Iluka

When Paddy, their grandfather, dies, Helen, Sylvie and Brendan agree to spend a few days together cleaning up the family home and deciding what to do with the property. But all does not go according to plan.

Iluka was built by Paddy and his friends when he and Iris were married. Not only was it a home for their daughter, Margaret, but also for Margaret's three children when their mother had trouble looking after them. The children were told that their mother was dead and it was only after reading a pile of letters that Iris had kept that they learned the truth.

In Iluka written by Cassie Stroud, the reader encounters the family dynamics between the three siblings as they come to terms with their past and what they should do in the future. Helen's daughter, Tegan, also visits Iluka and spends much of her time filming events for a university assignment. 

The novel deals with a variety of topics including grief, sibling rivalry, challenges of being a lone parent, addiction, and family secrets. The setting of the novel on the outskirts of a coastal New South Wales town adds to the atmosphere of the story.

The Circle of Days

Once again Ken Follett tackles a family saga set in ancient times. This time it is the rebuilding of part of Stonehenge [the Monument] in 2500 BCE. Several communities live close to each other in the valley, plains and nearby woods. A group of priestesses operates at the monument, conducting services which allow for the understanding of the seasons and time in general. Few people can count but the priestesses have devised a system for recording the weeks, months and seasons as the sun rises and set throughout the year. The biggest festival is midsummer.

The monument where the services are held is partly stone with an inner circle made of wood. When some of the locals wreck the wooden structure, it is suggested that the large stones from the quarry should be transported to the monument to replace the wooden structure. It is many years before this plan can be eventually undertaken, especially as some of the male members of local communities do not like the priestesses taking a key role in the endeavour.

The Circle of Stones by Ken Follett Provides an insight into what life may have been like living in the farming, herder, wood-lander and mining communities of the time. Life is made more difficult during years of drought and other natural disasters. For some of the leaders force is the only way to gain ascendancy over other groups and this can lead to tragic results. Meanwhile Joia and her followers are determined to complete their mission.

The Bee Sting

The Bee Sting by Irish author, Paul Murray, is a study of generations of a dysfunctional family - the Barnes family, particularly Dickie and Imelda plus their teenagers Cass and PJ. The first four sections of the book deal with each of these characters individually as well as collectively providing background information in this long and complicated family saga. The author then reveals more recent events in the family's story.

When we meet them, the Barnes family owns two car dealerships and are well off financially. However over time the family business begins to go downhill and is almost destroyed during a recession. Much of the novel involves how family members deal with these changes. We also learn that some of the stories told about the family are not true. There has been much bad luck, as well as some stupidity, which has resulted in the current spiral of misfortune. Towards the end of the novel the characters begin to consider how to improve relationships but is it too late to undo the damage?

The Bee Sting was on the shortlist for the 2023 Booker Prize.

The Bee Sting by Paul Murray - The Guardian 

The Bee Sting by Paul Murray - Turner Stories 

The Mango Tree: A memoir of fruit, Florida and felony

When the phone rings one morning Annabelle Tometich finds herself talking to her mother who is in the Lee County Jail. This was not the start to the day that she had been expecting. Josefina Tometich was arrested for shooting at a man with an air-rifle when he was stealing mangoes growing on a tree in her garden.

In The Mango Tree Annabelle Tometich has written a memoir about her family when she was growing up in Fort Meyers, Florida. Her mother was born in the Philippines and moved from Manila to the USA to work as a nurse at the local hospital. Her father, Lou Tometich, was the son of an immigrant from Yugoslavia. Annabelle and her sister, Amber, and brother, Arthur, were therefore the product of a mixed marriage.  

Families can be complicated. The author acknowledges towards the end of the memoir that the real interpretation of an event may not be clear until much later. The book contains themes of forming and maintaining relationships, raising a family in a culturally different environment, racism, grief and especially family relationships in general. There is much humour in the book as the author recounts family events and describes often eccentric members of her extended family.

The heart of the book is the mango that Josefina loves to eat and attempts to grow from seed in her garden. A difficult task but one that she is proud of when she is finally successful. The mango tree is therefore a central feature in Josefina's family life

The Mango Tree was one of three books selected as a possible title for the Monash Alumni Book Club in March 2025.

