What do you think?
Rate this book
Leap
A few weeks after finishing their final exams high school sweethearts have an argument at a party. Joe wants to go - Jen begs him to stay. They fight in the corridor, following their usual script, and then he walks out and leaves her. A few hours later she dies.
Three years on, after burning up his own dreams for the future, Joe is working in dead-end jobs and mentoring a wayward teenager not dissimilar from his younger self. Driven by the need to make good, he spends all his spare time doing parkour under an inner-city bridge, training his mind and body to conquer the hostile urban environment that took his love and blighted his future.
Somewhere else, a middle-aged woman, Elise, is treading water in her life as her marriage breaks up. We watch as she retreats to the only place that holds any meaning for her - the tiger enclosure at Melbourne Zoo, where, for reasons she barely understands, she starts painting the tigers and forms a close connection to them.
Joe is broken by grief, but the outside world won't let him hide forever. A cool and bewitching girl turns up on the doorstep of his share house, somehow painfully familiar to him. Then there is the skateboarding chef at the bar where he works, the girl with the Cossack-blue eyes, who wants to be his friend. And someone going by the Facebook tag Emily Dickinson wants to reminisce about his dead girlfriend and won't leave him alone.
Can Joe staunch the flooding return of desire - or is it time to let go of the past? And will he make the nine-foot leap from girder to pillar or does he want to fall too?
While at its heart is a searing absence, Leap is driven by an unstoppable and exhilarating life force, and the eternally hopeful promise of redemptive love. Funny, moving, quirky and original, Leap is an effortlessly enjoyable novel that quietly creeps up on you until its final jaw-dropping pages and a narrative twist that will take your breath away.
Three years on, after burning up his own dreams for the future, Joe is working in dead-end jobs and mentoring a wayward teenager not dissimilar from his younger self. Driven by the need to make good, he spends all his spare time doing parkour under an inner-city bridge, training his mind and body to conquer the hostile urban environment that took his love and blighted his future.
Somewhere else, a middle-aged woman, Elise, is treading water in her life as her marriage breaks up. We watch as she retreats to the only place that holds any meaning for her - the tiger enclosure at Melbourne Zoo, where, for reasons she barely understands, she starts painting the tigers and forms a close connection to them.
Joe is broken by grief, but the outside world won't let him hide forever. A cool and bewitching girl turns up on the doorstep of his share house, somehow painfully familiar to him. Then there is the skateboarding chef at the bar where he works, the girl with the Cossack-blue eyes, who wants to be his friend. And someone going by the Facebook tag Emily Dickinson wants to reminisce about his dead girlfriend and won't leave him alone.
Can Joe staunch the flooding return of desire - or is it time to let go of the past? And will he make the nine-foot leap from girder to pillar or does he want to fall too?
While at its heart is a searing absence, Leap is driven by an unstoppable and exhilarating life force, and the eternally hopeful promise of redemptive love. Funny, moving, quirky and original, Leap is an effortlessly enjoyable novel that quietly creeps up on you until its final jaw-dropping pages and a narrative twist that will take your breath away.
336 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2015
10 people are currently reading
602 people want to read
About the author
Myfanwy Jones
4 books41 followersMyfanwy’s debut novel
The Rainy Season
was published in 2009 and shortlisted for The Melbourne Prize for Literature's Best Writing Award. Her stories and essays have appeared in numerous journals and anthologies, and a playful collaboration with Spiri Tsintziras – the bestselling
Parlour Games for Modern Families
– was awarded ABIA Book of the Year for Older Children in 2010. Myfanwy's second novel,
Leap,
was shortlisted for the 2016 Miles Franklin Literary Award. Her third novel, Cool Water, will be published by Hachette in February 2024. Alongside her own practice, Myfanwy works as a writing mentor and manuscript assessor, sharing her particular keenness for structure and the character of place.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 143 reviews
July 30, 2020
I struggled a little to get into this book. It took a few chapters to become accustomed to the author's style and occasionally to work out whose POV I was reading, but as I went along I became completely engrossed and found it hard to put down.
The characters were all particularly well developed and enjoyable. Joe especially was such an engaging young man and the whole way through I was hoping things would go well for him. He deserved it so much. I wondered constantly about the nurse who was always nameless and loved Lena who seemed so right for him.
Myfanwy Jones writes beautifully, poetically even. Once I had a feel for her style I was swept along by it. The ending is subtle and understated and leaves the reader with questions, many of which can be solved by a glance back through certain scenes in the book. It is all there if you read it carefully. Very well done and definitely worth reading.
The characters were all particularly well developed and enjoyable. Joe especially was such an engaging young man and the whole way through I was hoping things would go well for him. He deserved it so much. I wondered constantly about the nurse who was always nameless and loved Lena who seemed so right for him.
Myfanwy Jones writes beautifully, poetically even. Once I had a feel for her style I was swept along by it. The ending is subtle and understated and leaves the reader with questions, many of which can be solved by a glance back through certain scenes in the book. It is all there if you read it carefully. Very well done and definitely worth reading.
October 2, 2015
Leap by Myfanwy Jones
Joe has a part time job working night shift in a bar...
“He likes this part of the night: stage set, players yet to walk on. He likes stirring up the stale but ever-expectant air—sorry and glad in equal measure that hopes for transcendence are rarely met. There will be an exchange of bread and wine for money and then people will go back to their workaday lives.”
Such beautiful evocative writing, it's like listening to poetry.
I started reading this book whilst at the same time listening to the audio version, (the audio whilst I was doing other things) and I have to say that Samuel Johnson's narration of this story perfectly matches the voice I first heard in my head when reading it myself...he does a fantastic job of it, pulling the listener right into the scene.
I was glad that I read it in this way as it got me more involved in the story and guaranteed that I missed nothing in the translation.
This is a very poignant story of loss and love, of desire, yearning and longing. Of trying to find ways of coming to terms with those states of being without compromising the necessity to experience them fully.
It is as though the players need to identify that constant ache for what it is and suffer it accordingly...especially Joe.
