Review: The Hatmakers by Tamzin Merchant

After a bout of serious reading, I was in the mood for some light-hearted middle grade magic and The Hatmakers by Tamzin Merchant was just the ticket. Affectionately known as Dilly, our main character Cordelia is the youngest member of the Hatmaker family. These magical milliners utilise alchemy and weave enchantments into each of their unique creations to give the wearers the qualities they seek. This could include a hat to combat stage fright or a hat to instil peace within the wearer.

When Cordelia's father is lost at sea at the beginning of the book, this kicks off an entertaining series of events.

The book is set in London around the year 1800 placing it in the Regency era and there are other Royal maker families in this fantasy world, including: the Cloakmakers, Glovemakers, Watchmakers, Bootmakers and Canemakers.

These families are ancient rivals and Cordelia is training to become a hatmaker when she learns:

"Magic is in everything natural in the world. Magic lives in the wind, in the rivers, in the earth, in the sunlight. It's in flowers and trees and rocks and it's born in all creatures. But most people have forgotten about it or - even worse than forgetting - they think it's old-fashioned." Page 66

Merchant's imaginative writing when it comes to magic is a little reminiscent of the world building in Harry Potter but in a refreshingly unique way. As an example, every meal made by the Cook at the Hatmaker's house was a symphony of deliciousness that had the potential to heal all manner of maladies:

"Cook would stir up herby stews to soothe hurt feelings, bake honey cakes to mend broken hearts, make crinkle-crusted pies for courage, and melting-cheese pastries to bolster tired souls. Her cucumber soup could cool a hot temper and her bread-and-butter pudding inspired kindness in even the grumpiest person. Her roast potatoes seemed to help with everything." Page 43

I'd love to try everything but the cucumber soup. Containing several illustrations by Paola Escobar, it turns out The Hatmakers is the first in a series. The second book in the series is called The Mapmakers followed by The Troublemakers which was published earlier this year.

Incidentally, it was only when writing this review that I learned the author Tamzin Merchant played the role of Catherine Howard in The Tudors (mind blown!) as well as Imogen Spurnrose in Carnival Row. What a talented and versatile woman.

The Hatmakers by Tamzin Merchant is thoroughly recommended for middle grade readers looking for a unique adventure, but don't forget your hat!

My Rating:

★ ★ ★ ★ ★

Review: Meditations by Marcus Aurelius

I was given a copy of Meditations by Marcus Aurelius by a family member for Christmas in 2021 and it contains the spiritual reflections of the Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius from 180AD. I'll admit it was a little intimidating, difficult to read at times and the sentiments became repetitive but I’m pleased to have read it.

Meditations is a collection of personal thoughts divided into 12 books although I wasn't able to discern any clear theme or order to any of the books. Marcus Aureliuis had a staunch belief in the gods and that the soul lives on after death. Believing all things have a natural beginning and an end, he also held the view that the gods would never give a man more than he could endure.

Reading like a series of dot points from a self help book, here's an example of advice from early on in the book that we can still apply today:

"Do not waste the remaining part of your life in thoughts about other people, when you are not thinking with reference to some aspect of the common good. Why deprive yourself of the time for some other task? I mean, thinking about what so-and-so is doing, and why, what he is saying or contemplating or plotting, and all that line of thought, makes you stray from the close watch on your own directing mind." Page 17

The author never expected his work to be published which explains the lack of order or cohesion to his thoughts. Instead, these writings are personal reminders to himself on how to 'do better' as we say today. It includes sage advice for the ages, like this:

"The best revenge is not to be like your enemy." Page 46

Reading Meditations is akin to reading a series of distilled diary entries or prompts on how to lead a principled life and be a good example to others, and included suggestions like this one:

"So keep yourself simple, good, pure, serious, unpretentious, a friend of justice, god-fearing, kind, full of affection, strong for your proper work. Strive hard to remain the same man that philosophy wished to make you. Revere the gods, look after men. Life is short. The one harvest of existence on earth is a godly habit of mind and social action." Page 51

Marcus Aurelius mentions the duty of man many times in his writings, and believes strongly that to be a good person you need to contribute positively to the community, best summarised in this observation:

"What does not benefit the hive does not benefit the bee either." Page 57

I found some of his opinions harsh, particularly his thoughts about death and sleep:

"When you are reluctant to get up from your sleep, remind yourself that it is your constitution and man's nature to perform social acts, whereas sleep is something you share with dumb animals. Now what accords with the nature of each being is thereby the more closely related to it, the more in its essence, and indeed the more to its liking." Page 73

Marcus Aurelius didn't appear to fear death, quite the opposite actually. He wrote frequently of facing the fact death is inevitable and advising not to worry about it. Instead he encouraged embracing death although there's no way of knowing if he was able to do this himself when his time came.

"What dies does not pass out of the universe. If it remains here and is changed, then here too it is resolved into the everlasting constituents, which are the elements of the universe and of you yourself. These too change, and make no complaint of it." Page 74

If I had to summarise Meditations, I would say the overall sentiment is: life is short, we will all die soon and be forgotten so work hard, obey the gods and be an upstanding man.

"Work. Don't work as a miserable drudge, or in any expectation of pity or admiration. One aim only: action or inaction as civic cause demands." Page 86

I wonder what the author would think of today's society and work ethic. What's clear in his work is his recognition of the passage of time, and how quickly we die and will soon after be forgotten. Perhaps he would be pleased to know that centuries later people still study his work, but most of us can never hope to achieve this type of legacy.

Meditations by Marcus Aurelius was repetitive and a tough read given the translation, beliefs of the times and the dot point nature begging an overarching structure that just wasn't there. In this case, the sense of accomplishment I feel after reading Meditations is greater than my rating, but 'I make no complaint of it' and am more than satisfied.

My Rating:

★ ★ ★ ★ ★

Review: The Golden Mole by Katherine Rundell

In the mood to continue learning about our natural world, I recently picked up The Golden Mole - And Other Vanishing Treasure by Katherine Rundell. Reading the e-book and listening to the audiobook read by Lenny Henry, each of the short chapters are dedicated to a particular endangered animal. There were a total of 22 animals featured in the book, including: the wombat, giraffe, lemur, narwhal, seahorse, pangolin and the golden mole of the title. A variety of creatures were chosen, including those that live in water, on the land or in the air; the large; the small; those that bring good luck as well as those that inspire fear.

I was proud of myself for reading the chapter about the spider given my fear of arachnids and just Googling the word now to check my spelling gave me a bloody heart attack! I also enjoyed hearing one of my favourite animal facts: the horn of the narwhal was once misrepresented to collectors as belonging to a unicorn.

I enjoyed being reminded that crows have great memories and are highly intelligent, they remember human faces and are capable of rewarding and punishing behaviour in kind. In an example, the author explains that university students wearing masks captured crows and kept them briefly in captivity before releasing them. When the students walked past them again without their masks they were ignored, but if they were wearing the masks they were mobbed by the crows still carrying a grudge. The information was passed down to the next generation, and students wearing the same masks long after all of the original crows had died were also attacked. 

On the plus side, the reverse is also true and crows can reward human behaviour. A girl in Seattle by the name of Gabi Mann became famous when the crows she'd fed for years began to bring her gifts in return. When her mother dropped the lens cap from her camera in a field nearby, one of the crows picked it up, washed it in their bird bath back at home and left it out for her to find. Astonishing! (For more on crows and ravens, check out my review of The Ravenmaster - My Life with the Ravens at the Tower of London by Christopher Skaife or The Book of the Raven - Corvids in Art & Legend by Caroline Roberts and Angus Hyland).

