After Oscar: the legacy of a scandal

After Oscar: the legacy of a scandal is a detailed study of the attitude of scholars and the public to Oscar Wilde and his works after his death in 1900. The book is written by Oscar Wilde's grandson, Merlin Holland, in order to refute the myths that surround the life and work of Oscar Wilde. Oscar Wild's mother changed the family name for herself and her to sons to Holland to protect them from public view. The book examines what life is like living in the shadow of an infamous writer and the difficulties encountered when your family story encounters fantasy created by other people.

Sections of the book include the time-frame 1897 when Wilde was released from prison until his death in 1900, then 1900-1918, 1918-1945, 1945-1967 and 1968-2024. The theme of society's attitudes to homosexuality over this period is outlined. The author looks at how his grandfather has been portrayed in the writing of others as well as in film. It is a long detailed work which I only looked at briefly, largely through lack of time to read it properly. There are detailed footnotes, bibliography and index as well as a section of photographs.

Mad Mabel

At 81 Elsie Fitzpatrick lives in her own home in a quiet lane in a Melbourne inner suburb. Elsie lives a quiet life but that is about to change when an elderly neighbour suddenly dies and Elsie discovers his body. We then learn that Elsie has a past which she has been hiding but, when events bring the stories of this past to the surface, the stories of Mad Mabel resurface and begin to haunt her again.

Mad Mabel by Sally Hepworth is Elsie's story of the past as well as the present day. As stories about Elsie's past begin to explode she decides to tell her story to two podcasters, Libby and Adeem, who arrive on her doorstep one day. Elsie decides that it is time that the truth about her past should be revealed.

Mad Mabel is a novel about relationships, especially the relationship that gradually develops between Elsie and her seven year old neighbour, Persephone. She also reluctantly adopts the dog of the neighbour who died or the dog adopts her. Those neighbours who initially shunned Elsie, due primarily to incorrect stories they have heard, come to realise her strengths and humanity.

The Drowning

CC was an only child and her best memories were the holidays she spent as a child with her cousins at a holiday house on the Victorian coast. A reunion of the cousins has been organised at The Shack to discuss the wills left by the cousins' father and grandfather. Although CC knows that she is to be a co-owner of the holiday house she does not expect the animosity shown to her by most of the cousins when the decision is official.

The Drowning by Fiona Lowe is about the complex relationships in a dysfunctional family. CC soon realises that some of the family object to her inclusion in the partnership and will work to have the legal decision over-ruled. She also discovers that involvement in this family is not what she had imagined as a child. As events unfold, CC realises that she needs help to sort out the complexities of her life and to work out who her friends really are and how she wants to lead her life. 

The Prospect

The Prospect by Fleur McDonald is her first crime novel set in Kalgoorlie. A journalist, Zara Ellison, and policeman, Jack Higgins have moved to Kalgoorlie from Adelaide as Zara has a job at the local newspaper. Jack has had to do additional training and work as a constable rather than the position of detective that he held in Adelaide, however shortly after his arrival in Kalgoorlie he is asked to join the detectives working on a new case. Jack and Zara both have to adapt to working  and living in a gold mining town. Meanwhile the newspaper where she is working is about to close down although Zara is certain that there are lots of stories in town to investigate.  

On an isolated stretch of road out of town, a car towing a caravan is forced off the road and the two occupants are found dead. Zara is the first person on the scene and is determined to find out what happened. Jack, of course, is also working on the case but is unable to provide her with any information. She therefore has to make her own investigations. Unfortunately these investigations pose a risk to her life.

An exciting well written crime novel embroiled in outback Western Australia.

The Missing

During Missing Persons Week sixteen year old Max Galbraith disappears from his home in Kalgoorlie. Twelve months earlier Brendan Cook had also disappeared and was still missing. Lily Carter, a radio host, starts asking questions about the disappearances on her program.

Detective Jack Higgins has remained in Kalgoorlie while his partner Zara Ellison returned to Adelaide to recover from injuries she received when investigating a story. Jack has yet to decide what his future will be. Detective Sergeant Angie Sullivan has recently arrived in Kalgoorlie from Perth and is adjusting to her new environment. Angie and Jack combine forces to find out what happened to the missing boys. Did the boys leave of their own accord or were they abducted? Surrounded by desert and mine shafts, the boys could be anywhere. Then Bree also disappears.

The Missing by Fleur McDonald is the second book she has set in Kalgoorlie and like The Prospect and The Witness, there are graphic descriptions of Kalgoorlie and the surrounding area. The personal lives and challenges faced by the characters are important features of the books. In The Missing the life and challenges faced by Smurf, a Vietnam veteran, are important to the novel.

The Witness

When she was five, Molly Walker watched the murder of her mother, Constable Sammi Walker, in Newcastle. Twenty years later the bodies of Eric and Iris, who had adopted Molly many years previously, were found in a wrecked car on a lonely country road near Kalgoorlie. Is there a connection or is it just coincidence? Detective Jack Higgins is put in charge of the investigation and is assisted by Detective Angie Sullivan, although she is officially on maternity leave, plus other members of his team. 

As well as being a crime novel, the book looks at the challenges faced by young mothers looking after their baby, especially when the baby has sleep issues at night.  

The Witness by Fleur McDonald started slowly but improved as the investigation progressed, though I worked out the name of the person behind the deaths early in the book. This is the third book by Fleur McDonald set in the area around Kalgoorlie. 

The Wartime Book Club

During World War Two Germany invaded the Channel Islands including Jersey which is where Kate Thompson has set her historical fiction novel, The Wartime Book Club. Grace is determined to keep the library on the island open as reading books is one of the few avenues of escape for the residents of the island. Many people visit the library to read and or borrow books and Grace also regularly cycles to parts of the island delivering books to those who cannot easily visit the library themselves. Then the suggestion is made that Grace should establish a book club in the library. 

Grace's friend, Bea, works at the post office where she sorts the mail and makes deliveries each day. Through her job she becomes aware that the mail service is being used by some inhabitants of the island to report the possible misdemeanors of neighbours to the Germans. This is just one way some islanders place the lives of their neighbours in danger.

As the war drags on, life becomes more difficult for the locals living on an island where there are severe food shortages and their every move is watched by an enemy who becomes increasingly dangerous with the realisation that defeat is around the corner. 

The Wartime Book Club is one of several novels written about life on the Channel Islands during the Second World War. Other books include The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows, Dancing with the Enemy by Diane Armstrong and The Girl from the Channel Islands by Jenny Lecoat. At the end of the novel Kate Thomson includes information about the sources used when writing the book plus events and people who inspired the creation of The Wartime Book Club.