Being Magdalene by Fleur Beale

Being Magdalene is the third in a series by New Zealand author Fleur Beale.  The first two books are I am not Esther and I am Rebecca.  This book continues on the story of the lives of the Pilgram family in the Children of the Faith in Nelson.

Here is the front cover:

Here is the blurb on the back cover:

This book focuses on the second to youngest daughter in the Pilgrim family, Magdalene.  Now age 12, she is the eldest daughter at home.  The remaining siblings with her are Abraham (aged 18), Luke (aged 15) and Zillah who is seven going on eight.  Their sister Rachel lives nearby with her husband Saul and their three year old daughter Hope and pregnant again, living by The Rule.

Meanwhile, their older siblings and cousin are fearing well in the real world.  Daniel has become a doctor, and unknown to his family still in the Faith, is working at Nelson Hospital.  Miriam has become an artist who is exhibited.  Kirby/Esther and Rebecca are studying at tertiary level.  They have the support of their uncle and aunts, Jim, Nina and Ellen (Kirby's mother).

All is not well in the Pilgrim household.  Their mother, Sister Naomi, has not recovered from the shame of Rebecca running away and she is particularly hard on Magdalene and Zillah, demanding they live by The Rule, preaching scripture at them constantly and always believing the worst of Magdalene.  Abraham and Luke appear to live godly lives, but Abraham has no time for The Rule and Luke does not believe in a destructive God, but rather a kindly God.  Zillah does not believe in The Rule and hates Elder Stephen and longs to go to a real school.  Magdalene concentrates all her energy on ensuring Zillah does not become the target of Elder Stephen's displeasure, to her own detriment.

Elder Stephen has not forgiven the Pilgrim family for Rebecca running away and he and Elder Hosea will take any opportunity to cause the Pilgrims discomfort and punish the children for any perceived break of The Rule.  However, Elder Stephen's actions become even more erratic and when he denies Abraham the right to marry or study, Abraham takes matters into his own hands.  This leads to further actions by Elder Stephen putting Zillah's safety in peril, and Magdalene and Zillah have only one option left open to them.

Again this book would be rich fodder for the secondary English class, bringing up the thorny issues of freedom, religion, cults, wormen's rights, power, etc.   This book was, like several others of Fleur Beale's, nominated for the Children's Book Awards.  It was a powerful book that kept me engaged and is well worthy of awards in my opinion.

I am Rebecca by Fleur Beale

I am Rebecca is the sequel to I am not Esther by New Zealand author Fleur Beale.  A third book in the series, Being Magdalene, is next on my reading list.

Here is the front cover:

Here is the blurb on the back cover:

This book picks up a few months after Esther/Kirby has left the Pilgram family in Wanganui, as the twenty-three families of the Children of the Faith are leaving Wanganui to join other Children of the Faith families in Nelson, where a school is being set up for all the families so the children no longer have to attend state schools and be exposed to the world.

The book is written from the point of view of Rebecca, one of the twins who is thirteen years old.  It follows her through to the year after she turns 16.  Rebecca and Rachel had been left with the words from Esther/Kirby ringing in their ears: use your brain.  As they left Wanganui, their principal's parting words were: use your brain.

As they adjust to life in Nelson, the girls find that they do have to use their brain and balance it out with ensuring they follow The Rule of the Children of the Faith.  Their family is pitied by the other families due to Miriam, Daniel and Esther/Kirby leaving in the manner that they did.  But Rebecca and Rachel soon make new friends.

As their fourteenth birthdays approach, they know they will be betrothed to one of the eligible boys.  One young man, Brother Saul, who is charged with their supervision as they sell organic eggs and chickens from the Faith's organic farm at the Saturday market, is the one Rachel has her eye on.  Rebecca is happy with the choice made for her.... but then it all changes and Rebecca is forced to make a drastic choice for her own happiness and future.  You'll have to read the book to find out more.

Like I am Esther this book would be a valuable resource to use in a secondary class to discuss cults, religions, choice and freedom.  I found this a compelling read and polished it off fairly quickly.  I am now starting to read the last in the trilogy, Being Magdalene.

I am not Esther by Fleur Beale

I am not Esther by Fleur Beale was first published in 1998 and I am only just reading it now, despite purchasing it in early 2017.  The front cover has the line A bestselling New Zealand classic and I would agree and urge you to read it.

Here is the front cover:

Here is the back cover and blurb.

Now I've previously read a number of Fleur Beale's books, but I have a personal attachment.  Mrs Beale was a teacher at my high school when I was a student and she was a wonderful teacher who I have happy memories of, not because she was a teacher of a subject I liked as I never had her as a subject teacher, but because she took the time to talk to students and support them as they were transitioning from leaving school.  Mr Beale would also sometimes travel to school on the bus with us.  This is a link to Fleur Beale's Wikipedia page which has her biography and also contains a list of her books (I love Slide the Corner).