Some of the creatures featured in The Golden Mole may be familiar but you might be surprised to learn about others facing endangerment and extinction.

The Golden Mole by Katherine Rundell is recommended for animal lovers and readers who enjoy short, punchy chapters about wildlife and the endangered species all around us.

My Rating:

★ ★ ★ ★ ★

Review: Cuddy by Benjamin Myers

Cuddy by Benjamin Myers is an historical fiction novel told in a blend of writing styles, including: narrative prose, quotes from historical reference books, poetry, diary entries and even a play. Anticipating a novel about the life of Saint Cuthbert of Lindisfarne told in a fictional first person point of view, Cuddy was an unexpected story.

Born in 634 AD in Northumbria (modern day Scotland), Cuthbert had been a monk, a prior and a bishop and was a hermit at the time of his death in 687 AD. Beloved in life, many came to pray at his grave at Lindisfarne and were healed. Deciding to elevate his remains as relics on the anniversary of his death, his body was found intact - hadn't decomposed - and he was declared a saint. Pilgrims visited the shrine for decades until Viking raids threatened the area.

Cuthbert's body was transferred to a coffin and transported by a dedicated group of worshippers seeking a safe resting place for their beloved saint. On the move until the year 995, a site was finally chosen and a series of churches were built to house St Cuthbert's remains. Construction of Durham Cathedral commenced in 1093 and still houses the Shrine of St Cuthbert today.

Pieced together from the non fiction quotes in the book, I share all of this because it's a fascinating slice of history and if you're still reading, it means you agree. Myers has created characters from each of these periods of Cuthbert's history in the wildly different formats mentioned above.

We hear from Cuthbert (affectionately known as Cuddy) early in the book but he's already close to death:

"Well now. You should have been here a candle or two ago. The scenes of despair amongst the monks at my final days of retreat to this bluff in the foaming ocean was quite the picture." Page 7

I love that phrase, 'a candle or two ago.' In Book I we join the religious folk in 995 AD carrying Cuthbert's remains and an orphan girl who has visions regarding his final resting place.

In Book II we jump to the year 1346 and through the eyes of the fletcher's wife, meet a stonemason engaged in building the great Durham Cathedral. The work of the mason and the history of the stone - then and now centuries later - was beautifully written:

"In the stone is yesterday's sun and the stories it has seen, not only of wandering holy folk and the fiery Norse, not only old white churches and milkmaids, galloping Frenchmen and the green men that took to the trees but other details not always pressed to the page by monks. Everything the stone has borne silent witness to is held within it now...... Rainstorms and quarrymen, Picts, plague pits and paupers, hawkers and jesters, skirling new life and coughing old death, archers and anglers, devils and angels, sunrises and sunsets, courting couples sitting on stone walls watching snowfall, villeins and franklin and wandering freemen, nets of cuttlefish and pails of crabs, sores and scabs, bed-bound mothers and gaoled fathers, babies - a thousand wailing babies - and church bells, cabbage soup and nettles and worms and sacks and jam and garlic and knives and deer and murder and toll gates and caravans and soothsayers and plums and coffin-makers and lepers and laughter and ice and logs and oats and sex and sin and Cuddy and Jesus and God." Page 237

I know that was a long quote, but it perfectly captures the awe and wonder I feel when gazing at a Cathedral built more than 1000 years ago and I want to be able to revisit these words again, even if I no longer have the book.

Leaving those characters behind to leap forward a few centuries, the Interlude was based on a haunting and shocking account of history. In 1650, Durham Cathedral was used as a prison by Oliver Cromwell to house 3,000 Scottish prisoners of war. Suffering in the cold without food or water, the prisoners destroyed the pews and burned the timber in order to keep warm. Devastatingly, 1,700 soldiers died from battle injuries, dehydration and starvation and were buried in mass graves nearby.

This is a disturbing chapter of history I knew nothing about but certainly won't forget, as the author has created a macabre play for the Interlude, whereby several soldiers being held captive engage in dialogue with eachother and the cathedral. Yes, you read that right.

It was a relief to reach Book III covering the period in 1827 when an arrogant Professor from Oxford travels to the Cathedral to oversee the disinterment of the saint in order to verify his remains are uncorrupted. Diary entries tell this tale and the character is haunted by his complicity and fears for his sanity. I felt the author's outrage at the desecration and believe the character met a satisfying fate. 

Book IV brings us to 2019 and it was perhaps an unnecessarily long tale to deliver the reader to Durham Cathedral and the tomb of St Cuthbert.

Cuddy by Benjamin Myers seemed to me to be the story behind the building of Durham Cathedral over time told through the lives of a handful of individuals:

"My story, and that of Fletcher Bullard, just one story in a thousand million stories that combine to define a place, concludes thusly:" Page 263

While brief, each serves as a complete story and while the reader may be reluctant to leave a character or point in time, their stories reach a natural conclusion of sorts.

A word on the layout as there were several techniques that were used - presumably - to impress but which I found slightly irritating. In one case, a character's visions were presented in one continuous paragraph with font that slowly reduced in size until it was barely readable by the end. Elsewhere, poetry was presented with varying alignment choices that left me cold, with just one word or sometimes even one letter per line. I guess you could say that while I enjoyed the mashup of writing styles within Cuddy, the unconventional layout choices fell short of the mark.

The descriptions of the cathedral from characters across time were incredible, with the 2019 character of Michael describing the vast edifice before him as enrapturing. It certainly had me pausing at certain times in the novel to research a fact or take a virtual tour of the cathedral and I'd love to visit in person one day, even just to see the sanctuary knocker.

"The face of the Sanctuary Knocker then, is that of the lonely miscreant, the damned, the doomed, the cursed, the blasted, the blighted, the bedevilled, the fated; he who shall live their life seeking God's eternal forgiveness alone." Page 197

Now that I've finished reading Cuddy, I believe it to be the complex history of Durham Cathedral rather than the story of a saint. This unique blend of fact and fiction and multiple writing styles felt original and is recommended for fans of Ken Follett and his series beginning with The Pillars of the Earth.

Prologue AD 687
Book I Saint Cuddy AD 995
Book II The Mason's Mark AD 1346
Interlude The Stone Speaks AD 1650
Book III The Corpse in the Cathedral AD 1827
Book IV Daft Lad AD 2019

My Rating:

★ ★ ★ ★ ★

Review: Extraordinary Insects by Anne Sverdrup-Thygeson

Deciding my reading line up could do with a dash of biology, this month I listened to the audiobook of Extraordinary Insects: Weird, Wonderful, Indispensable - The Ones Who Run Our World by Anne Sverdrup-Thygeson, previously published as Buzz Sting Bite - Why We Need Insects.

Anne Sverdrup-Thygeson is a professor at the Norwegian University of Life Sciences in Norway and a scientific advisor for the Norwegian Institute for Nature Research and has successfully managed to make her research interesting for the layperson.

Translated by Lucy Moffatt and narrated by Kristin Milward, this list of chapter titles should give you a clear idea of what to expect:

Chapter 1 Small Creatures, Smart Design: Insect Anatomy
Chapter 2 Six-legged Sex: Dating, Mating and Parenting
Chapter 3 Eat or Be Eaten: Insects in the Food Chain
Chapter 4 Insects and Plants: A Never-ending Race
Chapter 5 Busy Flies, Flavoursome Bugs: Insects and Our Food
Chapter 6 The Circle of Life - and Death: Insects as Caretakers
Chapter 7 From Silk to Shellac: Industries of Insects
Chapter 8 Lifesavers, Pioneers and Nobel Prize-winners: Insights from Insects
Chapter 9 Insects and Us: What's Next?

