The End of Cuthbert Close…
About the Book:
From bestselling author Cassie Hamer, comes a hilarious tale of warring neighbours in Australian suburbia, with a mystery at its heart.
You can choose your friends, but you can’t choose your neighbours. (Trad. proverb, origin: Australian suburbia)
Food stylist Cara, corporate lawyer Alex and stay-at-home mum Beth couldn’t be more different. If it wasn’t for the fact they live next door to each other in Cuthbert Close, they’d never have met and bonded over Bundt cake. The Close is an oasis of calm and kindness. The kind of street where kids play cricket together and neighbours pitch in each year for an end of summer party.
But no one’s told Charlie Devine, glamorous wife of online lifestyle guru, The Primal Guy. When she roars straight into the party with her huge removal truck and her teenage daughter with no care or regard for decades-old tradition, the guacamole really hits the fan.
Cara thinks the family just needs time to get used to the village-like atmosphere. Beth wants to give them home cooked meals to help them settle in. Alex, says it’s an act of war. But which one of them is right? Dead guinea pigs, cruelly discarded quiches, missing jewellery, commercial sabotage and errant husbands are just the beginning of a train of disturbing and rapidly escalating events that lead to a shocking climax.
When the truth comes out, will it be the end of Cuthbert Close?
My Thoughts:
Well this was a nice slice of escapism! Fans of Liane Moriarty and Sally Hepworth will revel in this suburban contemporary tale of neighbourly intrigue and backyard betrayal.
Cassie Hamer explores many issues relating to marriage, parenthood, and work-life balance within her latest release. Each of the main characters have something big going on in their own lives, but playing out in the background is a mystery involving their new neighbour: Charlie Devine, a woman who seems to be intent on not fitting in with the Cuthbert Closers, right from the get-go.
There is plenty going on within this story to keep you intrigued and entertained. Cassie Hamer has a sharp sense of humour that often had me laughing out loud for the duration. If you’re looking for something to just sit back and relax with while social distancing, I can recommend The End of Cuthbert Close as a good choice for your next read.
‘When it came to passive aggression, Alex had a particularly highly tuned antenna. There were only two things that threw it out. One of them was Botox, and the other was genuine sincerity, which Alex found very difficult to pick, mostly because it was so rare.’
☕☕☕
Thanks is extended to HarperCollins Publishers Australia for providing me with a copy of The End of Cuthbert Close for review.
About the Author:
Cassie Hamer has a professional background in journalism and PR, but now much prefers the world of fiction over fact. In 2015, she completed a Masters in Creative Writing, and has since achieved success in numerous short story competitions. Her debut novel, After the Party, was published in 2019. Cassie lives in Sydney with her terrific husband, three mostly terrific daughters, and a labradoodle, Charlie, who is the newest and least demanding addition to the family. In between making school lunches and walking the dog, Cassie is also working on her next novel, but she always has time to connect (or procrastinate) with other passionate readers via her website – CassieHamer.com – or through social media. You can follow her on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.
The End of Cuthbert Close
Published by HQ Fiction – AU
Released 23rd March 2020
Theresa Smith Writes 
In Britain, this kind of writing is called Aga Sagas, after those expensive ovens that middle class people have in their houses. I think that domestic escapism in modern suburbia is a good antidote to all those gritty inner-city drug and alcohol-laden novels written by people who’ve never ventured beyond the invisible frontier of their postcode.
About ten years after I’d ventured very happily to my patch of suburbia, our council invited opinion about what they should do with the old town hall. They were hoping for resounding approval to demolish it, but thanks to a spirited campaign led by The Spouse (who used to be mayor of an inner-city suburb and knew how things worked) it’s now been re-purposed as an arts centre. But not before one of councillors said ‘There aren’t any artists/ writers/musicians etc in our suburb’. He said this (in council) when looking at me (a published author) and The Spouse (whose 11-piece jazz orchestra practised in our sitting-room (to the delight of our neighbours).
So I think we need to speak up for suburbia, it is, after all, where most of us, very contentedly, live.
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I’d definitely prefer an Aga Saga to the other, any day! I’m a bit hot and cold with contemporary fiction but suburbia does offer a wealth of material and I usually enjoy these sorts of novels.
What a great outcome for your town hall! I had a chuckle at what you said regarding no artists while looking at you both. I’m picturing all sorts of challenges to that sort of public comment! 😄
If the jazz orchestra was good, then it might have been welcomed by the neighbours! Certainly not under the radar though…no artists!!
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https://www.facebook.com/photo?fbid=143169892485041&set=a.143169889151708
That’s the Spouse with the trombone. They were Melbourne’s top society orchestra, released three CDs, were played on ABC radio and Qantas flights and played at top society do’s and fundraisers. They still play his arrangements but under a different leader now with a slightly different line up. See Australian Cotton Club Orchestra/ on Facebook and you can hear them playing at a gig. (You can still buy the CDs at iTunes.)
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My eldest son (the one with glandular fever) played trombone for several years. He’s sadly given it up in recent years.
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Well, you never know, he might take it up again. The Spouse played in his teens and then did other things, then came back to it, in his 30s, I think…
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I’ll keep hoping then!
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This does sound like fun, but I haven’t been blown away by Liane Moriarty yet, and still need to read Sally Hepworth. Maybe I should skip the comparitive touchstones and try the book.
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Yes, it is a fun read but not one that will blow you away. More low key entertain.
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