Bluebottle

by Belinda Castles

With sea-salt authenticity, Belinda Castles sets the Bright family in the sprawling paradise of Bilgola Beach. But darkness is found both in the iconic setting as well as in the disturbing behaviour of one of the family.

As he tilted the blinds she saw her mother in her tennis whites, standing at the kitchen bench, staring out into the dark bushland that bordered their houses. That was what Tricia did these days, looked into the bush as though it would attack one of them.

On a sweltering day in a cliff-top beach shack, Jack and Lou Bright grow suspicious about the behaviour of their charismatic, unpredictable father, Charlie. A girl they know has disappeared, and as the day unfolds, Jack's eruptions of panic, Lou's sultry rebellions and their little sister Phoebe's attention-seeking push the family towards revelation.

Twenty years later, the Bright children have remained close to the cliff edges, russet sand and moody ocean of their childhood. Behind the beautiful surfaces of their daily lives lies the difficult landscape of their past, always threatening to break through. And then, one night in late summer, they return to the house on the cliff...

Gripping and evocative, Bluebottle is a story of a family bound by an inescapable past, from the award-winning author of The River Baptists and Hannah and Emil.

Genres: Fiction, Audiobook, Australia, Contemporary, Mystery, Family, Book Club

250 pages, Paperback

First published May 23, 2018

About the author

Belinda Castles is the author of four novels: Bluebottle, Hannah and Emil, The River Baptists and Falling Woman, and the editor of the essay collection: Reading like an Australian Writer. She has won the Australian/Vogel's and Asher Literary Awards and been named a Sydney Morning Herald Best Young Novelist. She teaches writing at the University of Sydney.

Reviews

[Sharon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Charlie Bright was not always an easy man to live with. His wife Tricia and their children Louisa, Jack and Phoebe knew when his moods were bad it was best to stay away from him and when his mood was good the family were happy and a lot more relaxed.

Moving to a cliff top beach shack which Charlie had purchased had surprised the entire family. The house itself needed sprucing up a little, but scenery around them made up for whatever the house lacked. Although it was a great home for relaxation it didn't help much with Charlie's mood swings.

A young girl goes missing and suddenly there appears to be more tension in the Bright household. Charlie and his family know the missing girl, but could they know more than they are letting on.

Twenty years on the Bright children have grown up and are working hard on their own careers. Although they lived close by to the cliff top beach shack they once lived in when they were younger they never once returned once they had left. What will happen the day they return to the shack?

Bluebottle by Aussie author Belinda Castles was a very enjoyable read and one in which I have no hesitation in recommending. If you love reading about family secrets, then this book is for you.

With thanks to Allen & Unwin for my uncorrected proof ARC to read and review.

[Amanda - Mrs B's Book Reviews · Rating 4 out of 5]

*https://mrsbbookreviews.wordpress.com
Belinda Castles, the 2006 Australian/Vogel prize recipient for The River Baptists, has released a brand new novel, Bluebottle. A coastal cliff side home, a family under the mounting weight of secrets and a convergence between the past with the present defines this intense novel.

Twenty years ago, siblings Jack, Lou and Phoebe cast doubt on the strange behaviour of their father one hot Christmas holiday. The Bright family have recently acquired a cliff top beach abode, but ever since the family made this new shack their home, their father’s behaviour has become increasingly erratic. When a local girl the Bright children are acquainted with goes missing, the family is pushed in different directions and is placed under a great deal of stress. Bluebottle moves forward to twenty years in the future, the Bright children have grown up, but still remain close to the beachside family home. Eventually the past that has remain hidden for almost two decades comes to the surface and the ramifications touch the inhabitants of the cliff house.

With a visually stunning Tim Winton style cover (think Breath) Bluebottle is a model Australian literary celebration. Bluebottle is defined by measured prose, bold characters and a rich setting. This is not my first experience of Belinda Castles’ writing, I read her previous novel Hannah & Emil when it released. I was reminded of how her writing style is sparse, pulled back and almost naked, so what remains is a reticent piece of literature.