In Chapter 1, I learned the competition for the noisiest insect most definitely includes the male Water Boatman beetle:

"An aquatic insect a mere 2 millimetres long is the one most likely to walk away with the prize because the male of the Water Boatman species, part of the micronectidae family, competes for the female's attention by making music. But how are you supposed to serenade your sweetheart when you're the size of a coarse ground peppercorn? Well, the little Water Boatman does it by playing himself using his abdomen as a string and his penis as a bow." Chapter 1

Nature never ceases to amaze, and you'd better believe I was off to YouTube to track down a recording of the music which is said to reach 79 decibels but which actually sounds more like a frog than 'music'.

I saw my first bumblebee in London in 2012 and was absolutely transfixed, so when the author mentioned a study where bumblebees were trained to pull on a string to access sugar water, I rushed off to watch the experiments; again on YouTube. Apparently scientists also witnessed the ability of trained bumblebees to teach new ones, just amazing!

As you might expect, Extraordinary Insects is full of insect trivia and some surprising facts like this one: dragon flies can operate each of their 4 wings independently.

I was less convinced when it came to the practice of preparing insects for human consumption. Already a practice and a delicacy in some countries, the author made some convincing arguments although I can't see the West getting over their 'ick factor' any time soon.

I was interested to learn that the keeping of crickets as pets has been a huge hit for modern geriatric care in Asia to treat depression and loneliness. I went down an online rabbit hole and saw potential owners and collectors perusing specimens at a cricket market and was reminded of just how narrow my own experience of the world is.

More generally though, it was troubling to face the facts that many insects are endangered due to loss of habitat, global warming and the endless threat of the human population while science still has so much to learn from them.

Extraordinary Insects by Anne Sverdrup-Thygeson is recommended for nature lovers and those with an interest in biology, conservation and the environment. You can read a FREE extract here.

My Rating:

★ ★ ★ ★ ★

Review: Word Freak by Stefan Fatsis

I love playing Scrabble! It's a popular word game of skill and chance and journalist Stefan Fatsis entered the competitive world of Scrabble hoping for some material worthy of publishing.

What he discovered was an intense sub culture with its own rules and guiding principles and a range of dedicated, intelligent and sometimes eccentric players all striving to win. Word Freak - Heartbreak, Triumph, Genius, and Obsession in the World of Competitive Scrabble Players by Stefan Fatsis is the result of his research and complete immersion in the Scrabble scene.

First, it's important to know Scrabble can be played on a competitive level and the book largely takes place in the USA.

"To play competitive Scrabble, one has to get over the conceit of refusing to acknowledge certain words as real and accept that the game requires learning words that may not have any outside utility." Page 40

This is why competitive Scrabble doesn't appeal to me as a player. The author explains that vocabulary defines the better player in a living room situation, but in a competitive environment it's about mastering the rules of the game and memorising words. Two letter words are 'twos', three letter words 'threes' and so forth. Players keep track of tiles the way a card shark counts cards and there are endless strategies for discarding tiles, playing offensive and defensive and more.

Fatsis explains that players who compete at tournaments receive ranking points based on a very complicated system of wins and margins and are paired within divisions according to their latest ranking. A competitor will play multiple games at each tournament and Fatsis tells us just how hierarchical these tournaments are:

"In the playing room, you can't just sit wherever you fancy. The top-division tables typically are farthest from the main doors. And Table 1 of Division 1 - where the players with the best records meet in the latter stages of most tournaments - is usually in the farthest corner. The quality of play descends to the weakest novices in the room's opposite corner. And there isn't much interdivisional mingling. Experts have no interest in novice boards, and novices, who could benefit from learning new words or watching experts analyze positions, appear afraid to cross class boundaries." Page 37

In this way, the author quickly establishes the basics of competitive Scrabble and is glad to be warmly welcomed into the fold so to speak. Players knows he's a journalist from The Wall Street Journal and readily answer his questions while encouraging him to improve his game.

Many of the top players enjoy anagramming with each other in a playfully competitive nature and intellect is celebrated. Anagramming involves arranging tiles alphabetically on a rack - or saying them aloud - and identifying words made from the letters. This helps the players refine their skills and see the potential in the rack, and the majority of highly ranked players have created or implemented some kind of study program to learn and remember words.

There's quite a lot of content around the accepted dictionary of words, how it began and how it's updated etc.

"The Scrabble world decided that The Official Scrabble Players Dictionary [OSPD], first published in 1978, would for the purposes of the game, answer the question: What is a word?" Pages 40-41

But just to complicate things, there are two separate word sources that govern the game of Scrabble in North America and Great Britain.

"The new book is called the Official Tournament and Club Word List, and is known as the OWL." Page 41

I'd elaborate further but it gets quite confusing, suffice to say that Americans are at a significant disadvantage when playing overseas. Some embrace the additional words available to them, whilst others - predictably - refuse to change; essentially creating two camps. The deletion of offensive words caused a ruckus in the Scrabble community and several players who did a lot of work contributing to dictionary entries and study programs have been screwed over and distanced themselves from competitive play as a result.

There was even drama at the top level, with the dissolution of the National Scrabble Association (NSA) and the formation of the North American Scrabble Players Association (NASPA) in its place. Some players had various issues with the way NASPA was organising things and while many readers may find this overkill or boring, my interest - just - carried me through. It seems politics and drama exists everywhere.

It's unclear when exactly Fatsis becomes subsumed by Scrabble, but he quickly fixates on his rating, loses his temper when he doesn't play well and embarks on a range of study techniques, implementing tips from top players along the way.

Here's an example of some advice from Joe Edley that we can all learn from:

"Studying Scrabble words is like walking around the world, but as you start walking your feet start getting bigger. Every step you take is taking you farther. The more you study, the more ability you develop and the easier it becomes to learn more." Page 133

I'd say reading is the same! This is excellent advice and it can be applied to more than just Scrabble. Witnessing the author's improvement and progression through the rankings as he dedicated more and more time to it was satisfying. Often frustrating for the author himself, it was hard not to become invested in the nitty gritty details of specific plays gone wrong, missed opportunities, excellent plays and hard won victories.

Towards the end of the book, the author acknowledges that he's played more than a thousand games of Scrabble since embarking on his journey to write about the sub culture and it's taken him to unexpected places. I was surprised at the depth of relationships he developed over the course of the book, always rooming and carpooling with fellow players, regularly socialising outside of competitions and playing endless games in between.

Openly sharing their advice, strategies and study techniques, Fatsis also shared personal observations of their character, personality and lifestyle choices giving the reader quite an intimate view of some of the players. I often wondered whether he'd crossed the line and later learned in the Afterword that at least one player was unhappy about the way in which he was portrayed in the book.

Originally published in 2001, my new copy has an updated Preface and - cleverly titled - Afterwordfreak published in 2011. I particularly enjoyed reading updates on players who featured quite prominently in the book, and in a very meta way, the impact Word Freak had on new and upcoming players in the ten years it's been on shelves. The increase in technology and the emergence of new players who grew up playing bots online and using apps to improve their skills have now entered the fray. You'd assume the old-school players would feel threatened by them, but they seem to enjoy seeing new talent emerging and celebrate the successes of players decades younger than themselves.

While reading Word Freak I started playing the odd game of Scrabble online - against the computer - and found myself enjoying the game immensely and implementing many of the techniques outlined in this book. Word Freak by Stefan Fatsis was a terrific deep dive into the competitive world of Scrabble and I hope to watch the subsequent documentary Word Wars.

