Starting this week, and each first and third Saturday afterwards until the end of the year, I’ll be doing a fresh bingo card, hopefully with different books to the last one. Having finished half way through the year, I decided to fill up another card, and this time, stretch it out a big more over six months. So even though I have three ticked off already, I’m starting with one square.
A book written by someone under thirty: The Yellow House by Emily O’Grady – AWW2018
Emily O’Grady’s book filled square four of row five across, and square five of row four down – a book written by someone under thirty and is also one of my reads for the 2018 Australian Women Writer’s Challenge, where I met Theresa Smith Amanda Barrett, and signed up to do this book bingo with them over the course of the year.
The Yellow House by Emily O’Grady revolves around the idea of family legacy, and whether the sins of the father, or in Cub’s case, the grandfather, should be the burden of those left behind. It questions whether the violence committed by a family member and its lasting impact on the family – how they behave, how they see themselves, how their community sees them and whether or not they have a genetic predisposition to the same tendencies – the nature versus nurture debate. For Cub, this world is seen through her ten year old eyes – at first as something she is intrigued by, but with the arrival of her cousin, Tilly, and a new friend of her older brother’s – will Cub learn that family legacy is not what defines her?
Taking on the topic of serial killers and the legacy they leave behind, Emily O’Grady has created a thought-provoking novel, which, when seen through the eyes of a child who has never been told anything about her family history, is the only daughter and is very inquisitive, but often told off, is rather sobering, especially as there is always a feeling that something has to go wrong, someone has to go missing and that new friend of Cub’s older brother gives off a sense of dread and unease that doesn’t leave at all, even after the novel ends in a way that is both conclusive and at the same time, inconclusive, with hints that what Cub knows or thinks she knows will never come to light.
My next book bingo with Theresa and Amanda (Mrs B) will appear on the 30th of June.
Title: Into the Night
As this was my first introduction to Gemma Woodstock, I found myself going through liking her at times, to finding some of the things she did frustrating, to at times not liking her, but also, felt sympathy for her, and the way some of the characters treated her and demanded things of her that she couldn’t always deliver or promise, and where both parties could have handled things properly. Showing Gemma in these various lights made her human – and relatable because we all have flaws and make mistakes. Giving her the ability to not always be perfect, to fail and to make mistakes is what made the book enjoyable and seeing Gemma through her own eyes was interesting – where she recognised her flaws and performed self-reflection, shed some light on the kind of person she was, but also, that she wanted to be.
Title: My Girragundji – 20th Anniversary Edition
There’s something unique about Australian stories – wherever they come from – that show a connection to the land and history that feels different to other literature. In My Girragundji, first published twenty years ago, Meme McDonald and Boori Monty Prior have taken family stories and culture and woven them into a story that can be enjoyed by all.
Title: Bridge Burning and Other Hobbies
Kitty Flanagan’s biography – well, more a series of essays on her adventures throughout life, showcases her sense of humour from the very first page. From her early childhood through to now, Kitty has had many careers, including waitressing, a brief appearance as a child actor and as a copywriter – all of which have led her to becoming one of Australia’s best loved comedians. From her adventures hitch-hiking to her disastrous attempts to break off relationships, Kitty’s true stories are filled with her special brand of humour and proves that clichés like the University of Life are really annoying and cultural misunderstandings can lead to disastrous or at least, unseen, consequences.
Title: Ready to Fall
Title: Eleanor’s Secret
Lately, I have been reading a lot of World War Two based historical fiction, covering the Holocaust, the ghettos and the home front in England. Each story is a mere drop in the ocean of the experiences of these six years, on all sides, and for all those affected. There are still many stories to discover and be told. One of my favourite themes has been the role of women in the war on the home front, and their stories. So, I was quite delighted to receive Eleanor’s Secret by Caroline Beecham, having previously read 
The love story between Jack and Eleanor is woven in nicely, and I enjoyed that they each grew as characters and developed in their own way, with their own secrets that were woven throughout and took time to come out, ensuring that the mysteries of art and Jack, and Eleanor’s own secrets were not so easily revealed. Going back and forth between 1942 and 2010 was effective – it allowed for the mystery to develop, and for the reader to discover what was happening at the same time as Kathryn. Family and friends were also important in this novel, and the effects of what Jack and Eleanor did and had to do came through. Eleanor’s sister Cecily, a nurse, was an important character – acting as Eleanor’s confidant and secret keeper. This was an important relationship too as it showed that sibling and familial love during times of war was just as important, if not more so, to get people through hard times and challenges that came their way, that they needed help to face.
Title: The Jade Lily
Another World War Two historical fiction for me – but this time, set in the Asian region, where the Second Sino-Japanese War was happening around the same time as the outbreak of World War Two, and where the ghosts of what happened in Europe follow Romy and her new friends into Shanghai. It is a part of 1930s and 1940s, and World War Two history that I hadn’t heard about – where Jewish refugees could escape to Shanghai where other countries refused to take them. It is a book that deals with the heavy issues of what pushes humanity to the point they have to kill others for being who they are, for being what they cannot control, or for daring to speak out – where atrocities are displayed as a warning to others, and where secrets are an unspoken currency. Secrets, it seems, that span three generations, where they are kept protecting some people, but eventually need to come out – as Romy’s did for Alexandra, with the help of diaries and letters, and a new friend from Hong Kong, Zhang.