This book would resonate with many New Zealanders with the most famous cult in New Zealand, Gloriavale, receiving a lot of media attention and being the subject of several flattering documentaries over the last decade.

This would be a great book to read with Year 9 and 10s to encourage fabulous discussion for and against the lifestyle and beliefs and actions of the Children of the Faith and apply it to real life situations.

At 207 pages (in my copy anyway) it was a fast read and compelling as Kirby is abandoned by her mother into the care of her Uncle Caleb and his family, people Kirby knew nothing of, before supposedly going off to Africa to volunteer with refugees as a nurse.  Kirby is taken away from all she knows, her name is changed to Esther by her uncle and he refuses to give her access to her and her mother's possessions or let her read letters sent by her mother or give her her mother's address.

Kirby finds herself in a home with no radio, no television, no newspapers, no mirrors and no telephone.  There are six children (Daniel aged 17, the twins Rachel and Rebecca who are intermediate aged, Abraham and Luke who are primary school aged and Magdalene who has just turned five) and her Aunt Naomi is pregnant.  Kirby finds out that there is another sister, Miriam, the same age as her, fourteen, who has recently passed away.

Kirby fights against the situation she finds herself in, struggles to keep her identity as Kirby rather than becoming Esther.  She soon discovers that the situation with Miriam is not what it seems and that Daniel has no desire to stay in the faith.  Kirby finds help once she begins high school but it is with a heavy heart as she struggles with the thought of abandoning Magdalene.

To say anything else would be to give away too much about the story, but I am looking forward now to reading the sequels, I am Rebecca and Being Magdalene, which I purchased at the same time as I am not Esther.

The Last Secret of the Temple by Paul Sussman

There seems to be a formula for books set around the rim of the Mediterrean, because like the novel The Sacred Bones by Michael Byrnes, which I read and reviewed in the summer of 2016, The Last Secret of the Temple by Paul Sussman begins with an ancient sacking of Jeruselem - this time by the Crusaders.


I have not read any books by Paul Sussman previously, but as the line at the top of the front cover says, this novel is an action-packed thriller to keep you turning the pages.  But sadly there will be no new books by Sussman, who was also a journalist and archeologist, as he passed away at the end of May 2012 from a ruptured aneurysm at age 45.  He had published five novels and two non-fiction books.  You can read more about Paul Sussman here.


Here is the front cover and blurb for The Last Secret of the Temple:

This novel revolves around three main characters who are drawn together by the death of a man which at first looks suspicious, but turns out to be a rather unconventional accident.  It does however bring up uncomfortable memories for Inspector Yusaf Khalifa from the Luxor police of a murder supposedly solved years before.  This was the murder of an Israeli woman near an ancient ruin in Luxor.  It soon has Yusaf reaching out to Arieh Ben-Roi, a Jeruselum detective who is drinking himself to ruin due to grief, and this leads Ben-Roi to the Palestinian journalist Layla al-Madani who holds onto the death of her own father as a driving force.


Archeology and ancient relics are themes that run through this book, and like the author, Yusaf has an acheological background.  While this book touches lightly on some ancient Egyptian gods and goddesses, it delves into the sacredness of the mennorah for those of Jewish faith, some ancient Christian beliefs, and the depths the Nazi's went to in order to seize ancient Jewish relics.


As Yusaf investigates, he discovers how much his superiors have covered up for the real killer years before when the Israeli woman was murdered.  It is revealed why Ben-Roi is so broken and layers of Layla are peeled back - but which one is the one who should not be trusted?


Throw in a militant Jewish strong man aiming to evict Palestinians from their homes within Israel and a militant Palestinian randomly targeting Israelis with suicide bombing contrasted against a peace process between the Israeli government and the Palestinian's hosted by the Egyptians under the cover of darkness in an isolated deserted hut in the Sinai, and this book will throw you a fair few curves and have you guessing about whose loyalties lay where.


After reading Sussman's details, I have discovered that two of his other novels also have Yusaf Khalifa as the main character, one before and one after this book.  I may go looking for these books in the library.....

Wildacre by Philippa Gregory

Wildacre was the first book I have read written by Philippa Gregory.  She is a widely aclaimed author of The Other Boleyn Girl (which was made into a movie I quite enjoyed) and other historical fiction based on the kings and queens of England.  You can find out more about Philippa Gregory's books here.  Wideacre is the first of a trilogy... but I won't be reading the sequels or any of Gregory's other books.  This one put me off her books completely.


Here is the cover and the blurb on the back of the book:

The central character is Beatrice Lacey.  She is the second child of what is essentially a loveless marriage  Her elder brother, Harry is sickly and mothered excessively by their mother, while Beatrice is strong and healthy.  Consequently, her father, the Squire, takes her out on the land, teaching her all he knows about farming and the land, growing within her a passion for the land, for Wildacre.


