The Godmothers

Although Eliza Miller was brought up in a single parent family she knew that she could always rely on the support of her two godmothers, Olivia and Maxie, even when they were working overseas. Eliza's mother had told her that the truth about her father would be revealed on Eliza's 18th birthday. Unfortunately, Jeanie, Eliza's mother died when when Eliza was 17. Thirteen years later when Eliza visited her godmothers in Edinburgh she decided that it was time to discover the truth about her family.

Set in Australia, Scotland and Ireland The Godmothers by Monica McInerney is a book about relationships, family secrets and the strength to explore new directions.

The Trip of a Lifetime

This is another book by Monica McInerney about Lola Quinlan and her family. We have met members of this family previously in The Alphabet Sisters and Lola's Secret. After living in Australia for more than sixty years Lola decides to visit her home country, Ireland, again and plans to take her granddaughter, Bett, and great-granddaughter, Ellen, with her. Bett has to reorganise family and work commitments to go on this trip of a lifetime but finally agrees while thirteen year old Ellen is excited about the adventure. Bett has previously lived in Ireland but has never visited the area where Lola lived and hopes that the trip will provide answers about Lola's early life. On arrival in Ireland it is soon obvious that Lola is reticent about confronting the memories of her past.

This is a story about family and family secrets. Family jealousies and tensions arise as not everyone is pleased with Lola wanting Bett and Ellen to accompany her. The book also deals with the relationship between Bett and her sister Carrie and the memories they have of Ellen's mother, Anna.

The setting of the book is in the Clare Valley in South Australia as well as in Ireland. In the Valley there is excitement about a television program being shot in their area and the resultant publicity it will mean for local business and tourism. Consequently there are parallel stories for the reader to enjoy.

Those who have read the other titles making up the Lola Quinlan Saga will thoroughly enjoy this sequel but the book can also be enjoyed in its own right. I thoroughly enjoy reading novels by Monica McInerney and this one did not disappoint.

Hello from the Gillespies

The catalyst for this novel is the Christmas letter that Angela Gillespie circulates to a growing circle of friends on 1 December each year. The letter always lists the good times being had by all the family members, however this year has not been a particularly good year and writing a cheery letter is difficult. Instead she writes about how she really feels and what she thinks of family members. Angela never intended sending the email, however when she leaves the computer to attend to a family emergency another family member decides to help her and, without reading the email, presses the Send button.

The novel is about family, especially families functioning under pressure. It is also about communication or more correctly lack of communication between family members. The Gillespie family depends on Angela to keep them functioning but this leaves her with no time to be herself. It is only when she is removed from the family for a time that the other members of this at times dysfunctional family begin to re-evaluate their lives and values. Genealogy research is also forms a sub-plot throughout the book.

I thoroughly enjoyed reading this family saga set in rural South Australia written by Monica McInerney. The Gillespies certainly have their problems but the story of how they individually approach the challenges of life is told with humour and understanding. If nothing else, you will view Christmas emails in a different light. As December approaches I must start thinking about what I will include this year.

As a postscript, the two blank pages midway through the book are there for a purpose.

The house of memories

Monica McInerney is one of those authors that you can rely on for producing an enriching reading experience and her new book lives up to expectations. Although the story is primarily about grief and grieving it is also about love and the strength of families providing support and understanding in time of need. Much of the novel is set in London at the home of Lucas Fox. His niece, Ella O'Hanlon, runs away to London to try and escape the grief of losing a young son in an accident. Through the support of her uncle and her step-brother, Charlie, who lives in Boston, Ella gradually comes to understand her feelings and also how the grief of losing a child affects all family members. Once I started reading this moving book I had to continue reading it as I became involved with the characters and their lives.

Lola's secret

Members of her family have made plans to holiday away from the family motel in the Clare Valley, South Australia, but 84 year old Lola Quinlan decides to spend a quiet Christmas at the motel alone. At least that is what she tells the family. Lola practices her newly acquired computer skills to advertise a special holiday package at the motel. Eight people reply to the ad and part of the book looks at the lives of these people. The rest of the book revolves around Lola's relationships with her family and friends, especially her two grand-daughters Bett and Cassie and their young families.

Lola's secret is a sequel to The Alphabet Sisters first published in 2004. The Alphabet Sisters are Anna, Bett and Carrie Quinlan who, when very young, form a singing group managed by their grandmother, Lola Quinlan. When the girls have a an argument resulting in them not talking to each other for three years their grandmother insists that they all come home to help her celebrate her eightieth birthday. What she does not tell them is her plan to bring the girls together again.

In both books Monica McInerney presents a study of often complex family relationships involving sadness as well as joyous times with Lola Quinlan as the catalyst or motivator for family and community events.

Odd one out

In this short story by Monica McInerney Sylvie feels that she is the odd one out in her artistic family but a holiday in Melbourne helps her to reaccess her life and relationship with family members and also eventually allows her to find love.

