Confession with Blue Horses... About the Book: Set in Berlin during the dying days of communism, this is an exploration of a family cruelly torn apart, and the consequences that seep through generations. Tobi and Ella's childhood in East Berlin is shrouded in mystery. Now adults living in London, their past in full of unanswered … Continue reading Book Review: Confession With Blue Horses by Sophie Hardach
Thought Provoking Reads
My Reading Life: Themes of Communism
A couple of months ago I read this: And not all that long after, I read this: Now, both of these novels have really sparked my interest in reading more about life in the Eastern Bloc, and in the last couple of weeks, I've continued with this theme, reading: And, most recently: I'm not tiring … Continue reading My Reading Life: Themes of Communism
Book Review: Beastings by Benjamin Myers
Beastings... About the Book: Winner of the Portico Prize for Literature and the Northern Writers' Award A girl and a baby. A priest and a poacher. A savage pursuit through the landscape of a changing rural England. When a teenage girl leaves the workhouse and abducts a child placed in her care, the local priest … Continue reading Book Review: Beastings by Benjamin Myers
Book Review: There Was Still Love by Favel Parrett
There Was Still Love... About the Book: A tender and masterfully told story of memory, family and love. Prague, 1938: Eva flies down the street from her sister. Suddenly a man steps out, a man wearing a hat. Eva runs into him, hits the pavement hard. His hat is in the gutter. His anger slaps … Continue reading Book Review: There Was Still Love by Favel Parrett
Book Review: Just One Wish by Rachael Johns
Just One Wish... About the Book: Three women, three secrets, one life-changing journey. Alice has always been a trailblazer as a scientist, activist and mother. She knew her choices would involve sacrifices, but now, on the eve of her eightieth birthday, she's beginning to wonder if she's sacrificed too much. Alice's daughter, Sappho, rebelled against … Continue reading Book Review: Just One Wish by Rachael Johns
Book Review: Invented Lives by Andrea Goldsmith
Invented Lives... About the Book: Knowing what you want is hard. Accepting what is possible is harder still. It is the mid-1980s. In Australia, stay-at-home wives jostle with want-it-all feminists, while AIDS threatens the sexual freedom of everyone. On the other side of the world, the Soviet bloc is in turmoil. Mikhail Gorbachev has been … Continue reading Book Review: Invented Lives by Andrea Goldsmith
Book Review: The Giver of Stars by Jojo Moyes
The Giver of Stars... About the Book: Inspired by a remarkable true story, the unforgettable journey of five extraordinary women living in extraordinary and perilous times. Alice Wright has travelled halfway across the world to escape her stifling life in England. Handsome American businessman Bennett Van Cleve represents a fresh start. But she soon realises … Continue reading Book Review: The Giver of Stars by Jojo Moyes
Book Review: City of Girls by Elizabeth Gilbert
City of Girls... About the Book: It is the summer of 1940. Nineteen-year-old Vivian Morris arrives in New York with her suitcase and sewing machine, exiled by her despairing parents. Although her quicksilver talents with a needle and commitment to mastering the perfect hair roll have been deemed insufficient for her to pass into her … Continue reading Book Review: City of Girls by Elizabeth Gilbert
Book Review: Rosa: Memories With Licence by Ros Collins
Rosa: Memories With Licence... About the Book: As British as Earl Grey tea, ‘Rosa’ has spent most of her life in Melbourne. Her children and grandchildren are all Australian-born, as was Alan, her writer husband. But Rosa is hesitant about an unconditional commitment to Vegemite, mateship and the ANZAC legend; she remains a perennial migrant, … Continue reading Book Review: Rosa: Memories With Licence by Ros Collins
Book Review: The Secrets We Kept by Lara Prescott
The Secrets We Kept... About the Book: Sold in twenty-five countries and poised to become a global literary sensation, Lara Prescott's dazzling first novel about the women in the CIA's typing pool and the fate of Boris Pasternak's banned masterpiece is a sweeping page turner and the most hotly anticipated debut of the year. The … Continue reading Book Review: The Secrets We Kept by Lara Prescott
