June : Danielle Steel

Danielle Fernandes Dominique Schuelein-Steel (born August 14, 1947) is an American writer, best known for her romance novels. She is the best selling author alive with over 800 million copies sold. She has written 165 books, including 141 novels. She has produced several books a year, often juggling up to five projects at once.

Steel has also published children's fiction and poetry, as well as raising funds for the treatment of mental disorders. Her books have been translated into 43 languages, with 22 adapted for television, including two that have received Golden Globe nominations.

She has been married 5 times and has 9 children including her adopted son, Nicholas Traina.

Bev:

 Season of Passion (1979)

A beautiful and talented young girl falls in love with a football star. Because of his background, her family disowns her. Many disasters happen, but there is a happy ending.

Bev said that it could have been an episode of The Bold and the Beautiful!

Diann:

Jewels  (1992)

In this historical romance novel, Sarah, the Duchess of Whitfield looks back on her long and eventful life. The story covers the period between 1916 until 1975 and includes love, war, an abusive husband, death of a child and the rise of a jewellery business patronized by royalty.

A good story that Diann enjoyed.

Judy 3: The Good Woman (2008)

Annabelle Worthington was living a very privileged life in New York, which changed remarkably after the Titanic sank. She became very involved in charity work, continuing this with the outbreak of WW1.

Hotel Vendome (2011)

The story of the owners, celebrities and other guests who frequent the hotel, once run down, but now turned into one of the world most luxurious hotels!

Legacy (2010)

Brigitte Nicholson is living an ordinary life, working, writing her book, and living with the man she loves. But all this changes when she helps her mother on a family genealogy project and makes an stunning discovery concerning the French aristocracy and a proud Sioux Indian man.

Judy enjoyed this book much more than the previous two.

Claurene:

Winners (2013)

Claurene’s brief comments were: The book was about skiing, and rehab for juveniles. It was a very light read but quite interesting.

 

Jo:

Vanished (1993)

When their son is abducted, the lives of a young couple living in Manhattan are thrown into turmoil. As the crime is investigated many secrets about their lives are revealed as suspicions and accusations move from one to the other and an old friend who has suddenly reappeared.

Jo enjoyed it.

Val:

The Cottage (2002)

Val quite enjoyed reading this pure fantasy about 3 men who live in a magnificent estate known as “The Cottage”. One is an actor, still handsome, past his prime and heavily in debt. Two younger men come to live with him to help pay his debts. The book tells the story of their friendship, love and lives set against this glamorous background.

With the author’s undoubted success, there is obviously a place for this type of book.

The women are smart, beautiful and successful. The men “know what women want”.

Dianne:

 The Ghost (1997)

An architect who lives in London, seems to have the perfect life….great job, beautiful wife etc. But when his wife suddenly leaves him for an older man he takes time off and heads to New England. Here he rents a cottage and finds a diary of a woman who lived in the house in the 1780s.

Predictable story where not much happens.

Natalie:

The Gift of Hope (2012)

The author wrote this book after her adopted son Nick Traina committed suicide. In her grief she turned to God who spoke to her, telling her to help the homeless.

She started in a small way by giving out clothes but later set up a charity to help the homeless in San Francisco. All this was done anonymously.

 

Wendy J:

 First Sight  (2013)

A young girl who grew up in an orphanage goes on to become a successful designer. She meets and falls in love with a handsome doctor who wont leave his wife because she has cancer.

The author waffles on around this love triangle, and the story becomes very repetitive without much happening.

Connie:

 Property of the Noble Woman (2016)

The story begins when the court allows a long abandoned deposit box in a New York bank to be opened. The beautiful bank clerk finds among other things, amazing jewellery and private letters. These are to be sold, but before this happens, the clerk determines to find out to whom they really belonged.

Connie thought the story was very predictable and the characters and events weren’t explained deeply enough.

Judy A:

Country  (2015)

Stephanie Adams has endured a loveless marriage for many years. When her husband dies she makes a spur of the moment decision to visit the Grand Canyon. Here she meets a Country and Western singer and a whole different life opens up for her despite the resentment of her children.

