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Crush
Life for Madison Anderson is red and white.
Until her swirling ambition of a stellar winemaking career leads to the charming vineyards of Margaret River where green forest and blue sea meld to blur her bi-colour lines. Maddie's unwavering focus is in for a challenging ride. Men seem intent on pulling her ponytail and one morning of mayhem at the winery could crush her spirit and her dreams. Margaret River and the quirky new friends who call it home are inking her soul. Maddie's world is colouring up and in her reach for the stars she's discovering--The Southern Cross is beautiful, but life beneath the kite is pretty bloody amazing.
Until her swirling ambition of a stellar winemaking career leads to the charming vineyards of Margaret River where green forest and blue sea meld to blur her bi-colour lines. Maddie's unwavering focus is in for a challenging ride. Men seem intent on pulling her ponytail and one morning of mayhem at the winery could crush her spirit and her dreams. Margaret River and the quirky new friends who call it home are inking her soul. Maddie's world is colouring up and in her reach for the stars she's discovering--The Southern Cross is beautiful, but life beneath the kite is pretty bloody amazing.
310 pages, Hardcover
Published November 10, 2017
8 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
March 21, 2018
There is so much to like about this book, but one of the greatest pleasures in it for me is familiarity of location (this is set in my home-town of Margaret River in Western Australia); but even more so - it's familiarity of the subject matter.
The story begins in southern hemisphere summer, in the weeks before harvest of grapes in the Margaret River wineries. Much of the events of the back half of the book are laid over the physical process of what we call 'vintage'. Right now, my hubby (who works in the wineries) is going through that crazy 2-3 month zone that makes me a 'vintage-widow', and each day he gets up early and comes home late, usually with grape juice over his boots and legs and more in his hair.
CRUSH delves into the workings of a winery and a vineyard with incredible expertise, in a way few fictional stories could. In fact - I would say it's a great educational tool to anyone who enjoys wine and is interested in learning more about wine flavours and characters, without getting bogged down in drawn-out textbook descriptions.
The main character, Madison, could be any twenty-something girl across Australia, setting away from home for the first time to strike out on her own toward independence but more so for Maddie, toward a career. Maddie is a character who knows what she wants from the outset: she wants to be one of the premier young winemakers in Australia. She has put aside the protests of her boyfriend who wasn't keen for her to leave NSW for the vintage position at Beneath the Kite winery in Margaret River, because she's definite about this career path, and ready to do whatever it takes to 'make it' in wine - which is both her career and (along with the beach) her passion.
Maddie isn't immune to the regular things that affect young women the world over, e.g. old fashioned lust - and she immediately finds herself attracted to a co-worker, Roley. Roley comes with complications however - he has a girlfriend. (And did I say, co-worker?)
I find this a book almost a coming of age story in many respects. Maddie learns a lot about herself through making mistakes (in the workplace, and of the heart) and has to forgive herself before she can move on.
Maddie's heart is in the right place and she has some great mates and mentors to cheer her on. While some of her choices in the story might not quite feel like the 'right' choice for me, that's by the by. That's the way the author wants to play it, and Maddie is young and she's human, and she doesn't have my benefit of about twenty more years hindsight to colour her choices!
Maddie has to learn these life lessons for herself, and she does, taking no prisoners along the way.
There are some beautiful passages in this book that are a credit to the author. Most of these relate to description of the Margaret River environment, particularly the vineyards, bush and beaches.
One of my favourites is this one:
'They sipped on their wine and nature raised its voice in the pause. Beyond Stubbsy's balcony the sky hung like an indigo curtain studded with stars, the roll and slurp of waves drenching its hem.'
This is a debut novel for local Margaret River author, Vikki Messenger, and as full disclaimer, I'd mention that I saw a very early draft of CRUSH and gave my feedback to the story. I can see how much work has gone into revisions since then and I congratulate Vikki for her tenacity in getting to 'The End', and then making her dream of publication come true.
I really believe it will be onwards and upwards on her writing journey from here! (Much like, Maddie's journey with wine).
The story begins in southern hemisphere summer, in the weeks before harvest of grapes in the Margaret River wineries. Much of the events of the back half of the book are laid over the physical process of what we call 'vintage'. Right now, my hubby (who works in the wineries) is going through that crazy 2-3 month zone that makes me a 'vintage-widow', and each day he gets up early and comes home late, usually with grape juice over his boots and legs and more in his hair.
CRUSH delves into the workings of a winery and a vineyard with incredible expertise, in a way few fictional stories could. In fact - I would say it's a great educational tool to anyone who enjoys wine and is interested in learning more about wine flavours and characters, without getting bogged down in drawn-out textbook descriptions.
The main character, Madison, could be any twenty-something girl across Australia, setting away from home for the first time to strike out on her own toward independence but more so for Maddie, toward a career. Maddie is a character who knows what she wants from the outset: she wants to be one of the premier young winemakers in Australia. She has put aside the protests of her boyfriend who wasn't keen for her to leave NSW for the vintage position at Beneath the Kite winery in Margaret River, because she's definite about this career path, and ready to do whatever it takes to 'make it' in wine - which is both her career and (along with the beach) her passion.
Maddie isn't immune to the regular things that affect young women the world over, e.g. old fashioned lust - and she immediately finds herself attracted to a co-worker, Roley. Roley comes with complications however - he has a girlfriend. (And did I say, co-worker?)
I find this a book almost a coming of age story in many respects. Maddie learns a lot about herself through making mistakes (in the workplace, and of the heart) and has to forgive herself before she can move on.
Maddie's heart is in the right place and she has some great mates and mentors to cheer her on. While some of her choices in the story might not quite feel like the 'right' choice for me, that's by the by. That's the way the author wants to play it, and Maddie is young and she's human, and she doesn't have my benefit of about twenty more years hindsight to colour her choices!
Maddie has to learn these life lessons for herself, and she does, taking no prisoners along the way.
There are some beautiful passages in this book that are a credit to the author. Most of these relate to description of the Margaret River environment, particularly the vineyards, bush and beaches.
One of my favourites is this one:
'They sipped on their wine and nature raised its voice in the pause. Beyond Stubbsy's balcony the sky hung like an indigo curtain studded with stars, the roll and slurp of waves drenching its hem.'
This is a debut novel for local Margaret River author, Vikki Messenger, and as full disclaimer, I'd mention that I saw a very early draft of CRUSH and gave my feedback to the story. I can see how much work has gone into revisions since then and I congratulate Vikki for her tenacity in getting to 'The End', and then making her dream of publication come true.
I really believe it will be onwards and upwards on her writing journey from here! (Much like, Maddie's journey with wine).
March 16, 2018
I was delightfully immersed into the beauty of the landscape, the people and the community of Margaret River, I was educated in the art of tasting and drinking wine and I enjoyed the good dose of humour, drama and love along the way.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews