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Cherrywood
From multiple award-winning author, Jock Serong, comes Cherrywood, an imaginative, darkly playful and deeply meaningful delight, a novel about legacy, community, wonder, love and reinvention.
'One rainy Friday evening in the winter of 1993, a taxi swept through the streets of East Melbourne, on its way from the city to Richmond. That year was one of the few remaining when a great deal was known of the world, but not yet so much that the world had become over-known. Small gaps remained...'
Edinburgh, 1916:Thomas Wrenfether, a rich Scottish industrialist, is offered the opportunity to take on a startling project - to build a paddle steamer from European cherrywood on the other side of the world, in booming Melbourne, Australia. But nothing goes according to plan.
Melbourne, 1993. Martha is a lonely, frustrated lawyer. One night on impulse she stops at a strange pub in Fitzroy, The Cherrywood, for a bottle of wine. The building and its inhabitants make an indelible impression, and she slowly begins to deduce odd truths about the pub.
A complex puzzlebox of a novel, this is delicious, rich storytelling, with a dark unusual charm. Cherrywood brings to mind the delicate, witty, character-driven storytelling of Peter Carey's Oscar and Lucinda; the daring of David Mitchell's Cloud Atlas; and a dash of something unworldly a la The Shadow of the Wind - it is haunting, magical and a true original.
'One rainy Friday evening in the winter of 1993, a taxi swept through the streets of East Melbourne, on its way from the city to Richmond. That year was one of the few remaining when a great deal was known of the world, but not yet so much that the world had become over-known. Small gaps remained...'
Edinburgh, 1916:Thomas Wrenfether, a rich Scottish industrialist, is offered the opportunity to take on a startling project - to build a paddle steamer from European cherrywood on the other side of the world, in booming Melbourne, Australia. But nothing goes according to plan.
Melbourne, 1993. Martha is a lonely, frustrated lawyer. One night on impulse she stops at a strange pub in Fitzroy, The Cherrywood, for a bottle of wine. The building and its inhabitants make an indelible impression, and she slowly begins to deduce odd truths about the pub.
A complex puzzlebox of a novel, this is delicious, rich storytelling, with a dark unusual charm. Cherrywood brings to mind the delicate, witty, character-driven storytelling of Peter Carey's Oscar and Lucinda; the daring of David Mitchell's Cloud Atlas; and a dash of something unworldly a la The Shadow of the Wind - it is haunting, magical and a true original.
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First published September 1, 2024
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About the author
Jock Serong
9 books223 followersJock Serong lives and works on the far southwest coast of Victoria. He was a practising lawyer when he wrote Quota and is currently a features writer, and the editor of Great Ocean Quarterly. He is married with four children, who in turn are raising a black dog, a rabbit and an unknown number of guinea pigs. Quota was his first novel.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 171 reviews
April 11, 2025
This book is fifty percent historical fiction and fifty percent magical realism. One part begins in 1916 when Thomas Wrenfeld, who is very rich but not a good judge of character, is open to the idea of using imported Cherrywood to build a paddle steamer in Melbourne, Australia. The other timeline is 1993 when Martha, a lawyer, discovers the Cherrywood pub in the back streets of Melbourne.
I always have a problem with two timelines in that I am often more interested in one than the other. In this case Martha's story, for me, outweighed that of Thomas. He was rather dull, a little condescending to his very intelligent but very smart wife, and prone to bad decisions. Martha on the other hand was smart and involved in a beautiful relationship with a magical pub and an equally magical man. No comparison.
Still a lovely book, well written and a pleasure to read. Recommended.
I always have a problem with two timelines in that I am often more interested in one than the other. In this case Martha's story, for me, outweighed that of Thomas. He was rather dull, a little condescending to his very intelligent but very smart wife, and prone to bad decisions. Martha on the other hand was smart and involved in a beautiful relationship with a magical pub and an equally magical man. No comparison.
Still a lovely book, well written and a pleasure to read. Recommended.
October 19, 2024
This could have gone either way for me. On one hand, I think of myself as a reader who doesn't like magical realism, but on the other hand Jock Serong is one of my favourite Australian writers. Happily, I loved it! I'm already looking forward to a re-read. Audiobook narration was fine, although there was one key chapter that I had to read again in my text copy before I could proceed on audio.
In the early 20thC, Scottish businessman Thomas Wrenfether enters into an all-or-nothing new venture. He and his business partner take possession of 300 tons of milled cherrywood from the Caucasus, with a view to relocating to Australia and using the timber to build a luxury paddlesteamer to provide both passenger and cargo services between St Kilda and Williamstown on Port Philip Bay. Nobody else was doing it, and there was enough wealth in Victoria at that time to make it a very lucrative endeavour.
The first time Martha visits the Fitzroy pub, The Cherrywood, it's winter of 1993. It's a fairly brief visit in the middle of a taxiride - she just needs to buy a bottle of wine and use the bathroom. But the peculiar building and the pub's barman make an impression on her so the next day she decides to return. When she checks the phonebook to get the address, there is no entry for it. Still, she remembers the route taken by the taxi the night before, so she puts on her running gear and sets off. Nothing - she can't find it. Over the next several months, Martha methodically searches every inch of Fitzroy to no avail. She eventually gives up, until one evening she finds herself back in the same taxi and on a whim she asks the driver to take her to Fitzroy. Before she knows it, she's standing outside of The Cherrywood again.
