My Reading Year 2021

Like so many people, I had hoped that 2021 would be a better year. Unfortunately, the pandemic continued impacting all aspects of life. In the second half of 2021 I spent several months at home in lockdown. While this kept me safe from COVID, it was a drain on mental health and wellbeing. With a stressful job, in perpetual crisis-mode, I found it hard to concentrate and take my usual pleasure in reading. But I muddled through.  Fiction was my saviour - transporting me to new places and introducing me to new characters to escape the drama of real life.

My reading goal for 2021 was 30 books with a focus on fiction, which I achieved by reading 31 titles this year. When planning for 2021 at the start of the year, I did not really name any specific titles, which served me well as I went wherever my interests took me.  Instead I used the reading bingo card I created to help me diversify my reading and my achievements are highlighted below. 

B	I	N	G	O
Set during Wartime	Retelling of  another story	Novel in  Translation	Poetry  Collection	Women's Prize  Longlister
Lesser known book  by a Famous Author	Essay Collection	Set in the Future	Booker Prize  Longlister	About a non-Western  world leader
Debut  Novel	19th Century Classic	Published in 2021	Biography  or Memoir	Set in Space or at Sea
Short Story Collection	Australian Literary  Prize Longlister	Current Affairs / Politics	Protagonist  is over 50	Coming of  Age Story
Pre-19th Century  Classic	First Novel in a Series	Book on the  1001 List	Fiction Based on a True Story	Written by a  male author

So here's what I read in 2021:

Fiction

This year I continued my interest in feminist retellings of ancient myths which I started with Madeline Miller's Circe in 2020. During lockdown I read two novels by Pat Barker back-to-back. The Silence of the Girls is the fascinating story of Achilles told from the perspective of his slave, Briseis. The Women of Troy continues this story, giving voice to the women left behind when Troy falls. Can't wait for the next instalment.

Mid-year I discovered the Simon Serrailler series by Susan Hill. The Duchess of Cornwall has an online book club and I noticed on her instagram account that one of the books her club was reading was the first Serrailler novel, The Various Haunts of Men, which I had never heard of. So I tracked down a copy and soon fell down the rabbit hole, reading the first three novels in rapid succession. I am now taking a short break after The Pure in Heart and The Risk of Darkness, but will undoubtedly resume my reading of the Serrailler series in 2022. 

I read some books that I have had for ages, including John Fowles' The Collector, Edna O'Brien's August is a Wicked Month, and Patricia Highsmith's The Price of Salt.   Other works of fiction I enjoyed included Tana French's The Searcher, Raven Leilani's Luster, Matt Haig's The Midnight Library, Joyce Carol Oates' short story collection The (Other) You, and Emily St John Mandel's The Glass Hotel. 

After my 2021 hiatus from reading books authored by men, I finally got around to reading the two Chris Hammer books I had been looking forward to. Silver and Trust conclude the Martin Scardsen series. While neither lived up to the promise of Scrublands, I enjoyed reading both novels. In the new year I will read his next book Treasure and Dirt.

Award longlists provide me with much reading inspiration. From the Stella Prize Longlist I read Intan Paramaditha's The Wandering and absolutely loved the winning title, Evie Wyld's The Bass Rock. One of the highlights of the year was reading Susanna Clarke's Piranesi - winner of the 2021 Women's Prize for Fiction - a uniquely brilliant story. From the Booker Prize Longlist, I really enjoyed Klara and the Sun by Kazuo Ishiguro.

This year there were a handful of incredible novels that made a lasting impact that I have most often recommended or gifted to friends. Tara Moss' The War Widow is a wonderful crime novel featuring a plucky heroine, set in postwar Sydney. I loved this book and look forward to the next instalment. Two other Australian novels I enjoyed are Hannah Kent's Devotion and Emily Maguire's Love Objects - both of which I have thought about a lot since reading. But my most favourite novel of the year has to be Still Life by Sarah Winman. I absolutely lost myself in this epic tale of a group of misfits who form a family together in Florence. 

Non-Fiction

This year I didn't end up reading as much non-fiction as I normally do, having prioritised the escape of fiction. But what I did read, I thoroughly enjoyed.

I began the year reading an amazing work of non-fiction by journalist Louise Milligan. Witness covers Milligan's investigation of sexual assault and child sexual abuse cases through the court system and how victims are treated. This was a thought-provoking, compelling book which should be essential reading for police and the legal profession.

Kate Ellis' memoir of her time in Parliament, Sex, Lies and Question Time, was fascinating. The timing of publication was impeccable, with the allegations against members of Parliament and the March for Justice. An important book from someone who made a difference during her time in office. 

Two books I was really looking forward to, by authors I really admire, didn't hit the mark for me. Sarah Krasnostein's The Believer was hit-and-miss, and while I loved certain stories, others didn't resonate. Tegan Bennett Daylight's collection of essays, The Details, was also uneven and missing something for me. But I am glad to have read both.

Dolly Parton's Songteller - My Life in Lyrics was joyous, especially when accompanied by the audiobook where her stories were interspersed with song. I have huge admiration for Dolly - as an artist and a humanitarian. A look back on her life through her songwriting shows how she raised awareness about difficult issues.

Finally, my reading year would not be complete without at least one Helen Garner. How to End a Story, the third volume of Garner's diaries. This volume chronicles the downfall of her marriage and her growing success as a writer. 

While I really appreciated all the non-fiction I read this year, if I had to choose one favourite, without hesitation I would select Sean Kelly's The Game -  A Portrait of Scott Morrison. This is a fascinating, well-researched exploration of our Prime Minister and what has happened to our country. A must-read for anyone who cares about politics, ethics and the state of the nation.