Judy enjoyed it as a light escape and contrast to other books she has recently read.

Ed:

 Family Ties (2010)

Following the tragic death of her sister in a car accident, a young Manhattan architect devotes her life to raising her 3 children.

Each of them has challenges in their lives. Her niece becomes a successful Vogue photographer but finds it difficult to commit to any relationship. Her nephew who is a law student has a trashy affair with an older married professor. Her younger niece becomes involved in an interfaith relationship, visiting Iran and becoming trapped there!

Ed’s opinion was that it was ‘OK’.

 

Wendy:

Rushing Water  (2016)

When a hurricane hits New York many people are affected but the story revolves around a beautiful, successful few.

Wendy described the story as being wordy, over repetitive and the characters so shallow you don’t really care what happens to them!

Joan:

Palamino  (1982)

Following the breakdown of her marriage, Samantha goes to a friend’s ranch to help her recover. Here she meets Tate Jordan, the ranch foreman. This leads to different challenges that she must face.

Prue:

 Daddy  (1989)

Sarah and Oliver Watson seem to have the perfect life… he has a successful advertising business and she is the devoted mother to their children. When the children are older, she moves to Harvard to study, and doesn’t return. The father and the children don’t cope, but it all gets sorted out in the end.

Prue described it as an easy read with little bits of interest but nothing to get your teeth into.

Charis:

 Past Perfect  (2017)

Again we begin with the successful and privileged life lead by a family in Manhattan.

When they buy an old mansion in San Francisco the ghosts of the original owners appear.

The story documents 2 families on 2 different time lines.

Charis described it as a simplistic, quick read. It lacked emotion, feeling and had few adjectives. She feels the author was distant from the story and was just documenting family history research.

Judy J:

Accidental Heroes (2017)

The story has a current theme with 2 planes flying from New York to San Francisco. There is reason to believe there may be a terrorist threat on one of these planes. As the authorities learn more about some of the passengers on board, they must make a decision as to how to contain this situation.

An easy, and forgettable read.

Kris:

The Family Album  (1985)

Kris could only read a small amount of this story, skipping many pages as well. It seems to cover 40 years of this woman’s life who began as an actress and was able to become a successful director. The book also weaves her the story of her children through all of this. Kris found it too predictable and cliched.

Pamela:

Safe Harbor (2003)

Pamela was disconcerted by the number of pages of prayers in the beginning and so couldn’t read much more!

Tam:

 The Apartment  (2016)

In this book, 4 girls, aged 28-32 and all from different backgrounds live together in an apartment in New York. They are ambitious, they encourage each other when they are down, and they are not interested in marriage.

It is light and easy to read. Tam thought that maybe they are the characters that people secretly aspire to.

Julia: 

The Gift  (1994)

The story is set in the 1950s when life was simpler and people believed in dreams. It takes place in a small town in the heartland of America.  A number of extraordinary events happen, some are tragic, and individuals and families find it difficult to cope.

But there is a happy ending and Julia described it as a beautiful book. 

JULY: Alex Miller ~  Love Song,  Journey to the Stone Country, The Passage of Love, Autumn Laing

AUGUST:  Segregration ~ copies of Colour Purple available from the library or you can select your own title.

MAY 2018 LORD JIM by JOSEPH CONRAD

The author, Joseph Conrad was a Polish born English novelist who today is most famous for his novel  "Heart of Darkness".  This is a fictionalized account of Colonial Africa, originally published as a serial in Blackwood's magazine from October 1899 to November 1990.  

This novel "Lord Jim" is the story of a man named Marlow's struggle to tell and to understand the life story of a young man named Jim.  When Jim is serving aboard a vessel called the Patna, carrying Muslim pilgrims to Mecca, the ship strikes an underwater object and springs a leak. The crew abandon ship and take the lifeboat. Jim joins them on the lifeboat.  A trial follows and Jim attempts to come to terms with himself and his past. 

