The Minuscule Mansion of Myra Malone by Audrey Burges

 

I’m about to contradict myself so here goes: I don’t like fantasies and I don’t read fantasies; however, I have just read a fantasy and I loved it. Myra Malone is a recluse; she spends her days in her mother’s attic with a minuscule mansion - not a doll’s house, as she insists. She constantly redecorates the rooms, collecting and making tiny pieces of furniture. Gwen, Myra’s friend since childhood, has encouraged Myra to blog about the mansion and she has a large, devoted following of people who try to recreate some of her rooms in their own houses, as well as sending Myra miniature pieces of furniture themselves.

The magical mystery element of the story involves Alex, scion of “a respected, blue-blooded family”, whose fortune is in their furniture stores. Alex has come home from China, where he was teaching in a private school, to help his father who has been diagnosed with cancer. He has taken up temporary residence in the family’s mansion; there is a portrait of his paternal grandmother on the wall but he has no real memory of her.

A complicated, utterly fascinating story emerges, moving backward and forward in time and told from differing viewpoints. There was mystery and fantasy but enough realism for me to remain enchanted, which I think is the right word here, through to the lovely ending.

I recommend The Minuscule Mansion of Myra Malone to admirers of creative, imaginative writing. Simply put, Audrey Burges has a wonderful way with words. 

5 out of 5 from me!

Published by Macmillan

Exiles by Jane Harper

 

Aaron Falk is visiting in the South Australian wine growing region so from the outset you have an enduring, attractive character in a beautiful part of the world. The story is absolutely riveting: a mysterious disappearance which has been investigated thoroughly still hasn’t been solved twelve months later and it starts to play on Falk’s mind. The friends he is visiting are at a total loss regarding what happened to Kim and why her baby daughter was abandoned in a safe spot at the annual wine festival.

Falk has met a woman and his sweetness and vulnerability are utterly charming. I love the the atmosphere Jane Harper creates around them. After living through the trauma caused by a natural disaster for the past three months I could feel, and was grateful for, the peace and happiness flowing from those scenes in the book. What brilliant writing!

It was such a good, satisfying mystery. I thought I had worked out the who and possibly the why, but I couldn’t figure out the how. There was a second mystery waiting to be solved as well and for that I hadn’t come up with a who, why or how, which is always a good way to be.

I’m going to come right out and say it: this is Jane Harper’s best book ever! I humbly offer a 5 out of 5 rating.

Published by Pan Macmillan

Fling by Joseph Murray

 

I once knew a couple who had three failed attempts at IVF. The emotional toll was heavy on both of them but the wife was physically exhausted as well. When Fling opens, Tara and Colin have just been told that their third attempt has failed and, rather than recognising Tara’s utter distress, Colin insists that they start again. I had no sympathy at all for him after that.

There then follows what could have been a sweet, cute, warm and funny story. I never give the plot line away but the middle section of the book involves people sending crude text messages to each other, when emotionally intuitive understanding is what should have worked.

There are lovely passages throughout the book and it would have worked better, for me, if they had predominated. Take out the unrealistic, insensitive bits and it is a nice story.

I think about three and a half for the clever, often funny dialogue and the occasional glimmers of empathy.

Published by Pan Macmillan

House of Diamonds by Amber Jakeman

 

Stella is talented and ambitious and has a clear plan for what she wants to do with her life. Stella and her sister, Jeannie, had an unsettled childhood with their single, free wheeling mother who moved from town to town and man to man causing both girls to look for stability when they began taking charge of their own destinies.

There are two main themes to this story: one deals with the very real form of bullying that is the taking away of a person’s  self-worth. It is easily enough done when one partner in what appears to be a mutual relationship begins, subtly at first, to change the rules. 

The second theme is following a dream and Stella, whose supreme artistic talent for creating beautiful jewellery, as well as her perfect pitch in knowing what people want, is well equipped to make her dream a reality. It’s not easy and how Stella deals with all aspects of her life make for compulsive reading.

Of course, this is a contemporary romantic novel and there is a man who may or may not share a future with Stella.

There are some beautiful locations throughout the story from Sydney’s Bondi to the New South Wales Southern Highlands; from Provence to Las Vegas.

This is above all a love story with a strong message about the importance of trust. I enjoyed reading it immensely and will look for more of Amber Jakeman’s books.

Published by Lorikeet Press.

The Resemblance by Lauren Nossett

 

The Resemblance is narrated by Detective Marlitt Kaplan, a different character than is usually seen in a crime novel. Marlitt is an introspective young woman who, in not consciously revealing much about herself, allows the reader to fill in a lot of the blanks. She was an only child and carries with her a loneliness and a sadness having lost the best friend she thought of as her brother. She isn't interested in her own appearance, but I would have liked a description inferred somehow so I could picture her for myself.

Marlitt comes upon the scene of a fatal hit and run in the university town of Athens, Georgia where her mother is a professor, which she suspects may not have been accidental.  This leads her with her partner, Teddy, to investigate a fraternity of which the victim was a member and it soon becomes obvious that there are dark secrets to uncover.

Marlitt's history with the university as well as her personal problems force her to carry on the investigation against all odds and the story becomes more mysterious and thrilling with every twist and turn.

This is a terrific detective story which will require your full concentration.  Marlitt is a one-of-a-kind with her personal history, investigative skills and fearless determination, and I hope Laure Nossett has left a space for her to crawl through to make a reappearance.

Published by Macmillan

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Broad River Station by Fleur McDonald

 

Lovely! A new book featuring Detective Dave Burrows. Fleur McDonald’s characters are always relatable because they radiate authenticity; a new one, Mia, a newly graduated constable in her first posting to the Broad River police station, comes up against prejudice which she has to find a way to deal with, while at the same time coping with her beloved grandmother’s descent into dementia. 

Outback South Australia comes alive once more under Fleur McDonald’s guidance. Mia does exceptionally well with her first serious assignment at Broad River, where she also meets Dave Burrows. A child has gone missing and Dave’s is one of  the stations which has been called on to join in the search. Fortunately, and coincidentally, she soon finds herself in Barker working with Dave in trying to solve an outback mystery involving agricultural sabotage.

Fleur’s lived experiences of farming in South and Western Australia provide the inspiration for her books and make them believable. She deserves her reputation as one of Australia’s top novelists.

Published by Allen & Unwin

The Soulmate by Sally Hepworth

 

The tension is exquisite in this brilliantly plotted novel. Pippa and Gabe have bought a house in a prime position above a beach, and with a magnificent view of the ocean. They gradually come to realise that the reason they could afford to live in this area is that their house has been built close to The Drop, a location which is favoured by people wanting to commit suicide. Gabe becomes something of a hero for having prevented seven would-be jumpers; however, he fails to save the eighth, Amanda, and questions arise about what happened exactly on the cliff top.

The story is told intriguingly in alternating chapters by Pippa and Amanda, headed Before, Now and After. It kept me in its thrall from the first page to the last. Both Pippa and Amanda experience changes in their relationships with their respective husbands over the time of the story and it becomes clear that the lives of all the characters are intertwined. 

I couldn’t put this book down once I had started it. Its great appeal is in its difference. Pippa and Amanda both had expectations from the lives they had chosen but neither of them could have foreseen the eventual outcomes of those lives.

There is a very clever twist to the story which remains darkly mysterious to the end. There are a lot of great Australian writers and Sally Hepworth is one of the best.

Published by Pan Macmillan Australia