Best of 2021
I read so many great books this year. I loved and highly recommend:

• Pat Barker - The Silence of the Girls
• Susannah Clarke - Piranesi 
• Sean Kelly - The Game: A Portrait of Scott Morrison
• Emily Maguire - Love Objects
• Louise Milligan -Witness 
• Tara Moss - The War Widow
• Sarah Winman - Still Life
• Evie Wyld - The Bass Rock

If I had to choose my absolute favourites, I would pick Sarah Winman's Still Life (2021) and Sean Kelly's The Game (2021).  

Writer's Block

The third volume of Helen Garner's Diaries, How to End a Story (2021) covers the years 1995-1998. During this time she continues her work as a writer in the aftermath of the success of her book The First Stone (1995). 

In her previous volume of diaries, Garner commenced an affair with the married V (author Murray Bail) and eventually married him. It is a very uneven relationship - love, joy and companionship mixed with periods of intense jealousy and disappointment.  V is in the process of writing his Miles Franklin Award winning novel Eucalyptus (1998) and his work takes precedence. He prefers to write in silence at home, requiring Helen to rent rooms elsewhere to pursue her writing. She edits his work, provides constructive feedback, and supports him as he crafts this novel. In contrast, he is secretive, solitary and demanding. 

She captures the creative differences between them in her diaries as follows: 

'I say that since we've been together our lives have been arranged in such a way as to facilitate only his work needs: that he's an imaginative writer and needs seclusion in order to write, so we've got things set up domestically to create the best possible conditions for this. On the other hand, I'm a writer who works off and is nourished by the events of daily life, which means our living arrangements actively work against what I need...' (p 143-144)

V has an artist friend X and spends increasing amounts of time with her. V compartmentalises X and his wife, keeping them away from each other and telling them both untruths. Garner attends a psychologist in an effort to reconcile her feelings, which V finds threatening. He also dislikes her writing in her diary, fearing he will be written about. As she learns more about his infidelity, Garner becomes increasingly erratic and self-doubting. 

Meanwhile, Garner is troubled about her work. She continues to write reviews and various pieces for publication, but feels she has lost her ability to write fiction. The betrayal by her husband - the lies more than the infidelity - has impacted her in so many ways. Through her diaries she reflects upon the sadness and isolations feels, and finds the strength she needs to face up to the truth. 

These diaries again show Garner's genius as a writer. She is frank, fierce and witty. Garner writes with such immediacy and intimacy that one cannot help but feel connected to her. 

My review of Garner's previously published diaries also appear on this blog:

• The Yellow Notebook (Diaries 1978-1987)
• One Day I Will Remember This (Diaries 1987-1995)

The Pretender

I've never understood the appeal of Scott Morrison, Australia's 30th (current) Prime Minister. He always seemed like the guy who would say anything to get ahead. He would waffle and continually change his position, later denying he had done so. He would shut down questions of accountability (e.g. not talking about 'on water matters') and point fingers at others, never taking responsibility for anything. 

During the past year my disregard for Morrison has boiled over into a genuine rage. The list of his failings has grown: his bungling of the vaccination roll out; his mixed messaging on COVID precautions; his disgraceful behaviour in light of the Britney Higgins allegations; his refusal to stand down Christian Porter; his shameful treatment of asylum seekers; his failure to evacuate people from Afghanistan; his endangering stance on climate change; his unwillingness to curb the dangerous COVID misinformation stemming from his ranks; and on and on. 

I picked up Sean Kelly's The Game: A Portrait of Scott Morrison (2021) in an effort to try to understand the man behind the smirk. What drives him? What does he actually believe in? How did he get to where he is?

Kelly's book is divided into three parts: The Man; A Country; A Time. The first section explores Morrison and the image he has crafted for himself as a man who makes curry once a week, follows the Cronulla Sharks, and loves his family. As Kelly writes, 'so few details, but such talkative details' (p46), with Morrison continually adding 'Go Sharks!' to every media encounter. But these details were crafted to convey an image of Morrison as Mister Middle Australia - a family man, rugby follower and a man who embraces multiculturalism and domesticity (even if only once a week).

The section on the country contextualises Morrison's leadership against the backdrop of increasing calls for recognition of First Nations people and his refusal to acknowledge the harm the celebration of Australia Day causes. As the member for Cook, Morrison represents the Sutherland Shire where the Cronulla riots took place in 2005 - altercations between Anglo-Australians and those with Middle Eastern backgrounds. The way in which Morrison speaks of this and similar conflicts is to 'ignore the more troubling narrative and then replace it with one that vindicates ordinary Australians' (p159). 

'A Time' focuses on the period of Morrison's prime ministership and the events that have tested his leadership, including the devastating bushfires, the coronavirus and violence against women. In each instance Morrison had the opportunity to demonstrate empathy, vision, action - and he failed. During the fires, he famously didn't 'hold a hose'. With the pandemic he started well, declaring the pandemic, locking down our big island and injecting stimulus into the economy, but failed to follow through with the long term protections of vaccines claiming it wasn't a race. On women, Morrison has been utterly tone deaf (despite having a wife and daughters, thereby somehow relating to the matter) and negligent in his failure to address deeply entrenched cultural issues. 

This week Morrison showed more of the same, with an increasingly reckless and irresponsible approach to governing. His shameless pandering to the minority - in which he has declared COVID an individual responsibility and equated mask wearing to slapping on sunscreen and a hat (lest sunburn be contagious!)  - and his push back against any form of government intervention, shows that we are in for a bumpy election campaign. Further, his photoshoot at the site of the horrific accident in Tasmania in which several children were killed, was shameless opportunism. 

