JESS JUST READS

A BOOK REVIEW BLOG

No Country Woman by Zoya Patel

No Country Woman is the story of never knowing where you belong. It’s about not feeling represented in the media you consumed, not being connected to the culture of your forebears, not having the respect of your peers.

It’s about living in a multicultural society with a monocultural focus but being determined to be heard. It’s about challenging society’s need to define us and it’s a rallying cry for the future. It’s a memoir full of heart, fury and intelligence – and the book we need right now.

No Country Woman by Zoya Patel is a feminist memoir about what it means to never feel at home where you live.

Zoya Patel is the founder of Feminartsy and is a Fijian-Indian writer. She’s based in Canberra and moved to Australia when she was very little. No Country Woman is an exploration of her heritage, culture and place in this country.

‘I was born in a hospital in Suva, Fiji. …It is not a place I’ve thought of often, but I think of it now and wonder how it has shaped me. I am Fijian-Indian, and have lived in Australia since I was three years old. Memories of my early life in Fiji are limited to flashes, like an old film projector running backwards. I remember a blue dress, a trip on a boat where my father handed me a dried, floating starfish that I clutched in my fingers, determined not to lose it back to the ocean.’

Zoya explores her identity through a number of lenses — location, family, religion, relationships, holidays, education. She reflects on her own experiences as a migrant to Australia, and how she’s experienced racism and prejudice in this country. She examines her childhood and her attempts to rebel against her heritage, and she also documents the times she travelled away from home and how her experiences shaped her identity.

No Country Woman is an eye-opening read for anyone who isn’t a migrant to this country, and who hasn’t experienced racism. Zoya tries to help us understand the complexities of a multicultural society, and how important it is to be aware of one’s privilege and circumstance.

Zoya also touches on discrimination, because many people in the world experience it. Sometimes it may be because of the colour of their skin, or their culture, or it may be because of sexuality, gender or disability. It’s important to be an ally for the disadvantaged and marginalised in society.

I admire Zoya’s ability to look at many issues from different perspectives, so that she’s not just pushing one agenda to the reader but presenting a situation from many different sides to allow the reader to make up their own mind.

“One of the most pervasive stereotypes of Indian immigrants the world over is that of the Indian small-business owner, the savvy, stingy subcontinental with a cockroach-like ability to thrive in any environment, who infiltrates a milker or service station and takes over entirely, unable to be dislodged as they feed off the economy they have adopted.”

I struggled with the book’s jarring balance of memoir vs. academia. I connected with the book most when Zoya was exploring her history and her memories, when she was telling us about her parents and her family and other aspects of her life that were important to her.

But at times, Zoya moves between memoir and statistics, or memoir and academic research, and I found the transition very jolting and not as seamless as it could’ve been.

Additionally, some parts of the book felt very drawn out. For example, there’s one whole chapter on Zoya’s relationship with the water and swimming. Whilst the chapter is interesting and important to her identity, it’s seventeen pages long and I felt that she could’ve been more succinct in what she was trying to say.

Despite this, Zoya’s memoir will be enjoyed by many readers. There are moments of humour and light-heartedness, and Zoya’s writing is sharp. No Country Woman allows the reader to develop a greater understanding of issues surrounding race, culture and identity. It’s revelatory read.

Thank you to the publisher for mailing me a review copy in exchange for an honest review.

No Country Woman
Zoya Patel
August 2018
Hachette Book Publishers

Your Second Life Begins When You Realise You Only Have One by Raphaelle Giordano

At thirty-eight and a quarter years old, Paris native Camille has everything she needs to be happy: a good job, a loving husband, a wonderful son. Why then does she feel as if happiness has slipped through her fingers? All she wants is to find the path to joy and fulfilment.

When Claude, a Sean Connery look-alike and routinologist, offers his unique advice to help get her there, she seizes the opportunity with both hands.

Camille’s journey is full of surprising escapades and richly meaningful lessons, as she sets out to transform her life and realize her dreams one step at a time. . .

Your Second Life Begins When You Realise You Only Have One by Raphaelle Giordano is a charming novel about a young woman who has everyone she needs, but isn’t as happy as she should be. Originally published in French, this is the first time it’s being released in English.

This is a really cute book — bright, fun colours and a gorgeous hardback package. It really shows what kind of story you’ll get between the pages, something uplifting and fun.