Once I settled into the narrative, I uncovered a story defined by a central mystery, with psychological undertones and a collision between the past and the present. Family dynamics play a significant role in Bluebottle, both in the past and present day storylines. Readers will find it hard not to feel fully involved in the sense of confusion, emotional pain and high drama of this novel presents. As the book is compiled with a past/present switch style narrative, as well as a change over between the character voices of the Bright family, the reader feels fully invested in the events of the cliff top shack.

Castles takes characterisation in her stride and provides the reader with an intense sketch of a broken family unit. Castles teases out the emotions and inner thoughts of each family member of the Bright family, so what we as the reader are left with is character set which are both ardent and authentic. Castles ensures there are plenty of layers to uncover when approaching her characters. Gradually, as the book progresses through the past and present, we work to build an understanding of how each protagonist operates and how events that occur in the novel outline who they are to become. Castles has a great ability to draw these aspects out of her cast list.

Castles is skilled in bringing a strong sense of place before the reader’s eyes in Bluebottle. The rich Australian coastal landscape, the swirling sea, the salt air and the ocean scrub almost makes the locale a character in its own right, it definitely plays a big role in this novel. The tension is thick and the sense of place undeniable in the capable hands of Castles. I could picture the waterways, the cliff tops and feel the beach sand between my toes. Through her refined craft Castles allows us to almost touch the blue bottle jellyfish described in such minute detail in this novel. For me, the setting descriptions were the parts to grab a hold of and relish, the sense of landscape displayed in Bluebottle is quite remarkable.

What keeps the pages running in this novel is the mystery around the disappearance of local girl Monica and her connection to Charlie, as well as the links to his off guard behaviour. What I was able to glean most from Bluebottle was how this event, some twenty years ago, clearly moulded the Bright children for years to come. Castles shows us how the reverberations continued to be felt, despite the time that had passed. Clearly, our past can define us and it is the secrets from our childhood that we bring to our adult mindset.

Bluebottle is an evocative Australian mystery novel that delves deep into dynamics of a family haunted by events of the past. Bluebottle sees the individual members of the Bright family reconcile the past with the present, underpinned by the commanding force of the natural coastal landscape, with a startling result. Bluebottle is a beguiling read from Belinda Castles.

*I wish to thank Allen & Unwin for providing me with a free copy of this book for review purposes.

Bluebottle is book #64 of the Australian Women Writers Challenge

[Brenda · Rating 4 out of 5]

Louisa, Jack and Phoebe moved to the beachside shack with their parents Charlie and Tricia just before Christmas one year – Charlie had surprised them with the house, as he was wont to do, and though old with formica bench tops and ugly green carpet, the view and the vicinity of the beach made it ideal for the family. Charlie was unpredictable, and the family had all learned to be careful around him until they knew his mood. When he was happy, everyone was happy – when he was dark and volatile, they kept their distance.

When a young girl vanished, the suspicions of the two older siblings grew to insurmountable angst which caused panic and anger between the two. While their mother withdrew into herself...

Twenty years later and the adult Bright children lived close together, near their old shack but never returning to it. Phoebe had made a career of her love of photography and worked with Louisa to enhance the real estate business. Jack was estranged from his wife, and their little girl was a delight, while Louisa and her husband had no children. But the day came that they all returned to the shack on the cliff…

Bluebottle by Aussie author Belinda Castles is a beautifully written tale of dark secrets, and a family who is caught in the past, unable to move forward. Filled with descriptive writing; set on a beach in the Sydney area – the summer landscape is as real as if I had stepped into the pages and become an extra in a scene. Highly recommended.

With thanks to Allen & Unwin for my uncorrected proof ARC to read and review.

[Krystal · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was one of those books where I kind of enjoyed it but also kind of had no idea what the point was?

