The Women's Pages

Tilly Galloway is a journalist on the Daily Herald in Sydney when Victory in the Pacific is declared. Tilly joins in the celebrations however her feelings of joy are tampered by not knowing what happened to her husband, Archie, last heard from in New Guinea in 1942.

This novel by Victoria Purman concerns the effects of the Second World War on Australians in Sydney as well as on those returning from overseas. The novel also deals with the livelihoods of women who worked during the war and were expected to return to their previous existence once the war ended. Working in newspapers, a man's world, Tilly faces discrimination as she tries to prove that women can write as well, or better, than some men. Another major theme in the book concerns the attempts of unions to gain better working conditions for workers, especially on the wharves and in factories. Much historical research has obviously gone into the writing of this novel where the author writes about the effects of war on a family from a poorer area of Sydney and the problems for returned soldiers in adapting once again to civilian life.

This is a novel of hope and resilience as Tilly and her friends and family rebuild their lives after the war.

The Cake Maker's Wish

Australian author, Josephine Moon, has set most of this book in the Cotswolds in England. Olivia and her young son, Darcy, leave Tasmania for England when they have the opportunity to become involved in the Renaissance Project, a project to encourage members of families who once lived in Stoneden to return to help revitalise the village. Olivia's grandmother left Snowden in the 1960s to come to Australia and returning to her grandmother's homeland not only provides Olivia and her son with the opportunity for a new start but also a chance to learn a little of her family history. Living in England also means that she and Darcy are closer to Norway where Darcy's father lives and hopefully Darcy will finally be able to meet his father.

Olivia is a cake maker and the members of the village arranged that she could set up her business in one of the vacant shops named Rambling Rose. Olivia is not the only newcomer to the village involved in the project. The new arrivals are welcomed by many of the villagers however it soon becomes apparent that not everyone wants the project to succeed. Olivia and Darcy, however, soon make new friends as they strive to become part of the village community and work to make the Renaissance Projet a success. Olivia encounters a number of challenges and eventually must decide how and where she wants to live her life.

At the end of the book is a recipe for the Persian Love Cake featured in the novel plus discussion notes for book clubs.

All the devils are here

Another 'cannot put this book down until finished' read from Louise Penny.

All the devils are here is number 16 in the Armand Gamache Mystery series however, instead of being set in The Pines in Canada, the action takes place in Paris where Armand and Reine-Marie are visiting their children who live in that city. 

Shortly after arriving in Paris Armand's godfather, Stephen Horowitz, is deliberately run down outside a restaurant and one of his friends is murdered. Armand and his son-in-law, Jean-Guy Beauvoir, are determined to investigate especially when it is clear that someone is also trying to discredit Stephen and the work that he has done. Armand uses his contacts within the Paris police force to ensure that the matter is taken seriously.

Jean-Guy now works in Paris for a firm, GHS Engineering, and gradually becomes suspicious that all is not as it should be. As he and Armand investigate the Stephen Horowitz case they become convinced that GHS Engineering is somehow involved.

The solving of a crime is only one aspect of this book series. The relationships between the characters and their interactions with each other are important features. In this series Armand endeavours to discover what has caused the breakdown between him and his son, Daniel, and attempts to resolve it. 

In this novel a number of characters provide expertise in solving the crime including Reine-Marie, a retired librarian, and a number of her friends who are archivists and librarians in Paris. The city of Paris and its history also play an important role in the story. 

I am really looking forward to meeting Armand Gamache and his family and friends again in the next book in series.

All Our Shimmering Skies

Darwin 1942 and the Japanese bomb the town. 

Molly Hook lives with her father and uncle and works in the family business as a gravedigger. She is badly treated by the men who are responsible for her well-being and has already unsuccessfully attempted to run away from home. Consequently when the bombs start to fall Molly takes her chance and heads into the bush to locate Longcoat Bob, the man she believes placed a curse on her family many years previously. On the journey Molly joins forces with Greta, an actress who had a realtionship with Molly's uncle, and Yukio, a Japanese pilot whose plane lands in the bush.

Twelve year old Molly lost her mother some years earlier but has been left with the belief that she can communicate with the sky and at times even receives a present from the sky. The first present is a gold mining pan that had belonged to her grandfather and scratched on to the pan are directions to locate the place where her grandfather once found gold. To most people the directions are obscure but Molly, who like her grandfather and mother loves to read poetry and plays, is able to decipher the clues as she and her friends go on their voyage of discovery.

The descriptions of the Australian landscape are paramount to the story, especially when seen through the eyes of the Japanese pilot. Some of the descriptions read like poetry, particularly when the wetlands with the wide variety of plants and wildlife are described. The trio encounter danger but they also learn resiliance as they discover more about themselves and things in life that are important. The desriptions of the bombing of Darwin vividly portray the horror of that event in Australian history.

The cover of the book captures the magical qualities of this beautifully written Australian story that I thoroughly enjoyed reading.

