The Chocolate Factory

The English chocolate factory, Cadbury, opened its first overseas factory at Claremont, near Hobart. The factory was built on a 246 acre property on a peninsula where there was cheap hydroelectricity. The new factory was officially opened in October 1921. Sixteen women from the Cadbury factory at Bournville came to Australia to help train Australian women in the processes for making chocolate. Several years earlier the Cadbury factory had formed partnerships with Fry's and Pascals confectionery companies in the UK. The name of the firm was now Cadbury-Fry-Pascal.

Mary-Lou Stephens has written a historical fiction novel, The chocolate factory, about the early years of the establishment of the factory at Claremont. In the novel Dorothy Adwell, a war widow, travels to Tasmania from England to be a foreman in the new factory with the responsibility of ensuring that the enrober machines worked efficiently. Eventually staff will be housed in a village constructed on the Cadbury site, but initially Dorothy stays in a boarding house with other women from England who also work in the factory.

On the voyage to Australia Dot meets Thomas, a returned serviceman who is struggling with PTSD. Dot is aware of the condition as her husband, Freddie, also struggled with PTSD before he died. Dot recognises Thomas' symptoms and endeavours to help him.

Maisie Greenwood is the eldest daughter of a war widow who tries to support the family by taking in mending and ironing. She lives in Hobart, a half hour train ride from Claremont. When Maisie starts working at the Cadbury factory she hopes to be able to earn enough money to support her mother and keep her sister, Lily, at school.

The novel follows the lives of the women as they adjust to their new roles at the Cadbury factory. However it is soon apparent that there are attempts to sabotage the success of the new enterprise.

The author covers many historical themes in this novel including the workings of the chocolate factory, the philosophy of the factory owners who are Quakers, the effects of war on ex-servicemen as well as on war-widows and their families, working conditions for women in the 1920s, as well as themes of friendship, trust, industrial espionage. It is an interesting book to read, especially when dealing with the lives of the women working at the new factory however I felt that the author was attempting to include too many themes in the book which, although interesting, sometimes meandered from the main story and distracted from the flow of the main story. I did finish reading the novel but at one stage I was tempted to look for something else to read.

Impossible Creatures

Impossible creatures by Katherine Rundell received great reviews in lists of children's books published last year so I purchased copies for two of my grandchildren for Christmas. This term my eleven year old grandson and I have been sharing the reading of this book when he visits after school. There is no argument about reading - he just grabs something to eat, picks up the book and informs me that it is time to read.

Christopher is a young boy who attracts animals wherever he goes. When he visits his grandfather in the country he is told that he can go exploring but not to walk up the hill. Of course he does and immediately realises that this is a different place. 

One day he rescues a baby griffin from drowning and his world changes. When Christopher meets Mal, a young girl with a coat that enables her to fly who is looking for her griffin, he learns that she is being hunted by a man who is trying to murder her. Christopher decides to protect her and she takes him to her magical world, the Archipelago, where he meets many mythical creatures including sphinxes and dragons, centaurs and ratatoska plus a few humans including Nighthand and Irian.   

Impossible creatures is a spell binding tale of friendship, courage, bravery and love.  The glamourie that controls the mystical world of the Archipelago is fading and it is up to Mal and her friends to discover why and undo the damage that has been done.

At the front of the book is a Bestiary with descriptions and illustrations of some of the mythical creatures in the story. Katherine Rundell has produced a wonderful world of fantasy that makes you want to keep reading to find out what happens next.

The Changi Book

When the British surrendered to the Japanese on 15 February 1942, Australian soldiers were marched to the army barracks at Changi which was to be a prison for prisoners of war until the Japanese surrendered on 2 September 1945.

The Changi Book edited by Lachlan Grant provides a summary of life in Changi before presenting a collection of articles written by prisoners of war from the 8th Division about aspects of life in Changi. The book also contains cartoons, paintings and photographs made secretly by the prisoners in the camp. This compilation was published in 2015.

