Marianne Perry's Blog - Posts Tagged "australia"
What's A Jackeroo?
The Waddi Tree by Kerry McGinnis
I purchased The Waddi Tree by Kerry McGinnis in the Alice Springs Airport while awaiting a flight to Sydney, Australia. Alice Springs is a town of about 25,000 in central Australia situated in the Northern Territory; the Simpson Desert is to the southeast. My husband and I had gone to Ayers Rock (Uluru) for a few days prior to view the mythological sandstone rock at sunrise and sunset. Ayers Rock is approximately 280 miles southwest of Alice Springs and we’d ridden a bus for seven hours on the Lasseter and Stuart Highways to get here.
Travelling awards us insight but there is insufficient time when one is visiting a place to fully appreciate its uniqueness and I always hunt for books that can teach me more. Kerry McGinnis is Australian born and she and her family owned a cattle station in central Australia. As such, I believed The Waddi Tree a worthwhile read.
The story commences in 1957. For the past decade, Sandy McAllister has run the struggling Arcadia Cattle Station; a homemade three-room house and shed on leasehold property in central Australia. His younger brother, Rob, manages Kharko Station; a prosperous operation with a homestead and complex of buildings likened to a town. Sandy, a fifty-year-old army vet, is hard-working, devoted to his vibrant wife, a former nurse, Jenny and adventuresome with their child, a ten-year-old named Jim. By comparison, Rob is regimented and taciturn. His wife, Mary, was once full of laughter; the drowning of their son, Todd, fifteen years ago, however, has rendered her pale and subdued. Their nine-year old daughter, Rosemary is rebellious whereas Oliver, her fourteen-year-old sibling, has resigned to the fact he must follow his father’s footsteps. Though only forty miles separates the stations, the brother’s conflicting personalities has limited and strained their contact; nevertheless, Sandy emphasizes to Jim, Rob is his only uncle.
McGinnis vividly depicts daily life on the isolated stations by referencing radio communications, Jim’s daily half-hour school lessons with an unseen teacher in Alice Springs through the School of the Air program and The Flying Doctor’s visit with a nurse to Kharko Station for monthly clinics. Jim works to help his parents sustain Arcadia. His chores include herding goats but he romps with his aboriginal buddy, Nipper. He and his mother enjoy Sandy’s accordion playing but after her accidental death, his father unravels, this chapter closes and he is sent to live with Rob’s family.
Sandy ultimately abandons Arcadia Station, becomes an itinerant worker, begins a slow descent into alcoholism and contravenes social mores by partnering with an Aboriginal woman and fathering a child named Eddy. He evolves into an object of derision and becomes estranged from Jim. In Chapter Five when Sandy is about to leave Jim with a promise to return in a year, he says, ‘You’ll understand when you’re older son.’ The quote underscores Jim’s odyssey that represents the thread of the book.
The story explores Jim’s struggle to comprehend all that has happened as he transitions from boy to man. He fights to escape the shadow of his father, cope with the grief of his mother’s loss and earn worth based on his own merits rather than accepting anything subscribed to him for being Rob’s nephew. As he tries to find his place at Kharko Station, a microcosm for the world, he assumes more responsibility and his interactions with characters and responses to events illustrate his attempts to reconcile issues of loss, anger, hurt and shame. Through his experiences, he comes to understand “family” has more than a single definition and love, many dynamics. In particular, Jim’s interaction with the spirited Rosemary and observation of Oliver’s defeatist attitude lead him to contemplate his own options.
Of note are his relationships with secondary characters, especially the cook, Pommy John and racehorse jockey, Barney O’Dowd. Through conversations and incidents, the reader is informed of the immensity of cattle stations in central Australia. There are numerous hands and property allocated covers vast tracts of land. Branding cattle is an onerous chore and ensuring herds have steady access to water demands a relentless cycle of moving the animals. In addition, these characters serve as vehicles to reveal attitudes towards black workers, white-black coupling and half-caste children. They also represent forums within which Jim debates matters of conscience, tests new skills and exhibits growing competence on the station.
The blistering-hot and furnace-dry desert environment of central Australia is a metaphor for the bleakness Jim confronts as he passes through adolescence. McGinnis’ descriptive passages of the ochre mountains, red sand dunes, spiky spinifex ridges and pale trunked gum trees are superb and message us of the beauty that exists within this stark land. Her references to drought and the construction of bores to tap groundwater from shallow aquifers for the cattle mirror the barrenness of Jim’s relationship with his father plus hint at the hope of salvation. The inclusion of wildlife such as emus, euros, brumby feral horses and the second largest lizard in the world, a perenti, highlight Australia’s uniqueness. Animals also interject humour and frame valuable lessons: Jake, Jim’s quirky bay pony; Peddler, a brown Arcadia Station packhorse; and Pearlshell, the red bay present from Rob for his sixteenth birthday.
The novel was poignant but McGinniss’ exploration of so many emotional issues caused some to be left thin and, as a result, I felt residual incompletion at the end. Jim’s visiting his father’s grave and his grasp of the anguish he’d suffered over his mother’s death, however, was gratifying. His learning he’d hung on to Arcadia Station, willed it to him and realization he’d never truly been abandoned was also gratifying.
