From Nuns to Ladies of the Night and a Hyped-Up Book That Didn't Work For Me: A Bookish Round-Up

It's been a while since I've done a roundup of all the books I've been reading, so I thought I'd share a few book recommendations with you in this week's post. Hopefully I don't make your TBR pile grow too much larger than it already is!

While we’re on the subject of all things bookish, my Australian publisher would like your help! They’re doing a survey right now about people’s reading habits, what you like in book covers, what kinds of stories you like to read—and by completing the survey, you go in the draw to win one of 20 x $100 book vouchers thanks to QBD Books! (I’m sorry but the survey is only open to Australian residents). So please help us by sharing your opinions in the survey. Just click the button below to begin.

Win Confessions of a Grammar Queen

Before we get onto my reading roundup, I’m giving away a copy of my friend Eliza Knight’s upcoming novel, Confessions of a Grammar Queen! Set in the dynamic world of 1960s New York publishing, this story follows savvy, ambitious Bernadette Swift—who has one goal: to become the first female publishing CEO in a world where no woman has ever held that power.

I was lucky enough to read an early copy and I loved it. It reminded me of Lessons in Chemistry—but set in the world of books, which is the best combination! If you’d like to win, you just have to leave a comment on this post. Click the “Leave a Comment” button at the bottom of the newsletter to do so. Entries close 29 May at midday AWST. Good luck!

Now, onto my reading roundup!

By Her Hand by Marion Taffe

First up is a historical novel that I knew very little about other than it had a gorgeous cover. I happened to be in my local bookshop, the divine Open Book in Mosman Park, signing some copies of my own novel and I asked them what they'd read recently that they'd really loved. The bookseller mentioned By Her Hand and then made a joke about nun-lit being big right now‚ which I guess it is!

I read Lauren Groff’s The Matrix a couple of years ago and loved it, much to my surprise, because I would never have thought (as a very much lapsed Catholic) that I'd be interested. But there’s something about the physically claustrophobic yet intellectually expansive way of life experienced by centuries-ago nuns that makes for fascinating reading.

Marion Taffe tackles pre-England England, a country constantly at war and occupied by different and competing factions from across Europe. In the earlier parts of the novel, we’re treated to a glimpse into village life in the tenth century through the eyes of a young girl named Freda, our main character. A brutal and bloody raid on the village leaves her without any family and that's how she ends up at a convent, training to be a nun. The story centres around this young woman's experiences as both a nun and a budding writer. Not a writer in the traditional sense that we use the word, but a woman trained to copy verses in beautiful script.

If I've made all of this sound rather dour, I apologise. The book is quite fabulous. It's the combination of history, plus the insight into both the vulnerabilities and the power of this group of young women at the convent, as well as a main character whose side you're always, on that makes for a novel I loved from start to finish. For all my non-Australian resident subscribers, I'm not sure if By Her Hand is available outside Australia. If it is, you should definitely try to get hold of a copy.

The Safekeep by Yael van der Wouden

This was one of those books I'd seen around on various Substacks; it was receiving mostly glowing reviews, so I thought I’d give it a try. And I’m very glad I did because it was another glorious surprise.

The story begins about 15 years after the end of the WWII in a house on the outskirts of a Netherlandish town occupied by a young woman named Isabel, who lives quite a solitary life. Her two brothers live in a nearby town and her parents are no longer alive. Isabel is a tightly wound coil of emotions; her upbringing, her mother, her femaleness, and her era have made her keep herself very much check. Into this mix comes another young woman named Eva, girlfriend to Isabel’s brother. Eva is left at the house as a kind of companion to Isabel when Isabel’s brother goes to London for work.

Initially, Isabel is tyrannically hostile to Eva, absolutely resistant to sharing her home with anybody. She’s incredibly protective of the contents of the house, always making lists about what items are in the cupboards and on the shelves, marking off every time she thinks one of these items goes missing. At first it seems like a peculiar obsession, as if she’s looking to find some way to place blame on her house guest, but is perhaps only imagining that the items are gone. There’s a sense of something unsettling having happened in the past—and of course it did; the war was only fifteen years ago.

This first part of the book rewards patience. It’s a story that unfurls gently around you the deeper you get into it. When the two young women break through their initial enmity and start to become quite close, the story changes direction. You’re suddenly reading a very intimate and up close account of a forbidden relationship. Then the author pulls the rug out from under you, with what isn’t a twist, but rather the bedrock of the story. To say any more would be to give too much away. All I can say is that this is another one you need to add to your TBR pile now.

Broken Country by Claire Leslie Hall

I've been having more luck with hyped-up books of late than I usually do, so I decided to read this one because the premise sounded particularly interesting. It has a great set up—husband and wife Frank and Beth see one of their lambs killed right before their eyes by a neighbour's dog. Frank’s brother Jimmy shoots the dog before it can kill any more lambs, and then it transpires that the dog is owned by the son of Beth’s teenage love Gabriel. As you can imagine, all kinds of complications ensue.