Here we are

In the summer of 1959 a show is held each evening in the pavilion at the end of Brighton pier. Ronnie Deane is a magician performing under the stage name Pablo with his assistant Evie White (Eve). The compere of the show is Jack Robinson (real name Jack Robbins). Here we are by Graham Swift is about the relationship between this trio of friends.

Initially the story also recounts the events in the life of a young boy sent to the country to live with strangers who became his defacto family during World War II, the relationship with his mother and his desire to be a great musician. A friend suggests that he should perform his act during the summer season on the pier but that he also needs an assistant which is when he is introduced to Evie. As the season progresses, the popularity of the magician's act increases until by the end of the season it is the star act of the show. The latter part of the novel provides Evie's viewpoint reflecting on that summer of 1959 and her almost fifty years of marriage with her husband who died the previous year. 

This short novel takes us into a world of magic and illusion and how it is percieved and can affect the lives of others. What is real and what is illusion?

COVID-19 Musings - Masks

The topic for Week 14 of #SLVMemoryBank is Cover Up - Face masks. From Thursday 23 July the wearing of face masks in Melbourne when away from home has been mandatory.

Fortunately we had purchased masks with filters which we have now become used to wearing if going shopping or going for a walk as exercise.

The masks took some getting used to and it is definitely harder to breathe when walking uphill wearing a mask. There are lots of small hills in our area. When we go for a walk we share airpods to listen to listen to music on Spotify via the phone. The first time I went for  a walk wearing a mask I concentrated on breathing, initially through my mouth before relaxing enough to breath normally. By the end of the walk I was able to sing quietly to some of the music.One advantage of a mask is that you can sing quietly without the fear of attracting attention.

Currently I am experimenting with making masks in the hope of creating one that does not place too much pressure on my face causing neuralgia pains. 

First attempt but now that I have made one it should be easier to make others in differnt colours and fabrics.

Meanwhile other members of the family are, of course, wearing masks.

Children under 12 do not have to wear masks however they are all prepared.

Most people in our area wear masks and also observe social distancing. With Stage 4 restrictions which began in Melbourne on 3 August leaving home is further restricted to exercise outside your property (if essential) once a day for up to a maximum of one hour a day. Shopping is restricted allowing one person from each house shopping at a centre no further than 5 km from home. This should greatly reduce the number of people in the streets at one time.

When we went for a walk on the first day of Stage 4 restrictions we only saw about six people, mainly walking dogs. Everyone observed social distancing etiquette when passing other pedestrians. By contrast there were lots of people out the previous day, a number of the younger ones encroaching on the space of others.

Communication can be a problem when wearing a mask. I always used to smile at people when we passed but now I acknowledge them with a wave.

By the time restrictions are eased we should all be so used to wearing masks that we will continue wearing them until the danger from COVID-19 has passed. Last time people, especially in shopping centres, started to ignore social distancing. Wearing masks should help when that time comes again.

I started writing this post in July and it is now October and restrictions have been slightly modified. We can now go for a walk for up to two hours a day and more than one person can go shopping.  

 

The wearing of masks continues to be mandatory in Victoria and will problably continue to be so for some months yet. Most people comply however some people seem to have the strange idea that wearing a mask so that it only covers the chin or hangs like a necklace around the neck will protect the wearer, and anyone they they encounter, from COVID-19. Some people wear the mask with the nose exposed.

 

There is an an exception to mask wearing while you are smoking or having a drink. From time to time you see people, not wearing a mask, pushing trolleys while they have a cup in their hand. I guess they think that they are making a statement about having to wear a mask. In the supermarket yesterday we saw a superior young man walking around the supermarket with a cup in his hand. Presumably it was a cup of coffee but he did not appear to be drinking any of it.

 

Meanwhile, thank you to everyone who is doing the right thing when it comes to mask wearing.

Troubled Blood

 Troubled Blood is the fifth book in the Cormoran Strike series by Robert Galbraith (J K Rowling). Strike and Robin are partners of the detective agency set up by Strike in the first book in the series.The firm now has three subcontractors on staff plus Pat who does the admin work and all the staff are busy on a variety of cases. Strike is then approached by the daughter of a woman who was probably murdered forty years ago to try and find out what happened to her mother. This is the first cold case handled by the agency and Strike and Robin accept the challenge.

The disappearance of Dr Margot Bamborough occupies the team for more than a year, along with the other cases on which they are working. The more that Strike and Robin investigate the longer the list of possible suspects grows. After forty years many of the people they wish to talk to have died or disappeared making the challenge of finding what really happened more difficult.

Strike and Robin also have issues in their private lives requiring their attention. The aunt who looked after Strike when he was a boy is dying from cancer and he makes a number of trips to Cornwall to visit his aunt uncle. Meanwhile, Robin's husband is determined to make their divorce proceedings as difficult as possible. Strike also keeps receiving messages from family members wanting him to attend a function for his father's band's new album which is about to be released. As Strike has only seen his father twice in his life he declines the invitations. 

This novel therefore largely focuses on the lives of the two main characters as well as the cases they are endeavouring to solve. It is a good read even though at 927 pages it is a hefty tome.