Alligator & other stories

Each year in the James Tait Black award shortlist for fiction a book of short stories is included. The title this year is Alligator & Other Stories by Dima Alzayat. The author was born in Syria, lived in the USA and now lives in the UK.

The nine stories in the book reflect an aspect of Syrian life and culture and / or what it is like to be different in another country. The stories are told by different people and a variety of writing styles are used to suit the content of the story.

As an example  Alligator, the longest of the stories, is a tale of racial intolerance in an American town, formerly known as Alligator, in Florida. Several stories are interwoven with the main one being the lynching of Syrian settlers in 1929. The story is revealed using a number of devices including newspaper articles and interviews from different time periods.

Once We Were Syrians involves the writing of an essay for school about the Syrian Refugee Crisis including comment on recent history of Syrian, especially the effect on refugees forced to relocate to another country. The speaker in this story is an older lady who is being interviewed by her great niece, though the girl's questions are not provided. The completed essay ends the story.

Ghusl describes the preparation of a body for burial in Syria, normally a ritual undertaken by men but in this case by a woman tenderly caring for her brother's body.

Other stories include:

• Disappearance - when a child disappears from the streets of New York, a mother fears for the safety of her own sons, restricting them to their appartment block. Then one disappears.
  
• Only Those who Struggle Succeed is centred around an event at an office Christmas party and the affects of that event on the life of a female employee as she tries to rise up the corporate ladder .
  
• Summer of the Shark concerns a group working in a call centre in America when disaster strikes in New York on September 11, 2001.
  
• A Girl in Three Acts tells the story of a young girl trying to adapt to a new life after the death of her parents
  

Bad Debts

Bad Debts is the first book by Peter Temple featuring Jack Irish, a former criminal lawyer who had taken a break from the law courts after the murder of his wife, Isabelle, some years previously. When he is contacted by Danny McKillop, a former client, who wants to talk with him, Jack's life becomes complicated as he tries to unravel what really happened all those years ago. That there has been a cover-up there can be no denial, but who is actually telling the truth and who can he trust. 

During the investigation he teams up with a journalist, Linda Hillier, and while they work on the case it becomes obvious that their lives are in danger, especially as possible witnesses are ending up dead. It soon becomes obvious that corruption has and is still occuring within the police and parts of government, 

Bad Debts is set in Melbourne and surrounding areas in the state. Fitzroy, Collingwood and Clifton Hill are some of the suburbs where action takes place. Jack also assists race horse enthusiast and friend, Harry Strang, with some of his racing ventures and in his spare time works with Charlie Taub who crafts fine furniture. He also frequents the Prince of Prussia Hotel, keeping in contact with three elderly gentlemen, great fans of the Fitzroy Football Club - a team in a bit of a slump.

 This book is a really good read.

'Hard boiled hero, Jack Irish, lives and drinks in a shadowy Melbourne' - NPR July 1, 2014

The Deep

Black Wind at morning, 

Sailors take warning 

Black Wind at night,

Death is in sight.

The Deep by Kyle Perry is another atmospheric crime novel set in Tasmania. The plot in his first novel, The Bluffs, was located in the mountains in the north of the island however this novel is set in Shacktown, a small settlement on the coast surrounded by steep cliffs on the Tasman Penninsula south east of Hobart. Whether the fishing boats can go to sea is dependent on weather conditions, especially the Black Wind which can suddenly appear making the waters in the bay treacherous. 

The Dempsey family runs the local abolone plant, the main industry in the area, and is therefore well known in the town. Life changes for family members when a teenage boy emerges from the sea, claiming to be Forest Dempsey who disappreared with his parents seven years earlier. Shortly afterwards the boy's uncle disappears, believed to be drowned. The Demsey family business is also a front for The Business, the local drug industry and it is feared that another drug lord plans to move into the area.

The plot  is revealed via the actions of three characters, Forest, Ahab Dempsey - a family member who has severed his allegience to the family, and Mackerel (MacKenzie or Mack) who is on bail expecting to return to gaol on drug related charges and who has no wish to be further associated with drugs.

As secrets from the past are gradually revealed the dangers to the survival of the family business and members of this dysfunctional family increase, especially as it is obvious that many people are not telling the truth or only revealing a slither of information. There are many twists and turns in the plot as the story heads to the dramatic climax. Nature plays a dramatic role in the novel, particularly when the story is reaching its conclusion.