Joe has been in a perpetual state of numb limbo for the three years since Jen, his girlfriend and soulmate, died suddenly one night after they had argued and he walked out, leaving her stranded at a party which he had no desire to be at anyway.
Normally he wouldn't have behaved in this way, he would have easily given in to her needs, because the prospect of being upset with her is unbearable, because they are like that with each other, they can never get enough.
But tonight was different and Joe was in no mood to back down, he didn't want to stay any longer at that party.
Now he is consumed with the loss of her and the void in him, which is all that remains of her, and him.
We watch, and vicariously experience the darkness he inhabits, and the torment and anguish which besets Joe and the people that are close to him, and close to Jen...the slow unravelling of tightly knitted emotions...the collateral damage, of broken people.
This is a beautifully written book which takes the reader right inside the very depths of its characters' emotions and affords a deeply personal view of the various extents of their individual sufferings.
Yet for all that, it is uplifting in its casual observation of the nature of people, and often funny in its depictions of those.
So glad I read this, and would highly recommend it. 4★s
Many thanks to the author for providing me with an audio copy.
May 19, 2015
“It had to end—the memorialising and group hugs. Because while their friends were devastated they were also glad it had not been them. In part, in those early days, they were rejoicing. They were only human. Jen’s absence called attention to the miracle of their own mortal breath misting the mirror”
Leap is the second fiction book by Australian author, Myfanwy Jones. Three years after the death of his girlfriend, Joe seems to be merely marking time: ambitions of teaching sports abandoned, he works in a bar and a café, lives behind a laundrette, spends his spare time perfecting parkour moves, mentoring a wilful teenager and avoiding all mention of his loss.
As they lie on the “man roof” watching the stars, Joe and his flatmates, Jack and Sanjay, examine their lives, loves and careers. Joe’s uncle Todd is determined to somehow draw him back into living; Lena, the chef at the bar wants to know him better; an attractive nurse turns up to rent the spare room; and just who is this Emily Dickinson, persistently chatting to him on Facebook about his Jen? His Jen who “…liked being at his house more than her own: the freedom of it, the lack of supervision. She could play at being an adult. At her house, he realised later--after--he got to be a child”.
Elise, in her late forties, is also trying to cope with grief: her marriage to Adam seems to be failing, her adult son is distant and her graphic design work has lost appeal. The high point of her life is a weekly visit to the tiger enclosure at the zoo, and she finds herself drawn, not just to observing these magnificent creatures, but to exhuming her paints from storage and capturing them on canvas. She muses: “Tiger mother: teeth that crush femurs like breadsticks carry mewling cubs without breaking skin; mace-like paws employed in gentle cavorting. That excoriating tongue applied lightly to baby fur. Perfect strength meets perfect love”
Jones gives the reader a very familiar setting: she conveys that Melbourne feel with consummate ease. Her characters are, for the most part, appealing, realistically flawed, often amusing and occasionally quirky. The banter between the flatmates is snappy, witty and funny. Her plot is original and wrapped in some beautiful prose. Her characters demonstrate the many different ways that people are affected by grief, and how they learn to cope. And Leap has a gorgeous, evocative cover. Some readers may be a bit disgruntled with the ending because it is somewhat indefinite, but it also holds great possibility and promise, and reveals a few clever twists that only the most astute readers will predict. This is a heart-warming novel: moving, funny and uplifting. A great read.
With thanks to Good Reads First Reads for this copy to read and review.
Leap is the second fiction book by Australian author, Myfanwy Jones. Three years after the death of his girlfriend, Joe seems to be merely marking time: ambitions of teaching sports abandoned, he works in a bar and a café, lives behind a laundrette, spends his spare time perfecting parkour moves, mentoring a wilful teenager and avoiding all mention of his loss.
As they lie on the “man roof” watching the stars, Joe and his flatmates, Jack and Sanjay, examine their lives, loves and careers. Joe’s uncle Todd is determined to somehow draw him back into living; Lena, the chef at the bar wants to know him better; an attractive nurse turns up to rent the spare room; and just who is this Emily Dickinson, persistently chatting to him on Facebook about his Jen? His Jen who “…liked being at his house more than her own: the freedom of it, the lack of supervision. She could play at being an adult. At her house, he realised later--after--he got to be a child”.
Elise, in her late forties, is also trying to cope with grief: her marriage to Adam seems to be failing, her adult son is distant and her graphic design work has lost appeal. The high point of her life is a weekly visit to the tiger enclosure at the zoo, and she finds herself drawn, not just to observing these magnificent creatures, but to exhuming her paints from storage and capturing them on canvas. She muses: “Tiger mother: teeth that crush femurs like breadsticks carry mewling cubs without breaking skin; mace-like paws employed in gentle cavorting. That excoriating tongue applied lightly to baby fur. Perfect strength meets perfect love”
Jones gives the reader a very familiar setting: she conveys that Melbourne feel with consummate ease. Her characters are, for the most part, appealing, realistically flawed, often amusing and occasionally quirky. The banter between the flatmates is snappy, witty and funny. Her plot is original and wrapped in some beautiful prose. Her characters demonstrate the many different ways that people are affected by grief, and how they learn to cope. And Leap has a gorgeous, evocative cover. Some readers may be a bit disgruntled with the ending because it is somewhat indefinite, but it also holds great possibility and promise, and reveals a few clever twists that only the most astute readers will predict. This is a heart-warming novel: moving, funny and uplifting. A great read.
With thanks to Good Reads First Reads for this copy to read and review.
February 7, 2020
Three years after Joe’s life was shattered, he was still grieving. But he’d worked hard, no longer drinking, working two jobs as well as looking after himself with his rigid exercise regime – the parkour he continued to master. He was fit and healthy, living in a place with two others – now good friends – behind a laundromat. Joe knew that part of Melbourne like the back of his hand. Mentoring a young teenager was satisfying but could he stop the direction Deck was heading?