Sean Kelly is a brilliant researcher and intelligent writer. He has painted a portrait of the enigmatic Morrison as someone who has manufactured a character for himself - 'Scomo' the average Aussie bloke - who views politics as a game of winners and losers. Morrison continually wins this game as he changes the rules to suit himself, but in doing so he erodes the democracy he is sworn to protect.  Kelly dispels Morrison's claims that he was utterly blameless for the ousting of Malcolm Turnbull, showing this to have been a pattern throughout his career.  More importantly however, Kelly turns the gaze back to ourselves - after all, we elected Morrison - and our role in creating him. It is an insightful biography of an elusive figure and a critique of the myth of Australia. 

The Game did not make me view Morrison in a more favourable light, but it did help me understand how his prime ministership is possible. It also confirmed what I had suspected all along - Morrison is a pretender, playing a game, and unless we act to make change - we all lose. With an election looming, let's hope voters see past the pork barrelling, slogans and sledging and make a change for the better.

The Rising Tide

The third instalment of Susan Hill's Simon Serrailler series -  The Risk of Darkness (2006) picks up where the previous novel concluded.  In The Pure in Heart, Serrailler was investigating the disappearance of a nine-year old school boy, but all trails ran cold and the book ends without a resolution in the case. 

In this novel, DCI Serrailler is called to Yorkshire where a similar child abduction has just taken place. Could this be the same perpetrator? Can his knowledge help the local police?  Is there enough evidence to link these cases? Once a suspect is caught, can they solicit a confession?

Meanwhile, back in Lafferton, someone is distributing vile racist leaflets. Women are being approached by a grieving man who thinks they are his deceased wife.  Local priest Jane Fitzroy learns her mother has been violently attacked in her own home in London. The darkness seeps in everywhere. 

Hill continues to flesh out the characters - particularly the Serrailler family - and there is a building sense that change is upon them all. Simon is rather aloof and unhappy. He toys with the feelings of the women in his life, and is at a crossroads in his career. His sister Cat Deerbon tries to keep him in check, and can reach him in a way that no one else can. Cat is struggling with the pressures of work and family life and contemplating a significant sea change. Sergeant Nathan Coates is about to have a family and is thinking about leaving Lafferton. Jane Fitzroy is wondering if she has made the right choices in her life. 

Like in Hill's previous Serrailler novels, there are many threads running through this story and she uses her characters to provide a commentary on social issues - inequality, health care, gentrification, poverty, tabloid media.  Some of these characters are genuinely heartbreaking; Eileen Meelup and Natalie Coombs in particular are both mothers in parallel struggles to understand their daughters. I would have liked a little more detective work in this novel to flesh out the crime aspects of the tale.

While it won't appeal to everyone, I find this a strangely compelling series. Part crime drama, part police procedural, part domestic fiction, it defies being placed in a single category.  I like the way Hill builds the story through the characters, and through them presents an interesting meditation on family, longing and loss.  This novel ends somewhat abruptly, but is set up for the next book in the series. I look forward to continuing this series and am pleased that I still have so many more to read.

My reviews of other novels in this series are available on my blog:

• The Various Haunts of Men (Serrailler #1)
• The Pure in Heart (Serrailler #2)

Enduring Love

Australian author Hannah Kent is well known for conducting extensive research to infuse her novels with authenticity as she writes about distant lands and historical settings. For her latest novel Devotion (2021), she transports readers to Prussia in the 1830s where we immerse ourselves in a Lutheran community in the village of Kay.

The narrator of Devotion is Hanne, a teenage girl who lives with her parents and twin brother Matthias. Hanne is uniquely in tune with nature; the trees speak to her. While all the other girls in the village are focused on courtship and marriage, Hanne has no interest in local boys. She prefers to be alone, among the forest. Then she meets Thea and their connection is so deep that seemingly nothing can come between them. 

The Lutheran community in Prussia was persecuted under King Frederick William who sought to outlaw many traditions and rites. Pastor August Kavel led an exodus of the 'Old Lutherans' to South Australia where they would settle and form the towns of Klemzig and Hahndorf. Kent uses this history in her novel, as the villagers of Kay plan to depart their home for a new life in an unfamiliar land. 

The families board the Kristi to voyage to Australia.  Like so many migrants, they face many dangers on their journey to freedom; over cramped quarters, insufficient stores, inclement weather, sickness and disease. When the ship arrives in Adelaide, all aboard have been changed by their travels. 

Kent follows these families as they begin to establish their community in a new, harsh land. They encounter the local Peramangk people and those villagers who are open to learning from them discover life-saving skills. 

Devotion is a story of love and loss. While readers come to know and care for many characters in this community, it is the the deep, unbreakable, connection between Thea and Hanne and the obstacles they face that form the heart of this the novel. But the story is not predictable and Kent makes some brave choices in how she tells their tale.  

As one comes to expect from this author, Devotion is a beautifully written book filled with prose that borders on poetry. Kent describes the natural world in such vibrant and lively prose one cannot help but become engrossed in it. While not my favourite of Kent's novels, it is highly recommended.

My reviews of Hannah Kent's previous novels Burial Rites (2013) and The Good People (2016) are also available on this blog. 

Novellas in November

The other day on Twitter I stumbled across the #NovNov hashtag and discovered I have been missing out on an incredible reading event. 'Novellas in November' is a reading challenge designed to promote this form of prose fiction. 

Novellas are longer than short stories and shorter than novels. Because of their length, novellas are generally fast-paced, character-driven and lack the various sub-plots of more complex novels. 

