Break the Fall by Jennifer Iacopelli

This book is set in the lead up to the Tokyo Olympics. (Being the first new book I have picked up since our countrywide lockdown started, I did find myself internally cringing when group hugs took place… Terrible social distancing!... sigh.) Set in the real world (pre-Covid19), we follow the main character, Audrey Lee as she trials for the United States Women's Gymnastics team. This book appealed to me, as I have always enjoyed the likes of Cheer, and Stick It, and of course, the Bring It On series. Gymnastics and Diving are about the only sports I tend to watch at the Olympics, if any!

I will admit that while the gymnastics side of things held an interest for me, I was more pulled to this book because of the scandal mentioned on the back cover. I was pleasantly surprised to find that while the scandal was very important to the overall story, held equal billing with the actual gymnastics. As Jennifer Iacopelli has a history in sports journalism (unsure if that’s the correct wording), there was a lot of actual sports. It was complex and detailed, but not to a level that I, a sports non-enthusiast, found it hard to follow. The writing certainly helped here; while the author used technical terms for the stunts being performed, the writing flowed in such a way that you simply got swept up and wanted to ‘see’ the results. It didn’t matter that I didn’t know what a “double Arabian” was.

The best part of this book - who am I kidding, it was all so good - so, one of the best parts of the book was the portrayal of friendship between the girls in the USA squad. While there were tears and fights, it felt real and not contrived. The other thing that almost had me in tears was the strong feeling of solidarity during the actual Olympics. The characters pulled together as a group of young women, despite the fact that they were literally competing with each other.

This is my first foray into the books of Jennifer Iacopelli, and I loved it. I was glad to see a diverse cast of characters, and decided to read up to see if it was #ownvoices. It’s not, but I did find this quote from Jennifer “...I didn’t begin to understand my own privilege until I went off to college and I didn’t truly recognize how deep it ran until the We Need Diverse Books and Own Voices movements really started to gain traction. That’s when I started to learn about the importance of representation and ways I could support the cause without making it about me. It’s a tough thing to realize that at 30 you still have a long way to go, but I’m doing my best.”

While I am reading from a position of white (passing) privilege, I appreciate that more authors are taking the time to make sure their casts are diverse - because our society is diverse. I know some people have firm beliefs about what white people should and should not write about, but I think Jennifer Iacopelli managed to have a markedly diverse cast without trying to assume anything about the cultures or to appropriate them in any way. By all means, speak to me, tell me what you think! We only learn by our ideas being challenged.

Content warning: mentions of sexual assault (none on page or particularly graphic - one insinuation of oral sex), mentions of doping, coarse language - ‘“deserves to have his testicles eaten by mountain lions -” “Crows...It’d be slower.”’

Overall Rating: 4.5 stars

Side note - the cover ties in with a colour referenced in the book and I heart it!

Posted by Li

Catalogue link: Break the Fall

Truly Madly Guilty by Liane Moriarty

I wasn’t sure if this would be my sort of read – especially after seeing Moriarty’s book Big, Little Lies making it to the small screen with a lot of glam and transported to the U.S. But I felt like a contemporary novel and pretty soon I was swept into the lives of friends Erika and Clementine, and the weight of a recent terrible event that hangs between them, threatening their friendship.

Truly Madly Guilty is a story about a simple suburban barbecue. Vid and his wife Tiffany, plus daughter Dakota, are neighbours of Erika’s and her husband Oliver and Vid loves to entertain. A recent convert to classical music, Vid is fascinated by Clementine who is a professional cello player. On the day of the barbecue, however, Erika and Oliver invite Clementine and her husband Sam and their little girls for afternoon tea. Erika and Oliver have a serious proposal to put to their friends.

Moriarty has a knack for keeping the reader hooked. The story see-saws between the day of the barbecue and afterwards, so that we don’t know what it was that happened that was so bad that Clementine gives talks to various community groups about it. Not until about halfway through the book. And thanks to a lapse of Erika’s memory, we don’t get the full story until almost the end.