Serong really has thrown us a curveball with this novel. It's unlike anything he's had published before. But it suits him, and I wouldn't mind seeing more like it in the future.
In the early 20thC, Scottish businessman Thomas Wrenfether enters into an all-or-nothing new venture. He and his business partner take possession of 300 tons of milled cherrywood from the Caucasus, with a view to relocating to Australia and using the timber to build a luxury paddlesteamer to provide both passenger and cargo services between St Kilda and Williamstown on Port Philip Bay. Nobody else was doing it, and there was enough wealth in Victoria at that time to make it a very lucrative endeavour.
The first time Martha visits the Fitzroy pub, The Cherrywood, it's winter of 1993. It's a fairly brief visit in the middle of a taxiride - she just needs to buy a bottle of wine and use the bathroom. But the peculiar building and the pub's barman make an impression on her so the next day she decides to return. When she checks the phonebook to get the address, there is no entry for it. Still, she remembers the route taken by the taxi the night before, so she puts on her running gear and sets off. Nothing - she can't find it. Over the next several months, Martha methodically searches every inch of Fitzroy to no avail. She eventually gives up, until one evening she finds herself back in the same taxi and on a whim she asks the driver to take her to Fitzroy. Before she knows it, she's standing outside of The Cherrywood again.
Serong really has thrown us a curveball with this novel. It's unlike anything he's had published before. But it suits him, and I wouldn't mind seeing more like it in the future.
October 15, 2024
You know how sometimes you're reading a book, contentedly enjoying it and suddenly there's a moment when you know you are absolutely hooked?
It's on page 77 of Jock Serong's new novel Cherrywood.
The novel is in two time frames, beginning near the turn of the 20th century, when Thomas Wrenfether becomes the richest child in all of Scotland. He's only a boy when both his parents die in a car crash, so he lives with his Edinburgh cousins until he comes of age, inherits the wealth, marries the lovely Lucy, and in 1912 they have a sweet child called Annabelle. (Not without some difficulty but that's the way it was in those days.)
However. Thomas lacks his father's ruthlessness in business and occasionally gets outflanked by less decent men. Lucy suggests striking out in some other direction and thus sets in train his impressive ambition to use imported cherrywood to build a paddle-steamer to ferry passengers and cargo across Melbourne's Port Phillip Bay. (Those of us who know the bay and its moods have a bad feeling about this.) (And we have a bad feeling about his supplier Ximenon, from Azerbaijan.) (Plus we have a bad feeling that maybe Thomas, despite his best intentions, might inherited The Gene for Impetuous Behaviour from his father. Whose death was the result of an impetuous decision.)
In chapter Five, time shifts and it's the winter of 1993. Martha is on her way home from work in a taxi. She's a lawyer with ambitions to work in the Human Rights field but is instead stuck doing corporate stuff for Caspian Lawyers, the powerful commercial firm that occupied ten floors of a glass tower in the central business district. She's worked hard to get there, but having missed out on her preference...
Martha has skipped the obligatory Friday afternoon drinks because she's got a dinner party with three other junior litigators. She is dreading it. She knows she should get out more, but not with other people who shared a sixty-hour working week. Nevertheless she slips into a pub called the Cherrywood to buy the obligatory bottle of wine... and her life changes.
Well, she doesn't know that yet, and neither do we, but Jock Serong knows how to lay a subtly enticing trail!
There are many aspects of this novel to love but to remain #SpoilerFree I'll just mention just two...
To read the rest of my review please visit https://anzlitlovers.com/2024/10/15/c...
It's on page 77 of Jock Serong's new novel Cherrywood.
The novel is in two time frames, beginning near the turn of the 20th century, when Thomas Wrenfether becomes the richest child in all of Scotland. He's only a boy when both his parents die in a car crash, so he lives with his Edinburgh cousins until he comes of age, inherits the wealth, marries the lovely Lucy, and in 1912 they have a sweet child called Annabelle. (Not without some difficulty but that's the way it was in those days.)
However. Thomas lacks his father's ruthlessness in business and occasionally gets outflanked by less decent men. Lucy suggests striking out in some other direction and thus sets in train his impressive ambition to use imported cherrywood to build a paddle-steamer to ferry passengers and cargo across Melbourne's Port Phillip Bay. (Those of us who know the bay and its moods have a bad feeling about this.) (And we have a bad feeling about his supplier Ximenon, from Azerbaijan.) (Plus we have a bad feeling that maybe Thomas, despite his best intentions, might inherited The Gene for Impetuous Behaviour from his father. Whose death was the result of an impetuous decision.)
In chapter Five, time shifts and it's the winter of 1993. Martha is on her way home from work in a taxi. She's a lawyer with ambitions to work in the Human Rights field but is instead stuck doing corporate stuff for Caspian Lawyers, the powerful commercial firm that occupied ten floors of a glass tower in the central business district. She's worked hard to get there, but having missed out on her preference...