Elise’s marriage to Adam was slowly crumbling – still, it was a shock the day he walked out. Since their daughter died, things hadn’t been the same. Their son Carl was only just coping with the loss of his sister. Where was life heading? Working from home was Elise’s saving grace; visiting the tiger enclosure at the Melbourne Zoo a ritual she drew from, feeling a kind of peace while watching the majestic creatures. The artist in Elise saw her bringing her sketch book to capture that majesty on her page…
Leap by Aussie author Myfanwy Jones is a fascinating novel, different to anything I’ve read in a while. And I really enjoyed it. Set in urban Melbourne where people lived their lives, coping in their own ways and moving forward. Joe was an excellent character; I felt deep sympathy for him. I also enjoyed Lena, one of the women Joe worked with in the late-night bar. A thoroughly enjoyable novel, Leap is one I recommend highly.
Elise’s marriage to Adam was slowly crumbling – still, it was a shock the day he walked out. Since their daughter died, things hadn’t been the same. Their son Carl was only just coping with the loss of his sister. Where was life heading? Working from home was Elise’s saving grace; visiting the tiger enclosure at the Melbourne Zoo a ritual she drew from, feeling a kind of peace while watching the majestic creatures. The artist in Elise saw her bringing her sketch book to capture that majesty on her page…
Leap by Aussie author Myfanwy Jones is a fascinating novel, different to anything I’ve read in a while. And I really enjoyed it. Set in urban Melbourne where people lived their lives, coping in their own ways and moving forward. Joe was an excellent character; I felt deep sympathy for him. I also enjoyed Lena, one of the women Joe worked with in the late-night bar. A thoroughly enjoyable novel, Leap is one I recommend highly.
January 26, 2016
This was a gorgeous book to listen to as an audio book. The language was so rich and evocative and the narration by Samuel Johnson was superb. He had exactly the right tone of Aussie tone and pitch that suited the characters.
This is a story of loss and grief and the slow road to survival and recovery. Three years ago at the end of high school Joe lost his first love, Jen in an accident after they had had a row and he had stormed home. He is still trying to overcome the grief and the guilt and move on with his life. Sharing a house with two mates he works in cafes and bars and pushes himself at the street sport of parkour trying to achieve more and more difficult feats.
Across town Elise, a middle aged woman is struggling with her own grief and breakdown of her marriage. She is addicted to watching the tigers at the zoo and starts to sketch them and dream about them. Eventually both Elise and Joe must both find the courage to allow the rawness of the past to be melded into their histories and move on with their lives.
I loved the depth of feeling that Myfanwy Jones was able to invoke in both a young man and a middle aged woman struggling with grief. The very real lives of all the young people in the story resounded off the pages - Joe's mates, Sanjay and Jack, Lena the Ukranian cook who works with Joe and Deck the troubled young boy who Joe mentors. The imagery of the tigers in Joe's and Elise's lives brings a bit of magic to the story and there is also much humour and in the end a feeling of hope and optimism.
I especially loved the final words of the novel as Joe finally lets go and moves on:
"And maybe no trick he pulls off is ever going to bring her back but this one-it's for her. He is going to make a perfect landing.
Breathes: One. Two. Three. Four. Five. Leaps"
With many thanks to Myfanwy Jones for an audio copy of the book.
This is a story of loss and grief and the slow road to survival and recovery. Three years ago at the end of high school Joe lost his first love, Jen in an accident after they had had a row and he had stormed home. He is still trying to overcome the grief and the guilt and move on with his life. Sharing a house with two mates he works in cafes and bars and pushes himself at the street sport of parkour trying to achieve more and more difficult feats.
Across town Elise, a middle aged woman is struggling with her own grief and breakdown of her marriage. She is addicted to watching the tigers at the zoo and starts to sketch them and dream about them. Eventually both Elise and Joe must both find the courage to allow the rawness of the past to be melded into their histories and move on with their lives.
I loved the depth of feeling that Myfanwy Jones was able to invoke in both a young man and a middle aged woman struggling with grief. The very real lives of all the young people in the story resounded off the pages - Joe's mates, Sanjay and Jack, Lena the Ukranian cook who works with Joe and Deck the troubled young boy who Joe mentors. The imagery of the tigers in Joe's and Elise's lives brings a bit of magic to the story and there is also much humour and in the end a feeling of hope and optimism.
I especially loved the final words of the novel as Joe finally lets go and moves on:
"And maybe no trick he pulls off is ever going to bring her back but this one-it's for her. He is going to make a perfect landing.
Breathes: One. Two. Three. Four. Five. Leaps"
With many thanks to Myfanwy Jones for an audio copy of the book.
March 12, 2020
This is probably a book I would normally pass over, as to me the cover looks like the cover of a children's story - moral, don't judge a book by its cover!
This is a wonderful story based on two characters Joe, who is a young man dealing with the death of his girlfriend. The love of his life. Then Elise whose daughter Joe had been in love with.
Through Joe I learned about something new to me 'parkour' or free running. This is Joe's way of dealing with life as he juggles waiting jobs wondering what to do with his life.
Elise is obsessed with tigers and spends time at the zoo just watching them then trying to capture them on paper. She is ambivalent about her crumbling marriage and where her life is heading.
This is an intriguing tale, set in Melbourne with wonderful characters and a unique take on life, grief and moving on.
This is a wonderful story based on two characters Joe, who is a young man dealing with the death of his girlfriend. The love of his life. Then Elise whose daughter Joe had been in love with.
Through Joe I learned about something new to me 'parkour' or free running. This is Joe's way of dealing with life as he juggles waiting jobs wondering what to do with his life.
Elise is obsessed with tigers and spends time at the zoo just watching them then trying to capture them on paper. She is ambivalent about her crumbling marriage and where her life is heading.
This is an intriguing tale, set in Melbourne with wonderful characters and a unique take on life, grief and moving on.
June 4, 2017
4.5★; so close to 5 it's not funny, but in the end I didn't think it had the hallmarks of a 'classic' read for me. Let's be clear though - I loved it.
Joe is still grieving the death of his girlfriend a few years ago. He holds himself pretty tight - doesn't drink, works all the waking hours of the day and night, no romantic entanglements - except for the physical and mental release he experiences when practising his self-taught parkour. That is, until a nurse comes knocking on the door asking about the spare room.