When thinking about novellas, there are plenty of famous examples, including:

• Joseph Conrad - Heart of Darkness
• Thomas Mann - Death in Venice
• Herman Melville - Billy Budd
• Henry James - Turn of the Screw
• Albert Camus - The Outsider
• Franza Kafka - The Metamorphosis
• Edith Wharton - Ethan Frome

I really enjoy novellas. Some of my favourites are:

• Kate Chopin - The Awakening
• Alexsandr Solzhenitsyn - One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich
• Ernest Hemingway - The Old Man and the Sea
• Julian Barnes - The Sense of an Ending
• Truman Capote - Breakfast at Tiffany's
• John Steinbeck - Of Mice and Men
• George Orwell - Animal Farm
• Edith Wharton - Bunner Sisters

I love the idea of Novellas in November. Not only does it draw attention to this form of literature and introduce readers to new authors, but it can also assist those of us with annual reading targets to get a few more books under our belt as we head to the end of the year!  

Blogger Reading in Bed has written a brief history of Novellas in November which details how this challenge began and was amplified. Another post I recommend is by 746 Books this week 'For Translation Week: An Interview with Stella Sabin of Peirene Press' - which looks at the publisher's criteria for novellas (under 200 pages/50,000 words) and why they specialise in translations of contemporary novellas. 

In combing through my bookcases I realise I have loads of novellas just waiting to be read. Time to make a cup of tea and curl up with a good book!

The Child in Time

 When I finished Susan Hill's The Various Haunts of Men last week, I promised to give her Simon Serrailler series another chance to see if the central character would grow on me. Over the past few days I have enjoyed reading the second novel in the series, The Pure in Heart (2005) and I am pleased that the enigmatic detective has now taken centre stage. 

Not long after the tragic events of the previous story ended, DCI Simon Serrailler is on holidays in Venice. Recharging after a rough year, Serrailler is drawing and exploring parts of Venice not on the tourist trail. His peace is disrupted by an abrupt call from his father, urging him to return home immediately to attend to a family emergency. This sets off the personal narrative thread of the novel wherein we learn more about Serrailler's parents and siblings. Through the family dynamics, particularly the father-son relationship, we discover why Serrailler has such an impervious exterior, refusing to engage emotionally. Serrailler has successfully compartmentalised his life, but when a former love interest returns he is angered to find lines blurred. 

The crime thread in the novel centres on a missing child. While waiting for his ride to school, nine-year-old David Angus is abducted. Serrailler's team are on the case, but thwarted by lack of witnesses and trails that run cold. Hill's depictions of the hard slog of this type of police work, and the way in which the Angus family is falling apart while awaiting news, feels very real. Reading this novel during the abduction and recovery of young Cleo Smith in Western Australia, provided a fascinating real-life parallel to the fictional Angus case. 

There are other threads woven in this novel too as Hill provides an interesting social commentary on health care, euthanasia, imprisonment and class through various characters in the story.  Andy Gunton leaves prison intent on getting his life back together but his status as an ex-con and his lack of a familial safety net leaves him considering whether he would be better off back inside. Dr Chris Deerbon is stretched as his wife Cat is on parental leave and they cannot get locum support, so he is run ragged trying to maintain his GP practice while on call most nights. At a nursing home, staff discuss the quality of life of the various disabled residents. Elsewhere a wealthy American couple have bought a derelict mansion with promises to restore it to its former glory and contributing to the local community.  All of these side stories add to the complex microcosm of Lafferton, the fictional English village where the story takes place.

Susan Hill is a very good writer, particularly in incrementally building characters and relationships that feel real. I also found the crime drama well constructed. It is not a fast-paced, page turning thriller, and doubtless some readers will be put off by the lack of immediate resolution. It is bold choice by a confident writer not to tidy up all the plotlines to please readers. Indeed this book seems more like a season of a police procedural television show, which ends with enough of a resolution to satisfy fans and enough of a cliffhanger to keep viewers interested until the next season rolls around. I look forward to the next novel in this series and learning to how these characters evolve.

My review of Simon Serrailler book #1 - The Various Haunts of Men is also available on this blog.

Booker Prize Winner 2021

The winner of the 2021 Booker Prize for fiction was announced this week, with South African author Damon Galgut receiving the £50,000 prize for his novel, The Promise. 

Set on a farm outside Pretoria, a privileged white family gathers for the funeral of matriarch Rachel. Their faithful black maid Salome lives on the property and was promised the deed to her home by Rachel on her deathbed. Despite this promise, and the constant reminders from the youngest daughter Amor, the family does not act to transfer ownership and conflict ensues. 

Galgut was previously shortlisted for the Booker for his novels The Good Doctor (2003) and In a Strange Room (2010). 

Chair of the Judging panel, historian Maya Jasanoff, said of The Promise:

'We felt among the judges that this book really is a tour de force. It combines an extraordinary story with rich themes – the history of the last 40 years in South Africa – in an incredibly well-wrought package.'

Here is the moment that the winner was announced and the award was presented to Damon Galgut.

During the award ceremony, short films were aired for each of the shortlisted titles. The film for The Promise is directed by Christine Ubochi and stars David Jonnson.

I have not yet read The Promise but have it on my teetering stack of books to be read.

The Missing

Dame Susan Hill is best known for her gothic ghost story The Woman in Black (1983) which has also been adapted as a long-running stage play and film. In 2004 she launched a series of crime novels centred on an enigmatic detective, Simon Serrailler. Not familiar with the Serrailler series*, I started at the beginning with The Various Haunts of Men. 

In the picturesque English town of Lafferton, a middle aged woman disappears without a trace while jogging on The Hill. After some routine enquiries, the local police figure she has wandered off, perhaps with a new beau, and fail to dig deeper. Detective Freya Graffham, who has recently transferred from The Met in London, suspects there is more to the mystery and continues an investigation with the help of DC Nathan Coates. Her boss, Serrailler, suggests they drop the case until a second woman goes missing. What has happened to these seemingly unconnected women? 

