Jakaranda

by Tamara McKinley, Louise Thulin (Translator)

Cordelia Witney blir efter maken Jocks död huvudägare till Jakaranda i Barossa Valley, en av Australiens mest framgångsrika vingårdar. För henne är det självklart att släkten ska behålla Jakaranda, men de andra arvingarna har sina egna önskemål. Cordelia ser bara en enda möjlighet att förhindra försäljning av hennes och Jocks livsverk - att få dotterdottern Sophie över på sin sida. Hon övertalar Sophie att följa med på en resa till den plats där allting tog sin början, det år då Cordelias mormorsmor tvingades lämna England för att börja ett helt nytt liv på en främmande kontinent.

Under resan får Sophie ta del av gamla, nästan glömda historier om sin släkt på mödernet. Om det mödosamma arbetet med att tukta naturen, om kärlek och vänskap, födslar och dödsfall, om hemliga förälskelser och om det hårda arbete som lett till släktens ökande välstånd.

Och till sin överraskning möter Sophie än en gång mannen hon aldrig slutat älska, mannen vars liv så länge löpte parallellt med hennes...

Från 1830-talets Sussex till dagens Australien. Sorger och besvikelser, spänning, passion och stormande lycka - allt finns med i denna oavbrutet fängslande roman om en oförglömlig familj.

Genres: Romance, Australia, Historical Fiction, Historical, Roman, Chick Lit, Fiction

347 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2001

About the author

TAMARA MCKINLEY was born in Launceston, Tasmania, and was forced to come to England with her grandmother to finish her education at an all girls’ boarding school in Sussex. Her childhood experiences and the enduring memories of her amazing grandmother and two extraordinary great-aunts, form the back-bone of her novels which are coloured with the red, green and gold of her beloved Australia.

Having raised her three children in the Eastbourne area she started to write psychological thrillers before returning to her roots in the form of Australian family sagas set against the backdrop of the outback pioneers. She is now household name in Germany where her books go straight into the bestsellers' list with each title selling around 4 million copies. Her books are also popular in Scandinavia, especially Sweden where her first saga, Matilda's Last Waltz was voted the booksellers novel of the year. In her homeland of Australia she is considered by many to be "Britain's Best Kept Secret".

Her eight Aussie sagas to date are published in at least 15 different languages and can be found worldwide.

Tamara now lives and writes on the south coast of England but travels to her homeland every year to promote her work, carry out research and visit her eldest son and her two grandsons.

Psychological Thrillers: Reap the Whirlwind and Queens Flight (Hodder & Stoughton)

Family Sagas: Matilda's Last Waltz (2000), Jacaranda Vines (2001), Windflowers (2002), Summer Lightning (2003), Undercurrents (2004) and Dreamscapes (2005) (Piatkus Books)

Lands Beyond the Sea, the first book of her Oceana trilogy, has been published in hardback and paperback by Hodder Stoughton. A Kingdom For The Brave, the second in the trilogy, was published in hardback in the UK on 6th March 2008.

Reviews

[Sandra Mikaela]

Sophie är barnbarn/barn till framgångsrika företagare inom vinbranschen. Familjeföretaget håller på att splittras. Sophie får följa med hennes mormor på en resa in i det förflutna och får henne att rädda familjeföretaget från uppköpning av Fransmännen.

[Shelly - The Illustrated Librarian -]

A trashy soap opera of a novel. Fairly entertaining, but trashy.

Family drama abounds in this sweeping story of a family running a winery in Australia. Jock Witney, evil patriarch, is dead. Cordelia, his 90+ year-old widow is trying to keep the family business from being divided and sold off. The business is Jacaranda Vines, the most successful winery in the country.

Jock & Cordelia's children and grandchildren want to sell off the business, take the money and run. They've all had enough of Jock's bullying over the years and want nothing more to do with Jacaranda Vines.

Cordelia sees one hope of keeping the family business together--her granddaughter Sophie. Cordelia and Sophie head out on a driving trip across the outback to a neighboring winery. During the journey, Cordelia imparts the family history to Sophie, going all the way back to the 1800's when the first member of the family came over from England and set the first vines to growing.

The soap opera ensues from there. Family muckraking, romance, natural disasters, secrets, love and hate make up the tale. The author is successful with her descriptions of the countryside, and the scenes of characters fighting the elements are quite thrilling.

Overall, an entertaining, albeit trashy, read.