Happy Hour

People cope with grief in different ways. Sixty-five year old Franny Calderwood lives in Cheltenham, a  Melbourne suburb. It is three years since her husband, Frank, was killed when out riding his bicycle and grief stricken Franny has cut herself off from family and friends. She has even had a security gate erected so that she can control who enters her property. Her companions are her dogs, Whisky and Soda, and photos of Frank displayed in each room of the house so that she can talk to him and discuss her problems. Franny also likes a drink or two or maybe three, hence the title of the book, Happy Hour.

Franny's life, however, changes when the Salferno family moves next door. Gradually Franny meets members of this family - teenager Dee, eight year old Josh and their mother Sallyanne. They are attempting to start a new life after the breakdown of Sallyanne's marriage. Although Fran is determined not to become involved with the new family next door she gradually befriends members of the family, although misunderstandings can complicate the possibilities of forming true relationships. 

Franny has spent three years living independently, cutting herself off from the outside world. It therefore is an effort for her to realise that this is not the life that Frank would have wanted her to have when he was no longer able to be with her.

Happy Hour by Jacquie Byron is a heart warming, sensitive and amusing account of the life of an older woman dealing with grief and her attempts, with the help of family and friends, to eventually decide how she would really like to spend the rest of her life.

Many thanks to Better Reading and Allen and Unwin for a proof copy of this book to review. Happy Hour was a great story to read and enjoy, especially during another COVID-19 lockdown. #BRPreview

The Pick-up

 

Last year I read the first book in this series, The Drop-off, recounting the relationships between a group of parents who regularly meet when dropping off their children at school each morning.  Time has passed and, as some of the parents can no longer stay for a chat in the morning, it is decided that they will meet for a chat at school pick-up instead.

Set in Melbourne, we once again meet Lizzie, Sam, Megan and Dave and learn more of the complications occuring in their lives. Lizzie, a midwife, is looking after four children while who husband works in Sydney for six months, Sam is looking for a new relationship and also exploring new career options, Megan is also re-evaluating her life while Dave is Dave. Megan is also involved in helping organise the grade five-six camp and convinces her friends that they should also go.

The Pick-up written by Fiona Harris and Mike McLeish provides an amusing expose of a collection of often chaotic relationships held together by mutual friendship. They may have their differences from time to time but the members of this group will always be there to support each other in times of need.

Good Indian Daughter

When Ruhi became pregnant she was worried when she discovered that she was to be the mother of a daughter. Born in India but brought to Melbourne, Australia, as a young child, Ruhi had felt trapped between two cultures and the need to conform to her parents' demands and expectations. She knew that she could never be described as a traditional 'Good Indian Daughter' and certainly did not want any daughter of hers to encounter the type of unbringing she had faced.

Issues discussed include bullying, abuse, religion, body image, depression and racism, yet throughout the book there is often humour as Ruhi describes family encounters and the challenges of living in two cultures. As the arrival of her daughter approaches Ruhi and her non-Indian husband set their own rules for family involvement and expectations in the bringing up and nurturing of their child. Needless to say the author uses a pseudonym, Ruhi Lee, when writing Good Indian Daughter to protect her family.

Having recently read The First Woman by Jennifer Nansubuga Makumbi similar issues regarding attitudes to women in some cultures - in these books Uganda and India - are portrayed.

The Seagull

When Vera is sent to the local prison to give a talk to a group of prisoners she is approached by one of the inmates who says that he has information that he will give her if she checks up on his daughter. Former police officer, John Brace tells Vera about the body of Robbie Marshall that he placed in a drainage pipe at Whitley Bay twenty years previously. However when the body is recovered it is revealed that there are two bodies in the drainage pipe.

Investigating this cold case reveals much information about Whiley Bay's past history, particlarly the former club, The Seagull, destroyed in a fire many years previously. References to The Gang of Four  - John Brace, Robbie Marshall, Hector Stanhope plus someone referred to as 'The Prof'. - occur during the case and Vera knows that finding out the identity of the Prof will help in solving the mystery. Then another body connected with the case is discovered. Many of the key players living in the town when the bodies were placed in the drainage pipe are still around but are reluctant to talk and Vera is dubious that she can always trust the information available.

The Seagull by Ann Cleeves is no. 8 in the Vera Stanhope series. It was the basis for episode 4 series 9 in the Vera television series.