Shetland

From 1750 to around 1860 landowners in Scotland evicted tenants from their land in the Scottish Highlands and Islands in what is known as the Highland Clearances. Landowners sought to increase their income by converting small plots of land farmed by multiple tenants into larger fields for pastoral farming. The displaced tenants were relocated and encouraged to take up other work like fishing. In the later years of the Clearances, landowners expelled tenants or assisted them to emigrate.

The Clearances are the backdrop for Carys Davies' remarkable novel Clear (2024). Set in 1843, Clear tells the story of John Ferguson, a minister who has recently broken away from the Scottish Church to be part of the new Free Church of Scotland. Without the backing of his former parish, Ferguson has no income and needs to find a means of caring for himself and his wife Mary while he establishes his new existence as a minister. Ferguson's brother-in-law puts him in touch with a landowner's factor who offers to pay him to evict the last remaining inhabitant on a remote island in the Northern Isles. 

Ferguson arrives on the island with one change of clothes, a pistol, some basic supplies, a slice of Mary's fruitcake and a small, leather-framed calotype photo of his beloved wife. He has one month until the Lily Rose returns to convince the tenant to return to the mainland. Of course Ferguson is best suited to the streets of Penicuik and Perth, not the rugged landscape of a remote island. He makes his way to the basic Baillie cottage where he is to reside on the island. 

Ivar has lived alone since his family left the island years ago. He has a solitary existence with only his animals for companions. When Ferguson and Ivar finally meet, the two do not have a common language. The illiterate Ivar peaks Norn (now extinct), which bears no resemblance to English or Scots. Ferguson is eager to learn, and writes the words Ivar teaches him, forming a dictionary which allows them to communicate. Ferguson revels in the words for different cloud formations, waves and types of rocks. Over the days they spend together, the men form an incredible bond. But time is not on their side. The ship will be returning at the end of the month. Will Ferguson tell Ivar why he is there? Will Ivar leave his home? Will their companionship endure?

Carys Davies is a gifted storyteller. At only 150 pages long, Davies conveys depth and emotion with a concise choice of words. This is a story of loneliness, friendship, and language. Clear is a brilliant novel which can be read in one sitting. I love Clear and look forward to seeking out Davies' previous works - West (2018) and The Mission House (2020).

Dublin Literary Award Longlist 2025

The longlist for the 2025 Dublin Literary Award has just been announced. Seventy-one books have been nominated by 83 libraries from 34 countries. I don't normally write about this award, but it is a delicious list of titles.

The 2025 Longlist is:

1. Pip Adam - Audition
2. 
   Kaveh Akbar - Martyr!
3. Selva Almada - Not a River
4. Stefani Auci - The Triumph of the Lions
5. Muriel Barbery - One Hour of Fervor
6. Colin Barrett - Wild Houses
7. Lou Berney - Dark Ride
8. Sarah Bernstein - Study for Obedience
9. Gerda Blees - We Are Light
10. Maya Binyam - Hangman
11. Ivana Bodrozic - Sons, daughters
12. Meihan Boey - The Enigmatic Madam Ingram 
13. John Boyne - Water
14. 
    Rita Bullwinkel - Headshot
15. Dulce Maria Cardoso - Eliete: A Normal Life
16. Steven Caroll - Death of a Foreign Gentleman 
17. Yagsze Choo - The Fox Wife
18. Michael Crummey - The Adversary
19. David Diop - Beyond the Door of No Return
20. Elisa Shua Dusapin - Vladivostok Circus
21. Percival Everett - James
22. Laurence Fearnley - At the Grand Glacier Hotel
23. Dominique Fortier - Pale Shadows
24. Ia Genberg - The Details
25. Sinead Gleeson - Hagstone
26. Norhafsah Hamid - If Only You Remember
27. Kristin Hannah - The Women
28. Siamak Herawi - Tali Girls: A Novel of Afghanistan
29. Catherine Hernandez - Behind You
30. Bo-reum Hwang - Welcome to the Hyunam-Dong Bookshop
31. 
    Frida Isberg - The Mark
32. Howard Jacobson - What Will Survive of Us
33. Michel Jean - Kukum
34. Juhani Karila - Fishing for the Little Pike
35. Shubnum Khan - The Lost Love of Akbar Manzil
36. Nicole Lagioia - The City of the Living
37. Ariel Lawhon - The Frozen River
38. Aube Rey Lescure - River East, River West
39. Hilary Leichter - Terrance Story
40. Catherine Leroux - The Future
41. Melissa Lucashenko - Edenglassie
42. Paul Lynch - Prophet Song
43. John Marrs - The Family Experiment
44. Daniel Mason - North Woods
45. James McBride - The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store
46. 
    Sara Mesa - Un Amor
47. Elizabeth O'Connor - Whale Fall
48. Nuala O'Connor - Seaborne
49. Andrew O'Hagan - Caledonian Road
50. Chigozie Obioma - The Road to the Country
51. Orla Owen - Christ on a Bike
52. LJ Pemberton - Still Alive 
53. Emily Perkins - Lioness
54. Sebastijan Pregelj - In Elvis' Room
55. Lucas Rijneveld - My Heavenly Favourite
56. Deborah Rodriguez - Farewell to the Little Coffee Shop of Kabul
57. Mohmed Mbougar Sarr - The Most Secret Memory of Men
58. Lutz Seiler - Star 111
59. Umar Abubakar Sidi - The Incredible Dreams of Garba Dakaskus
    
