A deep, fascinating study of twin brothers, Waldo and Arthur, born to an English immigrant couple early in the twentieth century, living in an outer suburb of Sydney, called Sarsparilla in the book. Waldo is intelligent, bookish, and dreams of a literary career, but lacks faith in [...]
The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank, definitive edition. I read Anne Frank's diary many years ago. It always stayed in my mind, and lately, I've been reading stories of people trapped in hidden places, attics, secret rooms, labyrinths etc. So, holding Anne Frank's story [...]
I've just finished re-reading The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett. My copy is a lovely production by Walker Books, with many colour illustrations by Inga Moore. These give the story a rich visual dimension, which I appreciate, as I am not able to visualise (it's called [...]
My third memoir, A Gradual Grace, is now available as an audiobook on Spotify and other channels. It has been beautifully produced by an editor colleague, AJ Collins. It is a follow-up to my first two memoirs: the first one, This Place You Know, tells the story [...]
The Chant of Jimmie Blacksmith, by Thomas Kennealy, was shortlisted for the Booker prize, I think in 1972, when it was published. I saw it on my library's shelf, and brought it home. I confess I've not read anything else of his. I'm not sure if I [...]
My recent reading: Starting Over at Acorn Cottage, by Kate Forster. It jumped off the shelf into my hands at the local library. I know about Kate Forster's novels, as we are connected on Facebook. I knew nothing about them except that they are very successful light [...]
This is a powerful, deep exploration of the psychology and actions of a group of people, some connected, who face death, either their own or that of loved ones, in different ways. Lowell, whose mother died in the hijacking of France Air Flight 64 in 1987, when [...]
Orpheus Lost is the first novel of Janet Turner Hospital’s that I’ve read. I’ve heard her name many times and thought ‘what an odd surname’; yet it has a musical resonance about it. Music is the keynote of Orpheus Lost. When Leela, a maths genius at Harvard, [...]
For me, this is one of the greatest books I have read, and of all the Russian novels I have read, the one that resonates most with me – a timeless classic vividly set in the Stalinist era with themes that are universal. I like to re-read [...]
