PAMELA: Love of
Seven Dolls by Paul Gallico
Set in Paris in 1956, a young girl called
Mouche is about to throw herself into the Seine, when her attention is
attracted by a voice belonging to a puppet, part of a struggling street booth
puppet show. The story tells her relationship with
the seven puppets and their grim puppetmaster, Capitaine Coq, and what happens
when she joins their travelling show.
Pamela described it as a charming book,
the writing and the puppets are attractive, but she found the ending not very
satisfactory.
JUDY
De La Torre:
Her holiday reading included
I Survived Auschwitz by Krystyna Zywulska. ~ horrific story,
badly translated.
Our Man in Camelot by Anthony Price ~
following the crash of a US plane, the CIA and the Russians investigate this
mystery.
Dying Fall by Elly Griffiths ~
a murder mystery.
She enjoyed and would recommend the
last 2 titles.
VAL: Let Me Tell You about a Man I Knew by Susan Fletcher
The sunflowers on the cover give a clue as
to the subject of the book. Van Gough spent a year in this asylum, where he
continues to paint. The warden’s wife, although forbidden to mix with the
patients, continues to do so and realizes what she is missing in life. Eventually
she asks him to paint her portrait and through their meeting, she is reborn.
A beautifully, sensitively written book. The
author writes about the ‘little episodes in life’.
NATALIA: has continued to read and enjoy the Outlander series by Diana Gabaldon.
JOAN: Red Notice: How I Became Putin’s No1 Enemy by Bill
Browder
This is the true story of the author’s
experience working in Russia exposing corruption, investments and tax frauds by
Putin’s operatives. Joan described it as factual, gripping and she couldn’t put
it down.
JO: The Woman in the Window by A J Finn
Anna Fox lives alone, a recluse in her
New York City home, she is agoraphobic and an alcoholic.
She spends her day drinking
wine, watching old movies, on chat sites on her computer and spying on her
neighbors.Then the Russells move into the house across the park: a father, a mother, and their teenage son. But when Anna, gazing out her window one night, sees something she shouldn’t, her world begins to crumble—and its shocking secrets are laid bare.
What is real? What is imagined? Who is in danger? Who is in control? In this gripping thriller, no one—and nothing—is what it seems
DIANE D: The Remains of the Day by Kazua Ishiguro
This is a fantastic, gorgeous, most
English book written by a Japanese who has lived in England since he was 5
years old.
It is the story of Stevens, the butler,
who runs a large country estate, where old school attitudes reign supreme and
the upper class believe they are born to rule. They are blinded to normal
relationships and what will happen when everything they believe in comes
undone.
The author won the Nobel Prize for
Literature in 2017; highly recommended by Diane.
DIANN F: Pacific by Judy Nunn
A contemporary fiction story is set in
the South Pacific island of Vanuatu, Pacific explores the lives of two women
from different eras. Samantha Lindsay is an Australian actress who has been
given the lead role in a World War II epic. Samantha plays a character based on
the life of 'Mamma Tack,' a World Way II heroine. Samantha feels compelled to
find out who the real 'Mamma Tack' was, and in solving this mystery makes some
important discoveries about herself.
Highly recommended and very well
researched.
CLAURINE: read several books
by Peter
Goldsworthy.
Maestro ~ wonderful story
Three Dog Night ~ couldn’t finish
it, too graphic
Gravel ~ short stories.
Enjoyed the first one, but did not continue after attempting several more, as they
continued this graphic style of writing.
CONNIE: Sabrina by
Madeleine Pollard
Set in County Cork, Ireland in the
beginning of the twentieth century, it is the story of a landed gentry family,
very traditional Catholics with 6 children. There are expectations and plans for
each of the children. When Sabrina experiences romance for the first time, it
is obvious she is not suitable to be a nun. She and Gerald fight to stay
together, and the story follows their lives . Connie really enjoyed it,
especially the ending; unexpected but very satisfying.
WENDY J: Jane Austin’s Christmas
An interesting (but not fascinating)
book that gave details about food, drinks, etiquette and stories of how her
family celebrated Christmas.
PRUE: Wimmera by Mark Brandi
The story exposes the problems boys face
growing up, their friendships and family relationships. The story develops over
many years, but you have to connect the dots for yourself. It is well
researched, and easy to read. Fast paced, but with hard, dark elements in it.
There is also love, joy and happiness to provide a counter balance, and a sad,
haunting ending.
Prue became very involved in it, adding to
the enjoyment.
DENISE: The Rose Garden by Susanna Kearsley
When Eva's film star sister Katrina
dies, she leaves California and returns to Cornwall, where they spent their
childhood summers, to scatter Katrina's ashes and in doing so return her to the
place where she belongs.
She starts to hear voices in the farmhouse
where they grew up, and moves between the present and the past.
Denise describes it as an interesting,
light and easy read.
WENDY W: First Person by Richard Flanagan
A criminal facing a murder charge contracts
a struggling author to ghost write his memoirs. He is horrified by his life
style and his approach to life, and is scared that he may be beginning to take
on some of these characteristics.
Wendy really enjoyed it.
She also read The Twentieth Man by Tony Jones.
This she described as a great political
thriller set in Canberra during the times of the Serbian/Croatian conflict. Historical
facts are included and cleverly woven through the story.
JUDY A: Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine by Gail
Honeyman
Eleanor is a loner, socially inadequate
with the same routine every weekend; frozen pizza, vodka and phone chat with
mummy. When she meets the IT guy at work, bumbling and lovable, a relationship
develops. Is she capable of friendship or even love?
A quirky, warm, funny but also dark story
about relationships and confronting your secrets.
TAM: The Slap by Christos Tsiolkas
At a suburban barbecue, a man slaps a
badly behaved child who is not his own.
This event has a shocking ricochet effect on a group of people, mostly friends, who are directly or indirectly influenced by the slap.
This event has a shocking ricochet effect on a group of people, mostly friends, who are directly or indirectly influenced by the slap.
Each character has a different
perspective of the event. They are dislikeable people and Tam was horrified at
their lifestyle. She felt they were shallow, had no commitment and was
disturbed that this could be an observation of modern day life in inner city
Melbourne.
ROSEMARY: Force of Nature by Jane Harper
Her second novel also features Aaron
Falk as a Federal Police Officer. Set in a rugged mountain region, a group of
work colleagues set off on a 3-day hike as part of a team building exercise.
Five women leave but only 4 return. Little side stories telling about the lives
of the women throw some red herrings into the story. While Rosemary enjoyed it,
she felt the ending didn’t have the unexpected twist of the author’s previous
book.
JULIA: For her holiday
reading Julia turned to a favourite author, Danielle Steele, reading 3 of
her more recent releases.(2016)
Blue , The Apartment and Property of a Nobel Woman.
She really enjoyed them, particularly
now that the story lines are no longer so predictable.