60. Sheyla Smanioto - Out of Earth
61. Ingrid Storholmen - Here Lay Tirpitz
62. Vikas Swaroop - The Girl with Seven Lives
63. Morgan Talty - Fire Exit
64. Colm Toibin - Long Island
65. Andrea Tompa - Home
66. Justin Torres - Blackouts
67. Christos Tsiolkas - The In-Between
68. Tanguy Viel - The Girl You Call
69. Douglas Westerbeke - A Short Walk Through a Wide World
70. Don Winslow - City in Ruins
71. Charlotte Wood - Stone Yard Devotional

Of these titles I have read and loved: James, Long Island, and Stone Yard Devotional.   On my list to read are the novels by Hannah, Lucashenko, Leroux, Lynch, O'Hagan, and Tsiolkas.

Many of these books are familiar to me from awards last year. Several titles were on the Booker Prize Longlist in 2024 - Barrett, Bullwinkel, Everett, and Wood, with Paul Lynch winning the Booker in 2023 for Prophet Song. Lucashenko's Edenglassie was on the 2024 Stella Prize Longlist, while the novels by Binyam and Lescure were on the 2024 Women's Prize Longlist. The translated novels by Almada and Genberg were on the International Booker Longlist in 2024.

It is wonderful to see Australian authors like Wood, Lucashenko and Tsiolkas doing well overseas. 

Of the longest, the Patron of the Award - the Lord Mayor of Dublin, Emma Blain said:

“For over 30 years The Dublin Literary Award has connected readers through the best of fiction from around the world. I am delighted to see that this year’s longlist continues to reflect the breadth of imagination we associate with the award showcasing cultures, traditions and unique perspectives.”

The Shortlist will be announced on 25 March 2025 with the winner of the 100,000 Euro prize declared on 22 May 2025. Happy Reading!

Sunshine Sketches

Elizabeth Strout is an acclaimed American writer, best known for her Lucy Barton books and Olive Kitteridge novels.  I have many of her books, which have been recommended to me by friends and fellow book bloggers, and they have appeared on many longlists of literary prizes. Yet somehow I have never read them.

I decided to begin my Strout experience with Olive Kitteridge (2008), her Pulitzer Prize winning novel, told through thirteen connected short stories. 

It begins with 'Pharmacy', focussed on Henry Kitteridge, and his shop in the fictional New England town of Crosby. Henry hires a young assistant, Denise Thibodeau, whom his wife describes as 'mousy'.  Henry thrives in the simplicities of his daily life, meeting townsfolk and serving customers alongside Denise. At home however, his wife Olive is domineering. A math teacher at the local junior high school and volunteer in the community, Olive can be curt and cold. 

The following stories about other townsfolk give glimpses of Olive at a funeral reception, at church, or in town, In other stories Olive has a starring role, visiting her son or spending time with Henry at the nursing home. We learn how she once fell for another married teacher, about her strained relationship with her son, and about Henry's ill health. 