Elise, a graphic designer, is also grieving, and she doesn't do it the same way as her husband, so this has gradually caused a deep rift in their marriage. Every Thursday at 11am, Elise goes to the tiger enclosure at the zoo to observe the big cats for an hour. Nothing weird about that - except that it's her guilty secret, and even Elise doesn't really understand why. She dusts off her tubes of paint and uses her art to see where this obsession will take her.
There are a handful of other significant characters in this story, but the one I loved the most was Inner Melbourne. I mean to say that for me, the location of this story was so exquisitely captured that it was like a character to me - one I know and love in real life. From Fitzroy to St Kilda to the exact spot on Russell St that I just know the author was referring to, it was perfect.
If I had realised this book was Melbourne+tigers+parkour I would not have let it languish on my bookshelf for so long!
Joe is still grieving the death of his girlfriend a few years ago. He holds himself pretty tight - doesn't drink, works all the waking hours of the day and night, no romantic entanglements - except for the physical and mental release he experiences when practising his self-taught parkour. That is, until a nurse comes knocking on the door asking about the spare room.
Elise, a graphic designer, is also grieving, and she doesn't do it the same way as her husband, so this has gradually caused a deep rift in their marriage. Every Thursday at 11am, Elise goes to the tiger enclosure at the zoo to observe the big cats for an hour. Nothing weird about that - except that it's her guilty secret, and even Elise doesn't really understand why. She dusts off her tubes of paint and uses her art to see where this obsession will take her.
There are a handful of other significant characters in this story, but the one I loved the most was Inner Melbourne. I mean to say that for me, the location of this story was so exquisitely captured that it was like a character to me - one I know and love in real life. From Fitzroy to St Kilda to the exact spot on Russell St that I just know the author was referring to, it was perfect.
If I had realised this book was Melbourne+tigers+parkour I would not have let it languish on my bookshelf for so long!
June 25, 2015
What an absolutely gorgeous book. One that gets right into your soul. And what a talented writer. The emotions and reactions expressed here were so real and heartfelt. This book felt so familiar to me and not just because it is set in my hometown and I was able to recognise many of the landmarks and places mentioned. Reading about these people and hearing their story really resonated with me and I felt a sense of connection. Like I knew them personally and I could relate to their experiences. I actually feel a little forlorn now that I am finished and won't get to spend anymore time in Joe and Elise's world. I'm so glad this book crossed my path and although it was a distraction from my other reads it was a welcome one. Finally a read worthy of five stars. I would not hesitate to recommend this book. In fact I've already passed it on.
February 23, 2017
A beautifully narrated book about the struggling young Joe and older woman Elise, both of who are experiencing grief in their own quiet ways. Joe is surrounded by a little group of friends and relatives that love him to death. He is a great guy who I would have loved to have known myself (in my younger days). I would have fallen for him for sure. He suffers from the very tragic and unfortunate loss of his girlfriend Jen a few years ago and has turned to a dangerous and exhilarating sport of leaping across buildings, rooftops and leaping to superhuman heights. He does this in the quiet of the early hours of the morning after he finishes working his shift as a waiter. At the same time, Elise is going through similar emotional turmoil and keeps returning to the tigers at Melbourne Zoo with which she seems to have some connection. I thought initially that she was Jen’s (Joe’s girlfriend) mother and that the connection was between Joe, Jen and the tigers and Elise. It’s literary fiction, I won’t try to analyse it as I am not that smart, but needless to say that the writing was evocative and I love tigers, so I enjoyed these chapters as much as those about Joe. A great setting and familiar to me, a great short book I thoroughly enjoyed.
December 27, 2015
This is a very thought provoking and contemporary read, bordering on YA. There are two main parallel story lines about Joe and his friends and Elsie and Sam. The theme running through both is the death of a young person and the length of and impact of grief on the lives of her family and friends.
It took me a little while to get into this book due to the two story lines and different characters involved in each. The imagery involving tigers portrayed in hobbies/pastimes is very vibrant. I could relate well to the characters portrayed and the setting in Melbourne.
I enjoyed reading this book and highly recommend it.
It took me a little while to get into this book due to the two story lines and different characters involved in each. The imagery involving tigers portrayed in hobbies/pastimes is very vibrant. I could relate well to the characters portrayed and the setting in Melbourne.
I enjoyed reading this book and highly recommend it.
June 7, 2015
Leap by Myfanwy Jones is a sharply observed story of grief and guilt and the struggle to move on from loss.
Three years after the tragic death of his girlfriend, Joe is still wallowing in guilt. Unable to re-imagine his future without her, he simply aims to stay busy, working two dead end jobs, and running through the darkened streets of Melbourne, leaping any obstacles in his way.
Elsewhere, Elise's marriage is falling apart and her work is uninspiring, mournful and lonely, she is drawn to the beauty and violence of the tigers housed at the Melbourne Zoo.
In Leap, Jones has created two very different characters deeply affected by their respective losses, angry, heart broken and plagued by inertia they are unable to move forward with their own lives.
So Joe is challenged by the slow return of his desire for life. Moving on feels like a betrayal, but his punishing routine of parkour and work is no longer as satisfying as it once was given his attraction to his newest housemate, an enigmatic nurse. He is further challenged by the charm of his blue-eyed workmate, the ailing health of his Uncle and the needs of the young troubled teen he mentors.
Meanwhile the listlessness pressing on Elise is finally pierced when her husband announces he is leaving her. She escapes, not unhappily, to the home of her best friend for a few weeks and on her return home immerses herself in her obsession with the tigers at the zoo, enjoying being unaccountable to anyone but herself. Alone, she is finally able to confront her resentment and grief, to mourn her lost daughter on her own terms.
While I struggled a little with the narrative initially, which is shared between the two characters and moves between the past and present, I soon settled into the rhythm of the story. The emotion is powerful, yet the story is not without humour. The prose is thoughtful and genuine.
Well written, Leap is a moving novel.
"And maybe no trick he pulls off is ever going to bring her back but this one-it's for her. He is going to make a perfect landing.
Breathes: One. Two. Three. Four. Five. Leaps"
October 9, 2016
One more book off my 2016 Miles Franklin reading list and I still haven't found "the one".