...she began to see herself as a battery chicken, a productive unit entrapped in a box, selling her life in six-minute pieces to her employers, who on-sold her life to clients, who passed the cost of buying Martha's life, by then wholesaled and retailed to their clients in the form of some miniscule mark-up. (p.30)
Martha has skipped the obligatory Friday afternoon drinks because she's got a dinner party with three other junior litigators. She is dreading it. She knows she should get out more, but not with other people who shared a sixty-hour working week. Nevertheless she slips into a pub called the Cherrywood to buy the obligatory bottle of wine... and her life changes.
Well, she doesn't know that yet, and neither do we, but Jock Serong knows how to lay a subtly enticing trail!
There are many aspects of this novel to love but to remain #SpoilerFree I'll just mention just two...
To read the rest of my review please visit https://anzlitlovers.com/2024/10/15/c...
December 5, 2025
Cherrywood is the seventh novel by award-winning Australian author, Jock Serong. Early in the twentieth Century, a Scot embarks on a scheme to provide a unique ferry service to the people of Melbourne, Victoria. In the final years of that same century, a young lawyer becomes entranced by a unique, elusive pub in the Melbourne suburb of Fitzroy. How are the two connected?
Thanks to his wife, Lucy’s shrewdly acquired shares, Thomas Wrenfether is on the board of Maindample Shipping Line, where he encounters the exotic, charismatic and mercurial Sardinian, Jorge Ximenon. Both feel they are barely tolerated, so when Ximenon has a proposal he knows the board will reject, he convinces Thomas to join him.
Lucy doesn’t trust Ximenon, and advises against his scheme to build a paddle steamer to carry goods and people across the Yarra estuary in Melbourne. But Thomas is seduced by the idea of the very special wood that Ximenon claims he has sourced to build the craft: high quality timber from the Caucasus.
The project entails Thomas travelling alone to Melbourne to oversee the construction, employment of crew, and publicity. Lucy and their daughter Annabelle will come when the warships are gone from the oceans. Later, Ximenon warns the timber “comes with trouble” and advises in a letter “Be vigilant. Be less trusting but no less optimistic.”
Oremu, the carpenter he meets at the yard of Rosstrevor and son, Shipwrights, describes the wood as far too good for this purpose. Thomas understood it was New England mahogany, but now learns it is cherry. Oremu has done some research and mentions feuding families, an orchard’s worth of cherrywood that is part of “a cycle of well-intentioned failures” and, unfortunately, Thomas isn’t exempt.
Fast-forward to 1993: Martha is a smart, hard-working junior litigator with Caspian Lawyers in Melbourne. Too smart, really: she wants to work for their Human Rights division, but the partners can see she’s worth more to them in Dispute Resolution or Insurance, work she’s really not happy doing. She’s trying to be patient.
Needing a bottle for a dinner party one Friday, she asks the cabbie to stop at a pub. The Cherrywood, what she sees of it, is all wood and brass, unlike the rest of stone and brick Fitzroy, and the attractive young man behind the counter is equally intriguing. But when she tries to find it again, it’s not where she thought.
A systematic search fails, but then, chancing on the same cabbie, she’s there again, and even more fascinated. The guy, Joey isn’t very forthcoming, but she is convinced there’s something going on with this pub. Much later, she understands it was never chance that took her there.
Serong gives the reader a tale full of intrigue, history, and a bit of magic to make it even more interesting. His descriptive prose is marvellous: “Tools rested on pegs, brought in from the sheds like farm dogs reprieved from their labours and invited into the house”, and “It was a forest reconstituted as right angles, themselves in service of curves, the curves invoking the theatre of gravity as the carts slowed dramatically at the top of each hill, then plunged again” being a rollercoaster.
Also, “a vastly self-assured rooster who strutted the corridors in tight suits and pencil ties”; and the community centre perfectly evoked with “a doormat made from tyre strips and coloured plastic, and a doorbell button with an illuminated panel over it, into which the homeowner could place a slip of paper with their family name.” Informative, enthralling and deeply moving, this is easily Serong’s best yet.
Thanks to his wife, Lucy’s shrewdly acquired shares, Thomas Wrenfether is on the board of Maindample Shipping Line, where he encounters the exotic, charismatic and mercurial Sardinian, Jorge Ximenon. Both feel they are barely tolerated, so when Ximenon has a proposal he knows the board will reject, he convinces Thomas to join him.
Lucy doesn’t trust Ximenon, and advises against his scheme to build a paddle steamer to carry goods and people across the Yarra estuary in Melbourne. But Thomas is seduced by the idea of the very special wood that Ximenon claims he has sourced to build the craft: high quality timber from the Caucasus.
The project entails Thomas travelling alone to Melbourne to oversee the construction, employment of crew, and publicity. Lucy and their daughter Annabelle will come when the warships are gone from the oceans. Later, Ximenon warns the timber “comes with trouble” and advises in a letter “Be vigilant. Be less trusting but no less optimistic.”
Oremu, the carpenter he meets at the yard of Rosstrevor and son, Shipwrights, describes the wood as far too good for this purpose. Thomas understood it was New England mahogany, but now learns it is cherry. Oremu has done some research and mentions feuding families, an orchard’s worth of cherrywood that is part of “a cycle of well-intentioned failures” and, unfortunately, Thomas isn’t exempt.