For the most part I enjoyed this novel. It has all the elements to make a good mystery. Hill creates a strong sense of place, with a stunning Cathedral at the heart of the town, the misty parkland of The Hill, and the wee shops and pub frequented by locals. There are some interesting characters too - Dr Cat Deerbon, a compassionate soul committed to her patients; philanthropic Mrs Serrailler; elderly Iris Chater, mourning the loss of her dear husband; and the compelling, intelligent Freya Graffham. 

But there is a lot going on in this novel, perhaps too many characters, strange red herrings and it is certainly too long. Hill writes with a lot of detail, but this can sometimes slow the pace, frustrating the reader. The interspersed chapters featuring tape recordings of the killer didn't feel necessary to me. I also found it strange that this was the start of a Serrailler series, when he doesn't make that much of an impression on anyone except Graffham.  I would have preferred the series followed Freya's career as she is a much more well-rounded and interesting character. 

All in all, I liked but didn't love this novel. But I am prepared to give the second novel in the series a go to see if Serrailler himself grows on me. 

*As at 2021 there are eleven novels in the Serrailler series.

I Will Always Love You

 Singer, songwriter, humanitarian, philanthropist, icon.  I love Dolly Parton! 

As a child I would watch with wide-eyed wonder at Dolly Parton singing on television. I clearly remember her appearances with The Muppets, and adored her sparkle and style.  In my early twenties, I went to Pigeon Forge, Tennessee to see her birthplace and Dollywood theme park. As an adult I grew to admire Parton for her advocacy and philanthropy - her support of HIV/AIDS charities, her Imagination Library literacy program, her campaigns against animal cruelty, and more recently her donations to support COVID vaccination research.

Some people dismiss Dolly Parton as a 'dumb blonde'. They can't see past her petite frame, blonde hair, ample bosom and her down-home, aw-shucks country voice. But she is a force to be reckoned with. She is a smart, savvy, tough and an incredibly gifted and prolific artist. 

Parton has published a wonderful coffee-table book called Songteller - My Life in Lyrics (2020). It is part memoir and part career catalogue, spanning sixty years of country music. It features song lyrics from over 150 of her songs, along with the stories behind them. Throughout the glossy pages are photographs of Dolly, her co-stars and collaborators, and artefacts and ephemera from her career. 

After my first read through, I downloaded the audiobook in which Dolly tells her story with clips from many songs. This really brought the book to life. The audiobook amplified her charisma, talents and wit, and gave the reader an enhanced, immersive experience. Plus, it reminded me of how many wonderful songs she had written.

Through her life and lyrics in Songteller, we learn of Dolly's impoverished upbringing in Pigeon Forge, her family hardship, her love for her husband of 50+ years, her business acumen, and the challenges she endured throughout her personal and professional life. She talks about the inspirations behind her most famous songs, her experiences in the film industry and her difficult creative partnership with Porter Wagonner. 

As a songwriter, Dolly doesn't shy away from writing about difficult topics - addiction, domestic violence, poverty, infidelity - with empathy and understanding. She knows how to reach the hearts of listeners with a memorable melody and meaningful lyrics.  

I really enjoyed Songteller and am thankful for the re-introduction to so many Parton songs. It is a big, beautiful book to have and flick through and I strongly recommend the audiobook* as an accompaniment. While Dolly Parton fans will get a lot out of it (and come away loving her even more!), I think it would be of benefit to young writers and musicians of all kinds to gain an understanding of the highs and lows of creative professions.  

Will leave you with this... Dolly Parton on a date with Kermit the Frog from an episode of The Dolly Show (1987-1988). Delightful!

P.S. A huge thank you to my brother for giving me Songteller - you know me so well!

*Note - the audiobook is not a word-for-word reading of the book. It seems more like a podcast or interview with Dolly Parton, but it greatly enhances the experience. 

Nobel Prize for Literature 2021

The Nobel Prize for Literature was announced this week, recognising Abdulrazak Gurnah 'for his uncompromising and compassionate penetration of the effects of colonialism and the fate of the refugee in the gulf between cultures and continents.'

To my great embarrassment, I was not aware of this writer and so I have embarked on an exploration to learn more about him and his work.

Born in Zanzibar in 1948, Abdulrazak Gurnah fled at the age of 18 to escape persecution of Arab citizens during the Zanzibar Revolution. He arrived in the UK in the 1960s as a refugee, where he resides today.  He earned a PhD from the University of Kent and was an English professor there until his retirement. 

He is the author of short stories, essays and ten novels. He has been in the running for the Booker prize twice. Gurnah is the first black author to receive the Nobel Prize for Literature since Toni Morrison was recognised in 1993. East Africa is the setting for much of Gurnah's fiction with his characters often experiencing the alienation and loneliness of migration, the sense of being between two worlds. 

Let's take a look at his novels.

Memory of Departure (1987) - Gurnah's debut novel is set in a post colonial East African county. Narrator Hassan is a teenage boy, raised in poverty. He family life is marred by violence and squalor. His mother sends him off to Nairobi to stay with her brother. His uncle is a wealthy businessman, and Hassan is exposed to a lifestyle he has never experienced. As Hassan's horizons are broadened and he can see alternative futures for himself, he learns that his uncle's success is built on corruption. The novel addresses themes of poverty, oppression and post-colonial identity.

Pilgrims Way (1988) - Daud is an emigrant from Tanzania to England in the 1970s. He works as a hospital orderly, writes letters and enjoys cricket. He cannot go home as he would be persecuted as a Muslim, but struggles to make a new home where he is unwanted and experiences racism daily. Daud is saved from bitterness by his sense of humour, as he reconciles his past and tries to come to terms with his pilgrimage.

