love

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Review:The Strays – Emily Bitto

The Strays
Emily Bitto
Legend Press
ISBN:9781922213211

Description:

On her first day at a new school, Lily meets Eva, one of the daughters of the infamous avant-garde painter Evan Trentham. He and his wife are attempting to escape the stifling conservatism of 1930s Australia by inviting other like-minded artists to live and work with them at their family home. As Lily’s friendship with Eva grows, she becomes infatuated with this makeshift family and longs to truly be a part of it.

Looking back on those years later in life, Lily realises that this utopian circle involved the same themes as Evan Trentham’s art: Faustian bargains and terrible recompense; spectacular fortunes and falls from grace. Yet it was not Evan, nor the other artists he gathered around him, but his own daughters, who paid the debt that was owing.

The Strays is an engrossing story of ambition, sacrifice and compromised loyalties from an exciting new talent.

My View:
Amazing!!

These book is one of many elements: beautifully formed, well structured sentences, the “language” of the writing is poetic, is descriptive, is illuminating. The settings – real. The characters – so well developed, so rich and diverse. The art – I can “see” the creations, the work, the studios, the walls….The narrative – moving, engaging, cinematic.

I did love this read. Why did it take me so long to discover this award winning title? I highly recommend this read. All the stars * * * * *

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Review: Dear Lover – Samuel Johnson OAM (ed)

Samuel Johnson OAM (ed)

Shaun Tan (Cover Image)

Hachette Australia

ISBN: 9780733649806

Hard Back

RRP $24.99

Description:

Revealing, soul-stirring, tender – a beautiful collection of letters about love from some of Australia’s most interesting grown-ups. Edited by Samuel Johnson, with every sale contributing to Love Your Sister’s cancer research.

From the bestselling, cancer-vanquishing Love Your Sister team, and edited by the indefatigable Samuel Johnson, comes Dear Lover, a funny, revealing and soul-stirring collection of letters written by notable Australians like Turia Pitt, Samuel Johnson, Susie Youssef, Hilde Hinton, Stuart Coupe, Jacqui Lambie, Larry Emdur, John Paul Young, Mandy Beaumont, Rhett Davis, Adam Harvey, Mark Brandi and Kate Mildenhall, to name a few, just in time for Valentine’s Day.

What would someone say to their childhood sweetheart, their life partner, their latest crush or their cherished soul mate? ‘Thanks for everything?’ ‘Unravel your sports socks before you put them in the washing basket?’ Anything goes in this collection of letters. If you could tell your lover anything, what would it be?

A big-hearted, comforting and uplifting collection of letters celebrating love. The perfect gift for the one you love.

My View:

Written and edited with heart and for a great cause – Love Your Sister Cancer research funding. The letters – an easy read, personal, a mixed bag of styles and quality 🙂 Some shone like polished gems (mostly singers/songwriters), some written with humour, all written with imagination for this amazing cause. It’s great to see so many embracing this series – writing or and buying. A great book to have by your bedside or in your bag for the commute to work.

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Review – When Only One – Meg Gatland-Veness

When Only One

Meg Gatland- Veness

Panterra Press

ISBN:9780648987666

Description:

‘There’s someone in the school. Someone who’s not supposed to be there. This person is walking towards the classroom. They’re holding something in their hands. Something terrifying.’

Sam lives with his mum, dad and four brothers in a small farming town. At his school, there are three main factions: the rich kids, the mid-grounders and the farm kids who live on the outskirts. Sam is a comfortable mid-grounder and life is pretty good. He works as a lifeguard at the local surf club, is saving to buy his first car, he’s training with his friends for the Ironman challenge, and on Sunday afternoons he and his family take care packages to their less fortunate neighbours. Then, five years since they last spoke, Emily Burrow climbs back into Sam’s life and everything changes.

Emily’s life is very different to Sam’s – her absent father has returned and her mum struggles with her mental health. Sam does his best to be there for Emily when he wasn’t for so long, but there seems to be no right way to help her.

When Rei starts at school, Sam is smitten. Rei’s parents are social workers, she’s from the rich side of town, and her life seems a thousand miles away from how the kids on the outskirts live. In a world that’s ill-equipped to support kids struggling with unseen burdens, is there a way to help Emily before the worst happens?

From the bestselling author of I Had Such Friends comes a novel that’s gritty, full of heart and shines a light on kids who are doing it tough in a rural Australian town.

My View:
Where can I start? I was so impressed with this read! It’s gently written despite the emotive, evocative and difficult material it discusses. And for some readers, some of the issues raised here could trigger memories of events or actions that are distressing, Panterra Press hope those so affected will connect with https://au.reachout.com/

The book – the prologue sets a disturbing scene; a shooting in a school, who is involved, why? A grim but intriguing introduction to the narrative.