McGinnis is deft with words as exemplified by her phrasing of this coming-of-age moment in Chapter Sixteen. ‘When she (his mother, Jenny) died it was as if a fire had gone out in Sandy. Jim could still recall the light in his father’s eyes as they rested on Jenny, and suddenly he understood what a burden life must have become for him once she was gone.’ Jim’s commitment to restore Arcadia Station and make it home brought full circle to the novel. I did regard his decision to assume care of his half-brother, Eddy and assumption a teacher, Ruth Petlow, with whom he’d developed a minimal relationship rather simplistic and, perhaps, a rushed attempt by McGinniss to conclude the book.
Titles bear symbolism and a waddi tree is mentioned in Chapter One. It is a desert acacia tree Sandy insisted never be cut that shaded the eastern side of the veranda fronting their home. When Jim returns to Arcadia Station in the final chapter, its condition is dilapidated but the tree has survived and, hence, harbingers a positive future.
In conclusion, I’d like to tribute McGinnis’ skilful use of vocabulary in authenticating Australia and cite examples: swag, a term for pack; strapper, someone who cares for horses and tuckerbox, a lunch pail. On a final note, The Waddi Tree was definitely a worthwhile read. It enhanced my understanding of the Northern Territory and will hold a valuable place in my travel library.
As to a jackeroo, it is a cattle station employee being trained for management; a position for which Jim is qualified when he decides to assume ownership of Arcadia Station.
Marianne Perry
Author of The Inheritance
Writing inspired by genealogical research to solve family mysteries.
http://www.marianneperry.ca
I purchased The Waddi Tree by Kerry McGinnis in the Alice Springs Airport while awaiting a flight to Sydney, Australia. Alice Springs is a town of about 25,000 in central Australia situated in the Northern Territory; the Simpson Desert is to the southeast. My husband and I had gone to Ayers Rock (Uluru) for a few days prior to view the mythological sandstone rock at sunrise and sunset. Ayers Rock is approximately 280 miles southwest of Alice Springs and we’d ridden a bus for seven hours on the Lasseter and Stuart Highways to get here.
Travelling awards us insight but there is insufficient time when one is visiting a place to fully appreciate its uniqueness and I always hunt for books that can teach me more. Kerry McGinnis is Australian born and she and her family owned a cattle station in central Australia. As such, I believed The Waddi Tree a worthwhile read.
The story commences in 1957. For the past decade, Sandy McAllister has run the struggling Arcadia Cattle Station; a homemade three-room house and shed on leasehold property in central Australia. His younger brother, Rob, manages Kharko Station; a prosperous operation with a homestead and complex of buildings likened to a town. Sandy, a fifty-year-old army vet, is hard-working, devoted to his vibrant wife, a former nurse, Jenny and adventuresome with their child, a ten-year-old named Jim. By comparison, Rob is regimented and taciturn. His wife, Mary, was once full of laughter; the drowning of their son, Todd, fifteen years ago, however, has rendered her pale and subdued. Their nine-year old daughter, Rosemary is rebellious whereas Oliver, her fourteen-year-old sibling, has resigned to the fact he must follow his father’s footsteps. Though only forty miles separates the stations, the brother’s conflicting personalities has limited and strained their contact; nevertheless, Sandy emphasizes to Jim, Rob is his only uncle.
McGinnis vividly depicts daily life on the isolated stations by referencing radio communications, Jim’s daily half-hour school lessons with an unseen teacher in Alice Springs through the School of the Air program and The Flying Doctor’s visit with a nurse to Kharko Station for monthly clinics. Jim works to help his parents sustain Arcadia. His chores include herding goats but he romps with his aboriginal buddy, Nipper. He and his mother enjoy Sandy’s accordion playing but after her accidental death, his father unravels, this chapter closes and he is sent to live with Rob’s family.
Sandy ultimately abandons Arcadia Station, becomes an itinerant worker, begins a slow descent into alcoholism and contravenes social mores by partnering with an Aboriginal woman and fathering a child named Eddy. He evolves into an object of derision and becomes estranged from Jim. In Chapter Five when Sandy is about to leave Jim with a promise to return in a year, he says, ‘You’ll understand when you’re older son.’ The quote underscores Jim’s odyssey that represents the thread of the book.
The story explores Jim’s struggle to comprehend all that has happened as he transitions from boy to man. He fights to escape the shadow of his father, cope with the grief of his mother’s loss and earn worth based on his own merits rather than accepting anything subscribed to him for being Rob’s nephew. As he tries to find his place at Kharko Station, a microcosm for the world, he assumes more responsibility and his interactions with characters and responses to events illustrate his attempts to reconcile issues of loss, anger, hurt and shame. Through his experiences, he comes to understand “family” has more than a single definition and love, many dynamics. In particular, Jim’s interaction with the spirited Rosemary and observation of Oliver’s defeatist attitude lead him to contemplate his own options.
Of note are his relationships with secondary characters, especially the cook, Pommy John and racehorse jockey, Barney O’Dowd. Through conversations and incidents, the reader is informed of the immensity of cattle stations in central Australia. There are numerous hands and property allocated covers vast tracts of land. Branding cattle is an onerous chore and ensuring herds have steady access to water demands a relentless cycle of moving the animals. In addition, these characters serve as vehicles to reveal attitudes towards black workers, white-black coupling and half-caste children. They also represent forums within which Jim debates matters of conscience, tests new skills and exhibits growing competence on the station.