As Beatrice blooms into her early adolesence she begins to understand that she will not inherit Wildacre.  It will instead be entailed on Harry who is away at school.


This realisation ignites something within Beatrice that consequently makes the character not a character I loved or even liked.  The change in Beatrice and the actions she was to undertake and their consequences made her one of the most unlikable central characters to a book I have ever read.


Between the murder, debauchery, incest and deceit that the book descended into, I was left with a dissatisfied feeling reading this book.  I completed it, because I rarely leave a book incomplete, but I have no desire to read the sequels or any other Philipa Gregory book as a result.  It simply is not a book I would recommend.

The Other Woman by Jane Green

The title The Other Woman automatically makes you think there will be an affair involved, and there is.... just not who you expect, and the other woman referred to by the title is not referring to the affair.  It's actually referring to the mother-in-law, Linda.


I have not read anything by Jane Green previously.  However, Jane Green has published at least eighteen novels.  I may be hunting more out after reading this book.  You can read about Jane Green here.


This is the front and back covers and the blurb from inside:

As you read this book you can easily see that many of Linda's behaviours may appear helpful.... from her point of view.... but to Ellie, they are not.  To Ellie they are a threat to her identity as Dan's wife and Tom's mother.  Ellie has tried to be forgiving, has tried to be honest in what she wants, has tried bowing to Linda's whims and wishes... but no matter which tactic Ellie takes, Linda just barrels on through with her agenda.

When Ellie and Dan move to a new home and have their son Tom, Ellie and Dan make a new set of friends who they invite to go on holiday with them when Linda and Michael offer them a holiday home in France for a week while they go sailing with friends.  Things are already tense between Ellie and Linda, but this holiday accellerates the tension, especially when an accident occurs due to Linda's continual meddling, an affair is ignited, a friendship crashes and burns and events lead to Dan and Ellie's marriage reaching breaking point.

The theme of this book is something many young married couples could apply to their own marriages when it comes to mother-in-laws, or even father-in-laws.  Therefore most people reading this book will understand the points of views of Ellie and Dan, and even Linda and Michael.  I enjoyed the book and it kept me reading until I finished it... which took about two days on holiday I think.....



Remember Me? by Sophie Kinsella

This was my first furore into a book by British author Sophie Kinsella, although I have seen the movie Confessions of a Shopaholic based on her best selling series about the Shopaholic.  Just looking at the front cover of Remember Me? screams chick lit and humour, and I wasn't disappointed.  There is a little drama and mystery to this book too.


Anyhow, here is the front cover and blurb.

The central character is Lexi, who has been in a car accident.  She wakes up in hospital thinking it is 2004, the last thing she remembers is being out for a night with the girls from work the evening before her father's funeral.  However, she is actually in 2007 with designer clothes, straight teeth, a flash hair do, a fabulous job and a husband she doesn't remember.  And no friends - well, at least not the friends she used to have.


Lexi has post-traumatic amnesia.  No one can tell her when - or even if - her memories will return.  Lexi has to learn her life all over again.


After being introduced to most of the main characters while Lexi is still in hospital - her mother, younger sister Amy and husband Eric - Lexi goes home to the appartment she shares with Eric, who is a property developer.  Gradually Lexi understands that her house keeper is scared of her, she eats practically nothing, her clothes are all very corporate and her friends are high-maintenance.  When Lexi makes it to work she discovers all her old workmates/friends hate her and that she is a golden girl to management.


However there are three sticky factors: she feels no connection to her husband, she can not figure out how Jon (her husband's colleague) is connected to her, and something is not right at work.


There are some amusing and embarrassing experiences.  Lexi realising she does know how to drive is one.  Lexi trying to fake her way through a senior management meeting without remembering what they are all referring to is another.  Lexi figuring out why her friends are no longer her friends and how Jon fits into her life as well as what a Mont Blanc is are also quite noteworthy.


This is chick lit through and through.  It demonstrates how a flaky girl turns into an ambitious take no prisoners woman who then realises what she truly wants in life.  A good summer read.

The Cloud Leopard's Daughter by Deborah Challinor

I am a big Deborah Challinor fan and I have reviewed a number of her books previously, including Behind the Sun, Girl of Shadows, The Silk Thief, and A Tattooed Heart.


In November, Challinor released the fourth book in her series The Smuggler's Wife about Kitty, Rian, Amber and the crew of the Katipo, The Cloud Leopard's Daughter.  This book follows on from Kitty, Amber and Band of Gold.  I have read all this series, but The Cloud Leopard's Daughter will be the first in this series I have reviewed.  Perhaps when I get my book collection out of storage I will go back and review these novels from earlier in the series.