“You’re probably suffering from a type of acute routinitis.”
“A what?”
“Acute routinitis. Finding it hard to feel happy despite an abundance of material wealth, a feeling of disillusionment and lethargy, amongst other things.”
“But . . . How do you know all that?”
“I’m a routinologist.”
“A routino-what?”

Thirty-eight year old Parisian Camille overhauls her life with the help of an unconventional therapist. She meets Claude after a minor car accident during a storm, and what results is a series of tasks that she must undertake to find the happiness she feels like she’s missing.

Some of the tasks are small, such as cleaning her home. If the reader chooses, I imagine that they could attempt to follow along with Camille. So even though this is a fictional story, in many ways it could inspire readers to make changes in their own lives too.

Claude is wise and intuitive, without being overbearing. He inspires change in the character and also the reader, and his friendship with Camille is a joyous development in the book. He is both her mentor, and her conscience. He helps guide her when she’s feeling lost or unsure, and he’s a sounding board when she is starting to doubt the choices she’s made in her life.

“That’s perfect, Camille. Now you need to do all you can to focus your attention on your good points rather than on your tiny flaws, which no one really notices anyway. Never forget those women who weren’t particularly pretty and yet were hugely sought after..What’s most important — and I know you know this — is what comes from within.”

Whilst it’s a feel-good story, there’s not enough depth to Camille’s story. This story feels like it skims the surface of Camille’s mindset, and I didn’t feel satisfied by the quick pacing and ultimately fast resolution to her story. I would’ve liked the plot to be developed better, so that Camille’s progress felt more believable.

Whilst this is fiction, this book will appeal to fans of self help books, or those bestselling titles about how best to de-clutter your life. This is Raphaelle’s fiction debut — she’s published non-fiction before and is trained in communication and stress management techniques.

Readers looking for a joyous, fun read will also be pleased.

Thank you to the publisher for mailing me a review copy in exchange for an honest review.

Your Second Life Begins When You Realise You Only Have One
Raphaelle Giordano
July 2018
Penguin Random House Australia

Hive by AJ Betts

All I can tell you is what I remember, in the words that I have.

Hayley tends to her bees and follows the rules in the only world she has ever known.
Until she witnesses the impossible: a drip from the ceiling.

A drip? It doesn’t make sense.

Yet she hears it, catches it. Tastes it.

Curiosity is a hook.

What starts as a drip leads to a lie, a death, a boy, a beast, and too many awful questions.

Hive by AJ Betts is the first novel in a two-book dystopian series. The story takes place in a claustrophobic, confined setting — a small, strict community encased within walls.

Hayley is governed by the society she was born into. It’s all she’s known. Everyone has a purpose — a role — but Hayley starts to question hers when she discovers a drip from the ceiling.

It’s water. But that doesn’t make sense. What she’s discovered doesn’t align with what she’s been taught. That’s not where water is supposed to come from. Is it?

“With a thud, the buzzing stopped. It was Geoffrey who’d done it, his palm flat against the wall. He shouldn’t have killed the bee, but I didn’t care — there were plenty of others and, besides, it was further proof that I’d indeed come here chasing a rogue.”

Hive is a refreshing addition to dystopian fiction — a unique plot and premise, and a heavily character-driven story. The setting is eerie and creepy. The novel explores curiosity and intrigue, but also a young girl’s determination to be something other than what she’s been told she needs to be.

The book ends on a cliffhanger, unsurprisingly. I wonder if this story should’ve just been one book with two parts, rather than a two-book series. This is a pretty slim book with a slow plot, and if book two is the same then I think it would’ve served a better purpose to combine the stories.

I’m not that good at keeping up with sequels because there’s often quite a bit of time between books, so if it’s not a trilogy, and the two books are really small, why not combine?

“I checked the commons again, this time looking for other absences. On the stairs that skirted up around the commons stood members of the council, but fewer than there should have been. The judge wasn’t among them. Nor was her son.”

A.J Betts’ writing is detailed, descriptive but also really evocative. She has a real talent with words, and crafting effortless prose that just flows.

The novel does have dark elements, exploring a woman’s role to conceive children so that the society can keep growing. Hive reminded me of The Handmaid’s Tale in many ways.