At our book club meeting the novel "Lord Jim"produced a great deal of lively discussion and strong opinions about Jim's character.

JUDY D:

This is the story of a young British man who has done quite well.  He becomes a captain's mate on a small steamboat carrying 800 pilgrims.  The crew take the lifeboat and abandon ship when the boat hits rocks. Jim thinks of himself as a good man but decides to jump in the lifeboat as well.  Judy said it was a good story but very depressing.  She said it was beautifully written but too wordy.  She found going back and forth with the story a bit confusing.

ED:

Ed only read up to Chapter 5.  She couldn't get into it and wasn't really interested.

CONNIE:

Connie read the whole book and said the writing was extremely good.  She enjoyed the descriptions.
She felt the whole thing hung on the case that Jim was a coward.  The story line itself wasn't as important as the thoughts and ideas of Marlow himself who was telling the story.  Connie said she would have enjoyed it more years ago.  She said the end dragged out a bit.

ROSEMARIE:

She read a small amount and agreed with Connie that it would be better to read in one block.

JULIA:

She liked his actual style of writing.  Julia read it at school.

CLAURENE:

Claurene found it unappealing and doesn't like books that use five words instead of two words.  She went back to it later and read to page 65 but still didn't like the book.

SHEILA:

She read 70 pages in one sitting.  She got the gist of the story before he went to court but decided not to go any further.  

PRUE:

Prue said the author wasn't fluent in English until his late teens, early 20's.  This story was considered psychological modernism. Marlow is the narrator in several books.  This story is about the relationship of  Marlow to Jim and what he thought of Jim.  In the court trial they didn't want Jim's story, only the facts.  One of the judges committed suicide as he didn't agree with the way the court was run. The book explores what shame does to people.  Prue found it very descriptive with lots of different structures which made it a bit confusing.

WENDY L:

She didn't think she would enjoy it but once she got into it she did enjoy it, although she had to read the first 100 pages twice.  The themes were guilt, morality and honour.  Jim was a flawed character, an idealist but tragic.  It's a real psychological study of Jim.  She found it difficult to read.   Apparently the author used an artistic tool called delayed decoding meaning ambiguities in the earlier part of the book that were explained later.

JUDY A:

It's basically a story about a man called Marlow struggling to understand a man called Jim.  When Judy understood about Marlow she felt better about the book.  She read the whole book but didn't like Jim.  "The book was okay but it was a labour and not a labour of love" Judy said.

JOAN:

Joan read it all.  She found it hard going initially.   The story is in two parts.  The first part is very difficult.  It's about Jim's sea experiences.  Joan got tired and impatient reading the first  part and said there was too much over analysis.  The second part had wonderful descriptive passages.

TAM:

Tam found it hard to read but she challenged herself and made herself finish the book.  She wondered if the author Joseph Conrad just used a theme to explore "how do we handle a guilty conscience".  He explores the fact that you can't get away from the inner turmoil despite how far you go.  She felt Jim had a deep inner compass. Tam said she would read another one of his books.

VAL:

Val agreed with so much that was said.  She read it at school and thoroughly enjoyed it but found it more difficult to read now.  She was struggling with it but is definitely going to finish the book.  She said it had some lovely phrases.

CHARIS:

Despite the author saying he ultimately wrote Lord Jim as a novel which was serialized over a year as 13 segments in a magazine, he wrote Jim's story in segments outlined by the characters who had met him and had something to contribute to the story of the mariner's life.  In the last page of the book Conrad writes of Jim having a "shadowy ideal of conduct" and "one ready to surrender himself faithfully to the claim of his own world of shades".  Charis said the writing was dated, and each sentence has to be considered, not skimmed, so it's reading takes time.  She found herself re-reading paragraphs wondering if she had fully understood the meaning, and at the same time thinking the writing was good.

DIANN:

Diann felt the author was writing to a very well educated audience.  She said she had read it at fourteen with a History and English teacher breaking it down with them.  She didn't like the book.  She found it very heavy. 