Black Sheep

During the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries the Australian economy was dependent on the sheep industry and large pastoralists held a position of economic and social power in the country. Black Sheep by Judy Nunn is primarily set from the 1880s to 1920. 

James Wakefield is the son of a shearer and spent his early life travelling with his father around properties in Queensland. Then came the Shearers' Strike at Barcaldine in May 1891 where shearers marched through the streets of the town demanding better pay and conditions. After his father was killed, James changed his name and set off for a new life in a new state. After meeting Ben McKinnon whose family own a property near Goulburn, James has the opportunity to start his life again.

James' father had taught his son to read by reading him a book of nursery rhymes and explaining their true meaning. James' favourite rhyme was 'Baa Baa Black Sheep' and he and his father often discussed the different interpretations of a black sheep. Throughout the book the reader meets a number of characters to whom this term may apply.

Overtime James becomes an entrenched member of the McKinnon family and starts his own family. Then comes the First World War and its impact on the family, not just young men going off to serve their country but the business opportunities for pastoralists to supply the army with wool and leather for uniforms and military equipment.

Black Sheep is a family saga with episodes of Australian history as part of the back story. The novel often contains descriptions of of violence and there are also sections discussing sexual activity and attitudes. It is a story of the establishment of power within an industry as well as within a family.

Homecoming

When Jess returns to Australia after almost twenty years in London she is determined to discover the true stories of past events that have never been revealed to her. Her grandmother, Nora, has had a fall and is seriously ill in hospital. Jess tried to communicate with her grandmother in the hospital but the only words offered at the end of one visit was Issy, help me ...he's going to take her from me. What did this mean? Jess was determined to discover the truth.

Nora had been Jess's prime carer when Polly, her mother had relocated to Queensland so the relationship between Jess and her mother had been strained for many years. When Jess discovered that there was a mystery about events that had occurred at a large house owned by Nora's brother in the Adelaide Hills in 1959 she decides to find out the true story as she suspects that this may be the cause of strained relationships in the family.

 Homecoming by Kate Morton is set in Tambilla in the Adelaide Hills in December 1959 and in London and Sydney in December 2018. Much of the plot is also revealed via a book written about the tragic events that occurred on Christmas Eve at Halcyon, Tambilla. Pages torn from a diary and a letter help Jess to unravel what happened at that time. Gradually Jess and Polly learn the true family story.  

This is not a book to read in a hurry but one to read when there is time to spend becoming immersed in the journey leading to Jess's gradual understanding of the truth about her family. 

This book was one of three books selected as a possible title for the Monash Alumni Book Club in October-November 2024.

Shrines of Gaiety

Set in London in the 1926, Shrines of Gaiety by Kate Atkinson is largely the story of Nellie Coker and her family who own a group of night clubs in London. Nellie has just been released from prison and she returns home to discover that the nightclubs are under threat from men who want to either take over the business or close her down. Nellie finds that there are also issues within her family that need attention.

Another thread of the novel deals with the life of a young girl, Freda, who comes to London with her friend Florence to seek fame and fortune in the theatre. Meanwhile Chief Inspector Frobisher is investigating the disappearance of young girls who turn up drowned in the Thames. He enlists former librarian Gwendolen Keller to assist him by working undercover to discover what is happening.

As many of the population of London try to forget the effects of the recent war by attending clubs, consuming large quantites of alcohol and drugs and gambling it is obvious that there is a crime wave in the city and some members of the police force are major players in this crime wave.

The author provides the reader with a large number of characters with which to engage and I found that it took quite some time to fully follow what was happening. The storyline is further confused when sometimes the author provides information relevant to the plot then in the next chapter or two provides other information that occurred earlier disrupting the unveiling of the plot. However, when I eventually worked out how the author was telling the story I enjoyed reading the book.

Violetta

 

Violetta was born in 1920 during the Spanish Flu pandemic and in 2020 sets out to write an account of the family story for her grandson. The book is set in an un-named country which is probably Uruguay. Violetta's family was well off but her father concentrated on the next deal instead of ensuring that the family finances were safe. Consequently the family fortune was lost during the 1930s depression and they had to relocate to an isolated part of the country to start a new life.