Here is the front cover and blurb:

The Cloud Leopard's Daughter picks up in 1863, nearly a decade after Band of Gold, with the crew of the Katipo III entering the Dunedin Harbour enroute to see their old friend Wong Fu from the Ballarat goldfields in Band of Gold.  He has a huge favour to ask of Kitty and Rian and their crew: to find his kidnapped daughter Bao.


Bao has been kidnapped because Wong Fu is the Cloud Leopard, a tong master.  Bao is his heir.  Wong Fu's brother, Wong Kai, however wants the title for himself.  Kitty and Rian agree to find Bao and rescue her from her fate.


The crew of the Katipo III find themselves travelling to Sydney where Rian re-news his aquaintance with Friday and Aria (begun in The Girl of Shadows and again in A Tattooed Heart), the Phillipines and Hong Kong in their quest for rescuing Bao.  They face many dangers from Wong Kai and others, as well as a traitor within their own midst.


It is a riveting read, and I polished off the book quickly (surprise, surprise) because, as usual, Challinor writes a book that you just can not put down at the end of a chapter.  Cliff hangers have you wanting to continue the reading despite starvation and sleep deprivation.  Besides, when you are reading with a view like this to glance up to, you can see I was hardly deprived really....

Summer Reading Oddessy

I love reading books and can't imagine a life without reading.  As a child I loved books and relished the opportunity to buy or be given a new book, and the Lucky Book Club (Scholastic) leaflet was always anticipated with delight because my Mum (pretty much) always let us order one or two books each time. 


This has not changed as an adult.


I love getting a book for Christmas or birthday presents.  I can rarely go through a mall without browsing Paper Plus or Whitcoulls or any other bookshop that I pass.  I love buying books and I have favourite shops I frequent.


As a teacher I also love children's books and have a huge number.  I have my own collection of books I love.  I have books I share with the students for them to use as part of my reading programme.  I have books I have purchased to support various units I love to teach (I have a large number of books about Anzac Day for example).


The benefits for children and adults of reading books are outlined below in this awesome graphic (see credit bottom left of graphic):

After finishing some pretty heavy reading for my Masters I headed into the summer with some books lent to me by a friend, two gifted as Christmas presents (one I specifically asked for), one I bought for myself, one I wanted to re-read and one that my Dad got for Christmas.

The only book missing from the list is the one I re-read to get my happy place... I've lent Chocolate Cake for Breakfast to my sister in law.  This book is fabulous.

I was feeling a bit lost for a few weeks without a book to read, but my Dad finished another book and passed it on to me.  This is what I am reading currently:

I have a backlog of reviews to complete and publish.... so prepare for the onslaught of what I've been reading.  And here are a few quotes about reading that explain what reading and books mean to me....







Return to the Little Coffee Shop of Kabul by Deborah Rodriguez

Return to the Little Coffee Shop of Kabul is a sequel to the book The Little Coffee Shop of Kabul which was an international best seller written by Deborah Rodriguez which I have not read.  However, I can now say I have read the sequel and I will be hunting out the original book over the summer to read.

My friend lent this to me to read after I had completed some very full on Master's level assignments and she knew I needed to escape to another reality.  Mission completed.

Here is the front cover and the blurb:

Apparently most of the characters from the original are back, except for one main exception, and there are some new characters introduced.

The book essentially centres around six women and girls in Afganistan and the United States.

Sunny is struggling to readjust to life back in the US after leaving her coffee shop behind in Kabul, the capital city of Afganistan.  Her life takes another dramatic twist in adjustment from losing her soulmate and then dealing with his affairs, taking her to the Screaming Peacock Vineyard, his dream property.  There Sunny meets a trio of men, Sky, Joe and Rick, who will take her life, and those of some of her friends, in new directions.

Yazmina is now runing the coffee shop in Kabul and is bamboozled by her mother-in-law's absences with her young daughter.  Halajan and Yazmina's daughter Najama are having adventures all over Kabul, some that would be frowned upon by her son and the wider community.  Meanwhile her son and Yazmina's husband, Ahmet, is opening up his mind to new possibilities for Afganistan at the university while also looking forward to the birth of their first child together.

Yazmima's younger sister Layla has gone to the US to learn English and is unhappy.  She is brought to the Screaming Peacock Vineyard by Candace for Sunny to look after.  Sunny employs Kat, a girl who had immigrated to the US with her mother as a child, to teach Layla English.  This is confronting to Kat, who, for dramatic reasons, has been trying to leave her Afgani past far behind her.

Then there is Zara, who is in love with Omar, a friend of Ahmet's, but her family has been asked to consent to Zara's hand in marriage with a powerful man who will not take no for an answer.  This will have a devasting affect on Zara's family and the future of Yazmina's family too.