We've got alternating viewpoints between 'Boxing Day' and 'Afterwards' to keep things interesting, and it centres on the Bright family and their rather strange father, Charlie. A girl has gone missing, and Charlie's behaviour seems rather odd, which gives the two teenage children, Louisa and Jack, some concerns. In the present day, they family all have their own lives, but are still close both physically an emotionally. Only one of them didn't make it to the 'Afterwards'. *dramatic gasp*

Story:
Totally fell flat for me. There wasn't really any drama, and the issue of the missing girl isn't a big factor. This story is more about fancy words and saying things in a convoluted way. It's probably more about Charlie, and how his 'oddness' is dealt with by his family. Not really a solid storyline to work with.

Characters:
Charlie is definitely odd. Clearly he has a mental illness - probably some form of autism, as he doesn't quite understand social cues and he focuses on things to the detriment of everything else. He behaves strangely and criticises his children and wife. I felt a little sorry for him towards the end as we got to know him a little better, but mostly he was an unlikable character. Tricia, his wife, was a bit of a non-entity, though I did find her transformation quite entertaining. Lou was probably the favourite - she's a bit more ballsy and says what she thinks, and it's hard to remember that she's just a 15yr old girl. Jack was intriguing but nothing special, and Phoebe was a lot of fun. Basically, the girls wear the pants in this one. They're all pretty well established, but it does take time - at the start I was easily getting everyone confused, particularly as the parents are Charlie and Tricia, as opposed to Mum and Dad. Not too much empathy for anyone here, though, to be honest.

Writing:
The worst part for me. It was so random and vague and was working so hard to set the scene that it stumbled over the story. It jumped around erratically and needs you to assume things for yourself, which I don't mind normally but this was too much for me. It does paint a really pretty picture of life by the sea, but I was so confused by the geography because there are pools and stairs and rooms that were just never detailed enough for me to follow what the setup was. The 'dangerous' moments meant nothing to me because I didn't even realise there was the potential for danger. It was seriously confusing.

Overall: I enjoyed it, but it was a bit of a nothing kinda story. Lots of fancy, flowery language and interesting characters, but I think I would have had more respect for this story if instead of floating around the edges of Charlie's illness it just came at it head on. There is an intriguing story there, with lots of moral questions, but here it's kind of lost in the vague writing and the effort of telling every other story but Charlie's.

This will be one for the readers who love clever words and phrases, fancy language, and reading between the lines. It'll score bonus points for lovers of Aussie fiction, particularly if the reader knows the NSW coast. If you're interested for the mystery, this will probably disappoint. If you're in it for the character study, you'll likely be more impressed.

With thanks to the publisher for my uncorrected proof ARC

[Vanessa · Rating 2 out of 5]

The opening chapter captured the seaside suburbs of Sydney’s Northern beaches perfectly and I was eager to read on and find out how the story would unravel, a mystery involving the covering up of a family member’s secret, I’m all in. However the book moved at a snail’s pace and I found the writing a little forced and inconsistent at times beautiful and evocative but then also unnecessarily descriptive. I felt that the author was trying too hard to induce a vague mysterious vibe but it veered off course too often that I was bored more than intrigued and I felt a detached nonchalance for the characters. The ending left me feeling flat and questioning the point, with not enough dramatic moments to bring the story to a satisfying conclusion, it was all too vague and unfocused, after such a promising beginning I was disappointed to say the least.

[MaryG2E · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5★s

This book grabbed me from the opening paragraph and did not let me go - and I’m still thinking about it long after I finished it.

As I was given this uncorrected proof copy by the publishers, Allen & Unwin, I hope to write a review which does justice to the fine qualities of the novel.

In many passages the language is so eloquent and lyrical, particularly in the evocation of the sea and the seaside community in which the story takes place. The first sentence of my proof copy is a gem:
”There was a house on a honeycomb cliff above the Pacific, perched over the beach in air as scrubbed and softened as old linen.” I was hooked!

The narrative jumps back and forth between 1994, when certain events took place in the Sydney suburbs of Avalon and Bilgola, and 2014, where the reader encounters the protagonists in later life.