Leap started out with some promise. All moody Melbourne streets at dawn, laneways, hipster cafes, a lean parkour-loving 20 something male. A middle aged artist who likes tigers and an Unidentified Tragedy which seemed not likely to be quickly revealed. I settled in.
However, this quickly came to feel like something written during a writers workshop where topics were pulled randomly from a hat.
Jones you got ...."Tigers" and "Parkour" and a central theme of "grief" - would be good if you could work in sex with an unnamed nurse character especially while they are both leaping pillars ...goodluck
Obviously, by these comments this book strained credibility for me which is not always a concern if the writer can make me forgive them in other ways but despite loving how well this conquered up my beloved Melbourne the story had an unfortunate feeling of contrivance.
I had serious problems with some of the dialogue, pushing too hard to get urban 20-somethings just right. The preponderance of ipad usage started to feel like product placement.
Despite these misgivings I think there is something here to enjoy, the descriptions of the city charmed me, I liked the Parkour and it made me seek out some eye-popping videos which set a nice visual tone for those descriptions in the novel. There are nice foodie scenes which I always appreciate.
Summary : Its ok ? Its not memorable. I am damming with faint praise now.
Black Rock White City is all up to you to redeem this years list for me ;)
Leap started out with some promise. All moody Melbourne streets at dawn, laneways, hipster cafes, a lean parkour-loving 20 something male. A middle aged artist who likes tigers and an Unidentified Tragedy which seemed not likely to be quickly revealed. I settled in.
However, this quickly came to feel like something written during a writers workshop where topics were pulled randomly from a hat.
Jones you got ...."Tigers" and "Parkour" and a central theme of "grief" - would be good if you could work in sex with an unnamed nurse character especially while they are both leaping pillars ...goodluck
Obviously, by these comments this book strained credibility for me which is not always a concern if the writer can make me forgive them in other ways but despite loving how well this conquered up my beloved Melbourne the story had an unfortunate feeling of contrivance.
I had serious problems with some of the dialogue, pushing too hard to get urban 20-somethings just right. The preponderance of ipad usage started to feel like product placement.
Despite these misgivings I think there is something here to enjoy, the descriptions of the city charmed me, I liked the Parkour and it made me seek out some eye-popping videos which set a nice visual tone for those descriptions in the novel. There are nice foodie scenes which I always appreciate.
Summary : Its ok ? Its not memorable. I am damming with faint praise now.
Black Rock White City is all up to you to redeem this years list for me ;)
June 18, 2015
I want to marry this book and snuggle it at night and cherish it forever. What a smashing story, with so much heart and ALL the emotions packed into a little parcel with a beautiful cover. I whizzed through Leap today, and my brain hurts a bit from not looking up from the pages to give my eyes a rest . I literally missed my train this morning, because I was so caught up in the lives of Joe and Elise and their various comrades (from a wayward teen, to a Ukrainian chef, a Bollywood-loving housemate, one who got away, and tigers trapped in a zoo). Set in the present day in Melbourne, this unfussy and wholehearted novel explores love, grief and everything in between through the eyes of a young no-hoper with a love for parkour, and a middle-aged graphic designer whose husband barely acknowledges her (and vice versa). Joe and Elise have both suffered through an unfathomable loss before the beginning of the first page, and their journey towards closure is brilliantly written. There were lines and paragraphs in every chapter that brought up all kinds of gut-wrenching feelings for me. A touching story with plenty of ups and downs, and a narrative twist that you’ll love even if you predict. Everyone should read Leap, immediately. Five stars from me!
Read more on my blog: Middle Chapter
Read more on my blog: Middle Chapter
October 7, 2015
Without a doubt this is one of the best books I have read this year. One that will stay with me. A book one needs to stick at the beginning but it is so worth it. Complex in themes and subject but written effortlessly, cleverly and beautifully. The title is just so apt, so perfect as each character discovers there own way to leap forward by experiencing their own sadness and heartache and finding the place to share it, to admit to it and then park it in the right spot.
The need to protect and save tigers, capturing their majesty and beauty underpins and weaves throughout (is) the storyline.
My favourite reference to this aspect is "they say tigers have exceptional memories, recalling significantly more, and for longer, than humans can. Perhaps these caged cats collectively remember being free: climbing trees, swimming rivers, tendering death. And perhaps a trip to see their wild cousins in India is not such a crazy idea. She has a credit card. If only she could pack Indrah in her suitcase"
The need to protect and save tigers, capturing their majesty and beauty underpins and weaves throughout (is) the storyline.
My favourite reference to this aspect is "they say tigers have exceptional memories, recalling significantly more, and for longer, than humans can. Perhaps these caged cats collectively remember being free: climbing trees, swimming rivers, tendering death. And perhaps a trip to see their wild cousins in India is not such a crazy idea. She has a credit card. If only she could pack Indrah in her suitcase"
June 22, 2015
There were some lovely scenes within this novel, and the author has described parts of inner Melbourne beautifully. The two story lines came together well, and the mutual sufferings that the two characters suffered were well described. There were some endearing characters too. Having said that - I didn't love this novel. It felt a bit contrived to me - particularly the way the two threads were brought together. I wanted to love it. But I didn't. Still glad I read it, and thanks to Allen and Unwin for providing me with a proof copy.
November 4, 2015
A lovely, sad book about grief and recovery, obsession and friendship. I'm a sucker for books set in and around the inner north of Melbourne, so I was always likely to be sympathetic to Leap, but Jones has done a wonderful job of drawing out her characters - particularly the three young men. I wasn't entirely convinced by the intersection of the two threads of the story, but the stories worked really beautifully on their own.
September 29, 2015
My View:
Myfanwy Jones writes this narrative with finesse and gentleness, Samuel Johnson narrates this engaging story of love, friendship, loss and grief with aplomb. It was pure pleasure listening to this story; the prose was lyrical, the images of the zoo and the tiger enclosure were mesmerising and the stories in the individual character strands were interesting and worked well together to complete a picture of how we react to loss - of identity, loss of physical capacity, loss of romantic love, loss of a child, loss of a relationship. There was even a hint of mystery thrown in for good measure - and I was surprised when the mystery was revealed - I did not pick up any clues to this reveal.