Fast-forward to 1993: Martha is a smart, hard-working junior litigator with Caspian Lawyers in Melbourne. Too smart, really: she wants to work for their Human Rights division, but the partners can see she’s worth more to them in Dispute Resolution or Insurance, work she’s really not happy doing. She’s trying to be patient.
Needing a bottle for a dinner party one Friday, she asks the cabbie to stop at a pub. The Cherrywood, what she sees of it, is all wood and brass, unlike the rest of stone and brick Fitzroy, and the attractive young man behind the counter is equally intriguing. But when she tries to find it again, it’s not where she thought.
A systematic search fails, but then, chancing on the same cabbie, she’s there again, and even more fascinated. The guy, Joey isn’t very forthcoming, but she is convinced there’s something going on with this pub. Much later, she understands it was never chance that took her there.
Serong gives the reader a tale full of intrigue, history, and a bit of magic to make it even more interesting. His descriptive prose is marvellous: “Tools rested on pegs, brought in from the sheds like farm dogs reprieved from their labours and invited into the house”, and “It was a forest reconstituted as right angles, themselves in service of curves, the curves invoking the theatre of gravity as the carts slowed dramatically at the top of each hill, then plunged again” being a rollercoaster.
Also, “a vastly self-assured rooster who strutted the corridors in tight suits and pencil ties”; and the community centre perfectly evoked with “a doormat made from tyre strips and coloured plastic, and a doorbell button with an illuminated panel over it, into which the homeowner could place a slip of paper with their family name.” Informative, enthralling and deeply moving, this is easily Serong’s best yet.
October 25, 2024
I had seen Jock Serong’s name on numerous reading lists, bookshop flyers and elsewhere and I knew nothing of him. When I discovered he was an Australian author I thought I must read one of his books. His most recent was Cherrywood.
I am not a chest thumping, Oi, Oi, Oi Australian but I do find Australian fiction, and especially Australian historical fiction contributes greatly to my Australian identity. There are many Australian fiction texts that tell stories that Australians should hear.
In twenty-five words or less this is a dual time narrative from the period near the end of World War 1 and 1993. The first narrative is about a Scottish businessman who has a plan for a boat in Melbourne and the second is a late twenties high flying female lawyer, Martha, who falls in love with a publican of an old mysterious hotel called the Cherrywood.
Cherry wood is the timber used to build the boat. I did some research, cherry wood is a high-grade timber, it is not the tree that we get cherries from. The Cherrywood in the title links the two narratives.
The first narrative is a historical novel with a believable plot and realistic characters. It is centred around Thomas Wrenfether and has a straightforward narrative. The reader will guess the outcome of the story shortly after the story begins.
The accompanying story is a fantasy/realism. Martha ends up in a pub. It is no ordinary pub. It moves. In the real, Martha the lawyer in a large law firm has a busy life practicing law. But then in another world she goes to the Cherrywood pub, driven there by a not very communicative, bulky taxi driver with love and hate tattooed on his knuckles. She falls in love with the enigmatic publican, handsome, and caring. There is a character who appears in both stories. I will leave it at that as the reader will discover the link.
This story is more perplexing. Being fantasy the reader must leave their ideas of what’s real at the pub door. It has the feel of a Dr Who Tardis.
Serong was a lawyer and the scenes at the law firm have been written by someone with personal experience of the testosterone driven narcissism that drives these offices with bad mouth, bully, Brandon Mann being the archetypical ‘take no prisoner’s’ lawyer.
I think a detailed knowledge of Fitzroy (home of the football club, but now masquerading as the trophy winning Brisbane Lions), Brunswick and surrounding suburbs would be beneficial to enjoying and appreciating Matha’s story. As I read, I was expecting to see Jack Irish and a visit to the Prince of Prussia. (Apologies to Peter Temple.)
This book was really not for me, although I am certain there are others who will appreciate it greatly. I thought the ending was drawn out and it all fitted together too nicely. In a way it reminded me of the BBC series “Goodnight Sweetheart”, a British science fiction time travel sitcom.
And so the last few pages take us on a watery journey to a conclusion that melts both stories into a sort of 360 degree fantastical explanation. I did have my Google map app opened at Melbourne to clarify the path of the Yarra River. I might just visit Melbourne with this book in one hand and Google Maps in the other. It did seem a comprehensive but convoluted conclusion.
Jock Serong is a descriptive, talented writer. I wondered if he had visited a pub and then created his descriptions from that visual image. He certainly gives intricate detail of the walls, fittings and layout of the Cherrywood pub. His characterization is excellent, he has created a complex story.
I am not a big fan of magical realism although it is a popular genre. Nevertheless, I will seek out other books by Serong and continue to build on my Australianism by reading Australian fiction.
I am not a chest thumping, Oi, Oi, Oi Australian but I do find Australian fiction, and especially Australian historical fiction contributes greatly to my Australian identity. There are many Australian fiction texts that tell stories that Australians should hear.
In twenty-five words or less this is a dual time narrative from the period near the end of World War 1 and 1993. The first narrative is about a Scottish businessman who has a plan for a boat in Melbourne and the second is a late twenties high flying female lawyer, Martha, who falls in love with a publican of an old mysterious hotel called the Cherrywood.
