Month: February 2024

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Review: We All Lived in Bondi Then – Georgia Blain

We All Lived in Bondi Then
Georgia Blain
Scribe
9781761380730
RRP $29.99

Description:

From the author of the multi-award-winning bestseller Between a Wolf and a Dog, a powerful collection of previously unpublished stories.

A sister is haunted by the consequences of a simple mistake. A daughter searches for certainty as her mother’s memory degrades. An encounter at a house party changes the course of a life.

In We All Lived in Bondi Then, beloved Australian author Georgia Blain returns to her resonant themes of relationships and family, illness and health, love and death. Composed in Blain’s final years, these nine stories grapple with large questions on a human scale, brimming with her trademark acuity, nuance, and warmth.

My View:
This is not just a book for those who enjoy the short story genre. This is a book for those who love great writing, emotive and evocative prose and a fabulous sense of place, even if that place maybe somewhere buried deep in side you.

This read is not melancholy but I grapple to find the words to explain just how deeply personal yet relatable these words are. Bitter sweet…yes a touch of bitter sweet, a touch of sadness…a touch of hope, words reaching out to your heart.

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Review: Greater City Shadows – Laurie Steed

Greater City Shadows
Laurie Steed
UWA Publishing
ISBN: 9781760802691

Description:
A man treads water in the Swan River, hoping to bring his friend back to shore. Three siblings gaze skyward seeking a comet among the stars. A mother and daughter grapple with their fraught relationship and an inappropriate birthday cake. Bushfires sweep a Perth suburb while a woman, still burnt from a previous relationship, lessens the divide between an individual and their community. In Greater City Shadows, Laurie Steed shines a light on the tremendous complexity and beauty of everyday relationships. From unrequited first love and burnt flames of the past to early parenthood stresses and tense friendships. These short stories are vulnerable and tender — a captivating collection reminding us that to be connected is to be human.

‘Evocative and engaging, Greater City Shadows shows how the short story form, in the hands of a skilful writer, can offer profound insights into people’s inner and outer lives.’ — Susan Midalia‘Timely, tender and true, Greater City Shadows is a superb collection of stories.‘ — Ryan O’Neill

My View:
I don’t know what else I can add to my review that hasn’t already been said; “though provoking, tender, profound insights into people’s inner and outer lives, evocative…”

Perhaps I will just add; moments that make you pause and think…make you feel, moments you can relate to, I see a little of this writer’s soul in every short story and I like it.