The novel, Violetta, by Isabel Allende is the story of a family struggling to survive through difficult political times including dictatorships and political interference from other countries. It is also the story of women gaining control of their lives instead of being constantly under the power and the will of the men in their lives. Violetta has a series of relationships, some of which she recounts. Violetta is determined to earn and keep her own money in order to survive. As she ages Violetta reaccesses what is truely important in her life.

This is a compasionate story of a woman's struggle to survive, despite the odds; the power and importance of family and the struggle of the population of a country trying to determine a better life.

Orphan Rock

Domique Wilson in Orphan Rock has written a family saga set primarily in Sydney and France. The novel encompasses the period from the latter part of the 1800s until the beginning of the Second World War - a broad sweep of Australian and World history.

We first meet Bessie in a children's home where her mother left her years earlier. One day she is called to the office where she meets her step-father who has come to take her home. Bessie leaves the children's home without the opportunity of saying good-bye to her best friend, Lottie, and it is many years before they meet again.

In her new home Bessie has a good relationship with Cornelius, her step-father, but it is obvious that her mother is not pleased that Bessie has returned. The plot follows the ups and downs of Bessie's life  as she struggles to work out who she really is and how she really wants to live her life. The second part of the book deals with the life choices of Bessie's daughter, Kathleen, as she also struggles to adapt to changing environments and attitudes.

It is the history that forms the background to this family saga that I found really interesting. Bessie lives in changing and challenging times. It is a world where men make the decisions and once a woman is married she is expected to conform with his beliefs, opinions and do as he asks. However times are changing and some women seek the right to make their own decisions at home and politically. When Bessie starts working with Louisa Lawson she encounters the movement for female suffrage and begins to realise that attiudes can change. But in some cases the situation becomes worse as attitudes of distrust towards people from other countries and cultures increases when the colonies move towards Federation and the introduction of the White Australia Policy. This is a major theme of the novel. 

The author is particularly interested in the events occurring in Australia that affected the lives of ordinary people, particularly those with little money struggling to keep a roof over their heads. The financial crisis of the 1890s, including bank closures, and the 1930s Depression are two such events. During the timespan of the novel there were also major outbreaks of illness affecting the community including smallpox, consumption and the Spanish Flu. The practice of sending people to asylums for no real reason is also an issue in the novel. Two major world wide events, of course, affecting the lives of Australians at the time were the First and Second World Wars.

It is against this background of world and local events and attitudes that we follow the lives of Bessie, Lottie and Kathleen as they struggle to survive.

Showtime!

Showtime! by Judy Nunn is a show stopper. 

Set between 1882 and 1919 it is the story of the Worthing family who left England to try their luck in the world of show business in Australia. From taking part in stage shows to running their own production company, the family grows to one of the best known names in the Australian entertainment industry. However all does not always run smoothly and antagonism between Will Worthing and Michael Carlovsky becomes a threat to their growing success.

In this novel Judy Nunn introduces the reader to a range of entertainment options at this time from involvement in boxing troops, trapese and acrobatic acts, magic and illusion, dance, singing and theatrical plays as well as the arrival of film. The effect of the opening of Luna Park in Melbourne also features.

Events occurring in Australian history are often mentioned including the coming of Federation, votes for women and visits by members of the Royal Family. The greatest outside impact is, however the First World War.

Judy Nunn has written another memorable novel, this time about the entertainment industry and its role in major Australian cities at the end of the nineteenth and beginning of the twentieth century. The book is also the story of multiple generations of two families determined to make an impact in the Australian entertainment industry, despite hostilities that might exist between some of the protagonists.

The Beekeeper's Secret

When Tansy Butterfield decides to make contact with an aunt who is estranged from the family she is unaware of the minefield of family secrets that will be unleashed. 

Tansy's aunt, Maria Lindsey, is a former nun now working at Honeybee Haven on the Sunshine Coast where she cares for her bees as well as running a number of projects to raise money to send to an orphanage in Cambodia. She has remained hidden from her family since leaving the nunnery but is aware that all is about to change, especially when she recives a letter concerning an enquiry into the activities of some members of the Catholic Church with whom she once worked.

