Review: The Household by Stacey Halls

The Household by Stacey Halls is set in London in 1847 and centres around the real life opening of Urania Cottage in Shepherd's Bush. British philanthropist Angela Burdett-Coutts was one of the wealthiest women in England and a rich benefactor of the project along with Charles Dickens (yes, THE Charles Dickens). Set up in secret to offer fallen young women a new start in life, young girls - including prostitutes, thieves, orphans and model prisoners released from gaol - were offered the opportunity to live in the cottage, learn all of the skills necessary to enter into service and ultimately move to the colonies.

Inspired by history, The Household is told my multiple narrators, including the benefactor Burdett-Coutts, the housekeeper and several residents living at the cottage. This makes for plenty of drama playing out in the richly appointed cottage.

The young girls come from all backgrounds, but I was really moved when one of the characters described the conditions of the female prisoners picking oakum (unravelling rope) at the Tothill Fields, Westminster House of Correction. For those interested in learning more about picking oakum, I can recommend checking out this short segment from The Worst Jobs in History by Tony Robinson.

"The new girls often cry when their necks hurt and their eyes sting. Most are there a week or two, then vanish; some are on their sixth, seventh, eighth term, as though Tothill Fields is a hotel they return to at leisure. Above the platform, a painted sign declares PRISONERS ARE NOT TO SPEAK TO EACH OTHER. The room is quiet but never silent, punctuated every few seconds with a sigh, a sneeze, a cough. Now it is November, the infirmary is full, and the morgue waits below like a baby bird with its beak open." Page 32

Well written and expertly researched, I thoroughly enjoyed everything about the project, the daily structure and routines at Urania Cottage and of course the challenges faced by the residents.

Thankfully Charles Dickens is a background character in this tale, regularly interviewing the girls about their history and downfall in an effort to prove they can be reformed and return to society. Here Martha reflects on everything that led her to Urania Cottage:

"But a fall is swift, sudden, when really it isn't like that at all. They imagine it to be a seduction or a moment of weakness, as if we carry this precious thing in a little box on our person. But it isn't a single thing, a single moment. It's more like a series of little deaths." Page 105

Along with Burdett-Coutts and the matron of Urania Cottage, the reader comes to care for the characters, although sadly not all want to be saved. Finally, one of the girls (Martha) reflects on her changing fortunes:

"She looks back upon their meeting now with the distance of time, thinking how wondrous life is. Not long ago she was paying a penny to sleep over a rope in a boarding-house; now she is the wife of a clergyman." Page 254

The Household by Stacey Halls is my fourth book by the author and each of them have been 5 star reads. They have all been stand alone historical fiction novels and I can't wait to see what the author writes next. Highly recommended!

For more, check out my reviews of:
The Familiars
The Foundling
Mrs England

My Rating:

★ ★ ★ ★ ★

Review: Adrift in Melbourne by Robyn Annear

* Copy courtesy of Text Publishing *

I'm a proud resident of Melbourne and live close to the CBD where I've witnessed extraordinary changes to the city over the years. I've seen the tallest building in Melbourne erected from a dusty carpark, and then seen the title of Melbourne's tallest building Eureka eclipsed. I've witnessed the opening of Federation Square, the beginning of the metro tunnel, the establishment of new galleries and more. The city of Melbourne is continually evolving and I'm certain we're going to continue seeing further change and development in the future.

Having enjoyed Old Vintage Melbourne by Chris Macheras so much last year, the chance to explore the city further with Robyn Annear was too tempting an opportunity to pass up.

In Adrift in Melbourne - Seven Walks with Robyn Annear, the author guides us through the city of Melbourne and the reader can recreate the tours on the ground or experience them via Google Maps or from the comfort of home. I chose the armchair traveller option but had to keep my device handy as I was constantly looking up images of buildings still present and those lost to the bulldozers of time and progress.

Annear's sense of humour and personal touch accompanies us on every tour and while largely focussed on the history of buildings and locations, here's a funny story from the intersection of Franklin and William streets:

"During a lull in traffic one weekday morning in 1952, a large grey shag landed in the middle of this intersection and disgorged two live fish. A city-bound cyclist, without even dismounting, scooped up both fish and kept riding." Page 255

Can you imagine your astonishment on seeing this today? I imagine it would have been exactly the same for those pedestrians 70 years ago. What a hoot!