PAMELA:

Pamela liked this book but said it was important to mention what hadn't been said.  Right from the beginning Lord Jim liked holiday reading, tales of heroic deeds and he saw himself this way.   He was a dreamer.  He has a position on a steamship carrying 800 pilgrims, men, women, children and babies.  He holds himself aloof from the captain and the rest of the crew.  He thinks they are scum and sees himself as superior.  When the crew abandons ship in the lifeboat, Jim decides to go with them but later blames them that they made him jump. Pamela also feels Marlow is not a reliable narrator as he makes excuses for Lord Jim. 

BEV:

Bev read HEART OF DARKNESS as she couldn't get a copy of Lord Jim.  She liked it and said it was a good book.  Marlow was also the narrator in this story.   It explored the treatment of native people in the Congo and the subject of slavery. 

Kris
 

In JUNE we will be reading books by the author Danielle Steele

In JULY we will be reading books by Alex Miller.  We have a choice of four books as follows:
Lovesong   ~  Passage of Love  ~  Journey to the Stone Country  ~  Autumn Laing

APRIL Michelle de Kretser

Michelle de Kretser is an Australian novelist who was born in Sri Lanka and moved to Australia in 1972 when she was 14. Her books have won many awards including the Miles Franklin in 2013.

THE ROSE GROWER:

Leslie

This first book by the author begins around the time of the French Revolution. An American hot air balloon falls out of the sky into a small farming community. The story highlights problems of rural towns and those involved in the Revolution. It contrasts politics in Paris and small communities and unrequited love. It also brings in some of the problems behind the Revolution.

Sophie is a plain single nobody who creates the rose hoping to feel special and be remembered.

Leslie described the book as being written gently and tenderly. It was long, slow, nicely written but not gripping and didn’t hold her interest.

Comments from other readers:

Connie:

Too long and too many complications, but did enjoy reading about the times.

Diane D:

Waiting for something to happen, but couldn’t finish it, although found fascinating some of the detail around the Revolution.

Pauline:

Couldn’t get into it, so not finished. Confusing as it changed from 1st to 3rd person. No flow. 

 

THE LOST DOG:

Judy J:

Tom Loxley, an Indian-Australian professor is trying to finish his book on Henry James while staying in a remote bush hut. When his dog goes missing he and his friends search for him. Meanwhile there are many reflections about his father, relationship with his mother and new friends.

The fact that the dog is lost forms the framework for all these other narratives.

Judy found it tiring and draining to read.

Comments from other readers:

Ed:

Found the writing very convoluted and over descriptive. With this book, at times, she felt lost.

Prue:

The author has fantastic word power, and great sentence structure.

Prue liked the book for the English, not the characters or story.

Joan:

The writing is spectacular in places but too long. The characters are not convincing.

Charis:

Found this book a difficult read full of seemingly irrelevant prose pieces.

The author’s philosophical ramblings took precedent over character building.

Dissatisfied with a weak ending.

 

SPRINGTIME:

Kris:

This is a very short (85 pages) and quirky ghost story.

Frances, who is in her 30’s meets Charlie and his young son at a party in Melbourne. Charlie leaves his wife and he and Frances move to Sydney with a rescue dog called Rod. The story explores the difficulties Frances faces with Charlie’s young son when he comes to stay.

Frances walks the dog each day and on one of these walks she sees a woman and a dog in a garden. Believing she has seen a ghost she wants to find answers.

Comments from other readers:

Diann F:

Too descriptive, but didn’t like it.

Sheila:

On re reading the story found it more interesting.  Author brought in many memories from childhood in Sri Lanka Her short sentences were descriptive but very irritating.

Pamela:

She liked it. As a ghost story it did not have the usual setting. It was springtime, sunny, Australia and nothing frightening about it.

Val:

Beautiful presentation of the book.

Felt a bit like an exercise in beautiful English. She didn’t feel any attachment to any of the characters. The author is very clever and observant but sometimes too academic and over the top.

