Dinner with the Schnabels

Simon Larson is depressed and blames his family's current situation on himself. Before the COVID-19 pandemic he was a successful architect with his own business, his family lived in a fancy house, they had two expensive cars and the children went to private schools. After he became bankrupt all this was lost and they now rented a two bedroom flat, did not have a car and the children go to the local school. Simon did not have a job and his wife, Tansy works full-time to support the family. Simon has no energy and no friends. Things have to change.

Dinner with the Schnabels by Toni Jordan is a usually amusing story about complicated family relationships. The Larsens live in a Melbourne suburb and Tansy's extended family, the Schnabels, live close by. Simon's father-in-law died during the pandemic and his mother-in-law decides to organise a gathering for family and friends to remember him once restrictions are reduced. This is depite Gloria and David divorcing many years ago and David marrying again and having another daughter who meets her extended family for the first time when comes to Melbourne for the memorial ceremony.

A friend offers to allow the family to hold the service in his back yard but first it must have a makeover and Simon has one week to do it. Of course, other family matters intervene as Simon struggles to meet the deadline. The experience of that week, however, allows Simon to re-evaluate his life and to plan for a happier future for himself and his family.

Nine days

A photograph in the Argus Archives at the State Library of Victoria inspired Toni Jordan to write the novel Nine Days. Each of the chapters recounts one day in the life of a member of a family living in Richmond from the late 1930s until recent times. Although not in chronological order, collectively the individual stories tell the story of Kip and his family. The challenges of poorer families struggling to survive in the inner suburbs of Melbourne before, during and immediately after World War II are a focus of the book. The importance of objects in maintaining memories is shown via a one shilling coin that Kip was given when he was 13, a common thread in the stories, and a photograph of Kips's sister discovered many years after her death. This is a story of family life and love, often during challenging times.

The author acknowledges two non-fiction books that she read when resourcing background information for the book - On the home front by Kate Darien-Smith, an account of life in Australia during the Second World War, and Struggletown by Janet McCalman, a story of life in Richmond from 1900 to the 1960s. Both of these books are also worth reading.

Fallgirl

Dr Ella Canfield attends an important interview to secure funding to investigate possible sitings of Tasmanian tigers (an animal thought to be extinct) at Wilson Promontory. The person responsible for the money is Daniel Metcalfe. The interview has many ups and downs making it doubtful that the funding will be made available especially when Daniel says he wants to meet her at the university to learn more about her proposal. This introduces the first twist of the novel as we learn that Ella is really Della, a member of a family of con artists or grifters who make a living of persuading people to part with their money funding dubious projects. Della's father has a set of rules that family members are expected to follow when targeting a mark and Della, with the assistance of family members works hard to overcome the many obstacles that Daniel presents in order for her to obtain the goal. However as the story progresses she realises that there is more to Daniel Metcalfe than she initially thought and she needs to find our more about him. Fallgirl by Toni Jordan is a clever romantic comedy containing a number of twists in the plot involving a family of out of the ordinary characters with their own moral code.