Since leaving the church Maria has found peace with her hives of bees. Throughout The Beekeeper's Secret by Josephine Moon, the reader learns much about beekeeping and the importance of bees to the environment as Maria learns to trust people again and to enjoy life. meanwhile other members of her family also begin to realise that they must face life's challenges and adapt to change.

The Curlew's Eye

Set on a property south of Darwin in northern Australia, Karen Manton has made the scenery and the weather the major features of  The Curlew's Eye as she tells the story of Joel, Greta and their three sons who have returned to Joel's family property. The plan is to restore old buildings and create a cabin so that the property can be sold and used as tourist accommodation. For the young boys this is an adventure but Greta soon realises that for her husband, not only does returning to the property bring back bad memories but that she knows little of his earlier life.

Coming from southern Australia, Greta has difficulty acclimatising to life in the northern outback, including the extreme weather, the environment, bushfires and being observed by the native curlews. This is complicated further when she tries to discover dynamics between Joel's family members and the real story concerning events in her husband's past. Her experiences on the property also force her to remember and come to accept tragic events in her past. This atmospheric family saga is another welcome addition to Australian fiction.

Lucky's

In 2002 Emily Main arrived in Sydney from London to cover a story for the New Yorker about a chain of Greek Australian restaurants that had operated successfully for many years but now were no more. On her seventh birthday Emily had been given a painting of a Lucky's restaurant and she wanted to know if there had been a connection between the owners of the restaurant chain and her father. She also wanted to investigate why a young man murdered staff and customers in the one remaining Lucky's restaurant in 1994.

The story is told using multiply stories and time frames which can be confusing but eventually began to make sense about half way through the novel. This style allows the reader to understand some of the background of the characters' lives that lead to revealing why events may have occurred and why people reacted the way that they did. 

It is a story about migrants to Australia from Greece but also an American who returned to Australia after World War II. It is the story about generations of families, their relationships and about love. It is also Emily's story as she tries to discover more about her father as well as more about herself and how she wants to really live her life. But mainly it is the story of Vasilis Mallios, known as Lucky, and how he created and lost a chain of restaurants but always had hope that he might find success once more.

The family inheritance

It was Felicity's fiftieth birthday party, The guests had arrived and were admiring the new extensions to the house. Felicity's parents had not yet arrived but that was not unusual as her father was known to be difficult. The guests were getting ready to toast Felicity when disaster struck. Her mother phoned to say that her father was dead ... and that was the end of the party.

In The Family Inheritance Tricia Stringer provides the reader with the story of what turns out to be a dysfunctional family that implodes after the reading of Felicity's father's will. 

The novel largely concentrates on the effects of the will on the lives of Felicity, her daughter, Greta, her mother, Hazel, and Alice, a mystery woman who appears at the funeral. Long held family secrets are finally exposed impacting on the future lives of the family members both financially and emotionally. 

This is therefore a story of the attempts to reunite a family as its members readjust to the drastic changes in their lives and reaccess how their future lives will be lived, forge new friendships and grasp new opportunities.

The Cedar Tree

When Brandon O'Riain, step sister Molly and cousin, Sean flee Ireland in 1864 for a new life in Australia they were unprepared for what the future might bring in this different country. Conflicts between Irish settlers, between  the Irish and the English, between Catholics and Protestants are themes throughout this family saga. 

The story is initially set in the 1860s in Ireland and then in New South Wales where the brothers earn a living cutting cedar in the Richmond Valley. In the 1940s we meet Stella and Joe who try their luck on a sheep property in western New South Wales. When disaster occurs Stella returns to the home of her brother-in-law until she can make new plans. While there she hopes to discover the secret as to the cause of a major rift in family relations.Stubborness is a family trait.

Although a work of fiction a stream of historical facts occur throughout the novel enabling the reader to appreciate another aspect of Australian history and perhaps understand some of the challenges faced by Irish immigrants.

Irish in Australia - https://culturalatlas.sbs.com.au/irish-culture/irish-culture-irish-in-australia