Reading Adrift in Melbourne, I was continually learning and marvelling, did you know:

"By the 1930s, Flinders Street Station was the busiest in the world, swallowing and disgorging more than twice as many passengers weekly as Grand Central station in New York." Page 40

I've just started researching Docklands and re-acquainting myself with the well established suburb it is today, and laughed when I read this:

"Take a tram west... and you'll arrive at the intersection of Collins and Bourke streets. Talk about a mind-fuck. Welcome to Docklands." Page 74

Indeed! The meeting of two parallel streets is a complete mind-fuck and Annear couldn't have said it better.

Phrases and sayings snuck into the book occasionally and they were always entertaining. How's this one:

'Latrobe had a smile that might ripen a banana'. Meaning, presumably, that it was radiant like the tropical sun. Page 159-160

What a classic description! I had no idea that 448 Queen Street was once home to Holt's Melbourne Matrimonial Agency, or that thousands of residents would mill around the GPO when a 'flag raised over the clock tower signalled the arrival of a mail ship from England.' Anyone wanting to collect or post a letter had to queue at the GPO for hours, with observations of staff being knee deep in mail. I can't imagine it, can you?

In 1850:

"Something like two hundred thousand letters and three hundred thousand newspapers passed through the Melbourne post office, and within three years, those numbers would increase ten-fold." Page 192

The process for the cleaning of straw bonnets was absolutely remarkable, and I was exhausted just reading about the detailed process that took days to complete on page 146. I just dearly wished the book included some photographs of the sites mentioned. I constantly had to set the book aside and dive into Google in order to bring up images of the buildings and sites mentioned.

The author's love of history is evident and even her casual reference to the veranda blitz of 1954 opened my eyes to periods in our history where heritage features weren't valued and instead residents preferred the new to the old. 

I think Annear sums it up best at the end of her guided tours, when she writes:

"Surely the best argument for keeping old buildings in a modern city is one of scale, human scale. That, and the sense they convey of someone having been here before us. I'm not talking about memory: memory can outlive brick and stone. But the solid presence of old places, made and kept at human scale, gives a city and its inhabitants their bearings across time. Lose that and your city's a machine." Page 260-261

Adrift in Melbourne by Robyn Annear is highly recommended for history lovers, non fiction readers and those with even a passing interest in Australian history and the evolution of Melbourne, Victoria.

My Rating:

★ ★ ★ ★ ★

Review: Death Is But a Dream - Finding Hope and Meaning at Life's End by Christopher Kerr

A fellow reviewer recently pointed out that I read a lot of books on death and I suppose I do. Sleep and death - the eternal sleep - are two topics I've always been interested in but exploring them in audiobooks is a relatively new experience. It has nothing to do with the current pandemic sweeping the world; death happens every day.

In Death Is But a Dream - Finding Hope and Meaning at Life's End by Christopher Kerr, the author takes us through the experiences of patients in palliative and hospice care. Dr. Kerr interviewed more than 1,400 patients for this study and shares individual patient experiences with the reader, some of which were moving.

What might seem to family members as delusions, visions or signs of a patient losing their grip on reality, Kerr believes is proof of a process of dying his patients share and which brings them enormous comfort and relief at the end of their life.

Each patient is different but they often see loved ones long gone from this world who appear to encourage them to pass on into the next. Themes of forgiveness and grace are common, as is a reluctance to leave loved ones behind.

If you're a skeptic or you don't believe in life after death, this book won't change your mind; nor does it set out to. It's not that kind of book. It's for those who may have some experience with the passing of a loved one, or a general curiosity about the dying process and the often unexplained experiences that go along with it.

Will Death Is But a Dream bring comfort to those with a terminal illness, or facing the decision to admit a loved one to a hospice? I'm not sure. What is clear after listening to these various stories is that love unites us all. No matter what kind of life we have lived, our departure may vary, but love in all its forms remains the primary concern until - and beyond - the last breath.

Carpe Librum!

My Rating:

★ ★ ★ ★ ★

Review: Mudlarking - Lost and Found on the River Thames by Lara Maiklem

* Copy courtesy of Bloomsbury Circus *

Mudlarking is the act of searching or scavenging in the river mud at low tide seeking items of value. Modern mudlarks forage in the mud in search of items from history - regardless of value - and it's amazing what they find. I saw the River Thames in person for the first time in 2012 but it's always been fascinating to me as a repository of history.

