This 1989 autobiography tells the story of a truly rare person, a brilliant academic born in Australia who came to the US to study when she was 25. She was the first woman to be president of Smith College. This is the story of her childhood on the family’s 32,000-acre sheep station in western New South Wales, her teenage years in Sydney, and college years at the University of Sydney. Her...
There is much to admire about this book, but at half way through, I gave it up. I want to read Michelle de Kretser’s two recent novels, but this was available at the library, so I gave it a try. It is set in Sri Lanka and begins with a first person narrative by a man born in 1902. His description of himself and his family paint unpleasant portraits, told with a light, amusing touch that is...
Another book in the Maisie Dobbs series; this is my third and again I appreciated the accompaniment as I worked on routine tasks. This one, like Birds of a Feather is set around 1930 and though the economic hardships are referred to, the main focus is The Great War. Maisie is asked to find information about two soldiers and she goes to France for research. During that trip she visits the location...
Kim Scott won his first Miles Franklin Award in 2000 and was the first indigenous writer to win that prize. I listened to his winner of the 2011 Miles Franklin as an audiobook, then bought it for my kindle. And I was amply rewarded for each way of experiencing the book. This is the story of interactions between the Noongar people and the early arrivals of Europeans in the area of Albany, Western...
The second in the series of Maisie Dobbs books was at least as satisfying as the first. I was surprised how much I enjoyed revisiting the exceptional Maisie, but it was a lovely companion to kitchen work, walking, and weeding. Maisie, the former housemaid in a grand house, graduate of a Cambridge women’s college, and nurse in France during The Great War, has become a private investigator...
Aminatta Forna’s mother was Scottish and her father was from Sierra Leone. When she was young, her father worked in Sierra Leone as a physician. He was imprisoned and declared an Amnesty Prisoner of Conscience and later was hanged in 1975. According to Wikipedia, her memoir includes an investigation into the conspiracy surrounding his death. She has become a well-respected figure in the...
Warlight by Michael Ondaatje. Tony’s review. American Fire by Monica Hess. About an arsonist on the Eastern Shore. Audiobook. The Road to Coorain by Jill Ker Conway. Audiobook There There by Tommy Orange. The Radetzky March by Joseph Roth. True North by Jill Ker Conway. Next installment of her autobiography. Jeff-Mad has. Looking for “The Stranger.” by Alice Kaplan. Jeff-Mad has...
This is my fourth Kate Atkinson book (Life After Life, A God in Ruins, and Case Histories) and I have loved each one. This one and Case Histories feature Jackson Brodie, a former policeman who became a private investigator. The appeal of all her books for me are the characters that you come to love, however improbable they are. There’s Reggie, a teenager who manages to live on her own after...
Because of a planned visit to Malta next year, I googled “books set in Malta” and began with this one. It is remarkably good at putting you in the place and I feel I have walked the hill of Valetta, wandered through Sliema, and taken the ferry to Gozo myself. The main character is a priest who honors his noble birth and ancient family, but prefers the humble life of caring for his...
Laura recommended this series to me and this first one made a great audiobook to listen to while cooking, walking, and gardening. First published in 2003, it is set around the time of the First World War in Britain and its aftermath and features an appealing heroine. Maisie is of humble birth, and a smarter, more hardworking, more loyal character you could not ask for. When we first meet Maisie...