The Faraday girls

The complexities of family relationships are examined in this novel by Monica McInerney. The five Faraday girls live with their father, Leo, in Hobart. Tessa, their mother, died when the girls were young but her memory is kept alive in stories told by Leo plus family traditions continued in her memory. Family dynamics change when the youngest sister, Clementine, has a daughter, Maggie, who is consequently brought up by the five sisters and their father.  When Maggie is five her Aunt Sadie takes her on holiday to Melbourne and then decides to disappear from the family taking Maggie with her. Discovered by Leo and Clementine in New South Wales, Maggie is returned safely to her home but her aunt severs all family connections. Maggie is told that her aunt has chosen to join a hippie colony.

Years later, in New York, Maggie is visited by her grandfather who wants her to change her decision about not attending a family gathering in Ireland. He asks Maggie to read the diaries kept by her grandmother to try and determine the initial reason that caused Sadie to leave the family as Sadie was the only family member to have previously read the diaries. Maggie agrees and on that holiday visit discovers many of the family secrets that had long been hidden and the fragility of family bonds. She also discovers herself and how she wants to live her life as an individual, not as one segment of a family.

Family baggage

The television detective program, Willoughby, is the theme for a tour of part of Devon and Cornwall by a group of Australians. Harriet Turner agrees to be a leader with Lara of the group of Willoughby fans at short notice when her brother is unable to travel to England to lead the tour. When Lara fails to meet the group at the airport Harriet is left in charge and needs to take a crash course in the events portrayed in the television series as well as looking after a group of elderly guests of Turner Tours and the star of the programs, Patrick Shawcross.

As well as following the challenges of managing the tour group the book, by Monica McInerney, delves into family relationships complicated by secrets that have been hidden for too long.

Upside down inside out

When Eva Kennedy has the chance to visit her friend Lainey in Australia she does not realise how much this holiday will change her life. Eva exchanged studies at Art School and singing with a cover band  to work in her Uncle's Dublin delicatessen. Before leaving for Australia her uncle told of his plans to retire and that he wanted her to take over the business. She could think about it on her holidays. Joseph Wheeler, a successful London designer and businessman, is also in Australia to attend a conference followed by a holiday. His life is also dramatically changed by his Australian adventure.

Lainey decides to boost her friend's self esteem by creating a new identity for her when they attend a party but the story grows and Eva is left wondering if people accept her because of who she is or because of who people think she is. When Joe is mistaken as a backpacker he also lets the story run. As the relationship between Eva and Joe develops, when and how should the truth be disclosed?

Monica McInerney has written an amusing story of love and honesty and the need for discovering the what a person really wants to do with their life.

The look is separate from but connected to two other books by Monica McInerney - A taste for it when the Eva and Joe visit the Lorikeet Winery and Spin the bottle (Greetings from somewhere else) where the story of Lainey, Adam, Eva and Joe continues.

A taste for it

Chef, Maura Carmody, spends a month in Ireland promoting Australian wine and Australian food. The trials and tribulations of the trip are recounted in this romantic comedy, Monica McInerney's first book. An enjoyable read.

Greetings from somewhere else

The book, by Monica McInerney, was published with the title, Spin the bottle, in the UK and as Greetings from somewhere else in the USA, just to confuse readers.

Lainey Byrne is an events manager used to organising people including her family and friends. When her Aunt May dies leaving the family a bed and breakfast establishment in Ireland the family is thrilled until they realise that a family member from Australia must live at the house in Ireland for 12 months before the building can be sold. Lainey is the designated family member to leave her job and boyfriend, Adam, in order for the family to claim their inheritance.

In Ireland she meets Rohan an old school friend who had been injured when when playing Spin the Bottle when they were teenagers. Rohan assists her in her new endeavours. Lainey must not only re-establish the run down business left to her by her aunt but also resolve her feelings regarding Rohan and Adam. Her Irish friends, Eva and Joseph, also help her but as she faces new challenges Lainey begins to understand herself better and during her excile gradually learns that other people also need to have the opportunity to make decisions.

At home with the Templetons

Monica McInerney is an Australian author married to an Irishman and the setting for her books often involve those two countries. The action in this novel initially occurs outside Castlemaine in Victoria before characters move to other countries including England. In this family drama the Templeton family move to Victoria from England to claim a family home that they name Tempeton Hall and open regularly to the public. But who the Templetons really are and why they suddenly appeared in Australia is gradually revealed via the interaction of family members and also with their relationship with neighbour, Nina Donovan, and her son Tom. This really is a book about relationships within families as well as the relationship between Gracie Templeton and Tom Donovan.

Readers who enjoy the stories of Maeve Binchy and Di Morrissey will enjoy this book. I certainly plan to read more books by Monica McInerney.