A bursting, heartfelt, debut following fifty-five days in
the life of ten-year-old Rae, who must look after herself and her dog when her
mother disappears.
For as long as Rae can remember, it’s been her and Mum, and their dog,
Splinter; a small, deliberately unremarkable, family. They have their walks,
their cooking routines, their home. Sometimes Mum disappears for a while to
clear her head but Rae is okay with this, because Mum always comes back.
So, when Rae wakes to Splinter’s nose in her face, the back door open, and no
Mum, she does as she’s always done and carries on. She takes care of the house,
goes to school, walks Splinter, and minds her own business—all the while
pushing down the truth she isn’t ready to face.
That is, until her grumpy, lonely neighbour Lettie—with her own secrets and
sadness—falls one night and needs Rae’s help. As the two begin to rely on each
other, Rae’s anxiety intensifies as she wonders what will happen to her when
her mother’s absence is finally noticed and her fragile world bursts open.
A Million Things transforms a gut-wrenching story of abandonment and what it’s
like to grow up in a house that doesn’t feel safe into an astonishing portrait
of resilience, mental health, and the families we make and how they make us in
return.
***
My Thoughts
In need of a book that’s like a punch to the gut followed by
a hand reaching into your heart, and giving it an almighty twist? Look no further than
the outstanding A MILLION THINGS by Emily Spurr.
The story unfolds through the eyes and thoughts of 10 year
old Rae. She lives with her mum and their dog, Splinter. It’s not uncommon for
her mum to disappear for a while but she always returns . . . until that one day
when Rae realises that her mum has abandoned their small family.
Rae is sad and scared, but she also knows to switch to
survival mode. Her mum has always told her it’s outsiders who can cause the
greater damage. Rae is determined to carry on, and the golden rule is not to
stand out – something she’s got years of experience doing. Go to school, look
after yourself, look after the house, act unassuming, be friendly but never too
friendly. Just in case people get close and start asking questions.
Over time, Rae forms this symbiotic relationship with next
door neighbour and extreme hoarder, Lettie. They keep secrets from the world
and each other, yet they also learn to rely on each other at times when
outsiders bring unwanted attention.
This is the kind of book that will stay with me for a long
time. By making readers view the world through the eyes of a child, it brings
forth observations – often uncomfortable ones - about the concept of family and
community, treatment of people with mental health challenges, and attitudes to
child welfare.
This book is often disillusioning, unexpectedly funny at
times and surprisingly optimistic. Without question, it’s a 5 star read. I
cannot recommend it highly enough. It will certainly be one of my top reads in
2021.
Review copy courtesy of Netgalley and the publisher.
* About the Author
Originally from Tasmania, Emily lives in Melbourne,
Australia, with her partner, their twins and a deaf, geriatric cat.
Shortlisted for the prestigious Victorian Premier's
Unpublished Manuscript Prize, A Million Things is her first
novel.
Ruthie Midona has worked the front desk at the Providence
Luxury Retirement Villa for six years, dedicating her entire adult life to
caring for the Villa’s residents, maintaining the property (with an assist from
DIY YouTube tutorials), and guarding the endangered tortoises that live in the
Villa’s gardens. Somewhere along the way, she’s forgotten that she’s young and
beautiful, and that there’s a world outside of work—until she meets the son of
the property developer who just acquired the retirement center.
Teddy Prescott has spent the last few years partying, sleeping in late,
tattooing himself when bored, and generally not taking life too
seriously—something his father, who dreams of grooming Teddy into his
successor, can’t understand. When Teddy needs a place to crash, his father
seizes the chance to get him to grow up. He’ll let Teddy stay in one of the
on-site cottages at the retirement home, but only if he works to earn his keep.
Teddy agrees—he can change a few lightbulbs and clip some hedges, no sweat. But
Ruthie has plans for Teddy too.
Her two wealthiest and most eccentric residents have just placed an ad (yet
another!) seeking a new personal assistant to torment. The women are
ninety-year-old, four-foot-tall menaces, and not one of their assistants has
lasted a full week. Offering up Teddy seems like a surefire way to get rid of
the tall, handsome, unnerving man who won’t stop getting under her skin.
Ruthie doesn’t count on the fact that in Teddy Prescott, the Biddies may have
finally met their match. He’ll pick up Chanel gowns from the dry cleaner and
cut Big Macs into bite-sized bits. He’ll do repairs around the property, make
the residents laugh, and charm the entire villa. He might even remind Ruthie
what it’s like to be young and fun again. But when she finds out Teddy’s
father’s only fixing up the retirement home to sell it, putting everything she
cares about in jeopardy, she’s left wondering if Teddy’s magic was all just a
façade.