Buy the book or listen to the audio version – you will slowly and gently be guided into this story that ends with a note of optimism.
Myfanwy Jones writes this narrative with finesse and gentleness, Samuel Johnson narrates this engaging story of love, friendship, loss and grief with aplomb. It was pure pleasure listening to this story; the prose was lyrical, the images of the zoo and the tiger enclosure were mesmerising and the stories in the individual character strands were interesting and worked well together to complete a picture of how we react to loss - of identity, loss of physical capacity, loss of romantic love, loss of a child, loss of a relationship. There was even a hint of mystery thrown in for good measure - and I was surprised when the mystery was revealed - I did not pick up any clues to this reveal.
Buy the book or listen to the audio version – you will slowly and gently be guided into this story that ends with a note of optimism.
December 23, 2023
Looking forward to meeting Myfanwy next March, at the Cairns Tropical Writers Festival. I bought the audible version of this favourite book, but did not think the narator 'got' the two different rythms, that I did. It will be interesting to discuss with this, with her.
Took about 20 pages to get the gist of the different rhythms and pace of the two main threads. Then I raced around Brunswich, Melbourne with the young parkour practitioner, and crept cat-like , with the other main Character, an older woman. Once I 'got it', I was awed by the skill of the underwritten , huge story.
Took about 20 pages to get the gist of the different rhythms and pace of the two main threads. Then I raced around Brunswich, Melbourne with the young parkour practitioner, and crept cat-like , with the other main Character, an older woman. Once I 'got it', I was awed by the skill of the underwritten , huge story.
August 3, 2020
Moody and morose, this honestly made me miserable. Pinpointing the plot twist towards the final pages did little to soothe my saddened soul.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 1, 2018
Not a great start to my 2018 reading year, but it can surely only improve from here! I started this a couple of months ago and it wasn't grabbing me then, so I put it aside in order to concentrate on other books, and I can't say it was any better when I picked it up again!
The characters mostly irritated me, as did the swearing and the casual attitude to sex and drugs.
I'm glad I've read it, I'm just sorry it wasn't what I was anticipating.
The characters mostly irritated me, as did the swearing and the casual attitude to sex and drugs.
I'm glad I've read it, I'm just sorry it wasn't what I was anticipating.
May 24, 2017
Almost returned this without reading it, but am glad that I didn't. Enjoyable story even though the description didn't grab me all that much
June 11, 2015
This book turned up unexpectedly and I was very close to dismissing it due to other reading commitments. But when I saw that it was by an Australian author and it was a relatively short novel I thought I’d give it a try. I’m glad I did!
I was drawn into this story almost immediately. Written in first POV of Joe, a young man in his 20’s who is just drifting through life. He works two jobs, shares a house with a couple of mates and has the intriguing hobby of ‘jumping’ at all hours of the morning and night. He builds up his strength and endurance and pushes his body to the limits.
When a young nurse answers an ad for a spare room at the share house, there’s an instant attraction between them. Joe finds himself being challenged emotionally and psychologically as their relationship develops only in the darkness of the night. Meanwhile, he develops a deeper friendship with colleague Lena who he starts to share his story with. Joe is an interesting character with many strengths and flaws. He is grieving the loss of his ex-girlfriend, wracked with guilt and struggling to find a way to move forward- or whether he has any desire to do so. He’s been punishing himself for years.
The parallel story with the POV of newly separated mother Elise who has a secret, she likes to study the tigers at the local zoo. Every week at the same day and time she sits and watches, draws them and fantasises about their inner world. This connection allows her to understand her own grief and loss and find a way to get her relationship back on track with her husband. The connection between Joe and Elise isn’t revealed until much later in the story.
What I found so mesmerising about this story, was the sharp writing style, often abrupt and to the point. There’s no fluff in this book, every word and sentence serves a purpose. I liked that and it made the story flow and intrigued me to turn the pages faster. Though Leap is passable as a YA novel (or new age?), the contrasting story with Elise prevents it from falling into this genre. Leap is a character-driven novel, uniquely structured and written and trusts that the reader is smart enough to figure out the messages that lie beneath the text. I’d definitely recommend this novel.
I was drawn into this story almost immediately. Written in first POV of Joe, a young man in his 20’s who is just drifting through life. He works two jobs, shares a house with a couple of mates and has the intriguing hobby of ‘jumping’ at all hours of the morning and night. He builds up his strength and endurance and pushes his body to the limits.
When a young nurse answers an ad for a spare room at the share house, there’s an instant attraction between them. Joe finds himself being challenged emotionally and psychologically as their relationship develops only in the darkness of the night. Meanwhile, he develops a deeper friendship with colleague Lena who he starts to share his story with. Joe is an interesting character with many strengths and flaws. He is grieving the loss of his ex-girlfriend, wracked with guilt and struggling to find a way to move forward- or whether he has any desire to do so. He’s been punishing himself for years.
The parallel story with the POV of newly separated mother Elise who has a secret, she likes to study the tigers at the local zoo. Every week at the same day and time she sits and watches, draws them and fantasises about their inner world. This connection allows her to understand her own grief and loss and find a way to get her relationship back on track with her husband. The connection between Joe and Elise isn’t revealed until much later in the story.
What I found so mesmerising about this story, was the sharp writing style, often abrupt and to the point. There’s no fluff in this book, every word and sentence serves a purpose. I liked that and it made the story flow and intrigued me to turn the pages faster. Though Leap is passable as a YA novel (or new age?), the contrasting story with Elise prevents it from falling into this genre. Leap is a character-driven novel, uniquely structured and written and trusts that the reader is smart enough to figure out the messages that lie beneath the text. I’d definitely recommend this novel.
May 19, 2016
This is the second Australian novel I’ve read recently about grief, particularly about the death of a child. (The other was The World Without Us.) It’s always remarkable to me that writers can find something new to say about a devastating loss and do so in ways that are authentic and unsentimental.