Author Lara Maiklem is a proud London mudlark and shares her finds in Mudlarking - Lost and Found on the River Thames. First, some interesting facts about the Thames from the book.

Facts

"...the height between low and high water at London Bridge varies from fifteen to twenty-two feet [and] it takes six hours for the water to come upriver and six and a half for it to flow back out to sea." Page 3

"The tides today are higher than they have been at any time in history." Page 13

"... in 1957, the Natural History Museum declared the Thames 'biologically dead' ... A campaign to clean up the Thames began in the 1960s and by the end of the 1970s the river was considered to be 'rehabilitated'. It is now cleaner than it has been in living memory and supports over 125 species of fish." Page 259

Finds

In Mudlarking, Lara Maiklem takes us down the river from Teddington to the Estuary and the open sea in a combination of memoir, archaeology, science and history in a narrative non-fiction style of writing. She tells us her preferred method of searching the river bed and banks is to kneel with her 'nose barely inches from the foreshore' where she completely immerses herself in the task.

One of my favourite finds from the book was the legend of the Doves Type. A bookbinder by the name of Cobden-Sanderson tipped 500,000 pieces of lead type into the river at Hammersmith. Following a dispute about the ownership of the type with Emery Walker, he bequeathed the type to the River Thames between 1913 - 1916 and mudlarks have been searching for them ever since. Such a fascinating story.

In January 2018 I thoroughly enjoyed How To Be a Tudor by Ruth Goodman and the tidbit that pins from this era are still being found in the Thames today. Maiklem expands on the humble pin on page 86 and I was transfixed by her words. She tells us pins accumulate and wash together in tangled metallic nests and that pins are one of her favourite treasures to find because they're so ordinary.

History

I also enjoyed the London Bridge chapter, particularly the information about old London bridge.

"The old bridge was built with nineteen arches of varying widths and wide piers... which created a virtual barrier across the river, impeding its flow and trapping the tide." Page 145

I had no idea the construction of the old bridge slowed the water to such an extent the river froze over in harsh winters. I knew about the festivities that took place when the Thames froze over in the 1600s but wasn't aware that it doesn't do so now because these obstructions were removed when the old bridge was demolished.

Turning to more recent history and how did I not know about London's Riveria known as Tower Beach?

"The half-moon of soft yellow sand that forms a gentle hill in front of the river wall and peters out to shingle towards the river, is all that remains of 'London's Riviera', 1,500 barge-loads of Essex sand that was spread over the foreshore to create a public beach in 1934." Page 165

Apparently Tower Beach was a great success and in 1935 approximately 100,000 people came to 'holiday' beside the Thames. What a sight this must have been.

Memoir

From the very beginning, Maiklem tells the reader just what mudlarking means to her:

"I have carefully arranged meetings and appointments according to the tides, and conspired to meet friends near the river so that I can steal down to the foreshore before the water comes in and after it's flowed out. I've kept people waiting, bringing a trail of mud and apologies in my wake; missed the start of many films and even left early to catch the last few inches of foreshore. I have lied, cajoled and manipulated to get time by the river. It comes knocking at all hours and I obey..." Page 3

Armed with this information on just how much this obsession controls the author's life, I formed the opinion she'd make an unreliable friend and frustrating partner but is no doubt a highly experienced mudlarker.

However she makes mention several times throughout the book that she won't share specific locations. By omitting them the reader can join the dots on their own (or not), but openly stating she won't share the locations made her seem arrogant in my view.

Here's an example:

"I have two American plantation tokens, both of which I found within a few feet of each other (I'm not saying where), and several years apart." Page 203

What's the point? Trust me, her finds are fascinating enough (buckles, coins, leather shoes, buttons, clay pipes, beads, ink pots and more) and I don't think anyone would expect her to disclose her secret locations.

Another thing that irked me was her belief that a portion of the shore had been taken away from her. When telling the reader about nets of stones placed against the river wall in Greenwich in an attempt to prevent erosion, she says:

"My special patch has been covered up, ... and half an hour on every tide has been taken away from me." Page 248

I'd like to tell the author 'your special patch isn't yours and so it can't be taken away from you'. Losing access may be a sore point, but have gratitude for the access you do have and what you managed to find there in the past. While Maiklem acknowledges the perils of erosion, she notes that it also washes out treasures for mudlarks to find.

Conclusion

On a lighter note, Maiklem has a marvellous ability to bring history to life. She uses her imagination to breathe life into the objects she unearths and I enjoyed this immensely.

