Head to the Hills

Set in the peaceful Adelaide Hills, Head for the Hills by Tricia Stringer is the story of a community that is disrupted when it is proposed to build a hotel on the outskirts of the town. Opinion in the town is divided as to whether this proposal will benefit or harm the community.

Margot is definitely against the project and organises meetings and a petition to support the case of those who oppose the new project. Meanwhile her sister, Roslyn, has been given the task of ensuring that the wishes of the previous owner of the land on which the hotel is to be built are carried out. Gunther wanted money from the sale of the property to be used to assist those in need in the community. Then Amber arrived in the town escaping from domestic violence.

The story, told from the viewpoint of the three women, examines how communities and families can be split over an issue. Over time many in the community alter their minds about the issue, while others remain firm in their original decision.

Towards the end of the book Roslyn remarks to Amber that "Sisters can be complicated". Head for the Hills demonstrates that communities and families in general are also complicated and that relationships that appear strong can be fragile. How can community spirit and family cohesion be restored?

Tricia Stringer has written another thought-provoking book examining family relationships and the dynamics that make a community. Many thanks to Better Reading and H Q Fiction for a preview copy of this book.

Keeping up appearances

Badara in South Australia is the small country town that Paige decides to retreat to with her three children. Paige soon discovers that it is not possible to remain anonymous in a small community where everyone seems to know everyone else's business. However in time she realises that generally kindness and concern, not interference, is usually behind the help offered by some community members. Eventually Paige comes to the conclusion that she should accept the offers of help as gifts of  friendship. 

It soon becomes obvious that there are many secrets in the town and, especially for some of the older ladies, these secrets are kept in order to keep up appearances. As well as the challenges faced by Paige living as a single parent looking after three children on a small income, the reader learns of secrets governing the lives of other members of the community including Briony, Marion and Sarah.

Social issues such as teenage pregnancy, children in same family with different fathers, homosexuality, drug addiction and problems of what is to become of family farms if the younger generation is not interested in taking on the property are some of the issues occurring in the novel Keeping up Appearances by Tricia Stringer. Overall this is a story of community spirit, hope, gradual understanding and acceptance of change and forgiveness.

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 Model Wife

Early in her marriage Natalie's mother-in-law had given her a small book, written in 1928, entitled The Model Wife.  This book became an annotated guide to marriage but also a diary of significant events in the life of the family.

Natalie King married Milt almost thirty-five years ago and during that time has endeavoured to be an ideal wife devoting herself to her family as well as assisting to run the family property. She also continued to teach part-time at the local primary school but after facing a medical emergency she realises that not only has she lost her identity she has also lost faith in her marriage. Natalie needs time out from the family routine and, when her husband says he is too busy to go on holiday with her, she decides to go alone.

Author, Tricia Stringer, has set the location for the novel on a property in South Australia and also in the town of Broome and its surrounding area in Western Australia. The book deals not only with the relationship between Natalie and Milt but also examines individual decisions facing the couple's three adult daughters.

Readers who enjoy reading the books of Monica McInerney and Maeve Binchy should enjoy this book.