The novel immediately attracted me because of its title and its cover. The cover shows tiger stripes – why a tiger – and is it going to leap? In fact, the person who wants to leap is Joe. Joe is trying to overcome the guilt he feels over the death of his girlfriend by practising parkour – a discipline that involves running, jumping and climbing (the titles of the three parts of the novel). The person who studies (and then paints) tigers is Elise, whose daughter has died and whose husband has decided to move out.
The narrative strands from these two points of view work very well. Joe lives in a group house; Elise is learning to live alone. Joe meets an ‘unfathomable girl’ who moves into the lean-to at the back of the group house. Elise goes to the zoo to study tigers. Their worlds are so different, yet each world is convincingly portrayed and the connections between them gradually revealed.
There is so much I could say about this book – the more I think about it the more interesting it seems. The dialogue is particularly good. There are some plot elements that are predictable and a twist at the end that didn’t really convince me but these are minor criticisms of a very impressive second novel by Jones. Now I want to read her first!
The novel immediately attracted me because of its title and its cover. The cover shows tiger stripes – why a tiger – and is it going to leap? In fact, the person who wants to leap is Joe. Joe is trying to overcome the guilt he feels over the death of his girlfriend by practising parkour – a discipline that involves running, jumping and climbing (the titles of the three parts of the novel). The person who studies (and then paints) tigers is Elise, whose daughter has died and whose husband has decided to move out.
The narrative strands from these two points of view work very well. Joe lives in a group house; Elise is learning to live alone. Joe meets an ‘unfathomable girl’ who moves into the lean-to at the back of the group house. Elise goes to the zoo to study tigers. Their worlds are so different, yet each world is convincingly portrayed and the connections between them gradually revealed.
There is so much I could say about this book – the more I think about it the more interesting it seems. The dialogue is particularly good. There are some plot elements that are predictable and a twist at the end that didn’t really convince me but these are minor criticisms of a very impressive second novel by Jones. Now I want to read her first!
March 23, 2016
To me this was a perfect book.
The writing had a wonderful pace. The prose was so good - painting the cityscape, the people and their lives. The characters were varied, believable and likeable. It took me a while to realise what was going on with Joe's relationship with the nurse. A splendid way of describing a man trying to move on from his high school girlfriend's (Jen) death.
I liked the bringing together of Joe's story and Jen's mothers story. The use of parkour, Tigers, Ukrainian folk lore, Melbourne's coffee club, mentoring a trouble lad, doing a good thing for your mother and looking after your mates all left me with a real happy feeling.
The writing had a wonderful pace. The prose was so good - painting the cityscape, the people and their lives. The characters were varied, believable and likeable. It took me a while to realise what was going on with Joe's relationship with the nurse. A splendid way of describing a man trying to move on from his high school girlfriend's (Jen) death.
I liked the bringing together of Joe's story and Jen's mothers story. The use of parkour, Tigers, Ukrainian folk lore, Melbourne's coffee club, mentoring a trouble lad, doing a good thing for your mother and looking after your mates all left me with a real happy feeling.
September 13, 2025
3.5 stars. An engaging, gentle, moving, sometimes humorous, easy to read novel about love, loss and grief. It has been three years since Jen, Joe’s end of high school girlfriend, died in unfortunate circumstances. Joe is still struggling to cope with Jen’s death. He feels guilty and lost. Joe lives in a house with three other individuals around his age. He has deferred going to university. He works in a cafe. He also sometimes works in his uncle Todd ‘s nursery. Joe is very athletic and had dreamed of becoming a physical education teacher. The story is set in the suburbs of north Melbourne. There is a second story thread, that of freelance graphic designer Elise, who visits the zoo to watching and draw a tiger. Elise is thinking about the death of Jen, her teenage daughter, and her marriage, which has fallen apart since Jen’s death. Elsie and her husband Adam, do not talk, and Adam decides to leave their house and live elsewhere.
Joe feels drawn to a work associate, chef Lena, who is of Ukrainian background. However Joe is not ready to begin a romantic relationship. Joe’s interest is in a physical exercise involving running and jumping from obstacles without the use of equipment. Joe’s chatter with his two housemates and good friends is quite entertaining.
A satisfying reading experience.
This book was shortlisted for the 2016 Miles Franklin award.
Joe feels drawn to a work associate, chef Lena, who is of Ukrainian background. However Joe is not ready to begin a romantic relationship. Joe’s interest is in a physical exercise involving running and jumping from obstacles without the use of equipment. Joe’s chatter with his two housemates and good friends is quite entertaining.
A satisfying reading experience.
This book was shortlisted for the 2016 Miles Franklin award.
June 21, 2023
Mixed thoughts on this book. Was a bit hard to get in to at the start with a different writing style but then had to keep reading to see how the story pans out. Didn’t much like the ending there could have been so much more to it.
April 6, 2023
This was decidedly average. The switching between perspectives was clunky and the ending made me eye roll hard. 2 stars
July 5, 2015
*This review also appears on my blog Genie In A Book*
Thank you to Allen and Unwin for sending me a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review
Leaving grief behind is a journey, and a difficult one at that. Though it is an inevitable aspect of the human experience, it is no less evocative than any other emotion. In fact, it can be the most poignant of all. It is this sentiment which Leap conveys - how grief is multifaceted and experienced in different ways, and how hope can shine through the cracks in ways which we might not see coming.
Everything about Joe's life had taken a negative turn after the death of his girlfriend Jen. There's a strain on his relationship with the rest of his family and he relies on his adrenaline-raising stunts to avoid his true feelings. I liked how there were some valuable lessons to be found in this book, the first being that grief is something which can't be simply pushed away without being confronted first. Joe's path towards a happier life is one with its own obstacles, mysteries and a touch of the supernatural which all converge to make this story one that is both moving and unique.
Another element of the novel which caught my attention was Elise's plight. Dealing with her own personal struggles and degraded marriage, she seeks solace in watching the tigers at the zoo. She draws them and is mesmerised by their sublime majesty - their fierceness and power. And here we find another important point - nature has a cathartic effect on us, and seeing how the animal kingdom operates with its natural order can help us understand ourselves. If we are only willing to take the leap, both literally and figuratively - then things may just get better and we can find peace with the present.
