The Carer by Deborah Moggach

This is a fabulous read, if not a little disconcerting to those with aging parents.
Phoebe and Robert are concerned about their father James; a retired physics professor who is still grieving the death of their mother and is in need of live-in care as both Phoebe and Robert live some distance way.
Robert is writing a novel while his wife is a morning television newsreader, and Phoebe is a struggling artist with an unsatisfactory relationship with the mysterious Torren, (who lives in a shack in a Welsh forest). They eventually employ the services of Mandy - a well-referenced chatty carer who moves in to look after James.
The two hit it off instantly, and if the adult children are concerned about the dumbing-down of their father's intellect, and his enthusiasm for visiting outlet stores and donkey sanctuaries, they are too guilty that they have out-sourced his care to say anything.
Mandy is also quite forthright and voices some unpleasant truths about the adult children's lives and perceived entitlement.
Their father begins to decline and Mandy is perhaps not quite what she seems when the children uncover evidence of her looking through their father's papers, and quizzing the grandchildren about family circumstances.

A clever gob-smacking twist eventually takes this novel in a completely different direction (don't worry, no spoiler alerts here).
The reader learns about the young life of Robert and the future lives of his children.

The Carer examines how well children can really know their parents, and how well can parent understand the feelings of their young children and resentments they carry into adulthood.

Deborah Moggach has written television dramas and books that have been made into film such as Tulip Fever and The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel.

Reviewed by Katrina

Catalogue link:  The Carer

The Book Shop of the Broken Hearted by Robert Hillman

I feel tricked; but in a good way. There are so many novels out there set in World War Two that I must confess I tend to avoid them after having read so many. The back of this excellent novel says it is set in rural Australia in 1969, the title was interesting, and the cover caught my eye. But wait, there’s more.

Kind-hearted farmer Tom is recovering from a disastrous marriage to the troubled Trudy; made much worse by the fact that he adored his wife’s young son Peter (not Tom’s biological son) who has left to live in a dubious religious community with Trudy. Then Tom meets Hannah, who has opened a book shop in the township, and they begin a lovely relationship. Except that Hannah is a Hungarian Jew who lost all of her family at the hands of the Nazis, including her young son at Auschwitz. Of course.

We learn about the horror of Hannah’s past life experiences as well as Peter’s desperate efforts to be reunited with his beloved Tom. The Australian rural community feature strongly and local colour is perfectly captured. There are barriers to Tom and Hannah’s relationship due to their disparate worlds and things do not always go smoothly.

This is a novel about lost souls trying to find love and make it work in a complicated world, and of two very different people both grieving for those they have lost.

I loved this book. As with many good books I did not want it to end but read it quickly because I had to know how everything turned out. Robert Hillman is an award-winning writer and an excellent storyteller who writes very elegantly without being sentimental.

One of the best books of my reading year and highly recommended.

Reviewed by Katrina

Catalogue link:  The Book Shop of the Broken Hearted

The Year that Changed Everything by Cathy Kelly

Sometimes you just need some light and fluffy comfort reading to get you through the winter; a story where nothing bad happens and you can be assured of a happy ending. You can just tell from the beautiful floral cover of The Year That Changed Everything that nothing here will give you nightmares. If this sounds like you then I recommend a spot of Cathy Kelly. This is the first time I have read any of her work but this is book number 19 for Kelly; she is a former journalist who has been a writer of internationally best-selling women’s fiction since 1997.

The Year that Changed Everything features three very different Irish women who share a birthday but have never met. Callie is turning 50 with a big party, unaware that her privileged life is about to shatter; Sam is about to have her first longed-for baby at the age of 40 and worries if she will be a good mother, and Ginger is being a bridesmaid for her (not so) best friend on the day of her 30th birthday.

The three main characters are likeable and different enough that it’s easy to keep track of who’s who through the alternating chapters (rest assured the three women eventually connect). Kelly cleverly appeals to different age groups and the issues that apply to certain times of life, with wisdom and a light touch. To be fair it’s not all rainbows and unicorns: post-natal depression, addiction, and body image issues feature, and are sensitively dealt with.

The ending may be a little too rose-tinged and trite for some – if so go and find yourself some dark and depressing Nordic Noir with violence and gore all over the place; while I remain in my little bubble of warm Irish domestic fiction.

Reviewed by Katrina

Catalogue link:  The Year that Changed Everything

Reckoning by Magda Szubanski

If you had met my father you would never, not for an instant, have thought he was an assassin.

Most of us would recognise Magda Szubanski as Sharon: the hapless netball-loving “second best friend” in the Australian TV comedy series Kath and Kim. Although this memoir covers Szubanski's path to becoming a comedian and actor; much of the book is about Szubanski's father. From the age of 15 to 19 he was a Polish Resistance fighter in Warsaw during WW2; killing Nazi’s and collaborators.

His experiences left inevitable scars and post-traumatic stress disorder. He had at times a difficult relationship with Magda; although the more she learned about his past the more his behaviour made sense, and they became close in adulthood.

The author later visits Poland, uncovering family stories and coming to terms with the intergenerational trauma inflicted by the war.

After being liberated from a POW camp he meets and marries Magda’s Scottish mother. Emigrating to the outskirts of Melbourne in the 1970's from England was a delightful culture shock for the Szubanski children, and Magda describes her carefree childhood running around a new suburb with dirt roads and few amenities.

Szubanski records with humour and pathos her emerging comedy and acting career, battles with weight, and coming to terms eventually with her sexuality. At one point she was a spokeswoman for Weight Watchers.

She describes coming out as a lesbian to her friends, family and then later the public as “a fate worse than death”, but has since become vocal in her support of marriage equality in Australia.

Reckoning has won numerous awards in Australia including Book of the Year and a Booksellers' Choice award.

Magda Szubanski is an excellent and intelligent writer and Reckoning is so much more than a celebrity memoir.


Reviewed by Katrina

When Breath Becomes Air by Paul Kalanithi

The late Paul Kalanithi was a dedicated and passionate Neurosurgeon and writer who died of lung cancer in 2015.
After completing a Literature degree Kalanithi spent 10 years training to become a neurosurgeon.  His dedication and passion for his choosen career had been having a detrimental affect on his marriage.  Prestigious job offers were coming his way as he was ignoring back pain and continuing incredibly long working hours.  A diagnosis of Stage 4 lung cancer changed everything and When Breath Becomes Air documents Kalanithi's confrontation of his illness and mortality while his life continues and his baby daughter is born.
If you like this kind of medical memoir I recommend Things that Matter by David Geller; Middlemore Hospital's Senior Intensivist.

Reviewed by Katrina



Catalogue link: When Breath Becomes Air