The blistering-hot and furnace-dry desert environment of central Australia is a metaphor for the bleakness Jim confronts as he passes through adolescence. McGinnis’ descriptive passages of the ochre mountains, red sand dunes, spiky spinifex ridges and pale trunked gum trees are superb and message us of the beauty that exists within this stark land. Her references to drought and the construction of bores to tap groundwater from shallow aquifers for the cattle mirror the barrenness of Jim’s relationship with his father plus hint at the hope of salvation. The inclusion of wildlife such as emus, euros, brumby feral horses and the second largest lizard in the world, a perenti, highlight Australia’s uniqueness. Animals also interject humour and frame valuable lessons: Jake, Jim’s quirky bay pony; Peddler, a brown Arcadia Station packhorse; and Pearlshell, the red bay present from Rob for his sixteenth birthday.
The novel was poignant but McGinniss’ exploration of so many emotional issues caused some to be left thin and, as a result, I felt residual incompletion at the end. Jim’s visiting his father’s grave and his grasp of the anguish he’d suffered over his mother’s death, however, was gratifying. His learning he’d hung on to Arcadia Station, willed it to him and realization he’d never truly been abandoned was also gratifying.
McGinnis is deft with words as exemplified by her phrasing of this coming-of-age moment in Chapter Sixteen. ‘When she (his mother, Jenny) died it was as if a fire had gone out in Sandy. Jim could still recall the light in his father’s eyes as they rested on Jenny, and suddenly he understood what a burden life must have become for him once she was gone.’ Jim’s commitment to restore Arcadia Station and make it home brought full circle to the novel. I did regard his decision to assume care of his half-brother, Eddy and assumption a teacher, Ruth Petlow, with whom he’d developed a minimal relationship rather simplistic and, perhaps, a rushed attempt by McGinniss to conclude the book.
Titles bear symbolism and a waddi tree is mentioned in Chapter One. It is a desert acacia tree Sandy insisted never be cut that shaded the eastern side of the veranda fronting their home. When Jim returns to Arcadia Station in the final chapter, its condition is dilapidated but the tree has survived and, hence, harbingers a positive future.
In conclusion, I’d like to tribute McGinnis’ skilful use of vocabulary in authenticating Australia and cite examples: swag, a term for pack; strapper, someone who cares for horses and tuckerbox, a lunch pail. On a final note, The Waddi Tree was definitely a worthwhile read. It enhanced my understanding of the Northern Territory and will hold a valuable place in my travel library.
As to a jackeroo, it is a cattle station employee being trained for management; a position for which Jim is qualified when he decides to assume ownership of Arcadia Station.
Marianne Perry
Author of The Inheritance
Writing inspired by genealogical research to solve family mysteries.
http://www.marianneperry.ca
What is your camel trip?
I read Tracks a little while ago. Purchased it in Uluru this past winter at a camel farm while exploring Australia's Northern Territory. When lending it to a friend, I noted a few lines I'd highlighted and thought I'd share them.
Tracks is a personal account of Robyn Davidson's 1977 solitary Australian adventure from Alice Springs to the Indian Ocean. As the front cover blurb states, "One woman's journey across 1,700 of Australian outback."
The following quotes appear on the last page before the postscript.
"The two important things that I did learn were that you are as powerful and strong as you allow yourself to be, and that the most difficult part of any endeavour is taking the first step, making the decision...Camel trips, as I suspected all along, and as I was about to have confirmed, do not end or begin, they merely change form."
The author's words reflect what she discovered about herself on this adventure and, I believe, are applicable to all. What is your camel trip?
Marianne Perry
Writing inspired by genealogical research to solve family mysteries.
www.marianneperry.ca
Tracks is a personal account of Robyn Davidson's 1977 solitary Australian adventure from Alice Springs to the Indian Ocean. As the front cover blurb states, "One woman's journey across 1,700 of Australian outback."
The following quotes appear on the last page before the postscript.
"The two important things that I did learn were that you are as powerful and strong as you allow yourself to be, and that the most difficult part of any endeavour is taking the first step, making the decision...Camel trips, as I suspected all along, and as I was about to have confirmed, do not end or begin, they merely change form."
The author's words reflect what she discovered about herself on this adventure and, I believe, are applicable to all. What is your camel trip?
Marianne Perry
Writing inspired by genealogical research to solve family mysteries.
www.marianneperry.ca
What Is Your Definition of Mother? Book Review: The Light Between The Oceans
What Is Your Definition of Mother?
Book Review:
The Light Between The Oceans by M. L. Stedman
Thomas (Tom) Sherbourne is the lighthouse keeper on Janus Rock; a station built in 1889 on a remote island off the western Australian coast. He and his wife, Isabel Graysmark are the sole inhabitants; supplies are delivered by boat every few months and they have limited contact with the mainland settlement, Point Partageuse. Tom discovers a deceased man and baby in a dinghy on the beach. Assuming him the father, Isabel attempts to dissuade Tom the mother must have fallen out and they should withhold information about the incident. She calls the infant “a gift from God.” Traumatized for having fought and survived World War One, Tom is wracked with grief and guilt over Isabel’s two miscarriages and a stillborn birth. Despite uneasiness, he concedes to her request. They present the child as theirs, christen her, Lucy, and raise her in a loving secluded environs. The novel recounts events that result in Lucy’s birth mother, Hannah Roennfeldt, learning that her now two year old daughter, Grace Ellen, alive. The story expounds the consequences of the abduction, Hannah’s reunion with her child and the aftermath of those concerned. The Light Between The Oceans begins on Janus Rock as Isabel says “on the day of the miracle,” April 27, 1926 and concludes August 28, 1950 in Hopetoun, four hundred miles east of Point Partageuse.