Dottie (1990) - The story of a young woman discovering her family and cultural history. Dottie is seventeen when she takes responsibility for her brother and sister - desperate to keep her family together.  Unlike Gurnah's previous novels, the protagonist Dottie is born in Britain. But Dottie realises that England does not embrace women of colour and endeavours to explore her family's past and learn more about her African heritage. 

Paradise (1994) - Shortlisted for the Booker Prize, this historical novel follows Yusef, a twelve year old boy who has been given to a merchant as an indentured servant to pay off his father's debt. Set in East Africa before World War I, Yusef joins the merchant's caravan as they journey to the interior of Africa and the Congo Basin. Here they experience the wildness of nature, animals and the hostility of locals. Paradise is about the change coming to Africa, bringing about freedoms and loss. 

Admiring Silence (1996) - In this novel a man emigrates from Zanzibar to England. Here he meets and falls in love with an English woman and tells her stories of his past. He becomes a teacher in a London school. When it is eventually safe for him to return to his homeland, he journeys back to see what has happened to the family he left behind. He finds that it is not as he remembered and is able to see his current life with new perspective.

By the Sea (2001) - Longlisted for the Booker Prize, this novel is a story of migration and the plight of refugees. Saleh Omar attempts to enter the UK on a fake passport, using a stolen identity. The son of the person whose identity was stolen also attempts to get to the UK but via a different route. Their interwoven stories come together to paint a picture of life in exile and the experiences of racism and imperialism.

Desertion (2005) - This novel begins in 1899 when a British adventurer, Martin Pearce, stumbles into an East African village having been abandoned by his guides. A local shopkeeper takes him in and he is nursed by the shopkeeper's beautiful sister, Rehana. Despite the clash of cultures, romance blooms. Their story is told decades later by Rashid, an academic teaching in England. Their forbidden love is mirrored in the affair Rashid's brother is engaged in with Rehana's granddaughter. Desertion brings to life the personal and political consequences of colonialism.

The Last Gift (2011) - Abbas is an East African immigrant living in England. He has a stroke and begins to reflect on his past. Abbas has never spoken about his past before - his life as a sailor, the time before he met his wife and had children. Now, his stroke has left him unable to tell these stories, but he still seeks to share his secrets with his wife and adult children. This is a story of identity, displacement and the intergenerational impact of migration.

Gravel Heart (2017) - A young child in Zanzibar when his family breaks up, Salim does not understand what has happened. He lives with his mother and uncle and has an estranged relationship with his father. Salim turns inwards and concentrates on his school work where his success paves the way to England to take up business studies. He arrives in London bearing the weight of his family's expectations.  He befriends other immigrant students and then needs to decide whether or not to return home.

Afterlives (2020) - From the 1880s until World War I, East Africa was colonised by Germany. This historical novel follows the lives of three locals in the early 20th century. Ilyas and Hamza become part of the German colonial infantry. When these friends return home from war they find that Ilyas' parents have gone and his sister Afiya has been given away. Afterlives is a story of love, friendship and kinship, against the backdrop or a larger consideration of the generational impacts of war and colonialism.

Learning about Abdulrazak Gurnah and his novels has encouraged me to reflect on the diversity of my reading. While I have endeavoured to introduce new voices into my reading, I need to broaden my horizons even further. I am really interested in tracking down a couple of his novels (Afterlives and Paradise are my first picks) and then branching out further to read more authors from diverse cultures, writers in translation and explore worlds beyond my own.

Cat and Mouse

British author John Fowles' first published novel The Collector (1963) is a creepy tale of a man who kidnaps a young woman and holds her hostage in a basement. Told initially from the perspective of the kidnapper, and then in the form of a journal kept by his victim, this thriller leads readers to understand the motivations of both characters, all the while wondering how the story will unfold.

Frederick Clegg collects butterflies in jars so he can admire their beauty. He is a loner, unable to socialise with others. He forms a deep fascination with art student, Miranda Grey, but realises he cannot talk to her. He thinks that if she got to know him, she would surely come to love him. She would be the prize of his collection.

Clegg purchases an isolated house in the English countryside and converts the basement into a soundproof locked room, filled with art books, clothing and other items he believes Miranda will appreciate. After tracking her for weeks, an opportunity presents itself to acquire her. He grabs her on her way home, ties her up in his van and takes her home. She awakens from a chloroformed haze in Clegg's prison. 

Over the coming days and weeks of her confinement, Clegg believes he is the perfect host - he buys Miranda whatever she wants, he takes her upstairs to have proper baths, he prepares nice meals for her. Miranda cannot figure Clegg out - as he has not physically harmed her. She baits him, acts like a friend, mocks him mercilessly, stops talking and goes on a hunger strike - all the while plotting an escape. Will she break free? Will she be found? Will he grant her freedom?

Fowles creates a claustrophobic cage in which these two characters interact. The first part is narrated by Clegg. He is a terrifying character in that he is clearly a psychopath, but seems more misunderstood than menacing. That Fowles can make a reader empathise with Clegg is a testament to his writing. Miranda's diary reveal her to be shallow, elitist and slowly going mad inside her cell. Through the perspectives of the two narrators we learn that they each suspect the other of lying but play along with the deceptions in the hopes of gaining some advantage. Perhaps neither narration is true, and the reader needs to ascertain what lies in the space between their accounts. 

For the most part I enjoyed The Collector. Clegg was fascinating and I wanted to know what he would do next. But I found Miranda's diary too long and meandering, with ramblings about her friends and family that took away from the immediacy of the situation, thereby slowing the pace. I would have edited the bulk of Miranda's part down or left it out entirely.  But overall, I thought it was a really interesting novel.

The Collector was adapted as a film (1965) directed by William Wyler and starring Terrance Stamp and Samantha Eggar. The film poster describes it as 'almost a love story' so I will be interested to track the film down and see if they romanticised the story. I hope not.

