Jane came to BRTD through a convoluted swap with a bookstore on Sydney's leafy north shore. We sent them two old bookcases and a carton of used paperbacks.
In exchange we received Jane. We know we got the better deal.
The Russian Concubine
by Kate Furnivall
November 2007
PB $32.95
One of those stellar autobiographies by a writer who, to risk a cliche, is 'at the height of his powers'; so beguiling you'll read anything he cares to tell you, intimate sexual details included, but done with such artistry and reflection that it is never lurid. White arranges his chapters thematically ' 'My Shrinks', 'My Blonds', 'My Europe', the now-notorious 'My Master' ' and each is more or less self-contained; little essays of introspection that stand alone. The insights into gay America and France are fascinating, and White kept dazzling company (Foucault was an attentive, if unorthodox, dinner host). Moreover, he is a likeable travelling companion, which is the role of the memoirist ' funny, generous, vulnerable.
The Almost Moon
by Alice Sebold
October 2007
PB $32.95
I was so excited when I learnt that Sebold had a new novel coming out. From the first line "When all is said and done, killing my mother came easily" I was hooked in this bizarre and eccentric world that Sebold created. Helen's mother is in her late eighties, suffering from dementia and mental illness but this was not a mercy killing. In the ensuing 24 hours we follow Helen through the painfully bad decisions she makes involving her ex-husband, daughter, best friend and her friend's son. We are shown glimpses into her childhood with a mentally unstable mother who is severly agoraphobic and the strain this put on Helen and her late father. Living with neighbours who have no compassion or understanding of the mentally ill, Helen has one friend on which to call on. As we explore the complex relationship of mother and daughter, black and white never seemed so grey. This searing novel explores the deceptively clear lines between love and hate, sanity and insanity and is just riddled with intruiging discussion points for bookclubs, I found I needed to talk to someone after reading this challenging and moving story.
Notes from an Exhibition
by Patrick Gale
August 2007
PB $27.99
This rich tale of love, family and genius tells the story of an extraordinary artist, her struggle to balance mental illness, children, and talent. Rachel Kelly dies painting obsessively in her loft studio, leaving an enormous body of work which reflects not only her amazing talent but her dark emotions. Her family struggles to come to terms with her character which is at the same time loving and tormenting, taking the children through a rollercoaster of childhood turmoil. Their Quaker father's stillness, calm and reliability is their only chance to overcome her influence. The reader pieces together the clues of the artist's life, her role of mother, artist, lover and patient set contemporarily in the bustle of New York and the isolation of Penzanze. This novel shines with tenderness, intelligence and humour.
Run
by Anne Patchett
September 2007
PB $29.95
In her latest novel Patchett narrows the cast to one complicated American family. Set in bitterly cold Boston around the Doyle family. Bernard Doyle is the former mayor, his adopted african american sons, the academic Tip, and dreamy Teddy, as well as the black sheep of the family, Bernard's biological son Sullivan. The action is sparked with a car accident on a snowy night, and the ensuing 24 hour period which gradually reveals long hidden family secrets and unexpected family connections. At times Patchett's characters struggle to come to life, their dependance on coincidences is a little too strong, but that was not enough to spoil the book in its entirety. The complexity of her characters, and warmth of her writing involving themes of family and intimacy drew me in.
My favourite book
Perfume by Patrick Suskind
Suskind from the first page drags you in by the nose. Jean-Baptist Grenouille is born in the fetid cesspit of 18th century Paris "The streets stank of manure, the courtyards of urine, the stairwells stank of moldering wood and rat droppings...The stench of caustic lyes from the tanneries, and from the slaughterhouses came the stench of congealed blood." Amid all these putrid smells miraculously Grenouille has no body odour causing a misunderstood unease in anyone he comes in contact with. As a social outcast, he is both damned and blessed.
Grenouille has the gift of an uncanny sense of smell. Not only can he identify the differences in stones and water but he can differentiate a menagerie of scents from miles away. As his ambitions to become the greatest perfumer of all time are realised, Grenouille's insatiable lust to bottle the purest of scents must be satisfied. We are lead down a dark and twisting path of lust, murder and sensual depravity.
As a historical gothic novel it has been strikingly brought to the present through the physicality of scent. It follows ideas of other gothic novels like Dracula with it's central character being a damned soul and reminiscent of "The Picture of Dorian Gray" with its interest in the esthetics of horror. There is a captivating force about Perfume, even now as I'm picking it up to write this review I could easily succumb to it's will and just start all over again.
"He wanted truly to possess the scent of this girl behind the wall; to peel it from her like skin and to make her scent his own"
My favourite author
Alex Miller
This is such a hard one, as it changes depending on what I've just read. I suppose the author that I revisit most often would be Alex Miller. He has a way of drawing me into his stories, emotionally involving me in the characters. I don't necessarily like his main characters as they're usually deeply flawed, but I don't need to and it doesn't affect my feelings towards the novel as a whole. He has such a deep understanding of his own emotions which are clearly displayed through his male characters. Prochovnick's Dream probably touched me the most. Miller is a wonderful Australian author.
What's beside the bed
Homecoming by Bernhard Slink - coming out in January and is meant to be just as good as The Reader, A Fraction of the Whole by Steve Toltz - I have almost finished this first time Australian novelist, and I expect it will make an explosion into the market it March next year, Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Café by Fannie Flagg, The Secret River by Fannie Flagg.