The three-hundred and forty-three page book is well organized. A map of Australia provides insight about its extensive coastline; reveals the importance of lighthouses and situates places to track plot. The prologue in Part One sets the scene and identifies the causes of conflict fuelling the story. Backstory commencing December 16, 1918 fleshes out the major characters and motivation for their actions. Part Two begins April 27, 1926, ends with the police arresting Tom and the family’s departure from Janus Rock. The twelve chapters comprising Part Three focus on the primary action; the conclusion is laced with sorrow yet also glimmers of hope.
The novel will appeal to those interested in Australia with references to the virulent sea, a complex landscape, petrel birds and ghost gum trees picturing the country. Technical info re lighthouses is comprehensive and the moral code, position of trust and meticulous duties of a keeper, fascinating. Historical details with respect to the laws prohibiting a wife from being forced to testify against her husband strengthen context.
The author’s skill at imagery merits note and the following excerpt from the introductory paragraphs of Chapter 35 describing a Point Partageuse rainstorm serve an example:
“When it rains in Partageuse, the clouds hurt down water and soak the town to its very bones….The rivers quicken, finally scenting the ocean from which they have so long been parted….Women look in exasperation at washing not retrieved from lines, and cats slink through the nearest convenient doorway, meowing their disdain….The rain transforms the living and the dead without preference.”
The issues explored are complex including: what constitutes family, the definition of mother, the complexity governing choice and what determines right and wrong. The abduction is multi-layered and to present its case, the author employs viewpoints supplemental to Tom and Isabel’s: Hannah’s father and sister, law enforcement officials and townspeople. M. L. Stedman compels reader to reflect on what they would have done in similar circumstances.
Marianne Perry
Author of The Inheritance
Writing inspired by genealogical research to solve family mysteries.
http://www.marianneperry.ca
March 2016
Book Review:
The Light Between The Oceans by M. L. Stedman
Thomas (Tom) Sherbourne is the lighthouse keeper on Janus Rock; a station built in 1889 on a remote island off the western Australian coast. He and his wife, Isabel Graysmark are the sole inhabitants; supplies are delivered by boat every few months and they have limited contact with the mainland settlement, Point Partageuse. Tom discovers a deceased man and baby in a dinghy on the beach. Assuming him the father, Isabel attempts to dissuade Tom the mother must have fallen out and they should withhold information about the incident. She calls the infant “a gift from God.” Traumatized for having fought and survived World War One, Tom is wracked with grief and guilt over Isabel’s two miscarriages and a stillborn birth. Despite uneasiness, he concedes to her request. They present the child as theirs, christen her, Lucy, and raise her in a loving secluded environs. The novel recounts events that result in Lucy’s birth mother, Hannah Roennfeldt, learning that her now two year old daughter, Grace Ellen, alive. The story expounds the consequences of the abduction, Hannah’s reunion with her child and the aftermath of those concerned. The Light Between The Oceans begins on Janus Rock as Isabel says “on the day of the miracle,” April 27, 1926 and concludes August 28, 1950 in Hopetoun, four hundred miles east of Point Partageuse.
The three-hundred and forty-three page book is well organized. A map of Australia provides insight about its extensive coastline; reveals the importance of lighthouses and situates places to track plot. The prologue in Part One sets the scene and identifies the causes of conflict fuelling the story. Backstory commencing December 16, 1918 fleshes out the major characters and motivation for their actions. Part Two begins April 27, 1926, ends with the police arresting Tom and the family’s departure from Janus Rock. The twelve chapters comprising Part Three focus on the primary action; the conclusion is laced with sorrow yet also glimmers of hope.
The novel will appeal to those interested in Australia with references to the virulent sea, a complex landscape, petrel birds and ghost gum trees picturing the country. Technical info re lighthouses is comprehensive and the moral code, position of trust and meticulous duties of a keeper, fascinating. Historical details with respect to the laws prohibiting a wife from being forced to testify against her husband strengthen context.
The author’s skill at imagery merits note and the following excerpt from the introductory paragraphs of Chapter 35 describing a Point Partageuse rainstorm serve an example:
“When it rains in Partageuse, the clouds hurt down water and soak the town to its very bones….The rivers quicken, finally scenting the ocean from which they have so long been parted….Women look in exasperation at washing not retrieved from lines, and cats slink through the nearest convenient doorway, meowing their disdain….The rain transforms the living and the dead without preference.”
The issues explored are complex including: what constitutes family, the definition of mother, the complexity governing choice and what determines right and wrong. The abduction is multi-layered and to present its case, the author employs viewpoints supplemental to Tom and Isabel’s: Hannah’s father and sister, law enforcement officials and townspeople. M. L. Stedman compels reader to reflect on what they would have done in similar circumstances.