While I have labelled this book as chick lit for the post, it is not a simpering love story that plays for laughs or soppiness.  It is a book more aimed at women than men, but it brings up some challenging themes such as how do you carry on when you lose the one you love the most, arranged marriages, the conflict of cultures, and day-to-day life in what is pretty much still a war zone.

I enjoyed the book and will definitely be searching out the first one to read so that I understand how these characters got to where they are now.

The Sacred Bones by Michael Byrnes

I dug this 2007 novel out of my Dad's bookshelf over the summer to read.  I had never heard of Michael Byrnes, and I believe this may be his only novel.  It was a book that captured my attention and I had to read to the end - and it was raining at the beach, but I couldn't put it down on the sunny day either, so I finished it as I lay on the lawn and sat on the deck soaking up the sunny day.

Here is the cover and blurb for you to read:

This book begins in the days of the Crusades to the Holy Land.  The Knights have lost their fortress to the ways of Egyptian Mamluks who overwhelmed them in a six week long siege.  This particular Knight is in a jail, at the mercy of the Pope and those loyal to him.

The next chapter opens with a daring raid on a secret room in a mosque in the heart of Jerusalem's Temple Mount complex.  The artefact taken has implications for the Christian, Jewish and Islamic faiths, and the reader would benefit from having a good working knowledge of the history of Christianity, but also the beliefs and traditions of the Jewish and Islamic faiths.

Chaos erupts in Jerusalem and there is conflict between Israeli security officials and the Palestinians responsible for the Temple Mount.  A high ranking mediator of the Islamic world, Razak bin al-Tahini, is brought in to facilitate communications between the two, and a British archaeologist, Graham Barton, is also engaged to verify what was taken from this secret room and why.  The two must rely on each other to uncover what happened and why.

Meanwhile, at the Vatican, Charlotte Hennesey, an American genetic scientist, has arrived and is introduced to an Italian anthropologist, Giovanni Bersei, is a well equipped, high tech laboratory.  The Vatican cleric then rushes off to meet Salvatore Conte, mastermind of the Jerusalem raid, who has the artefact for Charlotte and Giovanni to examine.  Conte watches their every move as they examine, photograph, sample and test the artefact to ascertain its origin.  Neither Charlotte, Giovanni nor the cleric realise that their lives are in danger when they confirm the artefact to be what they suspect it to be.

The book has plenty of action, double crossing, mystery, subterfuge and thrilling mind challenging ideas to keep a reader coming back to the end of the book.

I found this book to be quite fascinating because it gave me a lot more knowledge about the Temple Mount and early Christian practices and how these relate to Islamic and Jewish beliefs.  I read another book with a similar theme not long after, and viewed a number of documentaries on Constantine, the life of Jesus and early Christian practices, and it created a lot of thought for me about how Christianity works, and religions world wide.  I've come to the conclusion that organised religion just is too corrupt for my tastes.

If you like your beliefs to be challenged and you are open to expanding what you know, books like this can be a catalyst to viewing or reading material you otherwise would consider boring and not worth your time.  While this is a book of fiction, it did open my mind to further reading and viewing on the topic to help me further crystallise my personal beliefs on religion.  It is also a rollicking good adventure with thrills, chills, murders and action a plenty.

Vicious Circle by Wilbur Smith

I love reading Wilbur Smith books.  They are an indulgence into a worlds and places I am never likely to go.  He has a superb knack of describing the environment and transporting you there, and can write some raunchy scenes with heroes who are manly yet romantic the next.  I love getting his books in hardback too because it is so much more of a decadent read too.  So often these are the books I give my Dad for Christmas, to spoil him.  It helps that our reading tastes often cross over for my benefit.

Vicious Circle is the second book in what I assume will at least be a trilogy.  The book this follows on from is called Those in Peril, and I have not read that, so I guess I will need to track it down.  The third book, Predator, is being released now in 2016.

Below is the cover and the blurb.

As you can tell from the blurb, this is a rollicking adventure.  It is violent and, at times, vile to read, but with moments of desolation, tenderness and adoration.

Hector is devastated by the loss of his wife Hazel, and soon realises that his baby daughter Catherine is at continued sustained risk from an enemy that just won't quit.  He has to secure her safety first, and turns to those he trusts the most to secure that safety, before he and his team work to identify who is targeting him and his daughter.

Along the way a family secret from Hazel's first late husband's past is found to be the catalyst to this violence and explains the, until then, background to the actions in Those in Peril.  And I am picking that because you know that there is a third book, that the threat is not totally annihilated at the end of Vicious Circle.

There is an aspect of 'as if' as you read parts of this book, but that is the decadence of reading such a book.  And it is why I keep reading Wilbur Smith books because I am transported to a world that is definitely not mine.