In Olive, Elizabeth Strout has created a wonderful character.  Opinionated, stubborn and gruff, Olive could be unlikable. But below the surface she has wells of empathy and a desire to for love. Her strained relationship with her son is heartbreaking, especially as Henry's health deteriorates and she has to do more on her own. Olive also has a delightful turn of phrase, not shy about expressing her feelings. Olive is the cranky neighbour you avoid, but if you got to know her you would realise she is merely lonely and in need of connection. 

What Strout does so well is show how ordinary people deal with their daily lives. She realistically presents each character's thoughts and feelings and gives the reader a sense of place. It made me think a lot about loneliness, relationships and aging. I also found myself wanting to know what happened to characters in each story. Did Angela from 'The Piano Player' find happiness? What did Kevin Coulson do after his conversation with Olive in 'Incoming Tide'? Did Marlene ever travel to a destination in her 'Basket of Trips'? 

The style of interlinked short stories is wonderful. Jennifer Egan has used that form to great effect in A Visit from the Goon Squad (2010) and The Candy House (2022). I love this way of bringing a novel together like crocheted squares that combine to form a beautiful blanket. 

I am so glad to have read Olive Kitteridge and delighted that I have a full catalogue of Elizabeth Strout books to explore. 

Olive Kitteridge has been made into a mini-series by HBO in 2014 starring Frances McDormand as Olive, Richard Jenkins as her husband Henry. Now that I have read this book, I will seek out the series. 

Safe House

Garry Disher's Sanctuary (2024) is a crime thriller about a woman trying to escape her past. Grace is a thief, skilled at stealing small, expensive items like watches, coins, and stamps. She is smart, and knows what to look for.  But the nature of her work means she is always on edge - constantly scanning her environment, looking for exit paths, and trying to keep track of the lies she needs to tell.

Grace not only needs to make sure she does not get caught, she also needs to avoid people from her past. She swears she saw Adam Garrett at the Brisbane stamp expo, and she does not want to run in to him! 

After a near miss at the expo, Grace goes on the run and ends up in South Australia at a small town in the Adelaide Hills. Here she meets Erin Mandel, the agoraphobic owner of an antique store, Erin offers Grace a job, a home and an opportunity for a normal life.

But it soon becomes apparent that Grace isn't the only one in hiding. Erin also has someone looking for her. They are both being stalked by dangerous men, but neither knows about the other's past. The two women have become important to one another and have started to finally feel safe. Which one will be confronted by their past first? 

Sanctuary is quite different from the other Disher novels I have read and loved which were more like police procedurals.  Here we follow the criminals, rather than the cops. I really liked Grace as a character. She is a loner, desperate for connection. She also has a good heart - helpful to strangers and keen to ensure she is only robbing those who deserve it.  

Initially I found it hard to get into the book as it was not what I expected, but I was quickly sucked in by Disher's excellent storytelling and was eager to find out what would happen to Grace and Erin. This is a fantastic standalone crime novel - although I do hope that Grace appears in a future novel.

My reviews of other novels by Garry Disher are also available on this blog:

• Bitter Wash Road (2013) - Hirschhausen series 1
• Peace (2019) - Hirschhausen series 2
• Consolation (2020) - Hirschhausen series 3
• The Way it is Now (2021) 

Devotion

Helen Garner is one of my favourite writers. I have read so much of her past work - fiction, non-fiction, diaries - that I have often said I would read anything she writes, even her shopping lists! The last time I saw her speak was at the Sydney Writers Festival in 2023 when she was talking about crime and justice and was asked about what she was working on. Garner mentioned then that she was planning to write about AFL as she is a Bulldogs supporter. At the time I wrote 'I am not a fan of sports ball, but Garner can make anything interesting'.

Her latest work The Season (2024) is the book she was referring to. Her youngest grandson Amby plays in his local under-16s team - the Colts. Garner goes to the training and the matches and bonds with her grandson over their shared love of the game. She observes these boys, on the cusp of manhood, as they share the highs and lows of the season. 

