The Marriage Portrait

Tradition in wealthy Renaissance families was that shortly after the wedding a portrait should be made of the bride. The Duke of Ferrara arranges for a well known painter to make such a portrait of his new wife. Fifteen year old Lucrezia di Cosimo had married Alfonso II d'Este, Duke of Ferrara, in 1560 and left her family in Florence to live in Ferrara. She was allowed to take Emilia with her as her maid. Lucrezia loves to draw and paint and also explore the world outside her home but she soon discovers that she is expected to remain inside. Her main role as Alfonzo's wife is to produce a son and heir for the family. It is not long before Lucrenzia discovers that there are two sides to her new husband - one charming and caring; the other sinister and cruel. She also learns that she must not disobey her husband. A year after her marriage, Lucrezia begins to fear that her husband plans to murder her.

The Marriage Portrait by Maggie O'Farrell is a work of fiction loosely based on the true relationship between Lucrezia di Cosimo and Alfonzo II D'Este. A year after their marriage Lucrezia was found dead and her husband was suspected of murdering her. In this novel the author paints a graphic picture of the life of young women brought up in ruling families during the Renaissance.

This was a Monash University Alumni Book Club book in 2023.

The Three Lives of Alix St Pierre

In 1943 Alix St Pierre is recruited to join the OSS (Office of Strategic Services), an American intelligence agency. She is sent to Bern in Switzland from where she works with partisan groups in Italy. Alix is American but spent a year at finishing school in Switzerland before returning home to work in advertising agencies. Her parents died when she was thirteen so she has had to learn to be independent to survive. She is also fluent in several European languages which is why she was appointed to the position in Bern.

Then one of the operations she was supervising was sabotaged resulting in the deaths of all but one of the men taking part in the secret mission. Years later Alix is still trying to come to terms with this disaster and her part in it.

In 1946 Alix works in Paris for Christian Dior, publicising his first fashion collection. She has become aware that she is being followed as events from the past haunt her again. In order to live a 'normal' life she must learn to trust again and accept help from others. Only then can she decide her future.

In The Three Lives of Alix St Pierre Natasha Lester has written another work of historical fiction set during World War II. Although a work of fiction much of the story is based on fact. This is explained by the author in the notes at the end of the book. Fashion again features strongly, especially descriptions of some of the dresses in Dior's first collection in February 1947.

Relationships is a dominant theme throughout the book, particularly power generally granted to men over women in their ordinary lives. Alix knows that this is not how she wants to live. Once again Natasha Lester has written another thought provoking historical novel set during the Second World War.

The Bullet that Missed

This book arrived at the library the day before we were to set out for the National Over-70s Cricket Championships in Launceston. A book set in a retirement village with a group of older characters solving cold cases and preventing murders was the perfect book to take on such a holiday.

The Bullet that Missed is the third book in the the Thursday Murder Club mystery series by by Richard Osman. Once again Elizabeth, Joyce, Ron and Ibrahim investigate a cold case - a ten year old mystery  into what happenened to television journalist, Bethany Waites, whose body was never found after her car was found in the sea at the bottom of a cliff. 

But Elizabeth and her fiends are also in danger from another source. Elizabeth has been receiving mysterious, threatening messages. She is later instructed to kill a specific target or be killed. How can she protect her friends?

The four members of the Thursday Murder Club recruit additional helpers to assist them in their investigations. Meanwhile romance is in the air for Donna and Bogdan and between Pauline and Ron. This book is another enjoyable, amusing addition to the Thursday Murder Club series.

A Keeper

Elizabeth Keane returns to Ireland after the death of her mother, primarily to check on the family home which will need to be sold. But when she discovers a box of letters in a box in her mother's wardrobe, Elizabeth becomes aware that her past may be very different from what she has been told. Then the family solicitor asks her to come and see him about a codicil in her mother's will. Elizabeth realises that while she is in Ireland she needs to investigate her family story. Alternate sections of the book provide the backgound to Patricia Keene's story.

A Keeper By Graham Norton is largely about relationships and the effect that grief can have on a family. Norton also explores how parents being over protective of their children can lead to unforseen consequences.

Botany Bay the story of the convicts transported from Ireland to Australia 1791-1853

Around 45,000 Irish convicts were transported to Australia between 1791 and 1853. Most of them were transported in the 212 convict ships which sailed mainly from Dublin or Cork. In Botany Bay, Con Costello provides some of the background to the story of these Irish convicts - what were the conditions in Ireland at the time, trial of prisoners, imprisonment and transportation and what the convicts could expect in their new land. My special interest is in the convicts involved in the 1798 uprising in Ireland which is covered in chapter 2.

The Tilt

Cadell Tilt is a mysterious place. Nell Buchanan returns to her home town on the Murray River when a skeleton is discovered after a river regulator has been breached. This is obviously not a recent death and the chances of solving the case is not great. However, as Nell and Ivan Lucic investigate they uncover crimes dating back to the Second World War when the area was a camp for Italian Prisoners of War. More bodies are discovered, possibly from different time periods. 

As Nell investigates she learns more about her family. She also begins to supect that family members may have been involved in the mysterious deaths. This is not just an investigation of past crimes. During the investigation, Nell inadvertently discovers that another crime is being planned in the area.

The telling of the story alternates time periods from the present day, 1973 and events that occurred in the early 1940s. It covers several generations with members of the families still living in the area. It becomes apparent that there have been cover-ups but why?

The Tilt by Chris Hammer is an absorbing Aussie Noir crime novel. This is one book that once you start reading it you will want to continue reading to the end of the novel. There is also a family tree at the end of the book if you want to check the interconnections of the characters in the story. I really enjoyed reading this book.

Books by Chris Hammer in this blog.

Shortlisted for the 2023 Australian Book Industry Awards - General Fiction

In the Midst of Winter

It is the middle of a very cold winter in New York when Richard Bowmaster's car runs into the car in front of him. He gives his details to the young driver and goes home. Later Evelyn Ortega appears at his house asking for help. She speaks little English so Richard calls a neighbour, Lucia Maraz, who speaks Spanish to asist him when communicating with Evelyn.

In the Midst of Winter by Isabel Allende tells the stories of the lives of these three different people and how they came to be in New York that winter. The reader learns of the former lives of the characters as Richard and Lucia seek ways of assisting Evelyn who borrowed her employer's car without permission and then found a body in the boot.

Isabel Allended began writing the novel in 2015 when Donald Trump was promising to build a wall to prevent illegal entry into the USA from countries to the south. Evelyn is an illegal immigrant and much of the book deals with her experiences - why she was forced to leave her country and the challenges that she faced into getting in America. Lucia also left South America looking for a new life while Richard had lived in South America for many years before returning north. This book is primarily a moving story about people who are attempting to escape danger and tragedy to rebuild their lives.