For more: 
- Read a FREE excerpt
- Check out my review of It's All A Game - A Short History of Board Games by Tristan Donovan

My Rating:

★ ★ ★ ★ ★

Review: Abominations by Lionel Shriver

Lionel Shriver is a somewhat controversial author here in Australia, although I found myself agreeing with most of her opinions in Abominations - Selected Essays from a Career of Courting Self-Destruction by Lionel Shriver.

Some readers might remember when Shriver made Australian headlines after giving the keynote speech at the 2016 Brisbane Writer's Festival. Her speech was about cultural appropriation and in Abominations we hear the speech in full, together with the subsequent fall out, attempt at cancellation and finally her response to it all.

For the record, I agree with her. Political correctness and the woke brigade have definitely gone too far if wearing a sombrero at a party is considered cultural appropriation and therefore offensive. If authors can only write from their own lived experience in order to avoid being accused of cultural appropriation, then their work will be dull and limited. I want authors to have the creative freedom to write about a priest living in the time of the black plague or a courtier dancing in the court of Elizabeth I and this automatically extends to creating characters with different nationalities and ethnicities; ages; sexual preferences and identities; socioeconomic backgrounds; levels of education; backgrounds and personalities than themselves. (For more, I shared my thoughts on 'own voices' in my review of Honeybee by Craig Silvey in 2020).

Shriver is open about the many attempts that have been made to cancel her and while she admirably shrugs them off, she does highlight the impact a 'successful' cancellation has on authors, publishers, actors and other creatives and the often devastating and unintended consequences that follow. Shriver gives examples of well known celebrity cancellations and I agreed with most of her opinions on the topic.

Abominations contains more than 40 essays of varying length and covers a broad range of topics, including: tennis, politics (Brexit and the troubles), IKEA furniture, economics (wages and taxes), health care, ageing parents and the pro-death movement. I found her essay on the nature of friendship break-ups particularly interesting.

In her instantly relatable essay entitled Quote Unquote published in the The Wall Street Journal in 2008, Shriver breaks down her pet peeve of quoteless dialogue:

"While the use of quotes to distinguish speech is still standard in English language fiction, undemarcated dialogue has steadily achieved the status of an established style. In fact, this is one of those stealthy trends that no-one confronts directly." Chapter 33

Shriver explains that it's harder to read fiction without punctuation marks for dialogue and making the reader work harder isn't in the author's best interests. She goes on to address each of the arguments in favour of undemarcated dialogue - love that phrase! - including improved aesthetics on the page and a perceived edginess. Shriver asks editors, agents, critics and established authors for their opinion and discovered the majority found dialogue without speech marks annoying. I was nodding the entire time and occasionally thinking to myself, YES! 

Listening to the author read her essays added to the overall experience and I'm giving Abominations by Lionel Shriver an extra star just for the sheer quality of the writing, vocabulary and turn of phrase. Whether you agree with her views or not, there's no arguing she's one hell of a writer!

My Rating:

★ ★ ★ ★ ★

Review: This is My World by Lonely Planet Kids

This is My World by Lonely Planet Kids was a delightful reading experience as 84 children from around the world tell us about their family, where they live, their hobbies and more. Each child enjoys a double page spread, and the eye-catching layouts include photos, flags, maps, fast facts and three adjectives they use to describe themselves.

Cleverly organised alphabetically by first name provides a stimulating criss-crossing of the globe instead of a dull trip alphabetically country by country. This also prevents readers from flipping pages to search for specific countries, although there is a handy index in the back.

Some of the entries are clearly written by the children while some have been helped by their parents, but all were informative, interesting and engaging. I loved learning new things along the way, for instance Noa (aged 10) lives in Japan and she says:

"I like this house because our living room is huge. There is a fireplace and horigotatsu (table-based heater) as well." Page 129

I didn't know what a horigotatsu was so put the book aside to find out and went down a lovely Japanese rabbit hole. They look super cosy and I really hope I get the chance to try one some day.

I was able to identify some similarities between the entries in that a lot of children fight with their siblings (who knew?), many have never seen snow and rabbits are a favourite animal for kids around the world.

According to the Foreward:

"To create this book, we reached out to cattle ranchers in the Australian outback, inhabitants of a fishing capital in Greenland, city dwellers living among skyscrapers in Nigeria and many more families!"

Sounds great but I'd really like to know exactly how they did that. How many children submitted a response and how were these 84 profiles chosen? Some of the children stated their parents were teachers and I found myself wondering if Lonely Planet reached out to schools as part of this project. Not that it's important, I'm just curious.

This is My World by Lonely Planet Kids is a great book suitable for readers young and old and I can highly recommend it.

My Rating:

★ ★ ★ ★ ★

Review: The Attic Child by Lola Jaye

The Attic Child by Lola Jaye is the story of two children almost a century apart locked in the same attic of a grand English home and treated abominably by the adults charged with their care.

The dual narrative begins in 1903 with Dikembe's life as a young nine-year-old boy living with his family in the Congo. The youngest in the family, his parents protect him from the dangerous political climate but his life takes a dramatic turn when he is convinced to accompany a white explorer back to England as his companion. Dikembe is re-named Celestine and his journey and subsequent adjustment to life in white society is deeply disturbing and heart wrenching.

Dikembe is a very likeable and inspirational character and my heart ached for his losses, sometimes to the point of not wanting to return to his story. After the demise of his sponsor, young Celestine is received poorly by distant relatives, treated like a servant and locked in the attic for days on end.

We join Lowra in 1993, and as a child she was locked in the same attic by her wicked stepmother after her father vanished on their honeymoon. Now an adult and orphan, she inherits the house and returns to the centre of her childhood trauma, the attic. In researching the history of the house, Lowra comes across a photograph of Celestine and enlists the help of an historian to trace his story.

The Attic Child was heavy reading and we're not spared Celestine's suffering in the first person nor the trauma suffered by Lowra presented in first person flashbacks. I found myself wishing the author had shielded us from at least one character's confinement or perhaps dialled down the sheer distress and horror of their combined abuse.

Lowra's research uncovers dreadful colonialism and racism in England in the late 1800s and early 1900s and a deplorable chapter of atrocities in the Congo where I later learned ten to fifteen million African people were slaughtered between 1885 and 1908. The historian becomes a key character and we learn his own history and ongoing experience of racism. Together their research takes them closer to Celestine and I kept reading to find out where it would all lead.

The Attic Child by Lola Jaye shines a light into some very dark places and if I'd known just how heavy and helpless it was going to make me feel, I don't know that I'd have chosen to read it. Knowing the story was inspired by historical fact made it harder to read, and I'm ashamed to say I guess I prefer a more sanitised version of historical fiction that doesn't give me an aversion to picking up the book due to the sorrow it contains.

The ending was satisfying even though it felt a little far fetched and Jaye includes an excellent Author's Note at the end expounding on the inspiration for the book. For more, you can read an article by the author from 2022 here.

The Attic Child by Lola Jaye is recommended for fans of historical fiction who can handle the darker side of history and child abuse page after page and still maintain hope.

My Rating:

★ ★ ★ ★ ★

Review: The Readers of Broken Wheel Recommend by Katarina Bivald

I received a copy of The Readers of Broken Wheel Recommend by Katarina Bivald as a mystery book at a GoodReads Melbourne catch up and it's been sitting on my TBR pile since 2018. The reason it's been collecting dust is because it's a romance story with a bookish theme and I don't really enjoy the romance genre. The reason it hasn't been 'moved on' to a friend or free little library is down to the fact that this is also a book about books. Needing a light and easy read recently, I finally picked it up and was pleasantly surprised to finish it.