A Tattooed Heart by Deborah Challinor

A Tattooed Heart is the fourth and final book by Deborah Challinor in her series about four convicts deported from Newgate Gaol to Sydney in the early 1830s.  I had been hanging out for the release of this book in late 2015 since I polished off The Silk Thief in December 2014.  So I pounced on it when I first saw it in store in November, and I tried eking this book out over a number weeks, but once a weekend came I just devoured it.

So check out the cover and blurb here below.

Each book has covered the story of all the girls, but a little more focus is placed on one girl in each book.  The initial book, Behind the Sun, focuses on all four girls, introducing the characters and exploring their growing bond.  In Girl of Shadows the focus was more on Sarah; in The Silk Thief it was Harriet that was the focus.  So if you have read the previous three books, it stands to reason that Friday is more of the focus in A Tattooed Heart.

This book picks up where the previous, The Silk Thief, leaves off.  Harriet seems to be over the demons that afflicted her in the previous book.  Although still fragile, she has realised the love and support she has from her husband and friends and endeavours to live her life.  Her husband, James, plots to ensure Harriet has even more to live for, surprising her with a reunion that bolsters Harriet and brings fresh characters into the series that impact on the story lines.

Friday mopes about until a surprise return by Aria and a new direction in her career proposed by Mrs Hislop give her a much needed boost.  Despite these events, the blackmail still weighs heavily upon her and her weakness for the booze threatens to lose both Aria and the dedication of Mrs Hislop from her life.  Friday also finds that Bella Jackson throws a curve ball into her life as well as a possible solution for a problem Mrs Hislop has long kept secret.

Aria also has revenge against Bella Jackson on her mind, after the theft of her uncle's tattooed head.  But her mother and father and fiancée also come looking for her in an effort to drag her away from Friday.

Sarah continues to use her unique talents to help the group figure out Bella Jackson's secrets and hold over them.  While she tries to keep the blackmail secret from her husband, Adam, he actually knows more than she realises and in the end gets the story more or less out of Sarah. 

Meanwhile, Jonah O'Leary lurks ominously around, convinced Harriet is the key to finding his brother and thinks baby Charlotte is the leverage he needs.  Leo makes a deal with Bella to protect young Walter who has returned despite the danger to his life.  Matthew is heartbroken by one young lady, but James' surprise for Harriet opens up new opportunities for Matthew.  And when the worst comes to the worst, Mrs Hislop's assistance is required and it brings back Captain Rian Farrell and his crew (from The Smuggler's Wife series and Girl of Shadows) back into the story to help Harriet, Sarah and Friday to save baby Charlotte.

Once again the book submerges you into the life of 1830s Sydney with apt description, a story line that sucks you in and then some twists and turns and a conclusion that rounds up the stories of these characters.  While you are sad to leave these characters, as it is the end of the series, the storylines are completed and it is the end.

Jack of Diamonds by Bryce Courtenay

Bryce Courtenay is a legendary writer.  South African born and raised, Courtenay was a married man and father well established in the advertising world in Australia (he is credited with Louie the Fly and the Milky Bar Kid) when he began getting his writing published.  A quick glance through the titles he has had published, starting with The Power of One in 1989, shows me I only have a handful left to read.

Sadly, Bryce Courtenay passed away from gastric cancer in 2012 and his final book was Jack of Diamonds.  Here is the cover and blurb from the cover flap.

This book begins in the depressed slum of Toronto, Canada, in the Great Depression.  The title character, Jack Spayd, is lucky enough to catch the ear of a jazz pianist while playing a harmonica his father gave him out the back of a piano club and so begins his education thanks to a benefactor.  Jack serves a short apprenticeship playing piano in a prairie city out west before becoming a media and army entertainer in WWII Europe. 

On his return from war, Jack moves to Las Vegas after being prompted by an old war friend, who is from a mob family.  This is an exciting time, when Las Vegas rapidly developed from a small desert town into the neon flashing, 24 hour entertainment and gambling capital of the US.  Alas, another old war time friend is a constant threat to all who Jack holds dear in Las Vegas and finally an event tips the balance and Jack is left to contemplate his future without his dearest passion and the woman he loves.

This takes Jack to Africa, to a new adventure, where his talents with the cards win him friends and enemies, but his colour blind attitude to race causes him greater problems again.

At the end of the book, there is a footnote from Courtenay claiming he had material for a second book about Jack.... but he had run out of life to write it.  Instead his second book was squished into 13 page Epilogue which ties up the lose ends of the story of Jack Spayd.

What I love about Bryce Courtenay is that he is a great thinker of stories.  His novels have an epic quality.  However, they all have a degree of waffle that get on my goat.  The detail that Courtenay goes to his books can be a bit monotonous and longwinded.  It is as consistent in each of his novel as his voice is in the story telling.  I can picture Courtenay and his editor battling out how much waffle could be trimmed from each novel.  As much as the waffle irritates me, his epic story telling engulfs me in each of his novels every time.... and Jack of Diamonds is no exception.