There is not a lot of action, no grand themes, but rather, an intense look at the lives of the Bright family, who live in the house on the cliff. The 1994 passages all take place on Christmas Day and Boxing Day. Parents Charlie and Tricia have strained relations in their marriage, while their three children Louisa, Jack and Phoebe try to juggle their own issues with the tensions that pervade the household.

There is a mystery which informs all of their actions during those couple of days. The school girl who lived next door to them in their previous house had disappeared without trace. Since they moved into the house on the cliff, Charlie has been acting rather strangely…

The author is slow to reveal to the reader what happened over that 48 hour period in 1994. Gradually the reader learns about the impact of the events on the Bright family members afterwards. But I was kept guessing almost to the end, while my imagination was running rampant with theories and possibilities. It is very subtle, but there is a sense of dread that lingers on the page. Was a member of the Bright family implicated somehow in the disappearance of the girl next door?

It is a finely drawn depiction of a marriage under strain, with a strong sense of authenticity about the kinds of behaviours and words demonstrated by Charlie and Tricia. The three kids all have their own personalities and needs, which sometimes clash. I think the author has excelled in exploring the issues, and in particular the thought processes, of a family that is not functioning at all well. The quirky characters are well-developed and their interactions create sufficient interest to keep the reader’s attention.

For anyone who knows the environment of Sydney’s northern beaches, the setting of this novel is highly evocative, and reflects a special relationship with the ocean which I imagine many residents of those seaside suburbs would enjoy. I was envious, and I’d love to live in that house on the cliff…just not with any members of the Bright family!

In a few instances I found the elegant prose of Belinda Castles let me down. With some of the dialogue between characters I could not figure out who was speaking. I know "she said", "he exclaimed" etc are well out of fashion with novelists, but it frustrates me and slows my reading. And so I've deducted half a star from my rating for that annoyance.

[Dale Harcombe · Rating 3 out of 5]

A cliff top fibro cottage on Sydney’s Northern Beaches is the scene for this novel about a family and events from the past that still colour their lives twenty years later. The Bright parents are Charlie, who is at best erratic in his behaviour and his wife Tricia. The children are Louisa, Jack and Phoebe. Back when they were children, Monica, a young girl, goes missing. Could Charlie have anything to do with it? Jack and Lou wonder as Charlie’s behaviour seems to indicate he is somehow involved. Twenty years later when the old fibro house comes up for sale, all three Bright siblings are forced to reconsider those events that have impacted on their lives.
For me the strongest part of the novel was the setting. I am not overly familiar with the Northern beaches area around Bilgola and Avalon, but it was so evocatively described that I could see it and almost feel the sand and the salt spray. The descriptions are stunning. Setting is the most well conveyed character. It was so easy to picture that fibro shack perched on the cliff top.
It took me a little while to settle into the writing style as the reader is whipped form that Christmas time in the past to the time twenty years later. Once I did, I became more invested in the story and began to enjoy it. What the story shows is how events from the past can colour a person’s attitudes and behaviour. All the way through you are confronted with the disappearance of Monica and waiting for the big reveal. In that sense, the ending for me was dismissed too easily. That said, I did enjoy the novel.
Thanks to Allen&Unwin for my ARC to read and review. Sadly though, it didn’t have the stunning blue cover which the book when published ends up with. The bluebottle ends up being like a metaphor in the story. Another Australian book that is worth reading for the characters and the mystery but especially for the coastal depiction.

[Deb Omnivorous Reader · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a remarkably enjoyable light fiction about ordinary people with a uniquely Australian feel to the story. That Australian flavour was very well enhanced by the reader of the audiobook who used a very broad accent for the majority of the book. Maybe at times even a little too broad but overall it worked very well.

This nicely paced book skips between two time frames, with Jack, Lou nudging into their teenage years and Phoebe still a young kid. Their father has just bought a ramshackle old house on a cliff overlooking the sea something bad had happened in their old suburban home and moving was to be a new start. But this new start is less than perfect for the two older kids because within their family the disfunction swirls. Their father, Charlie is erratic, moody sometimes fun and sometimes scathing and scary, their mother is deep in denial. Jack walks on eggshells, racked with anxiety which can escalate to panic. Lou is defiant and angry. Phoebe oblivious, just a young kid who loves her dad.