However, I wish there had been photographs to accompany the text. So much of what the author shares with us has a visual component and I felt this was missing in Mudlarking. The only saving grace is that Maiklem has an awesome Instagram account and I was able to go there to see photographs of some of her finds.

In summary, I adored learning more about the history of the River Thames, I was gripped by every item the author discovered and researched but I could happily have done without the memoir aspect with no sense of loss at all.

Recommended reading for amateur and professional historians and genealogists; archaeologists; aquaphiles; environmentalists; museum lovers and the curious.

Carpe Librum!

My Rating:

★ ★ ★ ★ ★

Review: Stalked - The Human Target by Rachel Cassidy

* Copy courtesy of Rockpool Publishing *

As the subtitle of Stalked - The Human Target by Rachel Cassidy indicates, this book contains Stories of people pursued by stalkers and the devastating effects on their lives. For the most part, this was an informative and educational read and contained information on what constitutes stalking and harassment, case studies and information from subject matter experts.

I wasn't expecting bullying and harassment to feature as much as stalking but the inclusion made sense when explained. From the mention of David Letterman and Madonna in the synopsis, I was expecting to read about more famous cases than those included in Stalked.

In an attempt to provide balance, the author included the perspective of a stalker convicted for his crimes. However the interview didn't go anywhere near far enough in my opinion. Given this was the only first person perspective of stalking from the perpetrator's point of view, I wanted to know more. Did he regret his actions, did he ever feel the urge to stalk again, and how did the time drain of obsessive stalking impact his life. How did he keep it secret.

Given that I was left wanting more information on the topic of stalking, the appearance of 9 pages of author acknowledgements at the end of a 178 page book seemed over the top. One of the stalking victims (Mark Wilson, former judge of Dancing with the Stars) was given 4 pages to list his own acknowledgements and the combined 13 pages was excessive.

On the flip side, the resources list at the end was comprehensive and no doubt will be helpful to some readers. I'd recommend Stalked by Australian author Rachel Cassidy for anyone dealing with bullying, cyber-bullying, harassment or stalking.

My rating = **

Carpe Librum!

Review: The Name of Death by Klester Cavalcanti

RRP $29.99 AUD
Published 24 April 2018

* Copy courtesy of Allen & Unwin *

Klester Cavalcanti is a top investigative journalist in Brazil and The Name of Death is the result of more than seven years spent interviewing the Brazilian hitman guilty of killing 492 people.

Told in a narrative non-fiction style, Julio Santana is 17 years old when his story opens with his first 'kill' in 1971.

What unfolds from there is a true crime account of Santana's life which is informative, eye-opening and sad. What I found immensely frustrating though was a jump in the timeframe of 20 years or so, which means we missed an important part of his life which included meeting and marrying his wife and having children.

Julio Santana's story then finishes in 2006 with no update to tell the reader what he's been up to these past 12 years.

These major gaps in Julio Santana's life made his story feel disjointed, and having been so invested in his teenage years, I wanted to know how he was living his life now.

The Name of Death by Klester Cavalcanti is recommended for fans of the true crime genre.

My rating = ***

Carpe Librum!

Blogging for the 2018 Melbourne Writers Festival

I'm beyond excited to announce that I'm one of the bloggers for the 2018 Melbourne Writers Festival this year. It was such a thrill to be asked to write about my top 5 reads for the MWF18, along with five other Melbourne based bloggers. My article was published today, and you can read it here, or enjoy reading it below.*

Beneath the Darkening Sky by Majok Tulba

Majok Tulba fled his Sudanese village and came to Australia in 2001 at the age of 16, unable to read or write but a natural storyteller. In 2012 Majok published Beneath the Darkening Sky; a fictionalised story of what might have happened if he’d been forced to become a child soldier. It was an incredibly moving read and this month his second novel When Elephants Fight has been published. 

Before picking this up or seeing Majok at the festival, I recommend reading Beneath the Darkening Sky first. You will definitely be inspired.

Floating Gold: The Search for Ambergris, The Most Elusive Natural Substance in the World by Christopher Kemp
Marine biologist Micheline Jenner is an expert on whales and has a book out called The Secret Life of Whales. Before seeing Micheline at the Festival, I recommend you read Floating Gold by Christopher Kemp. 