Sara Lindqvist lives in Sweden and has a penpal by the name of Amy who lives in a small town called Broken Wheel in Iowa. Invited to visit and stay a few months to continue their shared love of books and reading, Sara takes the plunge only to discover upon arrival that Amy has passed away.

Translated from Swedish, what happens next forms the body of this charming story and the letters back and forth between Sara and Amy are scattered throughout the novel. The inevitable romance made itself known early on, together with several other - predictable - romantic entanglements. Sara's internal chatter (what could he possibly see in me?) grated on my nerves as I'd expect, but thankfully it was somewhat tempered by the setting up of a bookshop and re-energising of the town. The inhabitants of the small country town are stuck in their ways and some are entertainingly cliched.

Published in 2013, my favourite character by far was George and I enjoyed the character of Caroline even more so than Sara. Here Caroline reflects:

"She had never been able to help people like Amy could. Amy always seemed to know precisely what people wanted to hear. Caroline knew only what they should hear, and the two were very rarely the same thing." Page 24

Sara is seeking a sense of belonging and exploring what constitutes a family and readers will need to suspend their disbelief at the ending but I'm sure many will readily do so. Obviously life doesn't work like that but this is a tale offering escapism and a HEA; reinforcing the reason this genre rarely features in my reading line-up.

The Readers of Broken Wheel Recommend by Katarina Bivald is about finding a sense of belonging and will appeal to bookworms who enjoy novels about books and bookshops with a generous dollop of romance.

My Rating:

★ ★ ★ ★ ★

Review: Theft by Finding Diaries 1977-2002 by David Sedaris

Books by David Sedaris have been a somewhat regular feature here on Carpe Librum since 2021, and this offering marks my 7th review of his work. I have tickets to see David Sedaris live when he comes to Melbourne next year and thought I'd tackle the first volume of his diaries after they were recommended by an author whose recommendations I trust.

Theft by Finding: Diaries 1977-2002 by David Sedaris covers a huge chunk of his life, although Sedaris is clear at the outset that the diary entries selected for this collection are a mere drop in the ocean.

"It's worth mentioning that this is my edit. Of the roughly 8 million words handwritten or typed into my diary since September 5 1977, I'm including only a small fraction. An entirely different book from the same source material could make me appear nothing but evil, selfish, generous or even - dare I say - sensitive. On any given day I am all these things and more: stupid, cheerful, misanthropic, cruel, narrow minded, open, petty, the list goes on and on. A different edit, no doubt a more precise one would have involved handing my diary over to someone else, but that is something I cannot imagine doing, unless perhaps, that person is a journalist. They never get beyond the third page, which they usually call the middle, as in 'I'd hoped to finish this before our interview but am only in the middle'." Chapter 1

Beginning in 1977, the diary entries provide a wonderful snapshot of life at the time, reflecting the attitudes and social norms of those around him. Sedaris is a master of observation and conversation with people and he shares multiple snapshots into lives that merely intersected his for moments, days or weeks.

Living in poor neighbourhoods and taking odd jobs to pay the rent, Sedaris seemed to be surrounded by a lot of domestic conflict often leading to outright domestic violence. The author also shares multiple accounts of bullying and harassment while walking on the street, riding his bike and generally out in public, most of which he tries not to engage with.

The rise of AIDS is barely touched on although Sedaris often mentions he's mistaken for a woman on the phone and is called a fag by strangers when he won't give them cigarettes or money etc. There's no inner reflection or deep interrogation of his thoughts and feelings on these topics and I'm not sure whether he chose not to record them at the time or merely decided not to include them in this collection. Sedaris does mention he regrets not recording word-for-word conversations with family members in his diary as some of them have since died and he'd like to re-read them.

I've mentioned Sedaris' drug taking in the past and I really didn't enjoy the amount of air time given to his recreational drug use. He doesn't share any real reason for his drug taking or discuss any mental struggle related to the activity, perhaps preferring to keep it private. He does mention giving up alcohol and staying sober, but it's not a big focus and there wasn't any of the expected deep inner reflection.

Meeting his partner Hugh in 1990 was a highlight and I enjoyed tracking his early involvement in stage plays and the joy at his rising success via reviews and interviews, and later his early books. But again, my favourite sections were the entries written when he was taking a course to learn French. His sense of humour and love of word play definitely shone through, and I admired his effort to embrace the language. One favourite entry involved Hugh cutting his finger with a knife, and Sedaris racing down to the store not knowing the word for bandaid, and saying:

"My friend cut his finger and I am looking for a morsel of rubber." Chapter 23

Hugh later points out that the correct phrasing is 'cut of himself the finger' and Sedaris finds himself hoping Hugh will injure himself again so that he can return to the store with both the reflexive verb to 'cut of oneself' and the proper word for bandaid. Love it!

The advantage of a diary format is that the entries are relatively short in length, however the inevitable payoff is that the format can become a little repetitive after a while. Sometimes an engaging entry was included without a follow up that left me hanging (did his cat recover?) or wondering what happened only for the next entry to pick up weeks later.

This audiobook comes in at just under 14 hours and is therefore quite the commitment. Volume 2 A Carnival of Snackery: Diaries 2003-2020 comes in at a whopping 17+ hours so I don't imagine I'll be getting to that any time soon. If anything, I may listen to The Best of Me by David Sedaris before I see his show in February 2025 as I've had quite enough of the diary format for now.

My Rating:

★ ★ ★ ★ ★

Review: Hex by Jenni Fagan

In 1591, Geillis Duncan was found guilty of witchcraft and hanged as part of the North Berwick Witch Trials in Scotland. In Hex by Jenni Fagan, the author's protagonist Iris contacts Geillis in her jail cell on the eve of her execution. The year is 2021 for Iris, and she establishes the link between the pair via seance and astral travel.

Even with the stunning cover design, some of you might have dismissed this book immediately given the premise, however I enjoy historical fiction and was interested to learn what Iris had to say to Geillis. Geillis also made an appearance in the first three seasons of Outlander and she really made an impression. (I love that show by the way)! I wondered why Iris would choose to visit Geillis when all hope of salvation was gone. Why not visit earlier and help her to avoid her fate? Was she driven by a desire to provide comfort or satisfy her own curiosity? I didn't really find the answers, but what I did discover was anger and pure rage.

"A woman's voice is a hex. She must learn to exalt men always. If she doesn't do that, then she is a threat. A demon whore, a witch - so says everyone and the law. So say the King and his guards. So say the witch-pricker and his sadistic friends. So say the husbands, the haters, the wives, the daughters, the God-fearing - demons are always trying to kill them, so they know. So says the hangman who sleeps with Bible in hand." Page 8

Those familiar with their history will know that Geillis Duncan worked for David Seaton, who was unhappy about an inheritance that had been given to his in-laws. Seaton accused Geillis of witchcraft and together with a bunch of men, tortured her into naming other women as witches, including his sister-in-law Euphame MacCalzean. The author doesn't shy away from the horror of said torture nor Iris's history of abuse, and the lack of punctuation for dialogue made it even more difficult and uncomfortable to read.

"Euphame MacCalzean. That's who he wanted. That's who he went after. This is my true confession. He could not go after her directly, being of nobility as she is and with money, and he could not risk being accused of trying to hurt her. To kill her, in fact. He could not have his motive - to try to get his hands on her inheritance - as something that linked him to her death. So what other way to put a woman to death? Have her accused of witchcraft, that's what." Page 85

Despite the centuries between them, Iris and Geillis share a hatred for men and this rubbed me up the wrong way from the get go. Not all men in 1591 were evil and the same goes for 2021, although Iris pretty much tells Geillis nothing has changed.