The first chapter was one of the best first chapters I've read in quite some time and I hoped the rest of the book would be able to measure up to that standard. Initially it did. I was having to hold myself back from skipping ahead to see what happened next, which was made all the more interesting by the fact that there are some trial scenes inserted into the narrative. All we know is that one of the male characters has died and another of the male characters is being tried for murder. But we don't know the identify of the accused or the victim.

However, there are a couple of fairly clunky turning points that really need to work for the rest of the story to pay off. They didn’t quite work for me. The first of those is the reason behind the teenage lovers splitting—and this isn’t a spoiler because we know from the outset that they break up. It felt like a really trivial miscommunication that, had Gabriel really loved Beth as much as he professed to, or vice versa, one of them would have resolved. That made it hard for me to buy into their rekindled “love” some ten years later. And I think that’s where the story began to go awry for me as everything that follows depends upon this.

There’s no doubt that Hall is a good writer and she can definitely put together a gripping narrative. I just wish she’d dug a little deeper in a couple of places so we could really feel why the characters behaved the way they did.

Have you read this one? What did you think? Most people seem to love it, judging by the buzz online, so I think I’m in the minority here!

The Butterfly Women by Madeleine Cleary

Another historical novel; I’ve read a lot of historicals over the past month or so! Once again, I’m not sure if this one is available outside Australia, so apologies if not.

This is Cleary’s debut novel and it’s a good one. The story journeys through Melbourne’s notorious brothels in the mid-1800s and takes us into the lives of the women who not only worked at those brothels, but who relied on them for their survival. Throw in a murder mystery, and a policewoman ahead of her time, and you have all the ingredients for a great story.

The opening chapters are especially good and work well to immerse readers immediately into life in the most grimy, sleazy, and rather terrifying part of the city. I understand the story is inspired by Cleary’s ancestors, which makes it even more compelling. And I learned a thing or two along the way, which is what I especially love about historical novels.

Before Dorothy by Hazel Gaynor

This one is coming in July, so it’s for your preorder list, rather than one you can go straight out and buy, which I think you’re going to want to do. As the title suggests, we’re delving into the world created by L. Frank Baum in The Wonderful Wizard of Oz—but the story is Auntie Em’s. Isn’t that a fabulous idea for a novel? I do love a book that riffs off another story by reimagining secondary characters or moving the bones of an existing story into another setting or time period. But of course you have to be careful—you don’t want to mess with what readers already love.

Well, Gaynor has delivered an imaginative tour-de-force. In Before Dorothy, Auntie Em becomes a character as vividly alive as Dorothy's iconic red shoes. Readers are taken into the hearts and minds of the Gale family in the years before the tornado plunges Dorothy into the Land of Oz. We’re right there with Auntie Em, sharing her grief and her fears when she collects orphaned Dorothy from her sister’s house in Chicago and takes her back to the unfamiliar plains of Kansas.

I both loved the subtle references to our favorite creatures and characters from Oz, who are cleverly reinvented in this novel, and the way Gaynor paints a picture of 1930s Kansas, which is peopled by dreamers and pragmatists. These people, including Auntie Em and Uncle Henry, are at the mercy of the financial and social catastrophes of the time, as well as being at the mercy of the landscape and the tornadoes, all of which collide in ways we don’t expect. Ultimately, it’s a book about hope, courage and family in which Gaynor takes an ingenious idea and transforms it into a story that will enchant readers everywhere.

Book Bargain

If you haven’t read my novel The Paris Seamstress, then those of you in Australia might like to know that it’s available right now for just $4.99 in ebook. Limited time only; get it while you can! Happy reading!

Short and Sweet

• The recording of my video event with the Prince George’s County Office of Human Rights, where I spoke about Marie-Madeleine Fourcade, heroine of my latest novel, The Mademoiselle Alliance, is now available to watch.

• If you’d like some more book recommendations, I recently put together this list of books about WWII that I’ve loved, and which span some of the less well-known theatres of war. And if you love fashion books as much as I do, BookBub published this great list of novels that feature seamstresses and dressmakers.

• I was recently interviewed on the podcast Talking Aussie Books, where we discussed my writing career, my latest novel, The Mademoiselle Alliance, and lots more. You can listen here.

• Upcoming events: catch me at Gertrude & Alice in Sydney on 24 July at 7pm for a fun evening of conversation. Tickets available here. Or you can see me at Bannisters at Mollymook for a long table lunch on 25 July at 12.30pm. Tickets for this gorgeous event here.

• Writing workshop: I’m reprising my popular On Writing workshop at Wanneroo Library in August. Two workshops on August 2 & 9. Hope you can join me. This sold out super fast last year, but I’m telling you guys first! Tickets here.

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Since today’s newsletter is book-focussed, I’d love to hear from you in the comments about what you’re reading right now, or what you’ve read lately that you’ve loved, or if you’ve read any of the books I’ve mentioned and what you thought. See you in the comments!