At the time of the British surrender, 130,000 British troops including 15,000 members of thee 8th Division became prisoners of the Japanese. Members of the 8th Division were marched to Changi on 17 February. Although they were prisoners of the Japanese they remained with their units and military leaders. The 8th Division was housed at Selarang Barracks previously occupied by 900 Gordon Highlanders and their families. Consequently accommodation was cramped and facilities inadequate for the 15,000 soldiers. The first task was to make the area livable for so many men. The Australian General Hospital was also transferred to Changi.

At Selarang Barracks there was lots of land but the buildings had been damaged during bombing raids. There were no kitchens, no showers, no means of transport and no tools. Food kitchens were built from strips of galvanised iron. Water was obtained from several wells. Latrines had to be constructed. As well as making the area that was to be their new home livable, soldiers were allocated to Japanese working parties, including the erection of a barbed wire fence around the prison.

Access to food for the soldiers was minimal and food that was provided was of poor quality. The soldiers also needed to work out how to cook ingredients with some flavour and nutritional value - not an easy task with rice and sometimes small quantities of fish the only ingredients. Some of the soldiers established contacts with men outside the compound arranging for goods to be brought into the camp on the black market. Grass was also boiled in water to be used for adding nutrition to the food. Outbreaks of dysentery occurred periodically.

The men created their own entertainment including concerts presented by unit entertainers and concert parties. An education scheme was established encouraging the soldiers to learn something new and reduce boredom. This was not always successful. Another major problem was that the men had no access to information about the rest of the war until they eventually managed to acquire a radio. Over three and a half years the men were allowed to send only five postcards home. The first mail from home was received in March 1943.

Life for the men in Changi was not easy but it was much worse for the thousands of soldiers chosen for work camps in Burma, Thailand and Borneo. Thousands of men died on these expeditions and those who returned were mere skeletons. An outbreak of cholera had killed many men in these work parties. Compared with life in these camps, life in Changi was generally better.

Those living in Changi had to be resilient. The essays written by some of the men tell of how many of the men made the best of a bad situation.

The Princes in the Tower

The Princes in the Tower: solving history's greatest cold case is written by Philippa Langley, a member of the Richard III Society. The book has been written to investigate one of the stories that many people believe about Richard III, King of England from 1483-1485 - that he had two of his nephews murdered in the Tower of London. This story came to prominence many years after the death of Richard III, largely promoted by supporters of the Tudor rulers in order to establish their right to the throne.

The story gained in popularity after William Shakespeare wrote his play Richard III, promoting the idea that Richard was an evil hunchback who had his nephews murdered.

As historians in the twentieth century examined documents relating to the reign of Richard III written during his reign and immediately after new theories have been made about the disappearance of the two princes.

Philippa Langley has handled this investigation using techniques and questions used to investigate more recent cold cases. The recent discovery of documents in France and Holland that suggest that the princes spent time overseas after being smuggled from the Tower of London form part of the investigation of The Missing Princes Project.

The author provides a systematic study of the evidence so far. There are detailed notes, appendices, bibliography, maps, time lines plus photos. The study for the story of the missing princes continues, especially if the boys were removed from the tower and hidden for their safety, possibly overseas or in the north of England. The mystery continues.

A novel based on the mystery of the princes in the tower is A Daughter of Time by Josephine Tey.

Some online articles:

Were the Princes in the Tower killed - Richard III Society

Skeletons in Westminster: Is it time to solve the mystery of the Princes in the Tower - Retrospect Journal 

Research reveals identity of the Princes in the Tower -  University of Essex

The Princes in the Tower - Historic Royal Palaces

1674- the remains of the Princes in the Tower - Meandering through time

What happened to Nina?

If you want to read a novel that you cannot put down then you could try What happened to Nina? by Dervla McTiernan.

The author has set this story in Vermont USA. Nina and Simon have had a close relationship for many years though it has recently been tested as Simon has been away at college while Nina has stayed home to work with her mother running the family hotel. Back home on holidays Simon convinces Nina to spend time with him at a property owned by his family. They both enjoy climbing and take the opportunity to explore the many trails and crags in the area. But the tensions between the two young people increase. Then Simon returns home without Nina.

