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Good Reading : February 2012
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Blood Tony Birch You might make a point of avoiding stories involving dysfunctional families, neglected kids, criminals, drugs and sleazy settings. But don’t stop reading this review! Blood has all these elements, but it is also suffused with uplifting love. The plot is simple, although never dull. Thirteen-year-old Jesse and his half-sister Rachel, an eight-year-old whom he adores and protects, are dragged through sordid affairs that Gwen, their mother, has with unfaithful men from rural Victoria to Melbourne and Adelaide and back. The children find security when Gwen cohabits with ex-jailbird Jon, but as usual it’s temporary. After Jesse and Rachel spend a happy stint with Gwen’s father, Pop – while Gwen does drugs – the trio flees ahead of the law to Adelaide, where Gwen thinks that Ray Crow will marry her. The children know instinctively that he and his mate Limbo are vile. The trio escapes, but there’s a chase. Birch does three clever things. He opens with Jesse in custody, about to be interrogated about events. What events? What role did Jesse play? Where is Rachel? Blood keeps us on edge from the outset. Second, Birch uses Jesse as narrator. Third, the ending is memorable. The text is simple, befitting the voice of an ill-educated 13-year-old, but Jesse is an endearing mix of love, cynicism, patience and survival instincts. Blood would suit both adult and older teenage readers. RG UQP $29.95 e Reviewed by Barbara Baker The Snow Child Eowyn Ivey In the three days I spent reading this book my life became desperate. Desperate to find ways to keep visiting this incredible world that Eowyn Ivey has created. Family was ignored and cups of tea were replenished as I became filled with awe at the beauty of Ivey’s first novel. Just buy this book. Keep it forever. Re-read it and give yourself many chances to absorb this brilliant tale of marriage, love, yearning, friendship and survival in the challenging yet stunning environment of Alaska in the early 1900s. As readers we travel to this land where the countryside takes on the depth and beauty of a beloved and respected character. We become entwined in the love story between man and wife, and their attachment to a wild child found thriving in the freezing forest, and we are impressed as characters master the challenge of surviving in the Alaskan wilderness. Written with vivid and exquisite prose, the book contains parts that read like a fairytale. Then questions emerge. Has Mabel got cabin fever and in her loneliness imagined Faina? If not, then how does Faina survive outside in the freezing winters? Yet as the story unfolds and the stove fires warm the homesteads, all is answered perfectly and Ivey’s stunning debut lingers in our hearts. RG Headline $29.99 e Reviewed by Fran Penfold GeneRal fiction From the author of the critically acclaimed, bestselling Everyman’s Rules for Scientific Living, comes a new novel of family, farming and friendship. “CLEVER, ORIGINAL AND RICHLY REWARDING” AUSTRALIAN BOOKSELLER & PUBLISHER MAGAZINE GR 1/2V FC CT V1.indd 1 28/11/11 3:32 PM February 2012 main 44_45_WOM_e.indd 45 15/12/11 9:36:39 PM
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