Cherry wood is the timber used to build the boat. I did some research, cherry wood is a high-grade timber, it is not the tree that we get cherries from. The Cherrywood in the title links the two narratives.
The first narrative is a historical novel with a believable plot and realistic characters. It is centred around Thomas Wrenfether and has a straightforward narrative. The reader will guess the outcome of the story shortly after the story begins.
The accompanying story is a fantasy/realism. Martha ends up in a pub. It is no ordinary pub. It moves. In the real, Martha the lawyer in a large law firm has a busy life practicing law. But then in another world she goes to the Cherrywood pub, driven there by a not very communicative, bulky taxi driver with love and hate tattooed on his knuckles. She falls in love with the enigmatic publican, handsome, and caring. There is a character who appears in both stories. I will leave it at that as the reader will discover the link.
This story is more perplexing. Being fantasy the reader must leave their ideas of what’s real at the pub door. It has the feel of a Dr Who Tardis.
Serong was a lawyer and the scenes at the law firm have been written by someone with personal experience of the testosterone driven narcissism that drives these offices with bad mouth, bully, Brandon Mann being the archetypical ‘take no prisoner’s’ lawyer.
I think a detailed knowledge of Fitzroy (home of the football club, but now masquerading as the trophy winning Brisbane Lions), Brunswick and surrounding suburbs would be beneficial to enjoying and appreciating Matha’s story. As I read, I was expecting to see Jack Irish and a visit to the Prince of Prussia. (Apologies to Peter Temple.)
This book was really not for me, although I am certain there are others who will appreciate it greatly. I thought the ending was drawn out and it all fitted together too nicely. In a way it reminded me of the BBC series “Goodnight Sweetheart”, a British science fiction time travel sitcom.
And so the last few pages take us on a watery journey to a conclusion that melts both stories into a sort of 360 degree fantastical explanation. I did have my Google map app opened at Melbourne to clarify the path of the Yarra River. I might just visit Melbourne with this book in one hand and Google Maps in the other. It did seem a comprehensive but convoluted conclusion.
Jock Serong is a descriptive, talented writer. I wondered if he had visited a pub and then created his descriptions from that visual image. He certainly gives intricate detail of the walls, fittings and layout of the Cherrywood pub. His characterization is excellent, he has created a complex story.
I am not a big fan of magical realism although it is a popular genre. Nevertheless, I will seek out other books by Serong and continue to build on my Australianism by reading Australian fiction.
November 16, 2024
I would be giving Cherrywood 3.8 stars. I really enjoyed the parallel timelines, between the 1920s and then the 1990s, and the backdrop of some of Melbourne’s most famous and characterful suburbs (Richmond and Fitzroy). I loved the idea of the rules governing the pub and the committee members (the devils as Nan put it). I did also really love the puzzles that were set in motion in respect to Nan, Joey and Enmore. I did find that it was a tad too long and the disaster day being a tiny bit predictable given the amount of fanfare leading up to the grand opening. All in all a really well written, easy and fun read.
I also loved the passage about love on page 342:
“Why does love stop the pub and stop time within it”
“See nothing else matters. Everything’s capable of reduction to nothing. We’re nothing much, you and me. Every beautiful thought. Every deed, Martha. We’re just flesh, soil. Were stardust”.
“But love persists and it won’t conform to any rule, and most especially it evades time. Our loved ones die, but we insist we’ll be reunited by our love, as though it’s a means of transport through barriers like distance and even death. Somewhere deep down, we know love’s the infinitely greater force”.
I also loved the passage about love on page 342:
“Why does love stop the pub and stop time within it”
“See nothing else matters. Everything’s capable of reduction to nothing. We’re nothing much, you and me. Every beautiful thought. Every deed, Martha. We’re just flesh, soil. Were stardust”.
“But love persists and it won’t conform to any rule, and most especially it evades time. Our loved ones die, but we insist we’ll be reunited by our love, as though it’s a means of transport through barriers like distance and even death. Somewhere deep down, we know love’s the infinitely greater force”.
January 6, 2025
Slow start, page turning middle and slow end. I struggled a bit with this book particularly with the Thomas characters chapters. However it is beautifully written, and was very nice to visualise so many of my favourite spots in Melbourne. 2.5 stars.
September 19, 2024
I am so disappointed with this book given I love all Serong’s other work. Cherrywood is a convoluted and boring story peppered with nauseating odes to Melbourne and overly elaborate descriptions of nautica. The writing is too lyrical for its own good, and reads like Serong raided a thesaurus and couldn’t wait to show off what he found. I didn’t like any of the characters and the magical realism did not pay off. 2/5
November 5, 2024
Two periods of life history, where life was altered by war in 1916 and where a big world was to become smaller world in 1993 as technology was about to rampage, tangle and become entwined.
Thomas Wrenfeather is an entrepreneur industrialist from Scotland who decided Australia had opportunity and its meritocratic society lending well to future economic endeavours.
Disaster striking a key project saw a dramatic change in circumstance.
Martha stumbles into a pub to grab a bottle of wine in Fitzroy, a suburb full of character and grunge.