The other part of the novel is twenty years later, the kids are grown each one into their own life but it is clear to the reader that the events of their childhood continue to shape them in any number of ways. As the novel nears it's end we will finally find out exactly what happened twenty years ago.

I really enjoyed this story! The characters were all marvelously believable and I could emphasise with every single one of them in one way or another. This was a perfect example of how a well written, flawed character can be so much more likable and relatable than a 'perfect' character.

The structure of the story was kind of perfect - I do not always love the literary tactic of jumping back and forth in time to construct a story, but here it worked beautifully. The very Australian flavour of the settings and characters also made this a very enjoyable, charming story. I swear that at times I could hear the surf and smell the beach it was so vividly described!

The ominous doubt of past events creates just enough of a cloud to keep things exciting without ever tipping over into discomforting the reader and watching the way the children transitioned into adults is fascinating.

[Theresa Smith · Rating 5 out of 5]

It’s probably best if I just state up front that I loved Bluebottle. That way you’ll be prepared for all of the praise I’m about to heap on it and the quotes that I absolutely have to include because they demonstrate the utter perfection of this novel. Belinda Castles is a word master, she just has that magic ability to string words together in a way that results in a symphony of narration that is precise and intuitive.

“She raised a hand when she said hello, even if she was right in front of you. A big unguarded smile and then she dipped her gaze, left you with that little wave, like an apology for being too much, as though she knew when people looked at him for too long he felt a hundred tiny punctures in the skin along his shoulders and he didn’t know what would come next.”



Bluebottle is a story about siblings. It’s a reminder of how within any family, each sibling will have an individual response to their parents. No one person, even within the same family, shares the exact same childhood, and each sibling will have different memories, even about the same event.

“If she wanted to know something, or just to speak, just to remember, one of them would steer her gently and the gruffly away, as though she were a child drawn repeatedly to the dark path, where the den lies, with its needles and its scraps of clothing.”

Bluebottle is a dual timeframe narrative, split between the present and Boxing Day twenty years previous. Perspectives are offered from each of the three Bright siblings, Lou, Jack, and Phoebe, within both eras. Each of them are in their thirties within the present day and they all still live in the beach area that their father relocated the family to twenty years ago. When the last house they lived in as a family comes up for sale, Lou sees this as an opportunity to revisit the past. We are then taken back to that fateful Boxing Day that changed so much for each of them.



I still haven’t put my finger on whether or not Charlie Bright was a narcissist or just a dickhead. He was probably a combination of both. Moody, strange, intensely exuberant, self-absorbed, and harshly critical – the list could go on. It all adds up to the same thing though: a toxic person, and his family had perfected the art of walking on eggshells around him.

“What wears me out, he thought, is having to check he’s okay every time you enter a room. It’s the way the air crackles around him and you don’t know whether to keep a lookout of hide. And really, it makes no difference, because whatever’s going to happen is going to happen anyway, and the worry makes it worse, like it can be seen, a colour in the room that he seeks out.”

I felt such immense sympathy for each of the siblings as well as their mother, although Jack tugged on my heartstrings the hardest. Lou judged her mother quite severely for ‘putting up with him’, but with an adult’s hindsight, I could see that it was not so straightforward and reading between the lines highlighted just how much of his toxicity Tricia absorbed as a means of deflecting it from her children. And yet, her apparent passivity fostered an ‘us against them’ mentality that often left her children floundering. Charlie was a man who could be dangerous if you crossed him. He needed careful management, that much was apparent. He was the type of person who could either bring the good times or bring the bad, with nothing in between. He was like an undetonated bomb and the tension he brought to his family leaped up off the page. He is the burden that some children bear, the toxic parent that can’t be contained. There will no doubt be many readers who will be able to relate on some level to the fine line the Bright children needed to walk each day.