Every page is dripping with rage, and the tender moments between Iris and Geillis weren't nearly enough to counterbalance the helplessness and horror of Duncan's situation, sitting in a dark cell awaiting her execution.

The only reason I didn't put Hex aside and stop reading it was the fact it was only 104 pages long, however I can't recommend this historical reimagining. Some readers might find the ending ethereal and magical, but I just found it a complete waste.

Hex by Jenni Fagan is part of the Darkland Tales series where Scottish authors offer dramatic retellings of stories from the nation's history, myth and legend. For those interested, other offerings in the series include: Rizzio by Denise Mina, Nothing Left to Fear From Hell by Alan Warner, Columba's Bones by David Greig and Queen Macbeth by Val McDermid.

My Rating:

★ ★ ★ ★ ★

Review: The President's Hat by Antoine Laurain

I wanted to read a French translation novel during the 2024 Olympics in Paris and The President's Hat by Antoine Laurain was given to me by a friend who loves France so it was the perfect choice.

Published in 2012 and set in 1980s Paris, the author offers us a simple enough premise, a hat is lost and found by a number of characters in succession who find their individual circumstances beginning to change when they start wearing the hat. One character observes:

"Wearing a hat gives you a feeling of authority over someone who isn't, he thought to himself." Page 35

I was so invested in the first character to find the hat that I was annoyed when it left his possession, almost to the point of wanting to put the book down permanently. However, once my irritation subsided I was able to continue the story with renewed interest.

I enjoyed seeing how the individual wearers of the hat began to prosper and make changes to improve their lives, leaving the reader to wonder if there was any power in the hat or if each of the characters brought about their own changes in fortune.

I wasn't familiar with the politics of France in the 1980s - and I'm still not - however the content of this slim volume does include a lot of political commentary from various characters. Thankfully this didn't overpower the narrative and I appreciated the 1980s references. I particularly delighted in this unexpected reference to an awesome song from the '80s:

"In the marble hallway, they handed their coats to some girls with incredible legs and followed the music: rock, or maybe it was pop, the words spoken off-beat in German with a chorus that went 'Rock me Amadeus', as far as Bernard could tell." Page 155

I love that song! Also unexpected was an epilogue at the end that neatly filled in some of the character arcs for the reader, but also raised a question or two that niggled.

The President's Hat by Antoine Laurain is a short, feel good novel that asks the reader to question whether they could transcend the lucky hat idea and make wholesale changes to their own lives themselves. Having just read 12 Rules for Life by Jordan B. Peterson, I know the answer is a resounding yes, however Laurain leaves it to the reader to arrive at their own conclusion.

As I do with all physical books after I've read them, I produced a Bookmark Monday post for this title over on Instagram and let my inner Francophile run free. The fact that the author noticed and thanked me was a nice memory to accompany the reading of this book.

My Rating:

★ ★ ★ ★ ★

Review: Sociopath by Patric Gagne

Patric Gagne is a sociopath, and in her memoir of the same title she shares her experience growing up knowing she was different but not understanding why. From a very young age Gagne knew she wasn't the same as other children because she didn't feel guilt, shame or empathy. Raised in a wealthy neighbourhood in California, Gagne was mean to other children, lied, stole, snuck out at night to stalk neighbours and trespassed in their homes even as a young girl. Without fear to stifle her desires, she engaged in very risky behaviour that was hard to listen to at times.

Sociopath - A Memoir by Patric Gagne is a reflective novel about the author's continual struggle to resist her urges and relieve the pressure building inside her to do bad things. I was surprised that her willingness to be open about her transgressions didn't extend to sexual development and she doesn't mention any sexual activity in her memoir. Perhaps this was a conscious choice for her family's sake as Gagne is now married with a family, which isn't a spoiler by the way. That aside, when a person is open enough to admit doing physical harm to another and genuinely doesn't care what other people think, surely a little sexual promiscuity - if indeed there was any - isn't that bad by comparison?

Later in life Gagne learns about sociopathy and begins a lifelong desire to understand everything she can about it. She reads all the information she can get her hands on in the library and her study continues well into her adulthood living in Los Angeles. After noticing a serious lack of information and resources for sociopaths seeking help, Gagne decides she will help her own kind and embarks on a pathway studying clinical psychology, eventually earning a PhD in clinical psychology by examining the relationship between sociopathy and anxiety.

Gagne points out that sociopaths comprise around 5% of the population and includes discussions held with her therapist and lecturers in a years long reflection on her struggle to understand and accept herself.

Working full time in the music industry as a manager while studying, Gagne kept herself busy to limit opportunities to do bad things, however repeated examples of what seemed like a lavish lifestyle - including a reference to attending a party at the Playboy mansion - made this reader's eyes roll. I accept that wanting to understand people from all walks of life doesn’t just mean those with less than you, it also means people with more than you, but I certainly felt that well and truly on display here. Ultimately though, after finishing her memoir, I am left feeling grateful for all Gagne has contributed to the field of sociopathy.

I recommend Sociopath - A Memoir by Patric Gagne for readers who think they might be a sociopath or those who have one in their family, work or friend circle. While interested in the topic of sociopathy, psychopathy and anti-social personality disorders, I wasn't expecting such a deep and protracted look at one patient's struggle to deal with her condition.

My Rating:

★ ★ ★ ★ ★

Review: Daisy in Chains by Sharon Bolton

After reading three 5 star books in a row last month, I turned to some crime fiction from my back catalogue to change up my reading selection. Published in 2016, Daisy in Chains by Sharon J. Bolton is a crime novel with two main protagonists and a great supporting character.

Maggie Rose is a lawyer with a reputation for overturning murder convictions and publishing true crime books about their cases. Hamish Wolfe is a successful surgeon and convicted serial killer of plus sized women and is serving a prison sentence for his crimes.

Detective Pete Weston was responsible for cracking the case that put Wolfe away and saw him convicted of the murders of three women. Wolfe remains the primary suspect in the case of a fourth missing woman fitting his modus operandi. Meanwhile, Wolfe's mother and support group are convinced of his innocence and beg Maggie to take on the case and work on his legal appeal.

I vacillated between Wolfe's guilt and innocence and there were plenty of red herrings throughout the plot to keep the reader guessing. Letters between characters and draft chapters of Maggie's next true crime manuscript are included throughout the text and manage to drive the narrative forward and keep the pace high.

This was a four star read until the big reveal or what some readers are calling the twist. Unfortunately it was a step too far and a bit of a stretch for me and I felt like I'd been duped as a reader. Having said that, the first three quarters of the book until that point was a fast moving crime thriller that had me going backwards and forwards questioning Maggie's motives and Detective Pete Weston's involvement.

Recommended for crime fiction and thriller readers.

My Rating:

★ ★ ★ ★ ★

Review: 12 Rules for Life - An Antidote to Chaos by Jordan B. Peterson

Incorporating psychology; psychoanalysis; neuroscience; philosophy; ancient and modern literature; history; mythology; religious texts; poetry; current affairs; cases from his work as a clinical psychologist and stories of his life growing up, 12 Rules For Life - An Antidote to Chaos by Jordan B. Peterson is a difficult book to define.