I would also imagine The Collector has inspired other writers as you can see elements in Thomas Harris' The Silence of the Lambs (1988) and in plenty of film and television series.  This novel is also on the list of 1001 books to read before you die. 

The Spoils of War

 Pat Barker's The Women of Troy (2021) picks up where The Silence of the Girls (2018) ends.  Achilles, the hero of the Trojan War, is dead. Troy has fallen and the city is in ruins. King Priam has been brutally killed, likewise all the boys, men and pregnant women in Troy. The Trojan women have been gathered and escorted back to the Greek camp where they will be divided up among the warriors as slaves. 

The Greeks want to return home but the winds prevent them from leaving the bay. Without a battle to fight, the men are restless and sparring among themselves. Pyrrhus, Achilles' teenage son, fears he will never live up to his father's legacy despite killing Priam. He longs for recognition and respect.

Our main narrator, Briseis, pregnant with Achilles child, has more freedom than she did in the first novel. Achilles married her to his friend Alcimus, so that she and the child would be cared for. Despite her new status, Briseis know she is one mistake away from returning to slavery, or worse. She supports the women of Troy - Hecuba, Andromache, Cassandra and more - to become accustomed to their new roles in the camp. 

Amina, a stubbornly devout young woman is determined to bury King Priam and perform funeral rites. She sneaks off at night and attempts to bury his corpse. This act of compassion is considered a direct affront to Pyrrhus and he is determined to find out who defied him, setting the action of this story in motion.

Like with her previous novel, Barker presents an unvarnished view of the brutality of war. She gives these invisible women a voice and we see the world from their perspective. Again it is the women who are the real heroes - their resilience, intellect and camaraderie in the face of devastating trauma gives them strength the warriors around them could only dream of. 

I really enjoyed The Women of Troy, even though it lacked the sense of urgency and movement that kept the story moving in The Silence of the Girls. I know there will be a long wait, but I look forward to Barker's next instalment to see what happens to Briseis next.

Booker Shortlist 2021

The Shortlist was announced today for the 2021 Booker Prize. The thirteen titles on the Longlist have been whittled down to six:

• Anuk Arudpragasam - A Passage North (Sri Lanka)
• Damon Galgut - The Promise (South Africa)
• Patricia Lockwood - No One is Talking About This (USA)
• Nadifa Mohamed - The Fortune Men (UK)
• Richard Powers - Bewilderment (USA)
• Maggie Shipstead - Great Circle (USA)

Chair of the Booker Prize judges, Maya Jasanoff described the shortlist as follows:

"Some are acutely introspective, taking us into the mind of a Tamil man tracing the scars of Sri Lanka's civil war, and an American woman unplugging from the internet to cope with a family crisis. Some enter communities in the throes of historical transformation: the Cardiff docklands in the early years of British decolonisation, and the veld around Pretoria in the last years of apartheid. And some have global sweep, following a mid-century aviator in her attempt to circumnavigate the planet, and a present-day astrobiologist raising a son haunted by climate change."

This is an interesting shortlist without an obvious front runner.  I haven't read any of these books yet (as always, whenever I read a longlisted title it is guaranteed not to make the shortlist!).   But I really want to read the titles by Nadifa Mohamed, Maggie Shipstead and Anuk Arundpragasam.  

The reactions of authors are captured in the shortlist announcement released by the Booker Prize.

The Winner of the Booker Prize, and recipient of £50,000, will be revealed in November. Better get reading!

The Survivors

In 2019 the Women's Prize Shortlist contained two novels that were feminist retelling of ancient myths - Madeline Miller's Circe and Pat Barker's The Silence of the Girls (2018). I acquired both novels and read Circe last year - absolutely loving the fresh take, moving the narration to women who were on the periphery and making their thoughts and feelings central to the storytelling. 

My initial plan to read Barker's The Silence of the Girls fell apart as the pandemic shifted my focus and impacted my reading, but I picked it up this week and devoured it - utterly transported to the frontlines of the decade-long Trojan War and engrossed in the masterful storytelling. 

Mirroring the plot of Homer's The Iliad (circa 8th century), The Silence of the Girls is primarily narrated by Briseis, who becomes a trophy of war when Achilles sacks the city of Lyrnessus and takes her as his prize. Once privileged and married to the king's son, Briseis finds herself Achilles' slave and is bitterly aware of her new position: 'I do what countless women before me have been forced to do... I spread my legs for the man who killed my husband and my brothers'. Such is the fate of women who survive the battle.

Only nineteen, but wise beyond her years, Briseis is a keen observer, learning Achilles' moods and studying his relationship with his beloved Patroclus. She knows that if she falls out of Achilles' favour he will hand her over to the soldiers to be raped and perhaps killed. So she keeps her head down, her mouth shut, and does all that she is asked by her master.

Achilles is a legendary warrior and his skills are needed to defeat Hector and claim the city of Troy. But he falls out with Agamemnon and ends up losing Briseis who is handed over to Agamemnon as his slave. Achilles then refuses to fight further battles alongside Agamemnon - a decision which ends up claiming the lives of Achilles' men and ultimately leads to his downfall. 

Barker is a skilled writer who brings the battlefield to life. By telling the story through the eyes of women, the reader is not presented with heroism and glory, but rather the immeasurable loss and brutality of war. The women are silenced, mostly unseen, yet essential in this world - as nurses, seamstresses, cooks, servants, sex slaves. Survival is their only object, knowing that one false move will result in brutality or death. 

Despite her outward subtlety and deference, Briseis is formidable. She survives by remaining silent, forging friendships with other captured women and finding moments of solitude. But she never loses sight of the volatile position she is in. While she is paired with Achilles and later Agamemnon, great figures in this war, she knows this is not a romance and questions how some of the trophy wives have come to have feelings for their captors, doubting she could ever feel that way. In some ways she has accepted her fate, but fear is always present as she cautiously navigates her way in this world.