The relationship between the siblings was authentically rendered. Despite getting on each other’s nerves a hundred times a day, there was a reliance on each other that aided in absorbing and deflecting each of Charlie’s barbs. Lou was the favourite, so her experience was tempered by Charlie’s adoration. Jack was the son who didn’t quite measure up, so his experience of Charlie was vastly different to Lou’s. Phoebe was the baby of the family, and possibly the one who experienced the most upheaval from Charlie, because depending on his mood, he could take her or leave her, so she never really knew if she was up or down. While each of them grappled and competed for what they needed most, be it affirmation from Charlie or to simply not be noticed at all, they still read the signs as one and protected each other as best as they could.

“Warm fingers take hold of his arms, there is a hand on each one, pulling him upwards. He finds the sky, the cliff, the beach, and that his sisters are here, on either side of him, lifting him up, setting him on his feet, where he is able to let the water out of him and breathe the good, clear air above the wash.”



The tension wrought throughout Bluebottle is mirrored by the conditions of the Boxing Day that is front and centre within this novel. A day that begins with a blazing heat that simmers and burns until it all builds into a storm that unleashes its fury seemingly from out of nowhere. Charlie’s imprint is left firmly upon each of his children, but the lasting impression differs between them. I loved that this was a story predominantly about siblings, a relationship that is often explored within novels as a secondary story rather than the primary. Belinda Castles has given us a novel that demonstrates perfect pacing and the art of knowing when less is more. The beauty of her narration secures her place as one of my favourite Australian authors.

“That’s what he had absorbed for her, enough time dragging this awful weight behind him for her to be able to love him still.”



Thanks is extended to Allen & Unwin for providing me with a copy of Bluebottle for review.

[Jeanette · Rating 4 out of 5]

I know this place, childhood memories come flooding into my head as I read this book. Anywhere there is surf and beaches the smell of salt air, experienced particularly as a child never leave you. This author has woven this family’s tale around the beaches of Sydney. It is basically a book on family relationships, however the descriptions of the environment where this family move to give it true colour. The family endure the moods of the father which appears to be on the Asperger Syndrome, erratic and with mood swings, everyone is always on guard not knowing what sort of temperament the father will be in from one minute to the next. The read commences with the parents’ names, Charlie and Tricia rather than mum/dad and along with the 3 children Lou, Jack, Phoebe and other personalities it took some to put them all in their right boxes. On a whim of Charlie’s the family move to a tottering house on a cliff with the beach below. He plans to have it demolished and to rebuild which never happens. Among all the mix of family activities a young girl they know disappears and given the nature of Charlie he becomes obsessed about it and as things progress the children start to believe that their father is involved in some way. Charlie has a sleaze, creepy side to him that most females even young girls will relate to and for this reason this reader was drawn into having the same convictions as the children regarding the disappearance of Monica. Charlie is the true alpha male and for Jack this creates a burden and he experiences the feeling of inadequacy due to his different temperament which takes him into his adult life. There is an unexpected consequence as the author moves Lou, Phoebe and Jack into their adult lives and Tricia grows from being a domestic servant to having an enlightened life. Good on Tricia! A French description for this book would be more complimentary than English, “un très beau livre”.

[Natalie M · Rating 3 out of 5]

The beautiful cover and blurb grabbed my attention but sadly my expectations were not entirely met. The story literally jumps between events in the here and now, and 20 years ago. Unfortunately the disconnection between time periods failed to enhance the plot, rather creating confusion- that what/when am I reading feeling!
The writing style is descriptive and quite beautiful at times but it floats around. The characters are enjoyable but not nearly as remarkable as they could have been. Charlie (father) had so much potential and just as you start experiencing his mental health issues, the author veers off in some vague direction. I really don’t mind ‘filling-in gaps’ but they are chasms which leave you feeling frustrated rather than intrigued.
Overall it’s not a bad Australian novel but it is not a mystery, nor family drama nor entertainment...what does that leave...potential to have been so much more.

