N.R. Walker used to be one of my go-to authors, but very few of her recent titles have worked for me. I think the last book of hers that wowed me was 2019’s Tallowwood, but I pick up her books occasionally, hoping to find the emotional depth and complex characters that used to characterise her…
The Fossil Hunter splits its point of view between two different timelines and characters connected by a fossil. Cooper manages to keep this deft balancing act going, creating three very interesting and worthwhile heroines. Dark and engrossing and with dual timelines that are expertly captured in both time and place, it’s phantasmagorical and beautifully grounded…
Set in New South Wales, Australia in 1885, The Landowner’s Secret provides a slow-moving but captivating tale of a marriage of convenience between classes. Alice Ryan is awakened in the night by intruders lurking outside her modest cabin. Her parents are dead and her brother, currently absent, has a history of involvement with criminals. Alice…
I was genuinely excited by the prospect of this book. Australia is not a hard sell for me – I associate it with Nicole Kidman and Hugh Jackman in the movie Australia, and Colleen McCullough’s exasperating and excellent book The Thorn Birds. In The Bushranger’s Wife, it is 1861 and Prudence ‘Pru’ Stanforth is on…
Circa 1810, Sydney society is in transition. The new governor Lachlan Macquarie is raising the status of freed convicts (‘emancipists’), much to the wrath of exclusives who arrived from the United Kingdom freely and, often, temporarily. Sarah Langley, wealthy gentlewoman newly arrived in the city is clearly an exclusive. So how could she possibly be…
I initially picked this book up because of its unusual setting. While Wenna provides a vivid picture of life in colonial Australia, I often found myself frustrated with both the hero and heroine. The book is well written, and definitely has some strong scenes, but much of the tension comes from a series of big…
You know a book is good when nearly 600 pages seem to fly by in the blink of an eye. This very accurately describes my experience with The Forgotten Garden. Beautiful and bittersweet, this family saga roams from the turn of the 20th century to the modern day as it tells an intricate story of…
I haven’t read too many historical romances that take place in Australia. At first, I thought September Moon was going to be just like those American Historicals that take place on the frontier – lots of hardship, wildness and danger. It is. And yet, it is different. Ms. Proctor brings all the strangeness and wildness…
I don’t get a chance to eat out at elegant restaurants much, so when I go, I invariably choose a dish I’ve had before. I don’t want to waste my time, dollars, and calories on a meal I’ve never tried and that I might not like. Then I’d be disappointed and wish I hadn’t experimented….
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