always conventional or successful.

Set in inner Melbourne suburbs, Rose Hartley has written an amusing novel about the (usually) well- meaning exploits of her heroine.

Gulliver's wife

We all know the story of Gulliver's Travels but in this novel Lauren Chater creates the untold story of Lemuel Gulliver's wife, Mary, who remains at home caring for their two children, Bess and  Johnny, while her husband sails away to explore new lands. But this is basically the story of Mary and Bess and I soon became immersed in their world.

Wapping in the early 1700s could be a dangerous place for women and children, especially those living without the protection of a man. In order to support the family, as well as pay her husband's debts, Mary trained as a midwife and developed a successful practice supporting the many working class families near her home. Then Gulliver, who had been reported lost at sea three years earlier, returned home and Mary encountered new challenges in order to protect her family and their way of life. Not only expecting life in his house to return to how it had been before he departed, Gulliver is obviously unwell and his recounting of strange stories to anyone who will listen threatens the professional reputation that Mary has built up in his absence. Mary is also wary of a new acquaintance who has returned to England with Gulliver.

Having just celebrated the International Women's Day (March 8) it was interesting reading about 1700s England which was definitely a time of male domination in most aspects of life. In this book the author tells her story interweaving a variety of social themes within an atmosphere of danger - society's attitude to women working to survive and protect family members, conflicts arising when male surgeons threatened the dominance of the women's profession of midwifery plus the relationship between Mary and her daughter who idolises her father and wants to go to sea, an impossible notion. I thoroughly enjoyed escaping into Mary's world for a short time.

Thank you to Better Reading and Simon and Schuster for the opportunity to read a preview copy of this book, due for publication early April. #BRPreview

Hebrides

Hebrides is written by Peter May, author of the Lewis Trilogy, plus photographs by David Wilson. This pictorial work concentrates on the islands of the Outer Hebrides - Lewis, Harris, North and South Uist - locations where most of the action in the three novels occurs.

As well as providing an introduction to the geological history of the Outer Hebrides, a short history of the islands' people plus the author's association with the area, there are sections showing the locations that featured in  The Blackhouse, The Lewis Man and The Chessmen. It is great to see pictures of many of the buildings and scenery that feature prominently in the three novels.

As a note, I read this book on Saturday and, among the many other images, noted a photograph of the Callanish stones located on the west coast of Lewis. Next morning the travel section of The Age newspaper (8 March 2020)  had a photograph of the Callanish stones accompaning an article by a reader describing her special visit to Lewis and Uist. I hope that she has read the Lewis Trilogy.

The Chessmen

The third book in the Lewis Trilogy by Peter May is The Chessmen. When Fin MacLeod and his former school friend, Whistler, discover a small aeroplane in the middle of a dried up loch, caused by a 'bog burst', a web of stories from the past resurface to impact upon the lives of Fin's friends, particularly Whistler.

Whistler lives in seclusion in the hills and earns a tentative living carving replicas of the chess figures found buried in the sand. He is also in a custody battle for the right to look after his teenage daughter. When the plane is discovered with a body inside, Whistler disappears and Finn needs to find out what really happened. As in the other two books the reader learns of Fin's past, this time his involvement with a band in Glasgow many years before.

As well as involvement in the complex lives of the people living on the Isle of Lewis, the environment in which they live plays an important part in the telling of the story. I really did enjoy sharing in this world for a short time while reading these novels.

Crusaders: an epic history of the wars for the Holy Lands

Dan Jones has written a comprehensive account of the Crusades which occurred in Europe between 1095 and 1492. All in all there were nine Crusades but the first four are the ones considered the most important. Jones portrays events through the experiences of a variety of individuals involved. Some were leaders while others were ordinary people participating in the expedition. He has tried to include stories representing a variety of countries and religions fighting for what was considered a just cause. In most cases records are scarce however Jones has been able to construct an overview of life during this period of European turmoil.

This book provides excellent background material for those researching family history going back to this period. Ordinary people were often called up to support leaders who decided to go on Crusade. It became a badge of honour for some leaders to be associated with such endeavours even though the endevour cost much money and lives.

I need to revisit this book and check the sections referring to the Normans who went on Crusade as well as Richard I who managed to almost bankrupt England when he went on his expedition, leaving his brother John to look after England and take the blame for the need to raise taxes to cover his brother's expenses. Other family connections to investigate include Eleanor of Aquitane, Baldwin III (King of Jerusalem), Edward I, Fulk of Anjou, Henry II and Robert of Normandy.

Appendices include list of major characters referred to in the book, Kings and Queens of Jerusalem, Popes and Emperors as well as extensive notes, bibliograpy and index.

The Lewis Man

After his divorce and his decision to leave the police force, Fin McLeod returns to the Isle of Lewis where he spent his childhood. He decides to rebuild his parents' home which has not been used since their death in a car accident many years previously. However he also needs time to reconnect with his son, Fionnlagh, plus Marsaili with whom he has a long history. Then his plans are disrupted when a body is found buried in the peat on the shore. Who was this man and what is his connection with Tormod Macdonald, Marsaili's father? This is another crime novel by Peter May where the setting and the people are just as important as solving the crime.

As this is a cold case the police in Edinburgh will take time to arrive on the island to investigate so Fin and Detective George Gunn work on solving the mystery. Tormod Macdonald has dementia so we learn some of the story via his occasional, often jumbled, memories of his past. Gradually some of  the clues finally begin to fall into place but Tormod's story becomes further complicated when it becomes apparent that he is not the person everyone thinks he is.

As in The Black House, the reader learns much about the present and past life of the inhabitants of the islands that form part of the Outer Hebrides off the Scotland coast. Divisions between religious groups is important particularly in the mid-twentieth century when some of the events in this story occur. A major theme is the treatment (often mistreatment) of orphaned children who must learn to exist in a world without parental love. The understanding and care of older relatives is another theme as is the evolution of friendships formed many years ago. But it is the story of solving the crime committed in the mid 1950s that weaves the sections of the novel together. Another book difficult to put down.