[Katrina · Rating 2 out of 5]

I enjoyed the book's detailed, nostalgic view and remnants of the past Northern Beaches.

Oh, what a beautiful place. I enjoyed reliving the bohemian, beach lifestyle in the 1990s.

https://www.northernbeaches.nsw.gov.a...

However, the book itself meanders along on a small thread entwining a family, their bohemian lifestyle, erratic chooses, and the disappearance of a local girl. The father has peculiar ways, much like many, however, the plot is not thick and a disjointed view of characters makes it difficult to embellish yourself into the family.
A long yarn for a disappointing ending.

[Jaclyn · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5 I didn’t appreciate or enjoy much of this. It’s a family secrets story with two timelines. I didn’t engage with the characters and I found the writing a little dull. Structurally I appreciated the reveals but otherwise this left me pretty cold.

[Sharah McConville · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bluebottle is an interesting mystery novel by Australian author Belinda Castles. Thank you to Allen and Unwin for my ARC.

[Tundra · Rating 4 out of 5]

He was like the blue bottle, slightly luminous and shape shifting with many sharp stingers hidden in the sand. This reference to Charlie, the father, may have been a little over used but it is apt and also beautifully represented on the cover art.
I didn’t settle into this book easily. The first few chapters felt a bit overworked with description and metaphors (almost like some teen/YA novel) but after this point I slowly became hooked. The tension was skilfully ramped up and the use of description was used more discretely to emphasise this. The time shifts also worked well in this novel as they demonstrated the impact that the family ‘secret’ had on each family member in the ensuing decades. They all chose to bury their thoughts and not discuss what they suspected or knew about their father and as a reader I was turning over every clue to predict the ending too.

[Sean Harding · Rating 1 out of 5]

The back of this book sounded intriguing but the truth be told, and it may be just me, but I found it very dull, and a chore to get through, I did make it, but it was exceedingly forgettable, and there will only be vestiges of memory shortly, mostly of me saying bah!

[Michael Livingston · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5. An assured book about family secrets, guilt and love, Bluebottle switches between multiple perspectives and time points to tell the story of a complicated family. There's a lingering sense of dread through most of the book that simmers underneath the bright beachside setting.

[Kris McCracken · Rating 3 out of 5]

Belinda Castles' "Bluebottle" is a captivating novel that delves into the murky depths of family dysfunction, set against a sun-drenched Australian coastline. The Bright family may appear to have it all, yet beneath the veneer of happiness lurks a darkness as vast and unsettling as the ocean that crashes against their clifftop home.

Castles weaves a narrative that shifts between past and present, following the three Bright siblings grappling with the lingering effects of a troubled childhood. Their father, Charlie, is a force of nature, unpredictable, charming, and ultimately unsettling. His erratic behaviour casts a long shadow over the family, leaving each member struggling to cope in their own way.

The novel is a slow burn, jumping forwards and backwards in time to build suspense with each revelation. The disappearance of a local girl becomes a central mystery, its tendrils reaching into the Bright family's past and present. The narrative explores themes of memory, the weight of secrets, and the enduring family bonds, even amidst dysfunction.

Castles' prose is vivid and evocative, capturing the beauty and danger of the Australian landscape in equal measure. She paints a picture of sun-bleached days and crashing waves juxtaposed with the dark undercurrents that simmer beneath the surface.

"Bluebottle" is not a traditional thriller but a novel that keeps you guessing. The truth unfolds gradually, each piece carefully placed, building towards a satisfying, though not necessarily neat, conclusion. The journey is as important as the destination, offering a poignant exploration of human relationships and the lasting impact of the past.