 

THE LIFE TO COME:

Judy A:

5 short stories with different characters but linked by one character, Pippin.

There is no central plot but it is a book about the characters. Judy loved it.

The author has an eye or detail, a brilliant wit and an ability to satirise first world problems.

Comments by other readers:

Pat:

Found it so monotone, didn’t like the characters and nothing happened.

Didn’t finish it as she ‘reads for enjoyment’.

Jo:

Read about half the book, but had no idea what she was reading. A very forgettable book.

Natalie:

Didn’t like it, hard to follow and confusing. She felt it didn’t flow. With each story you started again and difficult to find a connection. Characters were unlikeable and uninteresting.

 

THE HAMILTON CASE:

Claurine:

Set in Ceylon in the 1930s with the main character being Sam Obeysekere, a Ceylonese born but Oxford educated lawyer. When an English plantation owner is murdered, Sam sets out to find who is responsible. This changed his life in many ways.

The writing is beautiful and mixture of murder, mystery, descriptions of the jungle, treatment of the Tamils, and Sam’s treatment of women make it a very interesting book.

Need to read it slowly, but Claurine enjoyed it.

Comments by other readers:

Denise:

Didn’t like it, the characters were horrible and the plot escaped her.

Wendy J, Julia and Bev were unable to finish it.

QUESTIONS OF TRAVEL

Wendy L:

The novel tells the story of 2 very different lives, Laura an Australian girl and Ravi from Sri Lanka.

Each chapter builds up their stories, the characters are well drawn and finally in the later part of the book it all comes together.

There are many contrasts told beautifully in little chunks of writing – Ravi an immigrant from a war torn country, his wife and child murdered, why and the way he is travelling.

Laura is aimless, comes into money and travels overseas and suffers from first world problems.

Wendy described it as a ‘hard read’.

Recommended reading by Tam

Breaking the Spell by Jane Stork – a riveting read about life in the Ashrams in the 70’s. She couldn’t put it down.

 

BOOKS FOR THE COMING MONTHS

May ~ Lord Jim by Joseph Conrad

June ~ Danielle Steele …..your choice

July ~ Alex Miller

            Lovesong               The Passage of Love

            Journey to the Stone Country        Autumn Laing

MARCH 2018 BOOKS BY MICHAEL ROBOTHAM

CLOSE YOUR EYES

Judy J

The story involves the death of a mother and daughter - strategically placed - the subsequent police investigation - the living families involvement.  It was a real suspense thriller.

Pat

In this book Pat thinks that Michael Robotham has included a version of his own private life into the writings.  She is looking forward to the next book by the author and reading them with interest.

Wendy 2

Wendy liked the human aspect in the storyline.  It was a well enjoyed book.

Jo

Not a happy reader with this whole book  - only an OK story.

Lesley

Lesley has a good prior understanding of the author's writing.  In this case she could not work out the ending.  Clever planning in the story line gave this reader a surprise ending.

Natalie

She enjoyed the book and was surprised as she is not normally a crime reader.  She has now recommended the story to others she knows.

Joan

Crime fiction is not her chosen genre - too many plot lines, although she finished the book and received her rewards.  Joan also introduced "Lullaby" as a different aspect of crime fiction reading.

Judy 3

Judy loved it.  She says that the fluid reading style of this author made the story easy to follow.

Kris

Kris enjoyed reading this book.  Will read more by this author as she considers him an excellent writer.

WATCHING YOU
 
 Prue

She liked this story - it had twists and turns in the plot - there was good character development and would read Michael Robotham again.

Connie

Connie enjoyed the story - also found it confronting and hopes this statement won't spoil the story for other readers.

Rosemary

Thoroughly enjoyed this author and will read another of his stories. Enjoyed the twist in the end of this tale.

THE NIGHT FERRY

Ed

The beginning of this story starts in London and ends up taking the reader to Amsterdam.  The story takes an interesting turn - female characters evolve - this makes reading this book full of intrigue.