***
My Thoughts
SECOND FIRST IMPRESSIONS by Sally Thorne is a book about twenty-somethings
Ruthie Midona and Teddy Prescott who cross paths at the retirement villa where
they both work. For very different reasons they’re both aware that their lives
need some major readjusting. What follows is a sweet, slow-burn romance where two
dissimilar people ultimately realise they are looking for the same kind of connection
– a connection they might find with each other.
The writing flows well, and it’s pleasant to read but beyond
this, it’s not a book that would stick with me if not for the secondary characters
that come with it.
I absolutely loved villa residents Renata and Aggie Parloni.
They are what I enjoyed most about this book. Their quirks, their antics, and
the outrageous things they do and say are delightfully hilarious and were so
much fun to read. Their story is the hidden gem in this book.
Review copy courtesy of Netgalley and the publisher.
* About the Author
Sally Thorne is the USA Today bestselling author of the
office rom-com The Hating Game (2016) . It is her debut novel that has sold in
over twenty-five countries and is being made into a major motion picture, to be
directed by Peter Hutchings.
Sally Thorne lives in Canberra, Australia and spends her days writing, reading,
drinking cups of tea and obeying the every whim of Delia the Pug and her paint
Quarter Horse, Louie. She lives with her husband in a house filled with vintage
toys, too many cushions and a haunted dollhouse.
Ever have one of those days where life just plain sucks? Welcome to my last three months--ever since I caught my can't-be-soon-enough ex-husband cheating with his paralegal. I'm thirty-five years old, and I've lost my NYC apartment, my job, my money, and frankly, my dignity.
But the final heartache in the suck sandwich of my life? My great-aunt Maggie died. The only family member who's ever gotten me.
Even after death, though, she's helping me get back up. She's willed me the keys to a house in the burbs, of all places, and dared me to grab life by the family jewels. Well, I've got the vise grips already in hand (my ex should take note) and I'm ready to fight for my life again.
Too bad that bravado only lasts as long as it takes to drive into Huckleberry Hills. And see the house.
There are forty-seven separate HOA violations, and I feel them all in my bones. Honestly, I'm surprised no one's "accidentally" torched the house yet. I want to, and I've only been standing in front of it for five minutes. But then my hot, grumpy neighbor tells me to mow the lawn first and I'm just...done. Done with men too sexy for their own good and done with anyone telling me what to do.
First rule of surviving the burbs? There is nothing that YouTube and a glass of wine can't conquer.
Download today on Amazon, Apple Books, Kobo, Barnes & Noble!
Meet Mallory Martin Bach. She’s 35, unemployed,
her ex has swindled her out of her fair share of their divorce settlement, and
she’s had to move back in with her parents. Ouch! And if that wasn’t enough,
her Great Aunt Maggie – her only supportive family member - has recently died.
Yet even in death, Maggie is looking out
for Mallory. She has willed Mallory her property. It’s not in the greatest of condition,
but for now it’s hers and Mallory is treating this windfall as the first step towards
a brand new life: A life where she calls the shots.
There is, however, a very big obstacle to
this plan: Nick Holloway. Neighbour and president of the Homeowner's Association
(HOA) that has issued scores of outstanding violations on the house Mallory has
inherited. That he’s a hottie and revs Mallory’s engines is inconvenient, to
say the least.
I know of Avery Flynn & Tracy Wolff as
independent romance book authors. With BACK IN THE BURBS they’ve moved very
much into the women’s fiction sphere, and have done a commendable job. The
story is engaging and there are a few interesting twists. The various themes in
the book are well integrated into the story. I would have liked more of a focus
on Nick because I don’t think his attraction to Mallory was fully explored. The
writing flowed smoothly, and I could not tell the book was written by two
authors.
*** Meet Avery
When Avery Flynn isn't writing about alpha heroes and the women who tame them, she is desperately hoping someone invents the coffee IV drip. She has three slightly wild children, loves a hockey-addicted husband, and has a slight shoe addiction. Find out more about Avery on her website, follow her on Twitter, like her on her Facebook page, or friend her on her Facebook profile. Also, if you figure out how to send Oreos through the internet, she'll be your best friend for life. Contact her at avery@averyflynn.com. She'd love to hear from you.
New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Tracy Wolff is a lover of vampires, dragons, and all things that go bump in the night. A onetime English professor, she now devotes all her time to writing dark and romantic stories with tortured heroes and kick-butt heroines. She has written all her sixty-plus novels from her home in Austin, Texas, which she shares with her family.