She was drawn into the atmosphere and staff of the establishment.
Trying to relocate the pub became an obsession as its location eluded her.
A puzzle that had many pieces to place.
Martha connects the dots and makes sense of the mystery.
Indulge your imagination and take in the rich, clever writing of an esteemed author who takes you on a journey.
Descriptively capturing an era in inner city Melbourne before the cyber world explosion and off setting it against a post war confidence of the same place is noteworthy and well done.
Thomas Wrenfeather is an entrepreneur industrialist from Scotland who decided Australia had opportunity and its meritocratic society lending well to future economic endeavours.
Disaster striking a key project saw a dramatic change in circumstance.
Martha stumbles into a pub to grab a bottle of wine in Fitzroy, a suburb full of character and grunge.
She was drawn into the atmosphere and staff of the establishment.
Trying to relocate the pub became an obsession as its location eluded her.
A puzzle that had many pieces to place.
Martha connects the dots and makes sense of the mystery.
Indulge your imagination and take in the rich, clever writing of an esteemed author who takes you on a journey.
Descriptively capturing an era in inner city Melbourne before the cyber world explosion and off setting it against a post war confidence of the same place is noteworthy and well done.
November 12, 2024
More like CherryWEIRD but not terrible. I’m honestly not sure what to say. This is the last time I’m taking a book rec from a random lady in a cafe who I’ll probably never see again.
I think this may really appeal to some people - it has a strangeness yet intrigue about it in the same way that the Benjamin Button story does - but it’s not for me.
The story switches between 1917 and 1994 and perhaps as we read the story, slowly piecing the puzzle together, we are meant to have some revelations about life… I didn’t.
In a very confusing way, the story was still… cute? I also liked the references to areas in Melbourne. If you’re looking for a loopy ride, I wouldn’t not recommend it 😂😭
I think this may really appeal to some people - it has a strangeness yet intrigue about it in the same way that the Benjamin Button story does - but it’s not for me.
The story switches between 1917 and 1994 and perhaps as we read the story, slowly piecing the puzzle together, we are meant to have some revelations about life… I didn’t.
In a very confusing way, the story was still… cute? I also liked the references to areas in Melbourne. If you’re looking for a loopy ride, I wouldn’t not recommend it 😂😭
April 17, 2025
Loved the magical realism in this, with detailed storylines that weren’t easy to guess. The ‘early days of Melbourne’ setting was great as well.
September 13, 2024
Beautifully written and a complete change of style. Refreshing. Loved the whimsy of magic realism - but as the book progressed I felt that this distracted from the wonderful narrative about love. And it was a bit slow in the middle. Nevertheless, a great read with interesting and well developed characters. Recommended.
did-not-finish
September 16, 2024Abandoned at 30%. I thought this was a historical fiction novel and although it is, it also has an element of magical realism. It is not that which made me stop reading, more that it seemed to be taking forever for the plot to go anyway.
January 27, 2025
3.5 stars. A hard review to write as I flitted and changed my opinion multiple times throughout my reading of this novel. It most definately is a “different”story. Is it taking place in a time warp? Is it fantasy? Magic realism? … probably all of those things so if that ain’t your thing then this may not be for you. I loved Enid Blyton’s Magic Faraway Tree as a kid, with its land that moved every week from the top of the tree and assortment of weird characters, and Cherrywood definitely has this vibe going on ( the author even mentions this in his acknowledgements). I’ve also loved the Toshikazu Kawaguchi “Before the Coffee gets cold” series and Erin Morgensterns “The Night Circus” and I would put this book in a similar genre to those so to enjoy it you need to be prepared to abandon normality and keep an open mind. The story is set in 2 time periods - the early 1920’s and the early 1980’s. In the first story Thomas is persuaded by his business partner to take some impressive Cherrywood timber that has been acquired in an unusual manner from London to Melbourne to build a paddle steamer to transport goods and people across Port Phillip Bay. In the second story we meet Martha - a young upcoming lawyer who pops into “the Cherrywood” pub one night in Fitzroy for a takeaway bottle of wine - who then can’t find the pub when she wants to return to it. I was very engaged with Thomas and his families story as he embarked on a huge endeavor and I loved that part. Martha’s section was weird and I just felt the story was declining into farce as she set out to find the pub that moved ….. however I kept with it …. And whilst I never ever believed what was happening, the “link” between the stories eventually was clever and interesting. I could give away a lot of spoilers as that is really the only way to tell you what happened. But I won’t. The writing by Serong was good. It got better in the back quarter when some themes of the story were more clearly addressed - love, family, connection. I feel like the story was so big that some of these themes were overwhelmed. The ending was well… weird. But just go with it. I’ve read one other Jock Serong book which I really didn’t like ( The Settlement). This was way better. It was a 4 star read for me until about page 100, then turned to a 2 star as I forced my way through the start of the weirdness, then a 4 star as the link unfolded and then a 3 star as it all became quite weird but clever. So I’m giving it a 3.5 but with a 4 star. ( sorry for the rant and indecision!)
January 4, 2025
Strange story, not sure if it’s fantasy or in a time warp. Well written and set mostly in Melbourne, Australia.