⭐ ⭐ ⭐ 1/2

[DonutKnow · Rating 2 out of 5]

Ugh, I kind of felt like I was spun round and round in circles- hating one character- and finally having no place to rightfully place that hate 😡😡 There are some interesting insights on family, but still, I feel kind of messed up and unsatisfied with all that time spent reading and investing in it 😑😤😖

[Jo Rushby · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was given this ARC book from Allen & Unwin for an honest review. I loved this story set in -1970's.The Bright family buy a house on a clifftop overlooking the sea.
There is a missing teenage girl and everyone is out looking for her.
Charlie Bright the erratic father has the family walking on eggshells with his moods. Twenty years later the family come together to relive the past.
Belinda Castles writes lovely descriptive words where I could feel that hot sand under my feet on a scorching summer's day.
I would recommend this novel.

[Kim · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very evocative of the Sydney northern beaches. There's some lovely writing in this, the story moves along and while there was the absence of a character to be explained it kept me guessing until the end. It held my interest and I'll be looking out for more by Belinda Castles, she was a new author to me. It's an ARC I received thanks to Allen and Unwin, that I plan to share with others either through Canberra Chatters or Bookcrossing.

[Jazzy Lemon · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm a fan of independent film, and my son hates them, he says they're boring, that nothing ever happens. That doesn't mean they're not good though. This book is like that. A story of a family who move to a beach house on the cliffs in Australia where the surfing and the swimming are great. But something does happen.

[Amy Heap · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bluebottle is a quiet, leisurely paced book about the lasting power of family ties and secrets. Charlie is a difficult man to live with; his wife and children must tiptoe around his swinging moods. Something happens one Christmas that is still affecting them twenty years later. Set on Sydney’s northern beaches, the heat, ocean and rain are palpable, as is the tension in the siblings.

[Pam Tickner · Rating 3 out of 5]

Evocative of Australian beach holidays from when I was a kid, a good story of the dark side hidden by a family who seemed to have it all. The unpredictable, moody ocean reflected the undercurrent of emotions swirling around the Bright family, and how it impacted the 3 children as they reached adulthood.

[Xaki Ryan · Rating 2 out of 5]

Story line is good ... was the only thing the made me stick it out ... and some of her writing was beautiful but too often it felt too long winded and drawn out.. almost felt like she was trying to fill in pages than actually adding to the value of the story .

[Reader · Rating 3 out of 5]

Bluebottle was a bit of an odd experience - once I’d finished, I couldn’t quite decide why I didn’t really like it, or why I didn’t really dislike it. I didn’t find it particularly suspenseful, nor is it a thriller. It could be called a family drama, which is fair, but perhaps in the end the label doesn’t matter.

The writing is poetic, lyrical, and descriptive, as other reviewers have noted. But sometimes this seemed at odds with (or actually detracted from) the story. As an example, if a character was walking from the beach in the dark after an unsettling experience, the story might demand anxious tension, suspense, but the writing focussed on the fragrance of the beach, the delicate moonlight, the lightness of the breeze, etc. It began to seem implausible that characters would have sentimental responses at times when they were fearful, apprehensive or overwhelmed.

That said, the writing is indeed lovely and able to carry readers into the ramshackled beach house, the sandy shores of Sydney’s northern beaches and the characters of a damaged family.

Amid the family drama, the relationships of the two parents and three children unfold across two timelines. There are themes of forgiveness, trauma, and how the events of the past shape us.

Unfortunately the key event that threatens to completely unravel them just seems to dissipate, and despite a revelation towards the end, i just wasn’t invested enough.

[Kimberley Starr · Rating 5 out of 5]

A lyrical novel of memories and regrets that starts off like a thriller and ends up being about the incredible depth of emotion within a family, the repercussions of mental illness and awful suspicion, and the beautiful suggestion of forgiveness and hope among siblings.

[Karen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Easy read with an underlying mystery that keep you guessing.

[Lesley Moseley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Once the beginning lumpy-ness settled down, I really thought this was a very well-written book. The characters were so skillfully sketched, they all rang very true. I first thought the ending a bit tepid, but given all the characters true natures, I realised it was really clever and satisfying.

[Theresa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Full of foreboding, I really liked the structure - the now/1994 chapters, and the shifting POV between the three siblings.