The reader gradually learns part of the story through the eyes and actions of Nina and Simon's parents, Nina's sister, Grace, and Matthew who is the detective investigating Nina's disappearance. Nina's mother and her husband have struggled to create successful businesses from scratch but they are not wealthy. Simon, on the other hand comes from a wealthy and privileged family who will do anything to protect their son from accusations of wrong doing.

Social media plays an important role in the story, initially as Nina's mother uses it to organise a search for her daughter. Simon's parents arrange for associates to use social media to post anonymous posts against members of Nina's family which are quickly taken up by conspiracy theorists.

Tension builds as the world of Nina's family begins to collapse under public scrutiny. The police and Nina's family are sure that they know what happened to Nina. The challenge is how to prove it. An excellent book that I had to keep reading to the end.

The Good Dog

When Detective Sergeant Zoe Mayer is called to a crime scene on Mt Macedon in Victoria she finds the body of a man slumped next to the Memorial Cross. A local policeman was the first to arrive on the scene and is able to identify the body. Then Harry, Zoe's service dog, discovers a second body some distance in the bush. First impressions are that it is probably a murder suicide. But Zoe and her new partner, Detective Senior Constable, Ben Tarro, soon come to a different conclusion.

The two victims were recently involved in a fraud case where the first victim, Piers Johnson, had faced charges of fraud when a project in which he and others had invested in Bali proved to be a scam. Everyone, including Piers Johnson, lost money. The second murder victim was Johnson's lawyer, Antony Peterson, who succeeded in having the court case dismissed. There are therefore many suspects to investigate.

The Good Dog by Simon Rowell is a fast paced detective novel set in Victoria. Many of the locations mentioned are places that I know which perhaps made the book even more interesting to me when I read it. 

Harry is one of the main characters in the book, not just in supporting Zoe who has PTSD but also in comforting some of the other characters in stressful situations. He also makes some significant finds in the plot. Zoe's new partner in this case also learns there is more to solving a crime than he first believed. The Good Dog is the third title in the Zoe Mayer series.

The Lawson Legacy

Kayla Lawson is a wedding planner for exclusive weddings. She is therefore constantly aware that everything needs to be perfect. Unfortunately being perfect is not always possible in everyday life.

When Kayla discovers that she is pregnant after a one night stand she moves back to the family property while she decides what she should do. At the same time Jen and her two children have also moved back to Willowbrook while she works through challenges in her life.

Meanwhile, in the nearby town, Connor Knight has purchased a local pub which he renovates and uses to start a new life after spending time in prison. But first he has to convince the locals that this is a safe and friendly place for family gatherings. Over time Kayla and Connor discover that there is a connection between them but this is threatened when members of Connor's former motorcycle gang arrive in town.

Although Kayla is nervous about being a single mother, she realises that the new arrival will become part of the family legacy. She also realises that even with much careful planning, there is no guarantee that life will always be perfect.

Super-Infinite: the transformations of John Donne

John Donne (1572-1631) led many lives in his fifty-nine years. In Super-Infinite, Katherine Rundell describes John Donne:

Sometime religious outsider and social disaster, sometime celebrity preacher and establishment darling. John Donne was incapable of being just one thing. He reimagined and reinvented himself, over and over: he was a poet, lover, essayist, lawyer, pirate recusant, preacher, satirist, politician, courtier, chaplain to the King, dean of the finest cathedral in London.[page 5]

In this biography of John Donne, the author sets out to examine all the facets of Donne's life from the limited surviving sources plus his poems, sermons and other writing. Quotations from Donne's work and the writings of others who knew him appear extensively throughout the work. In reading this book, the reader learns not just about the life of John Donne and of his writing but also some of the social history and politics of the time that form an important part of Donne's story.

When writing, John Donne also loved to create new words, many of which appear in the book. Katherine Rundell provides an example:

He loved to coin formations with the super-prefix: super-edifications, super-exaltation, super-dying, super-universal, super-miraculous. It was part of his bid to invent a language that would reach beyond language, because infinite wasn’t enough: both in heaven, but also here and now on earth, Donne wanted to know something larger than infinity. It was absurd, grandiloquent, courageous, hungry. [page 14]

At the end of the book there is a list of further reading, notes, picture credits and index. Pictures of engravings of portraits of John Donne and other people mentioned appear throughout the book.