March 30, 2025
Always wonderful to read stories of my hometown. Haunting and captivating.
July 29, 2025
My book of the year, so far, and this author’s best book to date. So much to love and I can’t wait to see what this author’s next book will be.
That literary term “magic realism” frightens many readers, not least me!
“One Hundred Years of Solitude” is probably the most famous example of magic realism, and it was amazing although, I’m sure, not for everyone. “Beauty is a Wound” by Eka Kurniwan is another and it also, like Marquez, is considered by many as Indonesia’s greatest book like Marquez’s book is Columbia’s greatest book. This is certainly one of Australia’s best!!
So let the author take you away and enjoy the ride as it immerses you into a wonderful story and before you realise it, you’re fully engaged and on board!!
This was a history lesson for me, set in Melbourne but more importantly it’s a wonderful journey into the imagination of a gifted writer.
That literary term “magic realism” frightens many readers, not least me!
“One Hundred Years of Solitude” is probably the most famous example of magic realism, and it was amazing although, I’m sure, not for everyone. “Beauty is a Wound” by Eka Kurniwan is another and it also, like Marquez, is considered by many as Indonesia’s greatest book like Marquez’s book is Columbia’s greatest book. This is certainly one of Australia’s best!!
So let the author take you away and enjoy the ride as it immerses you into a wonderful story and before you realise it, you’re fully engaged and on board!!
This was a history lesson for me, set in Melbourne but more importantly it’s a wonderful journey into the imagination of a gifted writer.
November 11, 2024
Very disappointed
I quite enjoyed the story of building the boat and the family and builders and planning etc. I did NOT enjoy the current day story at all. Totally ridiculous. I won’t give away the story line but will say the only reason I finished it was because it was chosen for our bookclub.
I quite enjoyed the story of building the boat and the family and builders and planning etc. I did NOT enjoy the current day story at all. Totally ridiculous. I won’t give away the story line but will say the only reason I finished it was because it was chosen for our bookclub.
November 21, 2024
2.75 stars
Great idea, but I couldn’t get fully into the world.
My favourite part was all the mentions to the city in which I live (Melbourne) and had walked past one of the hotels on the same day I read about it!
Great idea, but I couldn’t get fully into the world.
My favourite part was all the mentions to the city in which I live (Melbourne) and had walked past one of the hotels on the same day I read about it!
January 15, 2025
2.5 stars
Whenever an artist, in this case an author, says inspiration was taken from a dream, I'm always a bit skeptical. This is strange enough to have originated from a dream, so maybe my skepticism is unwarranted.
Wherever the inspiration came from, the result is a blend of historical and modern fiction topped off with magical realism fantasy. I appreciate the experiment, but I can't say I'm ecstatic with the end result. The historic elements are fine, though not heavily detailed, and were the most engaging for me. There's an expectation of what will happen in this part of the story, so the big moments are not shocking, but Thomas' enthusiasm and vibrancy in this story line is infectious. On the other hand, while I found Martha an interesting and engaging character, the inconsistency in how she embraces without question the existence and oddness of the Cherrywood had me reeling. I can get behind magical realism in a book, but I'd expect a character like Martha to question something so strange. I did enjoy Martha's self-exploration, although there are moments in her story line that felt weak and contrived.
Boil this book down and the main concept is a simple love story between Martha and Joey. Surrounding them is a whirlwind of extraordinary events, both grounded and magical. And while I appreciate that the author is blending different elements into this more conventional idea to create something unique, by the end of the book I felt it overreached the mark. But I found things to enjoy in this book as well, so I guess it is a story where there can be something for everyone.
Whenever an artist, in this case an author, says inspiration was taken from a dream, I'm always a bit skeptical. This is strange enough to have originated from a dream, so maybe my skepticism is unwarranted.
Wherever the inspiration came from, the result is a blend of historical and modern fiction topped off with magical realism fantasy. I appreciate the experiment, but I can't say I'm ecstatic with the end result. The historic elements are fine, though not heavily detailed, and were the most engaging for me. There's an expectation of what will happen in this part of the story, so the big moments are not shocking, but Thomas' enthusiasm and vibrancy in this story line is infectious. On the other hand, while I found Martha an interesting and engaging character, the inconsistency in how she embraces without question the existence and oddness of the Cherrywood had me reeling. I can get behind magical realism in a book, but I'd expect a character like Martha to question something so strange. I did enjoy Martha's self-exploration, although there are moments in her story line that felt weak and contrived.
Boil this book down and the main concept is a simple love story between Martha and Joey. Surrounding them is a whirlwind of extraordinary events, both grounded and magical. And while I appreciate that the author is blending different elements into this more conventional idea to create something unique, by the end of the book I felt it overreached the mark. But I found things to enjoy in this book as well, so I guess it is a story where there can be something for everyone.
January 5, 2025
Oh my this is an amazing story.
Part historical fiction, part magical realism, this story is infused with a lush and almost dreamy feeling.
Edinburgh 1916, and the purchase of a mysterious shipment of cherrywood timber of questionable provenance, gives wealthy Thomas Wrenfether a purpose at the bottom of the world in Melbourne Australia.
