by Maria Roden | Sep 30, 2024 | Book review, Fiction
The Axeman’s Carnival is such an original, dark and funny novel by New Zealand author Catherine Chidgey. The narrator is Tama, a talking magpie who lives with sheep farmers Marnie and Rob struggling to make ends meet during a prolonged drought. When Tama is rescued by...
by Maria Roden | Sep 30, 2024 | Book review, Fiction
Wow! What a heartbreaking, powerful, at times hilarious, and very moving novel by Tess Gunty. The main character Blandine lives in a low cost housing development nicknamed The Rabbit Hutch along with various neighbors who become integral to her story. She shares her...
by Maria Roden | Sep 30, 2024 | Book review, Fiction
This is a beautiful novel about finding salvation in art. Meet 82 Year Old Honey Fasinga, feisty, glamorous and subsisting on a diet of valium and viognier who returns home to New Jersey after decades working as a patron of the arts in auction houses in New York and...
by Maria Roden | Sep 1, 2024 | Book review, Fiction
William Boyd is a brilliant storyteller. His novels are always entertaining and surprising and so satisfying! My first introduction to him was through his book Any Human Heart. His latest The Romantic tells the story of Cashel Greville Ross, born in 1799 who travels...
by Maria Roden | Aug 15, 2024 | Book review, Murder Thrillers
This was one of the most gripping, enthralling, surprising and beautiful books I have read in ages. A thriller, a gorgeous love story, a murder mystery and the most incredible cast of characters. It is almost 600 pages long but you will simply not be able to put it...
by Maria Roden | Aug 1, 2024 | Book review, Fiction
This was such a unique and wonderful short read. After 60 years living in Australia, Helen Cartwright moves back to England to spend her last remaining years. She has lost her son and her husband and the lonely routine of her day causes her to wonder whether life is...