Listening on audiobook to his distinctly Canadian voice, I was educated and inspired. I had some existing thoughts reaffirmed and challenged from a new viewpoint, and my mind opened to new ideas and concepts. Peterson is quick to explain:

"I'm not for a moment claiming, however, that I am entirely correct or complete in my thinking. Being is far more complicated than one person can know and I don't have the whole story. I'm simply offering the best I can manage." Overture

The best he can manage is a whole lot more than I have been managing and I enjoyed his perspectives immensely. You might assume the 12 rules of the title could be distilled into bullet points to save the reader some 15+ hours of reading time. Perhaps you're even hoping I'll do that here, but unfortunately you'd be wrong. Peterson's content isn't so easily summarised, Rule 12 is entitled Pet A Cat When You Encounter One on the Street for example.

Beginning with the behaviour of lobsters to introduce natural hierarchy and relate it back to humans was fascinating. The first two rules (Rule 1: Stand up Straight with Your Shoulders Back and Rule 2: Treat Yourself Like Someone You Are Responsible for Helping) were immediately inspiring and motivated me to take a chance on applying for something.

"You need to consider the future and think, what might my life look like if I were caring for myself properly? What career would challenge me and render me productive and helpful so that I could shoulder my share of the load and enjoy the consequences. What should I be doing when I have some freedom to improve my health, expand my knowledge and strengthen my body. You need to know where you are so you can start to chart your course." Rule 2 Treat Yourself Like Someone You Are Responsible for Helping

The author touches on all fields of study mentioned above, but the key quote I want to remember and come back to again because it inspired me to tackle a long neglected issue arrived in Rule 4: Compare Yourself to Who You Were Yesterday, Not to Who Someone Else is Today and it goes like this:

"Ask yourself: is there one thing that exists in disarray in your life or your situation that you could, and would, set straight? Could you, and would you, fix that one thing that announces itself humbly in need of repair? Could you do it now? Imagine that you are someone with whom you must negotiate. Imagine further that you are lazy, touchy, resentful and hard to get along with. With that attitude, it’s not going to be easy to get you moving. You might have to use a little charm and playfulness. “Excuse me,” you might say to yourself, without irony or sarcasm. “I’m trying to reduce some of the unnecessary suffering around here. I could use some help.” Keep the derision at bay. “I’m wondering if there is anything that you would be willing to do? I’d be very grateful for your service.” Ask honestly and with humility. That’s no simple matter." Rule 4: Compare Yourself to Who You Were Yesterday, Not to Who Someone Else is Today

As well as being educational, Peterson also makes me laugh. His story about taking the spoon back from his son and babysitting a neighbour's child had me chuckling. It's not often that I have two five star reading experiences back to back, but 12 Rules For Life - An Antidote to Chaos is the third five star book I read in a row last month.

Jordan B. Peterson is engaging and I always come away from reading his work having learned something new. He also practices what he preaches - Rule 8 is Tell the Truth or At Least Don't Lie - and causes a sensation online when discussing hot topics from time to time. Acknowledging his sometimes polarising nature, I recently enjoyed his in depth interview with Elon Musk which you can watch in full for free here.

It's likely 12 Rules for Life - An Antidote to Chaos by Jordan B. Peterson is now one of my favourite self help books of all time and I'm still letting it percolate in my mind, but already have plans to read his next book Beyond Order - 12 More Rules For Life.

The author's overall message is to encourage and inspire all of mankind to strive and improve themselves and continue to evolve. While plenty of people in the world don't want to do that, or believe they don't need to do that, I don't know anyone - Peterson included - who wouldn't benefit from doing precisely that.

Highly recommended!

My Rating:

★ ★ ★ ★ ★

Review: The End and Everything Before It by Finegan Kruckemeyer

* Copy courtesy of Text Publishing *

Reading the sample chapter of The End and Everything Before It by Finegan Kruckemeyer gave me goosebumps and reminded me of the fable at the beginning of The Rain Heron by Robbie Arnott. The fact that Australian literary author Robbie Arnott (also the author of Limberlost) was involved in the launch of this book speaks volumes about the confidence Text Publishing and this wildly successful author have in Kruckemeyer's debut.

I usually need a clear structure and detest a dreamy narrative, but somehow in The End and Everything Before It Kruckemeyer has produced a loosely structured dreamlike group of stories connected by geographical proximity through time and I loved it!

An intergenerational saga that is far from linear, each generation offers a parable within their tale, yet this happens without clear dates to place characters in chronological order. The reader is left to realise in their own time, oh, that must have happened when the building on the hill was a hospital, or I think this character is the granddaughter of that one.

These kinds of literary feats are usually beyond my intellectual ability or exceed my willingness to surrender to the narrative, but here the author surprised me with this highly original - and accessible -offering. Additionally, I never re-read books because I always worry that I could be wasting an opportunity to discover a new favourite, but I found myself wanting to read The End and Everything Before It again before I'd even finished.

Enough gushing, let me share some quotes with you, because the writing was sublime. When describing a feast, the host remarks that it's a great success, not because he's the best host but because of the parts that make the whole.

"The tables are busy thoroughfares along which the things of life pass back and forth - salad bowls, misplaced forks, conversation, bottles of ale. And laughter. Laughter ringing off glasses, clattering onto plates, making eyes shine, cheeks crease. I sit in the laughter, happy to have set the table that holds it." Page 16

Doesn't that just make you warm and fuzzy inside? It makes me wish I could attend this feast while simultaneously thinking of Christmas.

When Emma the Greek meets Conor the orphan and his daughter, she tells them about her adventures at sea.

"If they'd had a question she'd given detail. If they were silent she'd pushed on. And it felt like a shedding - like standing on a porch when you've run through the rain, and stepping out of boots, and stripping off each layer, and shaking loose your hair, and wiping down your face with a sure, strong hand before you open the door and step into a warm room. It has seemed that she couldn't enter into that warm-room comfort until every tale was told, until every memory - still dripping - was hung upon its hook." Page 62-63

Moments like this made me pause and reflect on the perfect imagery and the character descriptions - while sometimes brief - managed to convey both depth and meaning.

By contrast, one moment had me snorting at the sheer unexpected nature of the character in question. A lady's maid is speaking to her widowed mistress on the one year anniversary of her husband's death.

"'Like how we got in that yellow wallpaper, the day of the... seeing how yellow's your colour, and how it wasn't so much his colour but now that's not so much of an issue. And we thought, if the wallpaper went up all right, then maybe... maybe we could give everything a... a good old spring-clean. And some of his things. His hat there by the door, his overcoat, the pipe there where it lies on that round low table in the library. Well maybe those things could--' I hit Betty so hard in the face her glasses bounced off the nearby wall." Page 72

Poor Betty, she didn't make a sound. Despite her cruelty, the wealthy widow was a favourite character and provided the dark side to some of the more wholesome characters in the novel. 

Birds and nests are an important thematic reference in the novel and a lonely stone building on top of the hill is another marker of time as the reader notes the changes in purpose from prison to hospital, to immigration facility and juvenile home.

Booklovers will treasure the history of the town's bookshop and story connections:

"And on the bus back to the home I read the book. And that night I finished the book, and put it on my shelf. Then I slept the sleep of someone who's just finished a story, one where half your dreams are there already." Page 142-143

That's exactly how I felt about this book! Born in Ireland and now living in Adelaide, it's a little easier to believe this is Kruckemeyer's debut novel when you discover he's an award winning playwright. The End and Everything Before It is a literary fable about love, loss, legacy, purpose and community. It's an uplifting allegory rich in meaning that makes you appreciate the importance of love and remember the passage of time; we're here for such a small time and we all need to make it count! And the ending - gasp - was just sublime.