Marianne Perry
Author of The Inheritance
Writing inspired by genealogical research to solve family mysteries.
http://www.marianneperry.ca
March 2016
Is There Life After Loss?
Is There Life After Loss?
Book Review:
Two If By Sea by Jacquelyn Mitchard
A tsunamii claims the life of Frank Mercy’s wife and unborn child Christmas Eve on Bribie Island, north of Brisbane in Queensland, Australia. Frank, a retired police officer and volunteer fireman, attempts to rescue the occupants of a sinking van. The older lad trapped inside insists he save the younger one first. He does but the woman and other boy slip away. Frank is compelled to keep the child. He confirms him the son of a deceased relative, calls him Ian and moves to his family’s horse farm in Wisconsin. Ian manifests an extraordinary mind able to change people’s behaviour. The boy assumed drown survives. He is revealed Ian’s older brother, Colin whom Frank adopts as well. Colin has telepathic ability and thugs keen to employ the sibling’s gifts for nefarious purposes attempt to abduct them. Frank does whatever necessary to hold them safe and, as such, a riveting conflict drives Two If By Sea. Jacquelyn Mitchard’s novel, however, also explores the human response to grief, the many kinds of love and our capacity to heal, move past tragedy and begin anew.
The four-hundred page book is organized into thirty-three chapters with Frank’s chilling account of the approaching tsunami on the second page drawing the reader into the looming horror and the consequences it will precipitate at the start.
“He saw the wave as a gleaming dam, built of stainless steel, standing upright in the misty moonlight, fifty feet tall and extending for half a mile in either direction.”
From this point, the story spans a two year period set in Australia then Wisconsin, North Carolina and finally, Yorkshire, England. The author creates a vivid sense of locale with this Chapter Thirty excerpt describing the village of Stead, England as testament.
“Houses and stores bumped up against the thoroughfare, with no front yard or parkway except a scrap of tufty grass tucked behind ancient dry stone walls-their slabs stacked like shrunken books. At the back of buildings that clustered together like a toy village, there were small yards, with play structures, tumbles of wild roses and balls of shrub, that rose up to the curved and clefted hills,.…”
The threading of local language throughout the text also strengthens authenticity. Weaving Australian terms such as lamingtons, a popular Brisbane dessert and jackaroo, a young man working on a cattle ranch are apt examples.
A meticulous work, Mitchard’s depiction of the equestrian world serving as a backdrop merits note. A jockey and Olympic hopeful are among the characters that provide technical details. Their various perspectives shed insight as do incidents involving injuries to horses, skill clinics for novice riders and competitive events.
There are two recommendations for improvement. The inclusion of a map would have aided the reader in locating Bribie Island thereby enhancing understanding of the devastating impact of the tsunami. Julia Madigral, an acquaintance of Frank’s new girlfriend, Claudia is presented as a mysterious woman. An adult with ability similar to Ian’s; Frank is perplexed with a youthful appearance inconsistent her chronological age. His comments raise intrigue but as an explanation is lacking, the reader is left an incomplete profile.
The book is a worthy read especially since the author is deft with dialogue. The Chapter Fifteen exchange between Frank and Claudia who is also a psychiatrist with regards Ian and how children express grief is penned with thought-provoking brilliance.
“She (Claudia) described it as “taking bites.” Little children, who didn’t have the large vocabulary necessary for ritual mourning, were sad in small “bites,” but then rushed away to play….Kids just didn’t look the way we think people look when they’ve suffered a tremendous loss.”
At the end of Two If By Sea, conflicts are resolved satisfactorily and a reasonable scenario crafted for the future. The final chapter reassures us magic exists in our everyday world. Jacquelyn Mitchard has written an inspirational tale celebrating the possibility of life after loss.
Please note that I received a free copy of this book from Simon & Schuster Canada in a Goodreads giveaway in exchange for an honest review.
Marianne Perry
Author of The Inheritance
Writing inspired by genealogical research to solve family mysteries.
http://www.marianneperry.ca
Book Review:
Two If By Sea by Jacquelyn Mitchard
A tsunamii claims the life of Frank Mercy’s wife and unborn child Christmas Eve on Bribie Island, north of Brisbane in Queensland, Australia. Frank, a retired police officer and volunteer fireman, attempts to rescue the occupants of a sinking van. The older lad trapped inside insists he save the younger one first. He does but the woman and other boy slip away. Frank is compelled to keep the child. He confirms him the son of a deceased relative, calls him Ian and moves to his family’s horse farm in Wisconsin. Ian manifests an extraordinary mind able to change people’s behaviour. The boy assumed drown survives. He is revealed Ian’s older brother, Colin whom Frank adopts as well. Colin has telepathic ability and thugs keen to employ the sibling’s gifts for nefarious purposes attempt to abduct them. Frank does whatever necessary to hold them safe and, as such, a riveting conflict drives Two If By Sea. Jacquelyn Mitchard’s novel, however, also explores the human response to grief, the many kinds of love and our capacity to heal, move past tragedy and begin anew.
The four-hundred page book is organized into thirty-three chapters with Frank’s chilling account of the approaching tsunami on the second page drawing the reader into the looming horror and the consequences it will precipitate at the start.
