Staff Book Reviews

The Gallow's Bird by Barbara Sumner
 
The main character of Barbara Sumner’s historical novel is ‘Birdie’, also known as Hannah Bird, who takes a job as a laundry maid in London in 1838, believing that the family employing her may very well be the same one that threw her mother out on the street. Believing that she is above the work that has been given to her, Birdie roams the house where she works through secret passages intended to help servants move about unseen. She covets the beautiful life of the daughter of the house, believing the girl to be her cousin. Forced to live in dire circumstances while her employers wear fine clothing and eat rich and sumptuous foods, Birdie grows increasingly bitter. She is an easy target for a gang of thieves looking to round out their number, and after their ill-planned heist turns deadly, she soon finds herself heartbroken and imprisoned, about to be transported to the other side of the world – Australia.
 
On the sea journey to the penal colony of New South Wales, Birdie bonds with her fellow prisoners and learns just what kind of hardness will be required of her to make it in her new life. Based on the real stories of female convicts, Barbara Sumner has built a tale of strength, resilience, endurance and friendship that pays tribute to the women who were sent to the other side of the world for crimes such as stealing something to eat for their starving children—children who they would never see again.
 
An epic, sweeping tale, this book has moments of beauty and brutality, and covers a fascinating chapter in Australia’s history from an often overlooked point of view. Fans of Meg Keneally will enjoy this debut book (twenty years in the making) by Barbara Sumner.

 
Reviewed by Emily, Librarian

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Welcome to the Hyunam-Dong Bookshop by Hwang Bo-Reum

A reflective story which explores the small things in life and will leave you full of hope knowing it is never too late for a fresh start.
 
Welcome to Hyunam-Dong Bookshop revolves around Yeongju, who is burnt out by the demands of modern life.  In an attempt to recentre herself decides to follow her lifelong dream of opening a bookstore. There, she meets and warms to different characters from the neighbourhood. She hires a barista, Minjun, who is also going through a difficult time in his life. Unable to find a job, Minjun is disillusioned with society and its expectations. Running the bookshop together, Yeongju and Minjun grow to enjoy each other's quiet company and find purpose within their community.
 
The writing in Welcome to Hyunam-Dong Bookshop is gentle and evenly paced. I enjoy Yeongju's musings about books and life's 'big questions'. I find myself pondering about what defines success, the importance of human connections and how to derive happiness from the mundane. 
 
As Yeongju says, "To read is to see things from someone else's perspective, and that naturally leads you to stop and look out for other people, rather than chase after success in the rat race. If more people read, I think the world would become a better place." 
 
Welcome to Hyunam-Dong Bookshop gives us a peek into the lives of regular people and shows us how much difference empathy and kindness between strangers can make. If you are looking for a cozy fiction without mystery and romance, definitely try this one.
 
If you enjoyed this book, try: Days At Morisaki Bookshop by Satoshi Yagisawa, Yeonnam-dong's Smiley Laundromat by Kim Jiyun and The Restaurant of Lost Recipes by Hisashi Kashiwai. 
 
Review by Pearline – Library Customer Experience Officer 

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The Thinning by Inga Simpson

A powerful, atmospheric dystopian set in the near future as the world is on the brink of environmental collapse.
 
The natural world is collapsing. The Great Barrier Reef has died. The Great Artisan Basin is contaminated beyond hope, mass extinctions are common and human fertility rates are falling. 
 
The Thinning follows Fin, the daughter of astronomers, who witnesses the stars fading as the night sky becomes brighter with light pollution. Fin and her family are fighting to adapt to the drastically changing world when they discover the government has a plan for all females of reproductive age to be subject to fertility testing. To avoid this fate, Fin is pulled out of school and the family escape into the bush. Scraping through life in an off-grid community, they mix with other climate refuges including Incompletes, a new genus of humans evolved for life indoors staring at screens. 
 
Fin’s mother sends Fin and another teen, Terry, an Incomplete, on a secret mission trekking through the bush to observe a solar eclipse, during which they must send a laser signal back to the camp. Not only must the pair struggle through the inhospitable bush and the punishing tertian, they must also evade the authorities hunting Terry. The journey through the ancient landscape affects Fin, causing flashbacks to her childhood in Warrumbungle National Park and the Pilliga forest. After experiencing the eclipse, Fin asks the profound question: “What if we could see a way to make a new world, where all beings, no matter how fragile, could thrive?”
 
The Thinning is a thought-provoking dystopian page turner which captures the beauty of the Australian landscape and our unique night sky. Fans of Tim Winton’s Juice will love this book.

Reviewed by Chris, Business Support Officer

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The Promise by Damon Galgut

With the Booker Prize recently being awarded to Samantha Harvey for Orbital, it’s a good time to read this gem that you might have missed.
 
In 2021 it was third time lucky for Damon Galgut, when his third novel to be listed for the Booker, The Promise, saw him awarded the famed prize.
 
In The Promise, Galgut tells a story based on the life and travails of an Afrikaans family spanning the decades from the 80s through to 2018. The Swart family farm is outside of Pretoria and the story opens with youngest child Amor being brought back to the farm from boarding school on the tragic death of her mother. As Amor observes the family maid, Salome, cleaning her mother’s room, she recalls the final conversation she heard between her parents the last time she was home visiting with them – her father agreeing, promising, that he would sign over to Salome the small home on the property where she has always lived.
 
As the years pass by, the promise remains unfulfilled and Amor’s disillusionment with her family grows alongside her alienation from events taking place in her country.
 
This novel is written in an unusual and clever narrative style which together with the character development and historical context made it a truly memorable read.

Reviewed by Christy, Collection Development Librarian

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The Girl with the Violin by Shelley Davidow

An ode to grandparents and resilience in generations past and present.
 
20 year-old Australian Susanna Friedman has just completed a private violin lesson with her esteemed instructor Stefan Heinemeyer at his apartment when they hear a report that the Berlin wall has fallen. Stefan can’t quite believe the news and insists that they must go and see it for themselves. And so begins a relationship between the two that changes the course of their lives forever.
 
I don’t want to give away too much of the plot as it was the not knowing where Susanna’s life was going next that kept me reading. The writing is evocative of both time and place, as the novel spans the decades from 1989 to 2019 moving between Berlin and Australia and has a languid pace which I enjoyed. I looked forward to picking this book up again at any opportunity.
 
Themes abound in this novel that stem from the author’s own life, which gives rise to complete, realistic characters. Susanna is only 20, young and inexperienced. Stefan is 37, worldly and successful. Susanna is Jewish, her maternal grandmother an activist killed in the Buchenwald camp. Her grandfather fled to Australia while her mother was still a baby. Stefan is German, grandson of a Nazi. When it seems music is their only connection, their pasts are also revealed to be more closely connected than they could have imagined.
 
The complex nature of love, and the role of one’s own identity within relationships are explored in the context of Susanna’s life as daughter, wife, lover and mother. There’s lots to discuss here – would recommend as a book club choice.

Review by Christy, Collection Development Librarian

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