About the Book: Gordon Parker is an eager eighteen-year-old Australian boy desperate to fight for his country, and Nobuko 'Cherry' Sakuramoto is a sixteen-year-old girl struggling to survive in Japan in the aftermath of World War II. But when they fall in love, they change the course of history. When Gordon arrives in Japan, he … Continue reading Book Review: At The Foot of The Cherry Tree by Alli Parker
Month: Jun 2024
Book Review: The Concierge by Abby Corson
About the Book: I suppose it would be fitting to explain that I am talking into a dictaphone and the lovely Helen will be typing out my story for you to read. She will have a certain amount of creative control—sorting out moments when I get a bit tongue-tied or slightly muddled—but I have told … Continue reading Book Review: The Concierge by Abby Corson
Book Review: The Lonely Hearts Book Club by Lucy Gilmore
About the Book: Sloane Parker lives a small, contained life as a librarian in her small, contained town. She never thinks of herself as lonely...but still she looks forward to that time every day when old curmudgeon Arthur McLachlan comes to browse the shelves and cheerfully insult her. Their sparring is such a highlight of … Continue reading Book Review: The Lonely Hearts Book Club by Lucy Gilmore
Book Review: Edenhope by Louise Le Nay
About the Book: Marnie is sixty-three and downwardly mobile. Her middle-class marriage is long gone, her only child more or less estranged. She’s living in a granny flat behind a stranger’s house. Still, things could be worse. She likes her new boss, Trinh, and her flat has a leadlight window depicting a galleon in full … Continue reading Book Review: Edenhope by Louise Le Nay
Book Review: Backwaters by Emma Ling Sidnam #AYearofNZLit
About the Book: Winner, Michael Gifkins Prize, New Zealand, 2022 Laura is tired of being asked where she’s really from. Her family has lived in Aotearoa New Zealand for four generations, and she’s ambivalent at best about her Chinese heritage. But when she’s asked to write about the Chinese New Zealander experience for a work project, Laura … Continue reading Book Review: Backwaters by Emma Ling Sidnam #AYearofNZLit
Book Review: Heartsease by Kate Kruimink
About the Book: I saw my mother for a long time after she died. I would see her out windows, or in the corner of my eye. Always in the periphery, always a dim blur, but unmistakably my mother, the herness skating through every line and flicker. Charlotte ('Lot') and Ellen ('Nelly') are sisters who were … Continue reading Book Review: Heartsease by Kate Kruimink
May: Read, Listen, Watch, Repeat…
Read: Laid out like this, it certainly looks like a quiet reading month. All three of these were exceptionally good reads though, so once again, quality wins out over quantity. Like Fire-Hearted Suns was quite a long read, over 400 pages, so it did take me the better part of a week and a half … Continue reading May: Read, Listen, Watch, Repeat…
Theresa Smith Writes 