“He saw the wave as a gleaming dam, built of stainless steel, standing upright in the misty moonlight, fifty feet tall and extending for half a mile in either direction.”
From this point, the story spans a two year period set in Australia then Wisconsin, North Carolina and finally, Yorkshire, England. The author creates a vivid sense of locale with this Chapter Thirty excerpt describing the village of Stead, England as testament.
“Houses and stores bumped up against the thoroughfare, with no front yard or parkway except a scrap of tufty grass tucked behind ancient dry stone walls-their slabs stacked like shrunken books. At the back of buildings that clustered together like a toy village, there were small yards, with play structures, tumbles of wild roses and balls of shrub, that rose up to the curved and clefted hills,.…”
The threading of local language throughout the text also strengthens authenticity. Weaving Australian terms such as lamingtons, a popular Brisbane dessert and jackaroo, a young man working on a cattle ranch are apt examples.
A meticulous work, Mitchard’s depiction of the equestrian world serving as a backdrop merits note. A jockey and Olympic hopeful are among the characters that provide technical details. Their various perspectives shed insight as do incidents involving injuries to horses, skill clinics for novice riders and competitive events.
There are two recommendations for improvement. The inclusion of a map would have aided the reader in locating Bribie Island thereby enhancing understanding of the devastating impact of the tsunami. Julia Madigral, an acquaintance of Frank’s new girlfriend, Claudia is presented as a mysterious woman. An adult with ability similar to Ian’s; Frank is perplexed with a youthful appearance inconsistent her chronological age. His comments raise intrigue but as an explanation is lacking, the reader is left an incomplete profile.
The book is a worthy read especially since the author is deft with dialogue. The Chapter Fifteen exchange between Frank and Claudia who is also a psychiatrist with regards Ian and how children express grief is penned with thought-provoking brilliance.
“She (Claudia) described it as “taking bites.” Little children, who didn’t have the large vocabulary necessary for ritual mourning, were sad in small “bites,” but then rushed away to play….Kids just didn’t look the way we think people look when they’ve suffered a tremendous loss.”
At the end of Two If By Sea, conflicts are resolved satisfactorily and a reasonable scenario crafted for the future. The final chapter reassures us magic exists in our everyday world. Jacquelyn Mitchard has written an inspirational tale celebrating the possibility of life after loss.
Please note that I received a free copy of this book from Simon & Schuster Canada in a Goodreads giveaway in exchange for an honest review.
Marianne Perry
Author of The Inheritance
Writing inspired by genealogical research to solve family mysteries.
http://www.marianneperry.ca
How Many Families Do You Have?
How Many Families Do You Have?
Book Review: Lion/A Long Way Home by Saroo Brierley.
Lion, previously published as A Long Way Home, is Saroo Brierley’s memoir. Saroo was born in 1981 in Ganesh Tilai, Madhya Pradesh, India. In 1986 while accompanying his older brother, Guddu on the train south to Burhanpur, the two became separated. Trapped in an empty rail car, Saroo wakes up at Howrah Station, Kolkata, later revealed approximately 1,500 kilometres east of his home. Adopted by an Australian couple, Sue and John Brierley, in 1987, he is raised in Hobart, Tasmania, Australia.
Years later when an adult, he searches for his birth family utilizing Google Earth’s satellite images. A Facebook group also provides assistance. With only his memories to guide him and wrongly believing the name of his hometown, “Ginestlay,” it is a painstaking process.
His efforts showcase technology’s capabilities as well as Saroo’s commitment to achieve his goal. In 2012, he is reunited with his mother and siblings but learns Guddu dead. His birth and adoptive mothers eventually meet and though Saroo returns to Hobart, he maintains close ties with his Indian family.
Brierley begins his account with a Prologue set in India at the point he and his mother on the cusp of reunion. From there, thirteen chapters headed with titles intrinsic to theme chronicle his journey. An Epilogue speaks to the subject of family and how this experience has changed Saroo. A compilation of original photos and documents plus a detailed map of India provide visual aids.
The author conveys the harsh living conditions Saroo and his family endured in India to help readers envision the world from which he came. This excerpt from Chapter Two is particularly poignant.
“Hunger limits you because you are constantly thinking about getting food, keeping the food if you do get your hands on some, and not knowing when you are going to eat next. It is a vicious cycle….Hunger and poverty steal your childhood and take away your innocence and sense of security.”
There are many passages recording Saroo’s harrowing predicament with this sample from Chapter Two conveying his desperation.
“I can still feel the icy chill of panic that hit me when I realized that I was trapped….I couldn’t read any of the signs in the carriage….I called for my mother,…No one answered and the train didn’t stop….I was lost.”
Chapter Thirteen is noteworthy for its reference to modes of transportation in India. Brierley’s description of the rail system and his journey from Burhanpur to Kolkata as an adult is comprehensive and clear.
Though this is Brierley’s memoir, sayings threaded throughout address universal issues and, as such, make his tale relevant to all. This Hindu quote from Chapter Twelve sparks contemplation.
“Everything is written”: destiny takes its inevitable path.”
With regards the meaning of the title, Lion, Brierley informs us in Chapter Eleven that he was christened, Sheru Munshi Khan. Sheru is Hindi for “Lion” but he’d mispronounced it since lost and would be forever known as “Saroo.”