[LaBibliodeCaro]

Si vous aimez les sagas familiales et les lectures dépaysantes dans de beaux et lointains paysages, le roman L’héritière de Jacaranda saura vous plaire. C’est un peu comme un Dallas à l’australienne, avec en plus de nombreux va-et-vient dans le passé pour éclairer les querelles du présent. De la brume anglaise à la chaleur étouffante du bush, l’auteure nous embarque dans une épopée familiale romanesque divertissante et émouvante.

J’aime toujours autant l’univers de Tamara McKinley. Les intrigues sont complexes, les personnages riches et hauts en couleurs. La langue est belle, la traduction fluide et élégante. Globalement, j’ai apprécié cette lecture relativement égale de bout en bout. Il n’y a eu qu’un seul moment de flottement lors d’une révélation du personnage d’Isabelle. Le suspense ménagé est un peu retombé comme un soufflé. Mais heureusement, les vrais secrets familiaux sont dévoilés après et sont à la hauteur des attentes.

Moment de dépaysement garanti !

[Karine SIMON]

Bon, je le confirme pour moi c'est un 5 étoiles.
Avis aux amateurs des grandes saga familiale, façon Dallas ou Dynastie, riche en personnages variées, aux caractères bien trempés, le dépaysement de l'Australie sauvage de la fin du 19ème siècle et du début du 20ième siècle.

Je pense que je relirai très prochainement un livre de Tamara McKinley pour retrouver son style que j’apprécie fortement.

[Chantal Dufour]

Des années 1830 à l'Australie d'aujourd'hui

[Mirka]

Sága vinárskej rodiny, ktorej prví členovia prišli do Austrálie z Anglicka a založili vinice, ktoré postupne zveľaďovali, je pútavá a zaujímavá tým, že nám umožňuje nahliadnuť „pod pokrievku“ celého procesu, na konci ktorého je dobré víno a my si ani neuvedomujeme, čo všetko sa za ním skrýva. V príbehu sa prelínajú viaceré dejové línie minulosti aj súčasnosti, postupne sa odkrývajú rodinné tajomstvá a krivdy, dozvedáme sa o nástrahách a problémoch vinohradníctva aj o tom, ako sa s nimi vinohradníci museli vysporiadať, aby vinice mohli odovzdať ďalším generáciám. Kniha je trochu rozvláčna, od začiatku preplnená postavami, v ktorých som mala chvíľu chaos. Inak je to pohodové čítanie.

[Vicki]

Loved this book. What a gripping story!! I am really enjoying reading work by Tamara McKinley. Love Australian stories & characters & Australian history. So many great stories about our ancestors & their difficulties to be told.

[Linnea Anna]

Feelgood roman.

[Ela]

7/10

[Jess ツ]

I nearly loved this one as much as 'The last Waltz of Mathilda' ...which is not a small statement

[Peggy F]

Australien + Geschichte + Familie + Liebe. Bin bei Tamara McKinley noch nie reingefallen.

[Sarah]

I do enjoy a family saga. Great holiday read while I'm in Australia.

[Marcella]

Dit is tot nu toe mijn favoriet van de boeken die ik van Tamara McKinley heb gelezen. Prachtig verhaal.

[Karen]

3.5 ⭐️

[Madame Rose]

Dez. 21 v. Lili

[Toni Umar]

There are a lot of characters in this story - but once they were all introduced I was captured. I loved the way the author took the reader from present time to the past - and both times were always a page turner! Three stars is not really enough to score, 3.5 and sometimes a 4 star would be more accurate. Like all good novels I was very sad when I realised I was coming to the end of the story - there was so much more I needed to know. I think I need to read the whole book again - as the characters and their faults and endearing ways remain very much on my mind.
Once more I look forward to reading the other book this author has written. Thank you.

[Suvi]

Olipa mielenkiintoisesti kokoonlaitettu tarina viininviljelyksen alusta ja haasteista! Piti jännitystä yllä loppuun saakka.

[Octabis]

Still a great book by Tamara McKinley. I love all those great descriptions of Australia's wildest parts

[Debra]

A family saga set in Australia. We hear simultaneously the modern-day story of Jacaranda winery and the olden-days story of the family's first settlers in Australia.

[Andreea]

beautiful...touching...everything you are looking for

[Peter Wilson]

Always a pleasure to go back in time and a different country to find out how people got by.

[Sandra]

I like books about Australia. This is a good one..

[Leila]

As an antidote to Dreamtime i'm exploring, even if only in fiction, the Gadia's side of Australia.