BOMB PROOF

Val

Val acknowledges that this is a well written and well constructed story.  She liked the author's way of writing and kept her interest in the story to the end.  Other books read by Val - "Say you're Sorry" and "Shatter" (same author).

BLEED FOR ME

Bev

Outlined the story to the group - really about the control of women.

LIFE OR DEATH

Claurene

Claurene gave up after 100 pages - story involved horrible crimes.

THE SECRET SHE KEEPS

Wendy 1

Wendy loved this book - psychological thriller - the main plot in this story is kidnapping.  The character development was good - many subtle tones - good human content and well researched story.

Diane D

Diane enjoyed author Michael Robotham's story line - she was surprised how well this male author wrote about the female characters.  His insight and the characters of the women helped to make this a good story.

Diann F

First time Michael Robotham reader - liked the way he introduced characters - short way through this story so enjoying crime fiction for the first time.

Pamela

This book has good character development.  It's author has a good story line which also creates empathy from the reader.

Julia

Julia thought this story was really good.  She has read Michael Robotham before.

Charis

Charis also read "Bomb Proof" and "Bleed for Me".  These stories had interesting characters and good story lines.

Sheila

Sheila read Bryce Courtney's "Four Fires" - Four separate stories in one book over the generations - consistent theme "Love" - good reading.

Diann

Next month we will be reading books by the author Michelle De Krester

FEBRUARY, 2018 - BOOKS BY JUDY NUNN

PACIFIC BY JUDY NUNN

JOAN:

The first story is a contemporary story about Samantha Lindsay, an Australian actress who lands a lead role in a Hollywood film set in the New Hebrides during World War II.  The second story is about Jane Thackeray who lived in Vanuatu during World War II.  This was the better story. "The two times lines were very difficult" Joan said. The book was 607 pages which was far too long.

JUDY D:

Judy also read Pacific.  The story takes place in two locations, England and Vanuatu and in two different time frames, the 1940's and the early 2000's.  The heroine of the story, Samantha Lindsay was born in Perth.  She has had some success acting in an Australian soapie and gets a job in England doing pantomime.  She falls in love with an old house in Fareham.  She buys it before she gets a lead role in a film playing Mamma Tack, a WWII heroine, to be filmed in Vanuatu. Apparitions and other spiritual occurrences with Jane Thackeray from the 1940's lead her to research the history of Mamma Tack and she finds her story is entwined with the house and it's former occupants. The story is written in flashbacks.  Judy said it was a good story.  She enjoyed it but it wasn't great literature and too long.

MARALINGA BY JUDY NUNN

Maralinga, a remote area of South Australia is the site of British nuclear testing done in the 1950's. It is also the name of the Aboriginal people who lived there.

WENDY J:

Wendy said she said she didn't mind it but it's not great literature.  The story is set in England.  It's the story of Elizabeth who falls in love with a young man who gets sent to Maralinga.  When he dies she comes out to Australia to find out why he died.

JUDY J:

 Judy felt there was more to the story of Maralinga.  It showed the terrible attitude of the British government and how little the Australian people knew about it.  The soldiers were sworn to secrecy.  The Aboriginal people were treated badly.  Judy said it was an easy read, that she writes about places she knows and the descriptions of the scenery were beautiful.  Judy told us that Judy Nunn also wrote some children's books.

DENISE:

Denise said it was an easy read almost like someone talking to you.  The story raised her awareness of what happened at Maralinga.  She felt angry about the testing.  She did find the changeover of characters and times a bit difficult.

PRUE:

Prue was looking forward to reading this book as this was happening when she was growing up.  Prue felt we were just colonials and didn't matter.  Prue said it was good that Judy Nunn brings up these subjects. It was a good expose of Maralinga. She found the story captivating and an easy read.   It had an unusual ending.