Five women come together at a New Year's
Eve's party after decades apart, in this thrilling story of desire, revenge and
courage, based on a brave group of Australian and British WWII servicewomen
Burma, 1945. Bea, Plum, Bubbles, Joy and Lucy: five young women in search of
adventure, attached to the Fourteenth Army, fighting a forgotten war in the
jungle. Assigned to run a mobile canteen, navigating treacherous roads and
dodging hostile gunfire, they become embroiled in life-threatening battles of
their own. Battles that will haunt the women for the rest of their lives.
Oxford, 1976. At the height of an impossibly hot English summer, a woman slips
into a museum and steals several rare Japanese netsuke, including the famed
fox-girl. Despite the offer of a considerable reward, these tiny, exquisitely
detailed carvings are never seen again.
London and Galway, 1999. On the eve of the new millennium, Olivia, assistant to
an art dealer, meets Beatrix, an elderly widow who wishes to sell her late
husband's collection of Japanese art. Concealing her own motives, Olivia
travels with Beatrix to a New Year's Eve party, deep in the Irish countryside,
where friendships will be tested as secrets kept for more than fifty years are
spilled.
Inspired by the heroic women who served in the 'forgotten war' in Burma, The
Last Reunion is a heartbreaking love story and mystery by the international
bestselling author of The Botanist's Daughter and The Silk House. It is also a
tribute to the enduring power of female friendship.
***
My Thoughts
In a sea of WWII historical fiction novels,
Kayte Nunn’s THE LAST REUNION immediately stands out in its depiction of the
real life Women’s Auxiliary Service that aided the war effort during the Burma
Campaign (modern day Myanmar). These women – known as wasbies – ran mobile canteens
and provided much needed morale for troops in regions filled with danger and
primitive conditions.
The book starts in 1976 when a valuable
netsuke (a small carved ornament) is stolen from a museum. Following this event,
we get a dual timeline story that switches between WWII and 1999. The netsuke’s
appearances and disappearances over 50-plus years is the tie that binds the
characters and their story. The story culminates at a wasbie reunion in 1999. There
is much reminiscing, friendships are re-forged, and long held, sometimes
painful, secrets are revealed.
I really enjoyed this book. It was
engaging, educational, well written and thoughtfully plotted. This is only the
second Kayte Nunn book I’ve read and once again, I am impressed.
Review copy courtesy of Netgalley and the publisher.
* About the Author
I grew up in England and the US, and then lived in Sydney, Australia for more than 20 years, working as a book, magazine and web editor and writer. I’ve more than two decades of publishing experience and am the former editor of Gourmet Traveller WINE magazine.
I had always written – terrible poetry, short stories and angst-ridden diaries – and have an enduring love of books and stories. I remember being so hungry for words that I would scour the cereal packets over breakfast and prowl my parents’ bookshelves in search of something new to read.
At boarding school, I read my way through the junior library before being given special permission to read from the senior library – and went straight from pony books to Solzhenitsyn and John Wyndham. Discovering Jilly Cooper is one of the abiding happy moments of my teenage years.
Ironically, when I changed jobs, it was almost always in pursuit of more writing, until finally I gathered my courage and began to write fiction – something I thought only people far cleverer than me could do. I am somewhat astonished that I am now the author of six novels.
Fran hates Ash Mountain, and she thought
she’d escaped. But her father is ill, and needs care. Her relationship is over,
and she hates her dead-end job in the city, anyway.
She returns to her hometown to nurse her dying father, her distant teenage
daughter in tow for the weekends. There, in the sleepy town of Ash Mountain,
childhood memories prick at her fragile self-esteem, she falls in love for the
first time, and her demanding dad tests her patience, all in the unbearable
heat of an Australian summer.
As old friendships and rivalries are renewed, and new ones forged, Fran’s
tumultuous home life is the least of her worries, when old crimes rear their
heads and a devastating bushfire ravages the town and all of its inhabitants…
Simultaneously a warm, darkly funny portrait of small-town life – and a woman
and a land in crisis – and a shocking and truly distressing account of a
catastrophic event that changes things forever, Ash Mountain is a
heart-breaking slice of domestic noir, and a disturbing disaster thriller that
you will never forget…
***
My Thoughts
ASH MOUNTAIN by Helen Fitzgerald does a great
job in weaving together several seemingly disparate stories: A woman forced to confront
her past after returning to her hometown to care for her father. A small town of
people who will band together to help one another but complicit in keeping town
secrets. A town facing the threat of bushfire; a far too often occurrence in
Australia today.
This book took me on an emotional rollercoaster
ride. I laughed. I got angry. I felt hope. I felt fear and devastation. The story is
often written so subtlety; every sentence counts.
Fitzgerald does an excellent job in
portraying the thoughts of not only her characters, but the reactions of the
land to the current climate and the fire that is coming its way.