His birth mother, Kamla meets Sue Brierley face to face in Ganesh Talai; an incident reported in The Epilogue. Saroo’s reflection in the final pages sums his resolution of reconnecting with his birth family.
“I now have two families, not two identities. I am Saroo Brierley.”
Lion or A Long Way Home is an inspirational story of obstacles conquered, dreams realized and insights gained. A marvelous read for sure.
Marianne Perry
Author of The Inheritance
Writing inspired by genealogical research to solve family mysteries.
www.marianneperry.ca
Book Review: Lion/A Long Way Home by Saroo Brierley.
Lion, previously published as A Long Way Home, is Saroo Brierley’s memoir. Saroo was born in 1981 in Ganesh Tilai, Madhya Pradesh, India. In 1986 while accompanying his older brother, Guddu on the train south to Burhanpur, the two became separated. Trapped in an empty rail car, Saroo wakes up at Howrah Station, Kolkata, later revealed approximately 1,500 kilometres east of his home. Adopted by an Australian couple, Sue and John Brierley, in 1987, he is raised in Hobart, Tasmania, Australia.
Years later when an adult, he searches for his birth family utilizing Google Earth’s satellite images. A Facebook group also provides assistance. With only his memories to guide him and wrongly believing the name of his hometown, “Ginestlay,” it is a painstaking process.
His efforts showcase technology’s capabilities as well as Saroo’s commitment to achieve his goal. In 2012, he is reunited with his mother and siblings but learns Guddu dead. His birth and adoptive mothers eventually meet and though Saroo returns to Hobart, he maintains close ties with his Indian family.
Brierley begins his account with a Prologue set in India at the point he and his mother on the cusp of reunion. From there, thirteen chapters headed with titles intrinsic to theme chronicle his journey. An Epilogue speaks to the subject of family and how this experience has changed Saroo. A compilation of original photos and documents plus a detailed map of India provide visual aids.
The author conveys the harsh living conditions Saroo and his family endured in India to help readers envision the world from which he came. This excerpt from Chapter Two is particularly poignant.
“Hunger limits you because you are constantly thinking about getting food, keeping the food if you do get your hands on some, and not knowing when you are going to eat next. It is a vicious cycle….Hunger and poverty steal your childhood and take away your innocence and sense of security.”
There are many passages recording Saroo’s harrowing predicament with this sample from Chapter Two conveying his desperation.
“I can still feel the icy chill of panic that hit me when I realized that I was trapped….I couldn’t read any of the signs in the carriage….I called for my mother,…No one answered and the train didn’t stop….I was lost.”
Chapter Thirteen is noteworthy for its reference to modes of transportation in India. Brierley’s description of the rail system and his journey from Burhanpur to Kolkata as an adult is comprehensive and clear.
Though this is Brierley’s memoir, sayings threaded throughout address universal issues and, as such, make his tale relevant to all. This Hindu quote from Chapter Twelve sparks contemplation.
“Everything is written”: destiny takes its inevitable path.”
With regards the meaning of the title, Lion, Brierley informs us in Chapter Eleven that he was christened, Sheru Munshi Khan. Sheru is Hindi for “Lion” but he’d mispronounced it since lost and would be forever known as “Saroo.”
His birth mother, Kamla meets Sue Brierley face to face in Ganesh Talai; an incident reported in The Epilogue. Saroo’s reflection in the final pages sums his resolution of reconnecting with his birth family.
“I now have two families, not two identities. I am Saroo Brierley.”
Lion or A Long Way Home is an inspirational story of obstacles conquered, dreams realized and insights gained. A marvelous read for sure.
Marianne Perry
Author of The Inheritance
Writing inspired by genealogical research to solve family mysteries.
www.marianneperry.ca
Book Notes
The Dry by Jane Harper
The Dry is a crime fiction written by Jane Harper. Set in the rural town of Kiewarra, Australia near the city of Melbourne, the area has endured a two year drought. Circa three-hundred pages , the book is organized into forty-two chapters and has an excellent Reading Group Guide. The story unfolds through third person narration primarily from the main character, Aaron Falk’s POV.
The plot revolves around Luke Hadler’s alleged suicide after having shot his wife, Karen and their seven year old son, Billy. Oddly, their infant daughter, Charlotte is unharmed. Aaron Falk, a federal agent from Melbourne, receives a mysterious note prompting him to return to his hometown. Past friends, Aaron and Luke, implicated in the unsolved drowning of their teenage friend, Ellie Deacon twenty years ago. The townsfolk and Ellie’s father, Mel Deacon whom most suspect suffering early dementia, plus her bullish cousin, Grant Dow have vindictiveness for Falk and his deceased father, Erik. Convinced them responsible for Ellie's death and Luke Hadler guilty of the murders, they try to force Falk to leave Kiewarra. It is revealed this animosity had driven Luke and Erik out of Kiewarra after Ellie's death.
Barb and Gerry Hadler, Luke’s parents believe their son innocent. Quasi-surrogate parents to Falk, they entreat him to prove this true. Gerry Hadler admits to having sent Falk the note. Falk with the assistance of the local cop, Sergeant Greg Raco, agrees to investigate.