The protagonist, Hayley, is inquisitive and wide-eyed. She’s innocent, but she’s also smart. She knows it’s not safe to express her curiosities to other people in the community. They won’t believe her. They’ll think she’s ‘mad’ and mentally unstable. So, she spends her time solo — searching and trying to confirm her suspicions about where she’s been living her whole life.

“We all wanted marriage. We all wanted to be the right age at the right time, wearing flowers in our hair and red balm on our lips. We all wanted to take our turn with the gold ring and the white dress that had been worn by every girl since the first days, handed down from generation to generation.”

With poetic writing and an intriguing plot, Hive will appeal to all readers. It asks many questions about what it means to alive.

Thank you to the publisher for mailing me a review copy in exchange for an honest review.

Hive
A.J Betts
July 2018
Pan Macmillan Australia

The Peacock Summer by Hannah Richell

At twenty-six, Lillian feels ancient and exhausted. Her marriage to Charles Oberon has not turned out the way she thought it would. To her it seems she is just another beautiful object captured within the walls of Cloudesley, her husband’s Chilterns manor house.

But, with a young step-son and a sister to care for, Lillian accepts there is no way out for her. Then Charles makes an arrangement with an enigmatic artist visiting their home and her world is turned on its head.

Maggie Oberon ran from the hurt and resentment she caused. Half a world away, in Australia, it was easier to forget, to pretend she didn’t care. But when her grandmother, Lillian, falls ill she must head back to Cloudesley. Forced to face her past, she will learn that all she thought was real, all that she held so close, was never as it seemed.

The Peacock Summer by Hannah Richell is a compelling story of secrets, betrayals and the consequences of a long-ago summer.

Maggie leaves Australia and returns home to Cloudesley to help her ailing grandmother, and when she learns that her grandmother is in serious debt, she does all she can to save the house. She could sell the land and the property, but she knows how much the manor means to her grandmother. Additionally, Maggie runs into an old boyfriend and she is forced to confront her past.

“She avoids him for two days. Or perhaps he avoids her. Either way, it is a relief not to come upon him in the immediacy of her embarrassing blunder. She busies herself with menus and staffing arrangements.”

The Peacock Summer switches back and forth between Lillian as a young woman in 1955, and Maggie in present day as she tries to restore Cloudesley. Lillian is trapped in an abusive marriage, until she meets the charming and handsome Jack Fincher.

Like many historical fiction novels, The Peacock Summer is a story about lost love, heartache, sacrifice, and family secrets travelling through generations.

“It had become the pattern in their lives: Albie blowing in and out like a leaf on the wind, and the mother she had once known featuring in only the most distant echoes of memories and dreams.”

The cover design of this book is exquisite, and the inside filled with emotion and heartache. The language is evocative and the characters engaging. The lives of Lillian and Maggie do parallel each other and in many ways, they’re similar women.

Both women are flawed. Maggie runs away from difficult decisions, and finds it tough to confront her mistakes, and Lillian always seems to be looking for an excuse not to make a difficult choice, even if it’s the right choice.

Readers will sympathise for both women in the novel, and they’ll find comfort in the close relationships that Hannah has captured. In particular, the relationship between Lillian and her stepson Albie, and of course Maggie and Lillian.

“The further they get from Cloud Green, the more she feels her shoulders relax and her jaw unclench. Away from the flower show, she can feel the mantel of her public self being cast off like a scarf tossed to the wind. It is a relief to be free from the intense scrutiny of the village.”

It’s fascinating to read the timeline from both POV, because it shows you how incorrect someone’s judgment can be. Maggie views Lillian and Charles’ relationship to be one of great, mad love. But she’s misunderstood, and it’s only as we make our way through the novel we realise just how wrong Maggie is. And Maggie realises it too — the pedestal she’d been holding that relationship on was misguided and incorrect.

Despite it being predictable how Lillian and Jack’s relationship would end, I did find myself really invested in their storyline. The mysterious art in the nursery allowed for an element of intrigue and suspense, whilst also putting a timeframe on Lillian and Jack’s love. It made the reader want to keep reading. We could sense the looming deadline, and we want to know how Hannah will deliver the ending.

As hard as I tried, I just wasn’t interested in Maggie’s storyline. She’s a caring granddaughter, desperately trying to hold on to her grandmother’s home. But, I just didn’t connect with her and the scandalous breakup with her ex-boyfriend. I was far more invested in Lillian’s story, and her relationship with the men in the Cloudesley estate.