Another thing she does really well is creates tension through her characters. Erika has had a difficult childhood, never able to bring friends home because her house is a disaster zone, her mother a hoarder. Erika and Oliver are both serious professionals who find socialising difficult, yet they are a tight couple, doing everything together. But both are struggling with the effects of their childhoods. 

Talented Clementine is the golden girl by comparison. But Clementine’s husband Sam, the terrific dad who wants more kids, doesn’t understand Clementine’s music; he's struggling at work and can’t talk to Clementine about it. Clementine isn't great at the stress associated with auditions so everyone's tiptoeing around her feelings.

And then there’s Tiffany, who has something of a dark past, and who doesn’t understand why her daughter loves to read so much. Is there something wrong with her? Vid solves everything by throwing money at it, but is affectionate none the less. If he knew Tiffany's secret, would he forgive her?

Moriarty stirs all this guilt, anxiety and secrecy into the mix then adds one terrible event with adults behaving badly and then having to deal with the fall-out. How the characters interact with each other afterwards creates plenty to keep you reading. One thing is for sure, nobody is going to be quite the same again.

Truly Madly Guilty is a terrific read, engaging and thought-provoking - a classic page-turner. I'll be picking up more by this author, for sure.

 Posted by JAM

Catalogue link: Truly Madly Guilty

The Heart of the Ritz by Luke Devenish

I didn’t immediately engage with this historical fiction, but that may have had something to do with it being the first few days of level 4 lockdown in the Covid-19 national emergency.

The Heart of the Ritz is a story about the resistance movement and the occupation of Paris; beginning in 1940 and ending four years later with its liberation. The novel follows the people who live in the Hotel Ritz; the families, the high ranking Germans, the collaborators, the resistance fighters, the Jews, the women with secrets to hide and people to protect, and it is also about love.

Polly is a 16 year old orphan at the beginning of this story, and is being sent from Australia to live with her Aunt Marjorie in Paris after her Father dies. When her aunt dies suddenly the guardianship of Polly is handed over to Marjorie’s three friends: Comtesse Alexandrine, a converted Jew; Zita, a film star; and Lana Mae, a rich American. They take Polly to live with them in the palatial Hotel Ritz. All are keeping secrets from Polly about themselves and Marjorie. When the Nazis invade Paris and take over most of the Hotel Ritz the four women’s lives are changed as they adapt to sharing a room in the hotel and learn to interact with the high ranking Germans. Polly befriends Tommy, a Hungarian Jew, and illegitimate son of Alexandrine’s husband. Tommy is being hidden as a bar attendant at the Ritz by Alexandrine, to try to keep him safe. Together Tommy and Polly, with the help of a blind girl Odile, start quietly taking action against the occupiers. They call themselves the freedom volunteers. Overtime their escalating and more daring missions come to the notice of the Gestapo, suspicions and accusations are beginning to surface. Innocent people are being taken away, never to be seen again. As the Nazis and French police begin rounding up Jews, the guardians take action to protect the ones they love.

The story builds to dramatic acts of resistance and courage, as more resistance operators at the hotel are revealed. Collaborators and spies for the Nazis show their true colours. Alexandrine, Lana Mae, Zita and Marjorie’s secrets are told. The story finally ends with the liberation of France and the Hotel Ritz.

At the end of the book, the author Luke Devenish tells us The Heart of the Ritz was based on real life events. The characters in this story were based on people who showed courage, resilience and sacrifice for the greater freedom of France.

At the beginning of this novel, I compared the occupation to our own lockdown with queuing for food, and restrictions of movement. I was wrong, the occupation and reality of war in France far outweighed anything we are enduring. We are being kept safe, while they were never safe.

The Heart of the Ritz is an enjoyable read for lovers of historical fiction. Score 3.75 out of 5.

Reviewed by Lynette 

Catalogue link:  The Heart of the Ritz