The End and Everything Before It by Finegan Kruckemeyer was unforgettable and a definite contender for my Top 5 Books of 2024 this year. Highly recommended!

My Rating:

★ ★ ★ ★ ★

Review: A Short Walk Through a Wide World by Douglas Westerbeke

* Copy courtesy of Penguin Random House *

I'm calling it early, but there's a very good chance A Short Walk Through a Wide World by Douglas Westerbeke is going to make My Top 5 Books of 2024 list. Where to begin?

It's 1885 in Paris and our protagonist Aubry Tourvel is a precocious young girl of just nine years of age when she falls inexplicably ill. Suffering excruciating pain and bleeding from the nose and mouth, the only thing that soothes her seems to be movement.

In the first few pages the author convinces the reader of the seriousness of Aubry's condition with powerful descriptive writing that I'm not likely to forget. Here's a taste:

"And then the pain strikes - a terrible, venomous pain - a weeping pain, like an ice pick through a rotten tooth. It drives straight down her spine, from the base of her skull to the small of her back. She shudders as if electrified, then stiffens up, crushing all the slack out of her body. The old man stops his chattering, watches her face turn cold and pale, watches her lips form soundless words." Page 5

Forced to travel to keep her illness at bay from that point on, days and weeks pass but the narrative doesn't unfold in a strictly chronological sense. Given her circumstances change every 3-4 days, it would be impossible to include her journey and experiences throughout the course of her entire lifetime. Instead the reader experiences her travels in flashbacks and when sharing her encounters with people she meets along the way.

One such person is an old man in Chile who engages Aubry in conversation and explains why he detests travel. He tells Aubry he once fancied a trip to Santiago to see what the fuss was about but it didn't exactly go to plan.

"After an uncomfortable carriage ride to the station, where he discovered his train was running three hours late, he became hungry and ordered sweet potato empanadas. To his horror, he discovered these empanadas were not to his taste at all, far too sweet, and the cafe did not carry his favourite tea - in fact, no tea at all. He was forced to try a sweetened tonic water imported from America, which he'd heard of but never pursued. It was a disastrous meal. He thought if a mere trip to the train station had caused him so much unpleasantness, what horrors might a trip to Santiago inflict? He threw his ticket away and headed straight back home." Page 74

Perhaps you can relate to this sentiment, or - like others she meets on her travels - imagine Aubry's life of continual travel to be adventurous, spiritual or romantic. The old man continues to chat with Aubry, asking:

"And really, was there anything in Santiago or Havana or Madrid - any artwork or museum or towering mountain - he could not simply read about in a book?"

The author's vocation as a librarian in Ohio shines through this book in a huge way. I can only imagine the plethora of books which have inspired his writing style and fuelled his imagination because his own work was perfection on the page.

As well as containing engaging travel adventures that are often dangerous, sometimes desperate and occasionally warm and emotional, Westerbeke also manages to write some entertaining dialogue, particularly when it involves children or a language barrier.

Stories and doorways are important within the narrative and reading A Short Walk Through a Wide World by Douglas Westerbeke reminded me of The Ten Thousand Doors of January by Alix E. Harrow meets The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by V.E. Schwab. It also reminded me of my idealised version of One Thousand and One Nights; idealised because I've never read them but this is how I imagine them to be, only in more detail.

For example, Aubry tells a woman from Heshou that she has "crewed with the cinnamon traders from Seychelles", "built a house in the Hawizeh marshes" and "slaughtered whales in the Faroe Islands." (Page 245)

A Short Walk Through a Wide World by Douglas Westerbeke could be categorised multiple ways, it's a travel story, historical fiction, action adventure, science fiction and urban fantasy. It contains a mystery puzzle ball and a secret library, I mean what more could you want? If anyone possessed the talent to bring Aubry's story to the big screen it would be epic.

Highly recommended!

My Rating:

★ ★ ★ ★ ★

Review: History Stinks! Poo Through the Ages by Suzie Edge

After enjoying Vital Organs - A History of the World's Most Famous Body Parts by Suzie Edge, I thought I'd give her latest non fiction book published this year History Stinks! Poo Through the Ages a look in. Geared towards a much younger audience, medical doctor and historian Suzie Edge does a great job teaching young readers about history through the lens of toilets and yes, poo!

Beginning with the Romans and their public foricae comprising a marble bench with openings side by side over a communal gutter with fresh flowing water, the author takes us through the latrines, cesspits, garderobes, chamberpots, privvies and water closets across time.

Uniting her medical knowledge with her penchant for history, the author also covers a variety of diseases caused by poor sanitation along with some humorous factoids like this one.

In 1972, archaeologists in York in northern England discovered the fossilised remains of an enormous human turd. It was discovered along with wood, cloth and leather that was left behind from the Viking settlement centuries earlier. Edge tells us:

"This 1000 year old poo measured a gigantic 20 centimetres long and 5 centimetres wide and is believed to be the biggest example of a fossilised human poo ever found." Chapter 5

That certainly had me hurriedly pressing pause on the audiobook and rushing to find a tape measure so I can only imagine the reactions of the 7+ target audience. The fossil is on public display in York - complete with the stench cleverly recreated by scientists - but finding out it was accidentally dropped in 2003 when being handled during a school trip and subsequently broke into 3 pieces was surprisingly distressing.

History Stinks! Poo Through the Ages is a novel way for kids to learn about history, sanitation, historical figures, medicine and archaeology although the topical jokes and 'did you know' sections did begin to irritate this adult reader after a while. That said, there's plenty to entertain and a lot to learn in this short audiobook, from what people in the Roman and Tudor periods used to wipe their bottoms to how astronauts poo in space.

A sneak peek at the author's current writing project tells me that her next offering in the series History Stinks! Wee, Snot and Slime Through Time is due to be published in 2025 and I might just have to take a wee look.

My Rating:

★ ★ ★ ★ ★

Review: Weyward by Emilia Hart

Weyward by Emilia Hart is a tale of three women from three different time periods covering a span of five centuries. In 1619 Altha is on trial for witchcraft, in 1942 Violet is fascinated by nature and insects and in 2019 Kate flees an abusive partner in London to seek refuge in her newly inherited Weyward cottage of the title.

Each of the three women face hardship and challenges to their agency. They each demonstrate resilience and struggle to harness their own inner power and strength stemming from the Weyward line of women before them.

All three characters have an affinity with nature and insects in particular, which gives rise to an accusation of witchcraft for Altha in the seventeenth century:

"Witch. The word slithers from the mouth like a serpent, drips from the tongue as thick and black as tar. We never thought of ourselves as witches, my mother and I. For this was a word invented by men, a word that brings power to those who speak it, not those it describes. A word that builds gallows and pyres, turns breathing women into corpses. No. It was not a word we ever used." Page 157

As you can see the writing is confident, the research seamless and the reading experience as enjoyable as any historical fiction novel by the likes of Philippa Gregory or Stacey Halls.

"She looked happy, hand in hand with her husband. Perhaps she was, then. Or perhaps I was standing too far away. A great many things look different from a distance. Truth is like ugliness: you need to be close to see it." Page 186

I was desperate for a makeover of the run down Weyward Cottage which sadly didn't come (I'm a sucker for a property makeover or fictional renovation of any kind) but each of the narratives were compelling and I enjoyed how they eventually fit together.

Born in Sydney and now residing in London, Emilia Hart is definitely an author to watch. Weyward by Emilia Hart is highly recommended for fans of historical fiction and strong female characters.

My Rating:

★ ★ ★ ★ ★