I’d recommend this to readers of historical fiction. It contains the overused but popular dual timeline of granddaughter and grandmother, and closely kept family secrets, but it’s an interesting and compelling read.

Thank you to the publisher for mailing me a review copy in exchange for an honest review.

The Peacock Summer
Hannah Richell
July 2018
Hachette Book Publishers Australia

Dear Mrs Bird by AJ Pearce

London, 1940. Emmeline Lake and her best friend Bunty are trying to stay cheerful despite the Luftwaffe making life thoroughly annoying for everyone. Emmy dreams of becoming a Lady War Correspondent and when she spots a job advertisement in the newspaper she seizes her chance – but after a rather unfortunate misunderstanding, she finds herself typing letters for the formidable Henrietta Bird, the renowned agony aunt of Woman’s Friend magazine.

Mrs Bird is very clear: letters containing any form of Unpleasantness must go straight into the bin. Emmy finds herself dismissing problems from lovelorn, grief-stricken and morally conflicted readers in favour of those who fear their ankles are unsightly or have trouble untangling lengths of wool. But soon the thought of desperate women going unanswered becomes too much to bear and Emmy decides the only thing for it is to secretly write back . . .

Dear Mrs. Bird by AJ Pearce is a warm, moving, funny tale about female friendship, courage, heroism and life in in 1940s wartime.

Emmeline Lake is a plucky young girl who desperately wants a career as a Lady War Correspondent. She’s determined and she’s confident, and she’s hired by Woman’s Friend magazine to help Henrietta Bird type letters to her readers. It’s not her ideal job, but it’s a start. The problem is that Henrietta doesn’t like ‘unpleasantness’ and so Emmeline is forced to discard the majority of the letters that they receive.

“She won’t. Oh, Bunts, you should see some of them,” I said. I really wanted her to understand. “They’re so sad. People are ever so worried about things — you’ve just said yourself about the war. Everyone’s trying their best, but some of them are in a fix. And Mrs. Bird just throws their problems in the bin. It’s not fair.”

Dear Mrs. Bird puts women in the foreground — it sheds a refreshing light on the women of wartime.

Emmeline is moved by the stories she’s hearing, and the women who are reaching out for help. Emmeline has a kind heart and wants to help others, and I think a lot of readers will find her a thoroughly enjoyable protagonist.

Dear Mrs. Bird is a really touching tale. The friendship between Emmeline and Bunty is really beautiful, and its their chemistry that drives this novel. The war does not consume these ladies’ lives — they’re concerned, yes, and cautious, but they’re also career-driven and they’re seeking a fulfilled life.

This book was (surprisingly) a favourite of mine. I loved Emmeline’s voice and her determination, and I loved the wonderful cast of characters that AJ Pearce has created.

“On nights when there wasn’t a raid, we were allowed to sleep in the volunteer room so we’d sit on our bunk beds and drink cocoa and talk nonsense. And on the nights when the raids were bad, if we had any breaks we’d talk nonsense even more to take out minds off it. Finding me a husband was perfect on that front.”

Unfortunately, the pacing is rather inconsistent — the first half of the book is really slow-moving, with the reader unsure where the story is headed. The romances are drawn out. However, the final third of the book is where most of the action happens. There’s heartbreak and tragedy and Emmeline and Bunty’s lives are turned upside down.

And then everything is resolved in a short amount of time. I think the first half of the book could’ve been trimmed or quickened, and the climax of the novel could’ve been drawn out a little more so that the reader didn’t feel like everything was moving too fast.

“In the middle of Europe being battered by a derange madman and Britain doing its best to keep the hope of a free world alive, the three of us were playing like children in the snow. For these moments it was as if nothing had changed from a time when everything was simple and Mother and Father could make anything horrid just go away.”

I’d recommend this to those of you who love women’s fiction — romance, rural romance, historical fiction. Dear Mrs. Bird is moving and fun, but it’s also got a lot of heart and romance as well. This is a story you’ll devour.

Thank you to the publisher for mailing me a review copy in exchange for an honest review.

Dear Mrs. Bird
AJ Pearce
April 2018
Pan Macmillan Publishers

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