Further

by Nene Davies

Isobel Richardson is torn. With a dependent mother on one side of the world and her husband and children in Australia, her priorities are drifting further and further away from one another. She tries to stretch around the globe, but guess what? She can’t. If only she could be in two places at once; be everything to everyone. Perhaps then her family wouldn’t be falling apart.

312 pages, Kindle Edition

First published August 24, 2014

About the author

Born in England to Welsh parents, Nene was raised in beautiful Pembrokeshire, West Wales. In 2002 Nene, her husband and three children emigrated to Australia and now live at the southern end of the Great Barrier Reef, Queensland. Nene's debut novel, Distance, was published in 2013 and she has gone on to complete the trilogy with Further and Surfacing.
Redhanded was published in November, 2016 and Whitethorne in 2018. The Narrows was published in 2020. Nene has a coffee shop,Chapter, and a bookstore, Hannah Jones. She is the founding director of the Capricorn Coast Writers Festival.
http://www.nenedavies.com
@nene_davies
@nenedavieswrites

Reviews

[Simone · Rating 4 out of 5]

Having previously read Distance I was keen to see what further adventures awaited Isobel and her family in Australia. When we left them things were looking up. After some challenges during the immigration process the Richardson's were finally reunited for Christmas. Most joyful of all was that Isobel's elderly mother Helen had made the journey out to see them.

Fast forward a few weeks and things are not quite so rosy. Despite her joy at having her beloved mother close again Isobel can't help but notice her behaviour is sometimes quite strange. Is it just jet lag and the heat or is something more sinister going on? Eldest son Ben is enjoying the Aussie lifestyle but gaining university admission is not as straight forward as he hoped and husband Leo is working and studying so hard they are beginning to feel like ships in the night. Things become more complicated when Isobel has to accompany her mother home to Wales and realises it could be months before she can head back to Australia. How can she possibly be there for everyone when she is so far away? Especially when her phone calls home reveal her middle son Jacob seems to be heading for a fall.

Further is told in the same warm and engaging style as Distance and flows seamlessly on with the same characters and settings. I thought the character of Isobel was further developed in this instalment and certainly felt empathy for her unenviable plight. The challenges both in Australia and Wales were not easy ones to overcome but I thought they were dealt with realistically within the storyline. Once again the sense of place is spot on with descriptions in both Australia and Wales very true to life and relatable.

Further is easy to read, despite the drama within the storyline. I thought it was perhaps more tightly written than Distance, getting to the heart of matters more succinctly but without losing any impact. It was good to notice this development in the author's skill.

If you have read Distance and enjoyed it, you will love Further. There is the same mix of drama, laughter, angst and sadness but overall the importance of family is the main theme along with the adage that home truly is where the heart is.

[Rebecca Hall · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Further" is the next book on from "Distance." Davies has that ability to tell her story so well, the reader is left with very clear imagery as to the characters, their mindset and locations. In fact, so much so that one is able to relate well and find elements of the self in all characters, young and old.
Davies writes about a very real issue: how to deal with elderly parents suffering from dementia whilst holding together your own family, yet this family are across the other side of the world from each other.
It's compelling and addictive. You'll devour "Further" in merely a few sittings.

[Ashleigh Stevenson · Rating 5 out of 5]

“Further” focuses on Isobel’s struggle with raising a young family in Australia while also trying to care for her elderly mother on the opposite side of the globe in Wales. After working through a rocky patch in “Distance”, Isobel and her mother Helen now have to explore a new aspect of their relationship as Helen falls ill. The story realistically describes the agony of dementia and the impact on not only the sufferer but also those closest to them. This book is heartbreaking and beautiful and highlights the importance of family. I can’t wait for the third installment in the series.

[Maggie · Rating 5 out of 5]

In Further, Nene Davies continues the story of Isobel and her family who I first met in distance. Nene has populated this second book with believable characters and situations as Isobel strives to reach a balance between the various members of her family in Australia and Wales. The reader is taken straight into Isobel's challenges as she attempts to straddle the tyranny of distance while dealing with her mother's declining health. An excellent read which I couldn't put down.

[KJ · Rating 4 out of 5]

In the second novel of the "Distance" trilogy, Nene Davies carries on the story of the Richardson family's emigration to Australia that began in Volume One. The trials of having to cope with an elderly parent are painstakingly described and the scene is now set for Surfacing, the final part that I will most definitely be buying once it's available.