Emboldened by Belinda Alexandra

 

I love autobiography and biography, and Emboldened is a combination of both. In this very interesting book Belinda Alexandra talks about being emboldened herself and then, through the pages, she tells the stories of four emboldened women: her mother, Tatiana Morosoff; the Second World War spy, Virginia Hall;  the great flamenco dancer, Carmen Anaya; and Edna Walling, the famous landscape designer. They all became emboldened when they chose their paths through life which Belinda did also when she emerged from a shattering experience determined to regain control of her own destiny.

Belinda’s mother and grandmother came to Australia from China as White Russian refugees and Belinda absorbed their culture, as well  as that of her Australian father. She was a strong, independent girl who travelled much of the world by herself, always knowing that she would  eventually achieve her ambition to become a writer one day. Something happened to destabilise her and this book deals with how Belinda coped with that part of her life.

The biographies within the book are all of inspirational women. By a strange coincidence, the night before I started reading Emboldened I watched a film in which the two principal characters were Virginia Hall and Vera Atkinson. I realise now that the film was a condensed version of Virginia’s wartime experiences but it did touch on important aspects of her life. I was picturing the actress as I read today!

This is a most unusual book and the combination of autobiography and biography works very well. I congratulate Belinda Alexander and highly recommend Emboldened to lovers of thoughtful literature.

Published by Affirm Press

The Coast by Eleanor Limprecht

 

This moving, utterly stunning novel tells the story of some of the patients at the leper colony which was attached to The Coast Hospital at Little Bay, Sydney, in the early years of the twentieth century.

I am now ashamed of my ignorance about leprosy, having believed (if I thought about it at all) that leprosy was a highly contagious disease and sufferers had to live in isolation. In fact, leprosy “…comes from a bacteria. Most of the population is not susceptible, but it seems that susceptibility is inherited……” which the intelligent, compassionate Doctor Will Stegner understands completely as he administers to his patients.

 Alice and Guy are central to the story and their lives before The Coast are described in brilliant, evocative detail, telling of the hardships they had both endured. They are sad but compelling stories but they are also stories of love, and hope, and I found it almost impossible to put the book down. Alice, Guy, Clea and Will became real to me and are going to stay with me for a long while.

Although  fictional, The Coast surely represents accurately life in those times under those conditions. Leprosy sufferers were treated with fear and revulsion; Aboriginal soldiers in their World War 1 uniforms were allowed to drink in pubs but, out of uniform and not identifying as servicemen, they were not; and homosexuals had to keep their identities secret. 

I’ve tried hard here not to give away any of the story while at the same time wanting to encourage people to read Eleanor Limprecht’s heartbreakingly beautiful book. 

Definitely 5 out of 5!

Published by Allen & Unwin

An Afterlife for Rosemary Lamb by Louise Wolhuter

 

I have just read a truly magnificent book! An Afterlife for Rosemary Lamb is about people with secrets; people with pasts; people whose present lives are overshadowed by their pasts.

Winifred is a small town on the mid-Queensland coast and the story centres on the inhabitants of nearby Magpie Beach: Rosemary is married to Eddie whose family own the butcher shop in Winifred; Meg lives alone since the death of her partner, Sonny; and Lily and her husband, Norman, who is suffering from dementia, live in a house overlooking the ocean.

Rosemary initiates a friendship with Meg and eventually Lily joins them.

A nine year old girl has gone missing from the town and police have been unable to find any clues pointing to where she has gone or who has taken her.

These are the bones of a dark, complex, fascinating story. Pasts are delved into, secrets are uncovered and people are not who they appear to be. Louise Wolhuter’s writing is beautiful, lyrical, and I found myself reading the same page twice in a lot of places. There are twists and turns and shocking revelations as the plot unravels.

Think Tim Winton with punctuation: that is about as close as I can get to describing this book. I would recommend it to anyone who loves mystery stories, insightful character studies, and generally becoming totally immersed in evocative, atmospheric story telling.

Published by Ultimo Press.