Barker has given voice to the real heroes of the battle, the women who survived. While reading, I also listened along to the audiobook brilliantly performed by Kristin Atherton, enhancing my experience of the novel.

I am thrilled that there is a sequel, and that Pat Barker's The Women of Troy (2021) picks up where The Silence of the Girls left off. Guess what I am reading next?

Women's Prize Winner 2021

The winner of the 2021 Women's Prize for fiction has just been announced. I am so thrilled that Susanna Clarke has been recognised for her magnificent novel, Piranesi.

The live ceremony was broadcast online with Chair of Judges Bernadette Evaristo announcing the winner. Evaristo said:

“We wanted to find a book that we'd press into readers' hands, which would have a lasting impact. With her first novel in seventeen years, Susanna Clarke has given us a truly original, unexpected flight of fancy which melds genres and challenges preconceptions about what books should be. She has created a world beyond our wildest imagination that tells us something profound about what it is to be human.”

Susanna Clarke received the £30,000 prize and the award ‘Bessie’, a limited-edition bronze figurine. Clarke is probably best known for her first novel Jonathan Strange and Mr Norell (2004).

I absolutely loved Piranesi and found myself engrossed in the fantastical world Clarke created. I am so happy that she received this award. Read my review of Piranesi here.

A Room with a View

Over the past few days I escaped lockdown in Sydney and was transported to Florence, Italy. I wandered the cobblestone streets, explored magnificent art, ate delicious meals and was welcomed by a group of fascinating people who made me laugh, cry and feel like part of their family. A truly joyous trip courtesy of Sarah Winman's Still Life (2021).

In August 1944 Ulysses Temper is a young British soldier driving his Captain through the Tuscan Hills surveying the impact of the war. The Allies had advanced and were on the verge of reclaiming Florence. On the roadside, Ulysses meets Evelyn Skinner, a British woman three decades his senior. Evelyn is an art historian there to survey the damage to cultural artefacts. The trio spend the afternoon together in the ruins of a villa drinking wine, eating cheese, and talking about art and beauty. Ulysses and Evelyn feel an immediate connection, an instant familiarity. At the end of the day, they go their seperate ways, not knowing whether they will ever see each other again.

Ulysses returns to London at the end of the war to work at the local pub. Here we meet his wife Peg, young Alys, publican Col, piano man Pete, nature-loving Cressy, a quick-witted parrot named Claude, and a cast of other memorable characters. All unique, flawed and realistic. This ragtag group become family and over the years support each other in genuinely touching ways. 

The story that follows takes place over the next four decades in London and Florence as the cities rebuild after war and social changes come about in the 1960s. The characters evolve and change with the times, but remain ever connected. The memory of their first encounter lingers, with Ulysses and Evelyn endeavouring to find one another again.

There are obvious parallels here with E.M. Forster's classic A Room With A View (1908). Indeed Forster himself is a character in the novel, albeit briefly, when he meets Evelyn at a pensione overlooking the Arno. But Forster's influence looms large over this story and we can see in both Evelyn and poet Constance Everly, more than a touch of Miss Lavish.

There is something about Florence. The history, art, architecture and landscape welcomes you and seeps under your skin. I have such fond memories of my travels there in 2012 and long to return. As I read Still Life, I followed in the footsteps of the characters on a map of Florence and spent a lot time researching the artworks, churches and other things they discussed. 

When I finished this book I literally cried. It was such a beautiful novel and I was bereft leaving these wonderful characters after being welcomed into their world. I haven't had such a strong emotional feeling about a novel since I read Maggie O'Farrell's Hamnet. Like that novel, Still Life is one I will be gifting and recommending to friends and loved ones. 

The Ponte Vecchio over the Arno. (June 2012)

The Book of Regrets

Nora Seed has a lot of regrets. She regrets letting down her father when she decided not to continue her athletic career. She regrets becoming estranged from her brother and leaving the band they had formed together. She regrets breaking off her engagement, just days before the wedding. She regrets not travelling to Australia with her friend Izzy. 

The weight of these regrets are too much for Nora and she is genuinely unhappy with her life. When she loses her uninspiring job at a local music shop, and her beloved cat dies, she decides she has had enough and the world would be better off without her. Nora tries to kill herself, thus beginning her journey to the Midnight Library. 

The Library exists in the place between life and death. Here she meets the librarian who hands her a personalised book of regrets. Nora can chose any regret and go back to see what life would be like should she have made a different choice. Would she have been happier in any of these lives? Is there a life worth living for?

Matt Haig's The Midnight Library (2020) ponders 'what-could-have-been' like so many books and films before. Nora has many sliding doors moments where the choice she has made has led her on a certain path, thereby letting the many alternative paths fall by the wayside. Some of Nora's alternative life choices lead to fame and fortune, but most are pretty ordinary. 

For the most part, I enjoyed The Midnight Library but I didn't love it. The concept of the library was great and I liked the opportunity to explore the road less travelled. While exploring depressing topics like suicide and addiction, the book is ultimately uplifting with the hopeful message of finding happiness in the little things. However, after several journeys to Nora's alternative lives, it became quite tedious and predictable. Nora was a frustrating character, continually not knowing what she wants and always thinking the grass is greener elsewhere. I could not connect with her and didn't really care what path she chose, I just wanted her to pick something to stop the cycle of returning to the library.

Having finished the book I have read reviews online and so many people loved this novel in a way that I did not. While reading the novel, I also listened to the audiobook narrated by Carey Mulligan. Mulligan did a great job of personifying Nora and I think without her compelling narration I may have given up on the book without regret.