This is not really a book about football. Garner writes:

'I'm surprised how many people jump to the conclusion that it's something polemical, a critical study of football culture and its place in society, informative, analytical, statistical. Really I'm trying to write about footy and my grandson and me. About boys at dusk. A little life-hymn. A poem. A record of a season we are spending together before he turns into a man and I die.' (p92)

This is what I love about Garner. She is forthright and does not shy away from writing about vulnerability - the frailties of aging, battling with Covid, loosing a game. Garner lives in the house next door to her daughter and three grandchildren. The family bonds are lovely as they share meals, watch footy, talk about haircuts. They are devoted to one another and to their love of the sport.

I lost interest when Garner wrote about various Bulldogs players and did not care for the mechanics of the game. But Garner is so good at looking at the human aspects of mateship and team bonding, as she describes the boys tackling one another and rallying to bolster their fellow players. While trying to keep her distance as an observer, Garner becomes quite attached to Amby's team  - Boof, Meth, Angus, Remy, Silas etc - and becomes familiar with the coach and various parents who cheer on from the sidelines. She writes lovingly of these young men and how they support one another on and off the field. And as I read, I cared for them too and was cheering them on from the sidelines as they advance towards the grand final. 

I have only ever been to one AFL match when my friend Susan took me to see the Sydney Swans play about twenty years ago. While I enjoyed the match, and my friend did her best to explain the rules to me, it never took hold of me the way that many of my friends have embraced the sport. 

So, did The Season make me interested in AFL. Nope! But I was interested in Garner's take on the sport, its rituals and fandom. 

Like much of her writing, Garner is ever present. She shares her anxiety about taking on this topic for a book and speaks with candour about her limitations. Now in her eighties, Garner writes about aging and her difficulty seeing and hearing the games played in the low light of winter. She describes not wanting to return a stray ball as it has been seventy years since she last kicked a ball and fears embarrassment.

The Season is not my favourite Garner, but I enjoyed reading it. This is a charming love letter to her grandson and the game she loves. 

My reviews of other works by Garner appear on this blog, including:

• The Spare Room (2008)
• This House of Grief (2014)
• Everywhere I Look (2016)
• Stories - Collected Short Fiction (2017)
• Yellow Notebook - Diaries 1978-1987 (2019)
• Postcards from Sydney - Diaries 1987-1995 (2020)
• How to End a Story - Diaries 1995-1998 (2021) 

Little Fires Everywhere

In March 2024 The Atlantic magazine published a list of great American novels of the past 100 years. There were many books on the list which I have but not got around to reading. Kevin Wilson's Nothing to See Here (2019) was one of these books which has languished unread, despite so many people recommending it to me. On 1 January 2025 I picked it up and was immediately engaged in this wonderfully hilarious story. 

Raised by a single mother, Lillian Breaker grew up poor. She was bright and studied hard to win a scholarship to an elite boarding school where she meets Madison Billings, the beautiful daughter of a wealthy family. The two share a dorm room and become fast friends, despite their differences. An act of poor judgement by Madison results in Lillian leaving the school. Madison continued on her trajectory to attend university and marry well, while Lillian continued on hers. Now 28, working two jobs in retail and living in her mum's attic, Lillian never lived up to her potential and escaped her circumstances. 

The two friends kept in touch, writing letters to one another. Madison's latest letter comes with an opportunity for work if Lillian is prepared to relocate to Tennessee. With nothing to lose, Lillian goes to Memphis and finds her friend living in a mansion with her Senator husband and their young son Timothy. The job offer is highly unusual. The Senator was married previously and has ten-year old twins, Roland and Bessie. Their mother has died and now they need to come and live with him. Would Lillian be a governess to the two children and ease their transition into the family?

Lillian has no skills in child-rearing and has no desire to be a parent. But she is kind of intrigued by one fascinating aspect - the twins have a rare condition which causes them to spontaneously combust. When they burst into flames they are unharmed, but all around them catch fire.  Lillian agrees to meet the children and realises that she may just be able to put her own childhood trauma to good use and make a difference in their lives. Over the summer Lillian throws herself into caring for these feral twins and does all she can to make sure they don't burn everything to the ground.

Nothing to See Here was such a fun novel to read. Lillian is such a quirky character and I absolutely loved her! She is a red hot mess, but is such a delightful narrator.  I enjoyed seeing how her relationship with the children unfurled. The premise of the story is utterly ridiculous but so well written and laugh out loud funny. Amongst the frivolity, Wilson has some serious messages about class and inequality. A really enjoyable novel to start off my reading year.