Profound - that's one word to describe how the whole story comes together, when the intricacies of the plotline are revealed in full. Though there were some points where the pace lagged, overall the beauty of this book is at its pinnacle when you have that light bulb moment when the fog clears and links are made which make so much sense. This is a satisfying read in the end that although not rigidly complete, offers a comforting sense of hope.
FINAL THOUGHTS
Leap is a contemporary novel rich with metaphors and meaning, offering powerful insight into grief and how it affects individuals differently.
Thank you to Allen and Unwin for sending me a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review
Leaving grief behind is a journey, and a difficult one at that. Though it is an inevitable aspect of the human experience, it is no less evocative than any other emotion. In fact, it can be the most poignant of all. It is this sentiment which Leap conveys - how grief is multifaceted and experienced in different ways, and how hope can shine through the cracks in ways which we might not see coming.
Everything about Joe's life had taken a negative turn after the death of his girlfriend Jen. There's a strain on his relationship with the rest of his family and he relies on his adrenaline-raising stunts to avoid his true feelings. I liked how there were some valuable lessons to be found in this book, the first being that grief is something which can't be simply pushed away without being confronted first. Joe's path towards a happier life is one with its own obstacles, mysteries and a touch of the supernatural which all converge to make this story one that is both moving and unique.
Another element of the novel which caught my attention was Elise's plight. Dealing with her own personal struggles and degraded marriage, she seeks solace in watching the tigers at the zoo. She draws them and is mesmerised by their sublime majesty - their fierceness and power. And here we find another important point - nature has a cathartic effect on us, and seeing how the animal kingdom operates with its natural order can help us understand ourselves. If we are only willing to take the leap, both literally and figuratively - then things may just get better and we can find peace with the present.
Profound - that's one word to describe how the whole story comes together, when the intricacies of the plotline are revealed in full. Though there were some points where the pace lagged, overall the beauty of this book is at its pinnacle when you have that light bulb moment when the fog clears and links are made which make so much sense. This is a satisfying read in the end that although not rigidly complete, offers a comforting sense of hope.
FINAL THOUGHTS
Leap is a contemporary novel rich with metaphors and meaning, offering powerful insight into grief and how it affects individuals differently.
January 19, 2016
I knew this cover reminded me of something! It’s the tiger, a design by Christabella Designs which is reminiscent of the cover of Fiona McFarlane’s The Night Guest. What is it about tigers, in the Australian context, I wonder?
(Well, we don’t have any impressive native fauna with the same sense of suppressed violence, I suppose. Unless you count crocodiles. But they’re not beautiful.)
Myfanwy Jones is, as I noted in my review of her debut novel The Rainy Season, an author to keep an eye on. She was shortlisted for the 2009 Melbourne Prize for Literature Best Writing Award and that’s because she writes very well. She has a great sense of place, and her ear for authentic dialogue is acute. The minor reservations that I had about The Rainy Season were about plot, but Leap is (as you might expect from a second novel) a more mature work.
But like The Rainy Season, Leap explores absence, grief, guilt and redemption. Twenty-two year old Joe is navigating the accidental death of his girlfriend Jen three years ago. He has opportunities with other girls, but to love again feels like betrayal. Adrift, he works in deadbeat jobs and purges his emotions through parkour, a kind of training discipline which involves using the body and the mostly urban environment for running, jumping, vaulting over obstacles and so on. Physically, Joe is in constant motion, but psychologically he is in limbo. The metaphor, which is managed subtly, is that taking the leap into a new relationship involves also the risk of hurt.
To read the rest of my review please visit http://anzlitlovers.com/2015/07/14/le...
(Well, we don’t have any impressive native fauna with the same sense of suppressed violence, I suppose. Unless you count crocodiles. But they’re not beautiful.)
Myfanwy Jones is, as I noted in my review of her debut novel The Rainy Season, an author to keep an eye on. She was shortlisted for the 2009 Melbourne Prize for Literature Best Writing Award and that’s because she writes very well. She has a great sense of place, and her ear for authentic dialogue is acute. The minor reservations that I had about The Rainy Season were about plot, but Leap is (as you might expect from a second novel) a more mature work.
But like The Rainy Season, Leap explores absence, grief, guilt and redemption. Twenty-two year old Joe is navigating the accidental death of his girlfriend Jen three years ago. He has opportunities with other girls, but to love again feels like betrayal. Adrift, he works in deadbeat jobs and purges his emotions through parkour, a kind of training discipline which involves using the body and the mostly urban environment for running, jumping, vaulting over obstacles and so on. Physically, Joe is in constant motion, but psychologically he is in limbo. The metaphor, which is managed subtly, is that taking the leap into a new relationship involves also the risk of hurt.
To read the rest of my review please visit http://anzlitlovers.com/2015/07/14/le...
January 24, 2016
I received a copy of Leap by Myfanwy Jones from Goodreads Giveaways as a First Read and really appreciated the chance to read this novel. Neither the title nor the cover would have caught my eye when looking for a novel to read, so it was good to receive a copy of this novel. I would highly recommend it as captivating story of grief and love with an appeal to all ages.
While many reviews give a synopsis of the story I am refraining from doing that. I prefer to write about my reactions to the story and characters.
The story gradually unfolds along with the characters to make an intriguing exploration of how different personalities deal with grief and the impact it has on themselves, their lives and those around them. While there is sadness in the story, there is also humour, light heartedness and the eternal search for love.
I also have a weakness for novels which are set in places I have lived and know. So being set in Melbourne is wonderful!
A great read….
While many reviews give a synopsis of the story I am refraining from doing that. I prefer to write about my reactions to the story and characters.
The story gradually unfolds along with the characters to make an intriguing exploration of how different personalities deal with grief and the impact it has on themselves, their lives and those around them. While there is sadness in the story, there is also humour, light heartedness and the eternal search for love.
I also have a weakness for novels which are set in places I have lived and know. So being set in Melbourne is wonderful!
A great read….
Displaying 1 - 30 of 143 reviews