Each chapter begins with brief recollections of the incident by various people at the scene. These recollections juxtaposed against the chapter contents that recount events before and leading up to the shooting create tension and is a powerful and seductive device to engage the reader in this story of moral dilemmas, of life in a small rural town, of domestic violence, of poverty, of loss, of grief, of addictions, of mental health issues…this gently spoken book touches on so many contemporary issues. It doesn’t preach, it allows the reader to think, to assimilate all the background information and to ask their own questions.

A powerful and emotional read. 5 stars.

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Happy New Year

On reflection 2021 has been a time of family, of joy, of creating (art), of love, of new beginnings ( new grandchild arriving April 2022) of rescue dog love (Maggie) of art and more art ( did I mention art?) of reading… so many good books and so many new friends…

Happy New Year and thanks for following this journey with me.

The last painting of 2021 and the start of the first for 2022

Art with grandson
Maggie Dog

Cheers🎉🎉🍾🍾🍾 Happy New Year

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My Home Gallery

Today we started to hang a few of the paintings I have created in the last 12 months or so, organising my space so I can make my new exhibition pieces easily identifiable for when we collect up to hang at Margaret River HEART next week. I will fill one of our spare bedrooms with exhibition pieces and maybe put another hanging rail in the other bedroom. So much art, so little hanging space.

Apologies it seems like WordPress has an issue with the video. To check out the video head to my Instagram @carol.seeley.art of my art fb page @CarolSeeleyArt  

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Looking for the Perfect Valentine’s Day Read? Dinosaurs in Love – Feen Rosenthal & Hannah Jacobs

Feen Rosenthal (aged 3 when this was written) 

Art by Hannah Jacobs

Orchard Books

Hachette Australia

ISBN:9780316593335

 

Description:

Three-year-old Fenn Rosenthal’s viral song about love, longing, and loss has melted the hearts of tens of millions of people on Tiktok, Instagram, Spotify and even on the Jimmy Fallon Show. Now readers of all ages can enjoy Fenn’s heartfelt, poignant lyrics again and again in this irresistible, sing-aloud picture book that includes exclusive extras!

Dinosaurs eat people, dinosaurs have a party, dinosaurs eat fruit and cucumber, but dinosaurs didn’t say goodbye! This sweet and deceptively simple story features all-new illustrations from Hannah Jacobs (the animator of the viral music video) that expand on Fenn’s lyrics and illuminate tender moments from these beloved dinosaurs’ journey. Also features an interview with Fenn as well as a bonus letter from her father and singer-songwriter, Tom Rosenthal.

Dinosaurs in Love is the perfect gift to share with anyone you’ve ever fallen in love with, whether it be your friends, your family, or even a treat for yourself.

 

My View:

The perfect, cutest Valentine’s Day read you will ever find.

After you have read the book, watch the Youtube video for another hit of cuteness. The world needs more smiles and this provides lots of them.

 

 

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Review: The Question of Love – Hugh Mackay

The Question of Love

Hugh Mackay

Macmillan Australia

ISBN: 9781760787752

RRP $32.99

 

Description:

What really goes on in a marriage?

 

Richard and Freya are, on the surface, a perfect couple. He has a thriving architectural practice; she plays the violin like an angel. They live in a beautiful home. They seem respectful and caring of one another.

 

They should be happier than they are.

 

In The Question of Love, Hugh Mackay has constructed a novel of stunning originality – both a sympathetic examination of a marriage and a nuanced exposition of the complexities and contradictions of human love.

 

Starkly observed, beautifully written and intricately plotted, The Question of Love explores the myriad ways we resist the terrible beauty of true intimacy.

 

AUTHOR INFORMATION

Hugh Mackay is a social researcher and bestselling author of 21 books, including What Makes Us Tick, The Good Life and Australia Reimagined. His latest non-fiction book is The Inner Self, published in May 2020 concurrently with his eighth novel, The Question of Love.

 

He has had a 60-year career in social research, and was a weekly newspaper columnist for over 25 years. Among many honorary appointments, he has been deputy chairman of the Australia Council for the Arts, chairman of trustees of Sydney Grammar School, the inaugural chairman of the ACT government’s Community Inclusion Board and an honorary professor at Macquarie, Wollongong and Charles Sturt universities. He is currently a patron of the Asylum Seekers Centre. Hugh is a Fellow of the Australian Psychological Society and the Royal Society of NSW. In recognition of his pioneering work in social research, he has been awarded honorary doctorates by Charles Sturt, Macquarie, NSW, Western Sydney and Wollongong universities. He was appointed an Officer of the Order of Australia in 2015.

 

My View:

A quirky narrative that looks at the minutiae of relationships.

 

This was an interesting “study” in how we tell the truth, how we tell ourselves a version of the truth, how we manage relationships and the “small things” that can make or break a relationship. 

 

Mackay employs a “ground hog day” type scenario where we explore the same situation with many what ifs and perspectives. By the time you have completed this read you will be demanding the characters sit down together and air their small grievances, air their truths and really listen to one another. Or is it too late? The characters chose to keep silent for many years, is it now to late to undo the damage the silence created?  Read and decide for yourself.