High Achiever

Dervla McTiernan's Cormac Reilly crime series began with The Ruin (2018) in which readers were introduced to the Detective Sergeant who had recently moved to Galway with his girlfriend Emma.  In The Scholar (2019), Reilly is back and this time he has personal reasons for wanting to resolve a case. 

Reilly is a decent, hard working cop who doesn't want to participate in office politics or put up with slackers. After a year of working in Galway, he still hasn't found his footing and has been relegated to working on cold cases. Meanwhile his colleague DS O'Halloran is swamped in cases and struggling to find a balance between work and her family. She needs to offload some work to Reilly, and he is keen to take on active cases.

One night Reilly's partner Emma stumbles across a body in a parking lot at the pharmaceutical lab where she works. A young woman has been killed in a hit-and-run. Despite the potential conflict of interest, Reilly takes on the investigation. The case becomes highly sensitive when a connection is found to Carline Darcy, the granddaughter of the wealthy businessman who owns the lab. Can Reilly solve this case without involving Emma? 

This was a great crime novel - fast-paced and easy to read. I figured out whodunnit quite early, but it was interesting to see how the story would unfurl and there were still quite a few surprises. I really like McTiernan's writing style and her characterisation of all the cops at the station. In each novel she adds more layers of information, which make me want to continue with the series and see how Reilly evolves. Fortunately, I have the third book, The Good Turn (2020), and the fourth novel, The Unquiet Grave, is due out in May 2025 so there is plenty to look forward to.

My review of other DS Reilly novels can be found on this blog here:

• The Ruin (2018)  (Reilly #1)

Planning for 2025

2025 marks my 15th year of book blogging!

My reading year begins with a review of the stack of books on my 'To Be Read' pile to see which ones need to be prioritised and which can be shelved a little longer. Remaining on my list include:

• Helen Garner - The Season
  
• Evie Wyld - The Echoes
• Emily Maguire - The Rapture
• Hayley Scrivenor - Girl Falling
• Devla McTiernan - The Scholar
• Kevin Wilson - Nothing to See Here
• Garry Disher - Sanctuary 
• Cher - Memoir (Part 1)

I am looking forward to a number of new books due to be published in 2025, including:

• Bernhard Schlink - The Granddaughter (January)
• Constanza Casati - Babylonia (January)
• Sue Williams - The Governor, His Wife and His Mistress (January)
• Anne Tyler - Three Days in June (February)
• Curtis Sittenfeld - Show Don't Tell (February)
• Geraldine Brooks - Memorial Days (February)
• Emma Donoghue - The Paris Express (March)
  
• Graydon Carter - When the Going was Good (March)
• Julian Barnes - Changing my Mind (March)
• Dervla McTiernan - The Unquiet Grave (April) - fourth book in her Cormac Reilly series
• Kevin Wilson - Run for the Hills (May)
• Jacinda Ardern - Memoir (June)
• Taylor Jenkins Reid - Atmosphere (June)
• Irvine Welsh - Men in Love (July)
• Lionel Richie - Memoir (August)
• Robert Galbraith - The Hallmarked Man (September)
• Zadie Smith - Dead and Alive (October)
• Tara Moss - Next Billie Walker book 
• Philip Pullman - third instalment of the Book of Dust trilogy

While I won't get to all of them this year, I have preordered many from my library. 

I have renewed my Quarterly Essay subscription and am looking forward to coming issues by Jess Hill, Hugh White and others. I have also renewed my Audible subscription so will be able to explore audiobooks to enhance my reading.

I am travelling to Canada in 2025 so will add some Canadian content to my reading list. I have blogged previously about my love of Robertson Davies, Margaret Atwood, Lawrence Hill, Alice Munro, Michael Ondaatje, Emily St John Mandel, and more. Recommendations from friends are welcome!

For the past few years I have consistently been able to read at least 30 books a year. This year I will push myself by setting a higher goal, aiming for 35 books! I will continue to explore new authors, genres and subject matters. I may even join an online book challenge (#DollopeofTrollope ?) if I can find one that suits me.  To diversify my reading and to challenge myself to read more broadly, I have updated my annual checklist to add some fun to my reading.

Happy reading everyone!