The characters are often quirky, offbeat
and outlandish, but they are rooted in reality.
I have read several books where a bushfire
forms part of the story but none have stayed with me like I know this book
will. The experiences of escape and survival are harrowing.
ASH MOUNTAIN is the first of the author’s books I have
read. I will certainly be reading more of her work.
Review copy courtesy of Better Reading (https://www.betterreading.com.au/)
About the Author
Helen FitzGerald is the second youngest of
thirteen children. She grew up in the small town of Kilmore, Victoria,
Australia, and studied English and History at the University of Melbourne. Via
India and London, Helen came to Glasgow University where she completed a
Diploma and Masters in Social Work. She works part time as a criminal justice
social worker in Glasgow. She's married to screenwriter Sergio Casci, and they
have two children.
The vineyards stretched away in every direction as he
plucked a perfect red grape, sparkling with dew. “Marry me,” he’d said. “We’ll
run these vineyards together.” But now he is gone. There is no one to share the
taste of the first fruit of the harvest. And her troubles are hers alone…
In sleepy little Reims, France, grieving Nicole Clicquot watches
her daughter play amongst the vines under the golden sun and makes a promise to
herself. Her gossiping neighbours insist that the rolling fields of chalk soil
are no place for a woman, but she is determined to make a success of the
winery. It’s the only chance she has to keep a roof over her head and provide a
future for her little girl.
But as the seasons change, bringing a spoiled harvest and bitter grapes, the
vineyards are on the brink of collapse. Without her husband’s oldest friend,
travelling merchant Louis, she’d truly be lost. No one else would stay up
all night to help count endless rows of green bottles deep in the cellars, or
spread word far and wide that Nicole makes the finest champagne he’s ever
tasted. One magical night, as a shooting star illuminates their way under a
velvet sky, Nicole gazes up at his warm smile and wonders if perhaps she
doesn’t need to be quite so alone…
But when Louis shrinks from her touch after returning from a long trip abroad,
Nicole fears something is terribly wrong. And as an old secret about her
husband – that only Louis knew – spreads from the cobbled village streets all
the way to the Paris salons, her heart and fragile reputation are shattered.
Was she wrong to put her trust in another man? And with Napoleon’s wars looming
on the horizon, can she find a way to save her vineyards, and her daughter,
from ruin?
Fans of Chocolat, Carnegie’s Maid, Dinah Jeffries and anyone longing
to sip champagne under the stars will adore this stunning historical read,
inspired by the true story of how Nicole Clicquot blazed her own path to build
the world’s greatest champagne house: Veuve Clicquot.
THE FRENCH HOUSE by Helen Fripp offers a fictionalised depiction
of the life of a most remarkable woman: Barbe-Nicole Clicquot. The Widow Clicquot
(Veuve Clicquot – yes, just like you see on the brand’s Champagne bottles
today) is known for having revolutionised Champagne production methods that are
still in use today.
Beyond her skill as a wine maker, Madame Clicquot was an
astute and ultimately successful business person in a time when women had few
rights to property or business. It was also a time of great upheaval and uncertainty
across France and Europe due to the Napoleonic Wars.
I think Fripp did a great job of showing readers Nicole Clicquot’s
passion and skill for wine making, her love of the vines and vineyards. Fripp also
sympathetically portrays the short marriage between Nicole and her husband, François;
a man she loved and who continued to influence her even after his death.
I enjoyed reading about Nicole’s efforts to improve her
product as well as her struggles with competitors during a time of political
instability. Fripp has done her best to offer a complete picture, but I felt this
attempt is also a weak point in the narrative because Fripp relies on telling
versus showing to fit all the information in.
Overall, I found Fripp’s writing style easy to read. THE
FRENCH HOUSE is her debut novel and I look forward to reading her future work.
Review copy courtesy of Netgalley and Bookouture
About the Author
Helen loves historical fiction, and in her writing, she's
fascinated by the women throughout history who have made their mark against all
the odds. She finds researching the architecture, art and customs of the time
really inspirational, and the tiniest detail can spark an idea for a whole
chapter. Her female characters rail against the social constraints to which
they are subject and often achieve great success, but they are of course flawed
and human, like the rest of us. It's the motivations, flaws, loves and every-day
lives of her characters that she loves to bring life, against sweeping
historical backdrops - and she will find any excuse to take off and research a
captivating location or person for her next story.
Her first novel is set in the Champagne region in France, and she is currently
working on her next one, set in late eighteenth-century Paris. She spent a lot
of time in France as a child, has lived in Paris and spent a year with her
family in a fishing village in South West France, so that's where her books
have ended up being set so far. Who knows where next!