Stirred into this main conflict is an unresolved romantic relationship between Falk and a former school friend, Gretchen Schoner; the possibility Luke fathered Gretchen’s young son, Lackie; the discovery of missing funds by the school’s bookkeeper, Karen Hadler; the enigmatic school principal, Scot Whitlam who showed up in Kiewarra last year and has a gambling problem; lingering rumours Mel Deacon abused his daughter, Ellie Deacon; the domino effect of a clandestine gay relationship between a young farmer, Jamie Sullivan and the local GP, Dr. Patrick Leigh; and Asian interests in purchasing the Hadler-Deacon property.
Yes, there is much happening! Cleverly imagined, Jane Harper concludes each chapter with a page-turner that keeps the reader riveted. This Chapter 5 excerpt serves an example:
“Raco,” he (Falk) said. “There's something about Luke you need to know.”
In addition to a string of suspenseful incidents, Jane Harper paints vivid images of the drought ravaged area. This Chapter 13 excerpt serves an example:
“The huge river was nothing more than a dusty scar in the land. The empty bed stretched long and barren in either direction, its serpentine curves tracing the path where the water had flowed. The hollow that had been carved over centuries was now a cracked patchwork of rocks and crabgrass….”
The author layers her characters by articulating universal themes compelling reader reflection. This Chapter 25 excerpt of a conversation between Aaron Falk and Rita Raco re Falk’s difficult relationship with his deceased father serves an example:
“…But surely that doesn’t make it any less true. Death rarely changes how we feel about someone. Heightens it, more often than not.”
With regards a criticism, I found the interjection of flashbacks from the POV of other characters such as Ellie Deacon and her father, Mel, awkward. The insights afforded were valuable and integral to the story’s integrity; nevertheless, the passages appeared “dumped” and often with poor transition. Hence, the rhythm and flow broken and the style rendered a tad choppy.
In the end and specific to the final fifty pages, however, Jane Harper weaves everything together delivering a plausible conclusion. This is a good read.
The Dry is a crime fiction written by Jane Harper. Set in the rural town of Kiewarra, Australia near the city of Melbourne, the area has endured a two year drought. Circa three-hundred pages , the book is organized into forty-two chapters and has an excellent Reading Group Guide. The story unfolds through third person narration primarily from the main character, Aaron Falk’s POV.
The plot revolves around Luke Hadler’s alleged suicide after having shot his wife, Karen and their seven year old son, Billy. Oddly, their infant daughter, Charlotte is unharmed. Aaron Falk, a federal agent from Melbourne, receives a mysterious note prompting him to return to his hometown. Past friends, Aaron and Luke, implicated in the unsolved drowning of their teenage friend, Ellie Deacon twenty years ago. The townsfolk and Ellie’s father, Mel Deacon whom most suspect suffering early dementia, plus her bullish cousin, Grant Dow have vindictiveness for Falk and his deceased father, Erik. Convinced them responsible for Ellie's death and Luke Hadler guilty of the murders, they try to force Falk to leave Kiewarra. It is revealed this animosity had driven Luke and Erik out of Kiewarra after Ellie's death.
Barb and Gerry Hadler, Luke’s parents believe their son innocent. Quasi-surrogate parents to Falk, they entreat him to prove this true. Gerry Hadler admits to having sent Falk the note. Falk with the assistance of the local cop, Sergeant Greg Raco, agrees to investigate.
Stirred into this main conflict is an unresolved romantic relationship between Falk and a former school friend, Gretchen Schoner; the possibility Luke fathered Gretchen’s young son, Lackie; the discovery of missing funds by the school’s bookkeeper, Karen Hadler; the enigmatic school principal, Scot Whitlam who showed up in Kiewarra last year and has a gambling problem; lingering rumours Mel Deacon abused his daughter, Ellie Deacon; the domino effect of a clandestine gay relationship between a young farmer, Jamie Sullivan and the local GP, Dr. Patrick Leigh; and Asian interests in purchasing the Hadler-Deacon property.
Yes, there is much happening! Cleverly imagined, Jane Harper concludes each chapter with a page-turner that keeps the reader riveted. This Chapter 5 excerpt serves an example:
“Raco,” he (Falk) said. “There's something about Luke you need to know.”
In addition to a string of suspenseful incidents, Jane Harper paints vivid images of the drought ravaged area. This Chapter 13 excerpt serves an example:
“The huge river was nothing more than a dusty scar in the land. The empty bed stretched long and barren in either direction, its serpentine curves tracing the path where the water had flowed. The hollow that had been carved over centuries was now a cracked patchwork of rocks and crabgrass….”
The author layers her characters by articulating universal themes compelling reader reflection. This Chapter 25 excerpt of a conversation between Aaron Falk and Rita Raco re Falk’s difficult relationship with his deceased father serves an example:
“…But surely that doesn’t make it any less true. Death rarely changes how we feel about someone. Heightens it, more often than not.”
With regards a criticism, I found the interjection of flashbacks from the POV of other characters such as Ellie Deacon and her father, Mel, awkward. The insights afforded were valuable and integral to the story’s integrity; nevertheless, the passages appeared “dumped” and often with poor transition. Hence, the rhythm and flow broken and the style rendered a tad choppy.
In the end and specific to the final fifty pages, however, Jane Harper weaves everything together delivering a plausible conclusion. This is a good read.