He plans to build a paddle steamer that will become a highlight for Melbourne society, hosting the city's elite as it travels between St Kilda and Williamstown. But the build seems cursed and the maiden voyage ends in disaster.
Melbourne, 1993 and disillusioned lawyer Martha stops at a pub in Fitzroy one night to buy a bottle of wine. But when she searches for the pub again, she cannot find it. When she eventually does, albeit in a different place, her life will change forever.
This incredible imagery brought to life by Jock's writing is an absolute delight to read. I was taken in by the mystery of the moving pub and what it could possibly mean. How was it linked to the past? Was it because of the timber?
A fascinating book that I wanted to read from when I read the synopsis - enough to draw me in, but not giving too much away.
Part historical fiction, part magical realism, this story is infused with a lush and almost dreamy feeling.
Edinburgh 1916, and the purchase of a mysterious shipment of cherrywood timber of questionable provenance, gives wealthy Thomas Wrenfether a purpose at the bottom of the world in Melbourne Australia.
He plans to build a paddle steamer that will become a highlight for Melbourne society, hosting the city's elite as it travels between St Kilda and Williamstown. But the build seems cursed and the maiden voyage ends in disaster.
Melbourne, 1993 and disillusioned lawyer Martha stops at a pub in Fitzroy one night to buy a bottle of wine. But when she searches for the pub again, she cannot find it. When she eventually does, albeit in a different place, her life will change forever.
This incredible imagery brought to life by Jock's writing is an absolute delight to read. I was taken in by the mystery of the moving pub and what it could possibly mean. How was it linked to the past? Was it because of the timber?
A fascinating book that I wanted to read from when I read the synopsis - enough to draw me in, but not giving too much away.
September 16, 2025
the premise of a magical pub, and being set in Melbourne intrigued me but as time went on... I just.. didn't care... I didn't think Martha and Joey had any chemistry - okay fine, Joey has been 27 for a long time ( "how old are you?" "seventeen" "And how long have you been seventeen?" "A while", twilight ass plot point) and is bound to a moving pub, so he doesn't have much else to talk about - but what was the allure for Martha? this overall didn't work for me, but if you're looking for a bit of magical realism...
if any of my friends are reading this, can you read Cherrywood and tell me your thoughts? would you still love me if I said "I've found the man of my dreams but no you can't meet him because he works at a pub that dissapears and re-appears in different corners of Fitzroy?"
if any of my friends are reading this, can you read Cherrywood and tell me your thoughts? would you still love me if I said "I've found the man of my dreams but no you can't meet him because he works at a pub that dissapears and re-appears in different corners of Fitzroy?"
October 19, 2024
This is a lovely puzzlebox of a story (as someone already pointed out). A business proposition, precious and exceptional wood of mysterious provenance, a self-conscious man in a country far from home trying to make a name for himself and a mysterious hotel with equally mysterious occupants.
I suppose this is half magical realism so won't be for everyone.
I started on audio and ended up reading the book. There are too many details for my aural concentration. The cover is uniquely suited but I didn't fully appreciate it until the book was finished; accolades to the artist.
Note, not all questions are answered.
**** Spoiler****
As I read, I could feel it was building to a tragedy. I had invested so much into the characters that when it happened, it affected me more than I expected. At the end it's about love and connections, themes of morality, the direction of humanity, fighting the good fight, strong women. This is a book worth another read.
I suppose this is half magical realism so won't be for everyone.
I started on audio and ended up reading the book. There are too many details for my aural concentration. The cover is uniquely suited but I didn't fully appreciate it until the book was finished; accolades to the artist.
Note, not all questions are answered.
**** Spoiler****
As I read, I could feel it was building to a tragedy. I had invested so much into the characters that when it happened, it affected me more than I expected. At the end it's about love and connections, themes of morality, the direction of humanity, fighting the good fight, strong women. This is a book worth another read.
October 30, 2024
Wow! This story absolutely claimed me. Clever, haunting, poignant and sad at times, but captivating and optimistic as well. Set in two time zones and alive with interesting characters ; it’s a masterpiece.
June 9, 2025
I really wanted to like this one. It tells two stories: that of an Englishman intent on building a monumental paddle steamer out of cherrywood a hundred years ago and a pub that moves around Fitzroy during the mid 1990s. Not a bad story, but a reminder that magic realism is not really my thing.
July 22, 2025
This wonderful book took me to a childhood place where I didn’t question the physics of the thing. I’m not sure why I needed to ask how in my head as I read a good bit of horror and sci fi. Perhaps it was the Cherrywood core story that hooked me so early on.
I could read this again simply for the flow. Tragedy and grief and gothic.
Jock Serong has delivered a novel I wouldn’t expect from him.
I could read this again simply for the flow. Tragedy and grief and gothic.
Jock Serong has delivered a novel I wouldn’t expect from him.
October 10, 2025
This book is a dreamy combination of history, relationship sagas and magic.
October 18, 2025
A fantastic tale. Contemporary combined with supernatural. Set in Melbourne certainly added to the appeal for me.
January 1, 2025
A well-written and incredibly well-researched book, I don’t love magic realism so didn’t get into that element as much.
December 6, 2024
Wonderful love story with a fantastical element that works well until it goes a bit too far in the final plot twist!
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