ELIANNE BY JUDY NUNN

JUDY D:

Judy also read Elianne.  It is another family saga set in Queensland cane fields dating from the 1880's to the 1960's.  The Durhams are the equivalent of royalty and the large estate employs hundreds of workers including Kanakas to keep it running.  However, there is a family secret that young Kate Durham uncovers when she discovers diaries written in French by Elianne, the wife of Big Jim Durham (Kate's great grandfather).  The story is written mainly in the 1960's and encompasses race and religious discrimination, the Vietnam war, conscription, the rise of feminism and the new freedom of young people enabling them to make their own way instead of continuing in the mould of their forbears.  She said it was another good story.

KRIS:

Kris was only about 1/3 of the way through.  She enjoyed the story but lost interest as it was far too long.   Kris said she felt she was a good storyteller but not a great writer.

JULIA:

Julia was only half way through.  She sort of liked it but it was too long and she didn't finish the book.

NATALIE:

Natalie really enjoyed it.  She read it over a weekend.  She said it was easy to read and enjoyed it as well because her husband grew up in the area.  She said the two male characters were big characters.  It was very male dominated.

VAL:

Val said she tried to read it but it was not her cup of tea.  She didn't finish it and felt it was rather formulaic.  She felt the treatment of the aboriginal people and the Vietnam war had been done to death.  Val said it was an easy read and that Judy Nunn was a good storyteller.

DIANE D:

Diane didn't like it.  She forced herself to finish it.  The story spanned three generations.  She felt annoyed with the male characters.

THE SPIRITS OF THE GHAN BY JUDY NUNN

This is the story of the completion of The Ghan railway linking Adelaide with the Top End. Assurances must be given to the Aboriginal Elders that their sacred sites will be protected.

CONNIE:

Connie said she agreed with what everyone else said about Judy Nunn's writing.  She didn't really enjoy it and it was too long.  She said the story would have stood on it's own without the Ghan.  The story was about the spirits of the Aboriginal people along the path of the Ghan.  She didn't feel her heart was in it.

ANNE:

Anne read half.  She found it bearable.  She didn't like the part about the spirits.

JUDY A:

Judy said she was a good storyteller not a good writer but she said she did learn things about the Ghan.

WENDY L:

Wendy doesn't think she is a good storyteller but rather she tells a good yarn.  The characters are cliched and overdrawn.  The Aboriginal themes are laboured and superficial.  Wendy didn't like this book.

PAT:

Pat said everyone else had covered it and she felt the same.  It was a bland read.

TAM:

Tam quite enjoyed it.  She said it was an easy read and she was interested in the Ghan.

ROSEMARIE:

Rosemarie enjoyed it, especially the familiarity of places as she has travelled on the
Ghan. She said the story brought up issues.  It was an easy read.  The print changes when it goes to a different time making it easier to read than some of the other books mentioned.

JO:

Jo read this book in one night.  She loved it and couldn't put it down.

BEV:  FLOODTIDE BY JUDY NUNN

This book was written in 2007.  It's another family saga set in Western Australia and it is over 600 pages.  It is the story of four young male friends and their families.  It follows them through a period from 1950's to 1990's swapping back and forth in time.  Bev said it was too long a period and too much crammed in.  She said it was easy to read. It had an abrupt ending. She also felt the female characters had no depth.

LESLEY:  TERRITORY BY JUDY NUNN

This book was written in 2002.  The story is about the bombing of Darwin.  Lesley enjoyed parts of it as she had been to Darwin last year. It is set in the period from 1942 to the 1970's.  There were parallel stories.  One was the story of the sinking of the Batavia off the coast of Western Australia in 1629.  Lesley said the facts were true.  The current story was about an English girl who marries an Australian pilot who is domineering and chauvinistic.  They settle outside Darwin.  It explores the treatment of Aborigines and the discrimination of the Chinese.  She felt it was stereotypical.  It is a very long story so she hasn't finished.  She quite enjoyed it for what it is.

Kris

In March we will be reading books by Michael Robotham - Watching You, The Suspect, Close Your Eyes and The Secrets She Keeps.