I think this meme below sums up me as a reader and how easy it is to be enveloped into the world of story telling by Bryce Courtenay.

Pacific by Judy Nunn

Fun fact about this author: Judy Nunn is a well known Australian actress, particularly well known for her role in Home and Away as Ailsa Stewart, Alf's wife, and a screenwriter.  She has proven that not only is she a talent on the stage and screen, but Judy Nunn is also an engaging story teller.

Pacific is about a young Australian soap actress, Samantha, who goes to England to star in a pantomime in a seaside town.  She is boarded in a stately home which now offers luxury accommodation.  This is where time shifts back into the decades leading up to the second World War, focusing on the young girl who lived in the house and her working class best friend growing up into young ladies as WWII breaks out.

 

Samantha is offered a breakout film role to be filmed in Vanuatu.  The film is loosely based on a woman called Mumma Tack and her love affair with an American soldier in Vanuatu during WWII - a story which links back to the house Samantha stayed in in England while acting in the pantomime. 

 

I really enjoyed reading this book.  The switching back and forth between the modern and past times added texture and intrigue to the story.  Judy Nunn paints a vivid picture with words of the characters, places and times.

The Silk Thief by Deborah Challinor

I've already reviewed the first to books in this series by Deborah Challinor, Behind the Sun and Girl of Shadows.  The Silk Thief is the third book, with a fourth and final book released before the end of 2015.

Deborah Challinor has written another gripping story, with the action starting right from the first page.  Here is the front cover and back blurb:

 

This story continues where Girl of Shadows left off in the tale of Friday, Sarah and Harriet and their many friends and enemies.  Bella Jackson is still trying to extort the girls as she holds knowledge of their past deeds over them, and to add to that is the death of Bella's most hideous partner in crime by the young cabin boy on the journey from England to Sydney after Friday handed over the bribe money.

 

Add to the mix Harriet's frail mind, Friday discovering her soul mate, Sarah's determination to keep the blackmail by Bella under wraps from her husband and the discovery of some secrets and talents of several other characters, and this rich tale envelops you into the routine and the rhythm of their lives.

 

I read this book during the summer of 2014/2015 and I was left hanging for the final book to finish the story and tie up all the loose ends - particularly why Bella Jackson wanted to have such control over Friday, Sarah and Harriet.

Chocolate Cake for Breakfast by Danielle Hawkins

Don't you just love reading books about places and people that are similar to you, that give you the fantasy that you are similar to the person in the book and that scenario just might happen for you?

Well that is what Chocolate Cake for Breakfast by Danielle Hawkins did for me. 

Danielle Hawkins is from Otorohanga in the Waikato/King Country.  Yep!!  Another Kiwi author based in rural Waikato!!  Who would've thought that country life could be so inspiring to a writer?  This is the second book Hawkins has published, and to give you a clue, I enjoyed it so much I went out and purchased her first novel Dinner at Rose's which I will also review soon.  This NZ Herald article from May 2012 gives you an insight into Danielle Hawkins.

So here is the cover of the book and the blurb on the back... I hope I'm not the only one who was intrigued by the cover of the book:

The lead character, Helen McNeil, is a small town rural vet in the Waikato, recently returned from her OE and not long out of a long lasting relationship that had fizzled.  After many years away due to university and travel, she is adjusting back into the community where she grew up and has relatives seeping out of every nook and cranny - some of whom are rather painful.

Her cousin makes her attend a party on a night that she is the on call vet.  And as the back of the book describes, in her attempt to avoid the dullest girl in town, Helen literally trips over an All Black.  She doesn't even recognise Mark Tipene's name when they strike up a conversation in the dark shadows.  Mark is impressed by this lack of recognition, and soon begins his pursuit of Helen.

The fact that Helen is always on call (so it seems), that it is calving season, and that she seems inept at talking to the male of the species combined with Mark's eagerness leads them on some interesting first dates.  It will also give the reader some appreciation of some of the more gory parts of being a vet than the average cat or dog owner wouldn't ordinarily think of.

Of course it is not all smooth sailing for Helen and Mark.  There is a major problem that soon tests their relationship, and lack of communication and assumptions compound it.  But these issues do not stop the very interesting support characters from introducing some hilarious scenarios into the book and that is probably what makes this book so funny and readable (apart from the romance of course).

I loved this book so much I read it twice in three weeks (I've never done that before) and it promoted the fantasy that so many girls in New Zealand have.... an All Black falling in love with them.... even in the back blocks of no where!!

Girl of Shadows by Deborah Challinor

Deborah Challinor is a well known New Zealand author and historian.  She has written both fiction and non-fiction books, notably historical fiction and history books about Vietnam soldiers and the consequences of their service in the Vietnam conflict on the health of them and their subsequent children. 