I’ve always been fascinated by whales and ambergris in particular; the waxy substance found only in the intestines of sperm whales. Ambergris is incredibly valuable and is used as a fixative in the perfume industry. Reading Floating Gold will enhance your knowledge of whales, after which you’ll be primed to enjoy a session with Micheline Jenner.

The Long and Winding Way to the Top: Fifty (or so) Songs That Made Australia by Andrew P Street

I love music, and I’m currently reading The Long and Winding Way to the Top by Andrew P Street in readiness for the Festival. The author has selected 50 or so songs that made Australia and has carefully researched each one, presenting them in chronological order. 

I’ll admit not knowing every song listed, while rushing off to listen to old favourites with renewed zeal and appreciation for their back stories. We all have an opinion on music, so be sure to read this prior to his event so you can decide if he got it right or not.

Signs From Spirit: Inspiring True Stories from the Afterlife by Mitchell Coombes I love reading books by psychic mediums including: Lisa Williams, Allison DuBois, Sylvia Browne, James Van Praagh and John Edward. I’ve also read books by Australian mediums – including Debbie Malone – and this year I learned about renowned Australian psychic medium Mitchell Coombes. 

Mitchell comes from a long family line of psychics, gave his first reading aged just three. I want to read his latest book Signs From Spirit and will be trying to get along to Mitchell’s event to experience his amazing work with spirit in person.

Dear Fahrenheit 451 – A Librarian’s Love Letters and Break-Up Notes to Her Books by Annie Spence
If you’re reading this, you’re obviously a dedicated bookworm, booklover and bibliophile. My favourite bookish book this year is Dear Fahrenheit 451. Annie Spence is an experienced librarian and this is a collection of letters to books as well as cleverly curated booklists for all occasions. 

I instantly fell in love with Annie’s witty and natural writing style and you don’t need to have read the books mentioned in order to enjoy it. Although Annie isn’t appearing in this year’s program, I chose this book because it’s guaranteed to invigorate and energise your love of books and writing across all genres, the perfect preparation for a writers festival.

* This blog article was originally published on the Melbourne Writers Festival blog on 31 July 2018 and the festival is on from 24 August - 2 September 2018.

Review: Australia's Most Unbelievable True Stories by Jim Haynes

RRP $22.99 AUD
Published 27 June 2018

* Copy courtesy of Allen & Unwin *

Australian entertainer, broadcaster, historian and recipient of the Order of Australia Medal in 2016, Jim Haynes has a new offering in Australia's Most Unbelievable True Stories.

The book is broken down into four distinct parts:
- Stranger Than Fiction
- Royal Visitors Beware!
- Lest We Forget
- Those Magnificent Women and Men

My favourite story in the entire book was the non-fatal shooting of Prince Alfred in Sydney in 1867 and the colourful detail from the Sydney Mail newspaper at the time. It had me in absolute stitches. I'd never heard of the incident and I'm sure to re-visit this in the future, it's just so outlandish and funny.

However I didn't find the sections in the Lest We Forget part of the book to be 'unbelievable' true stories and found the military history heavy going. I was under the impression this was a humourous and light read, but the history is thorough and obviously well researched.

Having recently read and thoroughly enjoyed 1,342 QI Facts To Leave You Flabbergasted (another Allen & Unwin title), the stories here felt a little too long and some of them were just interesting, not unbelievable.

My rating = **

Carpe Librum!

Review: The Museum of Broken Relationships by Olinka Vistica

* Copy courtesy of Hachette Australia *

The Museum of Broken Relationships - Modern Love in 203 Everyday Objects by Olinka Vistica is a collection of items donated by those hurt by love. Each artefact is stunningly photographed and accompanied by a short story or explanation. Often including the location and duration of the relationship, they provide a rare glimpse into a person's heartbreak and lost love. 

Every reader will be able to relate to the stories and I was touched by the emotionally charged personal accounts.

The collection includes a variety of heartbreaking, amusing, petty, bizarre and downright surprising contributions. It was hard to believe the donors could bear to part with some of the artefacts donated, while others were filled with cathartic cleansing. While many of the donors seemed ready to move on, others continue to carry their heartbreak. 

I enjoyed reading the stories and was surprised how many came from short relationships (less than a year). Relationships with parents and children are also included and you can still donate to the collection if you want to. 

I highly recommend The Museum of Broken Relationships. This is a well curated collection from a museum that now has galleries all over the world. For those of us who haven't visited one, this is the next best thing. For those who have, this makes the perfect memento.

My rating = *****

Carpe Librum!