 

I've read a number of her books and enjoyed them, and as soon as I can get my boxes out of storage and unpack my books and get them back on my shelves I will review those books too.

 

Currently Deborah Challinor is living in New South Wales Australia, writing a series of books based on four girls transported to Sydney Australia as convicts from London.  Girl of Shadows is the second book of that series, and I have previously reviewed the first book, Behind the Sun.  You can read more about Deborah Challinor and her books on her website.

 

The first book Behind the Sun was released in 2012, and this book was released in 2013.  So I am anticipating that the third book of the series will be released in 2014.... and I can barely wait as I have enjoyed the first two immensely.

As the characters were firmly established in the first book, Behind the Sun, this book quickly gets stuck into the action.  Only Friday, Sarah and Harriet are in this book, after the tragic loss of Rachel, and they are haunted by the revenge they took on behalf of poor Rachel.

Many other main and secondary characters return in this book, and some new ones are introduced.  One reoccurring character is Bella Jackson, who knows of their secret revenge and is blackmailing them.

The doctor from the Isla pines for Harriet, who will not make anything of his advances because of his actions after Rachel died.  Harriet has fallen on her feet though, being placed with a family who are also tailors and dressmakers.  Her artistic talents are soon discovered and put to use.

Sarah has fallen on her feet working for Adam Green, the jeweller, but his wife Esther is a thorn in her side.  Sarah decides to take matters into her own hands where Esther is concerned, and this has results that surprise even her.

Friday is working in a brothel that has rather high standards and she is popular.  But she fights the demons of her actions with booze and bears the burden of the blackmailing.  She knows someone is out to get her and her friends, but she can't quite put her finger on it.

This book engrossed me and took me on a journey to Sydney 1830.  It certainly is not the Sydney I'd like to visit, but to read about what this town was like so early on in its existence and to compare it to the Sydney today is quite fascinating.

The story is still full of Challinor's descriptions of the times and places and people, but the plot moves a long at a pace to keep you engaged.

And then it is the end of the book, and you realise that the next book in the series is not yet in the shops and probably won't be for another nine or ten months, and you grieve that you are leaving these characters prematurely, before you know their fates.....

Behind the Sun by Deborah Challinor

Deborah Challinor is a well known New Zealand author and historian.  She has written both fiction and non-fiction books, notably historical fiction and history books about Vietnam soldiers and the consequences of their service in the Vietnam conflict on the health of them and their subsequent children.

 

Currently Deborah Challinor is living in New South Wales Australia, writing a series of books based on four girls transported to Sydney Australia as convicts from London.  Behind the Sun is the first of that series.  You can read more about Deborah and her books at her website.

 

Here is the cover and blurb for Behind the Sun:

 

This book took a little bit to get started.  For some characters, we meet them before they end up in the Newgate Gaol and find out how they got there; and for some other characters, we meet them once they arrive in Newgate.  The conditions are vividly described and certainly leave a lot to be desired as far a living conditions go.

In these horrid conditions four young women bond, Friday (a prostitute), Sarah (a jeweller turned thief), Harriet (a seamstress that made a poor choice in a weak moment) and Rachel (a young naïve country girl) and work together to make the most of their meagre opportunities.  All four are sentenced to transportation to Sydney, Australia.

The book follows them and some other Newgate prisoners through the voyage to Australia, bringing in more characters from another gaol, the ship's crew and the first class passengers.  While the ship sails a major event happens that changes one girl's life forever, but also will continue to have ramifications for the other three girls long into the future. 

The story continues through to their first seven or eight months in the new colony.  Some of the women are assigned work placements and leave the Parramatta Factory (the gaol), while others stay for various reasons.  But tragedy will take place for one of the women, and the other three will seek revenge.  Unfortunately, they are not the only ones who know what they did.

I originally was purchasing the second book, Girl of Shadows, but the Whitcoulls sales lady pointed out that it was part of a series.  I have always quite enjoyed Deborah Challinor's books, so it wasn't hard for the sales lady to twist my arm to buy both books.

The first book did take a while to set up the characters, but as the book goes on it brings in more central and secondary characters to develop the story with the main plot and other sub plots.  Challinor is descriptive of Newgate, the voyage on the Isla, and what Sydney and the Parramatta Factory were like.  I found these descriptions added to the feel of the time and the events.

I came across this meme today, and it really does describe how I feel about the characters of a book.  As the story progressed, I became invested what would happen to Friday, Sarah, Harriet and Rachel, celebrating their successes and lamenting their failures.  This attachment deepened as I read the second book of the series.

Once I was engaged in the book plot and the characters, there was no putting this book down, and then I was quickly on to reading the second book, Girl of Shadows.  Read that review soon.