Category: Reviews

Book review: Apples Never Fall by Liane Moriarty

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Apples Never Fall is Liane Moriarty’s ninth adult novel. She’s also known for Big Little Lies and Nine Perfect Strangers, both adapted for television.

Aging tennis star couple Joy and Stan Delaney have been married for 50 years. The couple have a passionate marriage as well as a few lingering resentments, including that none of their children became tennis stars. Now retired after selling their tennis business the couple lack purpose. Their four adult children – laid back Logan, blue haired Amy, flashy Troy and migraine suffering Brooke – are all independent but childless and Joy really wants to be a grandmother.

Each time she fell out of love with him, he saw it happen and waited it out. He never stopped loving her, even those times when he felt deeply hurt and betrayed by her, even in that bad year when they talked about separating, he’d just gone along with it, waiting for her to come back to him, thanking God and his dad up above each time she did.

When a young woman turns up at their door distressed and bruised, Joy and Stan take her in. Supposedly escaping an abusive boyfriend, Savannah ingratiates herself with the aging couple. Joy’s own children are unsettled by the young woman.

We’re all on our own. Even when you’re surrounded by people, or sharing a bed with a loving lover, you’re alone.

Then the day before her 70th birthday, Joy disappears, her phone is found under the marital bed and Savannah is nowhere to be found. Stan becomes a suspect due to unusual scratches on his face, despite his protestations they were caused by a hedge. Two of their children think Stan is innocent, two are not so sure. The police need to find out what really happened and the family are frustrating to deal with.

She found that the less she thought, the more often she found simple truths appearing right in front of her.

The story gradually unfolds as Moriarty takes the reader back and forth in time revealing the very three dimensional character’s secrets, regrets and hopes. Apples Never Fall is a family saga filled with bickering, alignments, competitiveness, failed expectations and small resentments. An especially good story for tennis fans.

As her grandfather used to say, “Never spoil a good story with the facts.

Comedy review: Meaty Sue’s Big Farma

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Sunny Youngsmith returns to the Melbourne International Comedy Festival with their new solo show, Meaty Sue’s Big Farma. It’s a sketch comedy with the bogan of the abattoir, Meaty Sue. Join them on this pork-tacular adventure.

Youngsmith delivers a serve of meaty madness as Sue, leading the audience on a behind the scenes jaunt of the family’s meat processing business – an ‘abattour’.

There’s music, there’s dancing, there’s gloves (!), and Big Farma may not be who we thought they were.

You’ll get an original peek into the strange and surreal goings on at the farm that will help you affirm your vegetarian choices in this beefy comedy of errors.

The show is a riotous roller coaster ride as Sunny brings to life the awkward, loveable and very vegan friendly Meaty Sue.

You can get a peek at Meaty Sue’s Big Farma absurdity and a have a pre-show giggle on Instagram.

The Butterly Club in Carson Place is an old favourite of mine as a performance venue. Intimate and quirky – they host some great shows and make very tasty cocktails. I can also recommend Little Ramen Bar west up Little Collins if you’d like a bite before or after the show.

Meaty Sue’s Big Farma runs till 21st April as part of Melbourne International Comedy Festival – grab a ticket from The Butterfly Club.

It reminds me of a sign I saw in the window of a country town butcher years ago: Private bodies catered for…

Comedy review: The John Wilkes Booth

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Get to Doubletree by Hilton early for a drink at the bar and to soak up the atmosphere before riding the elevator up to level 1 and being shown to a private room by a French waiter. It’s a French restaurant of sorts – Rue de Toilette in West Heidelberg.

A tall stetson wearing dude wearing black walks in carrying a briefcase and is shown to a booth with plush red velvet seats. Clint (Lachie Gough) is an oil man, or so he says.

Before long all hell breaks loose in this Fawlty Towers meets Lano and Woodley kill or be killed comedy sketch by Alex Donnelly and Lachie Gough who riff off each other and the audience to deliver a laugh out loud high energy comedy show.

Donnelly as Marcel is a conscientious, chaotic and clumsily murderous French waiter. During a gun slinging stand-off the two discover they work for the same agency and have been sent to assassinate each other.

What to do when you’re a ruthless killer with hurt feelings – carry out orders or buck the system?

The John Wilkes Booth is packed full of word play, physical comedy, improvisation and a very clever twist at the end. It is clear that Gough and Donnelly enjoy working together and it brings a natural fluidity to their performance. A polished show of slapstick comedy that will have you guffawing in your seat.

The John Wilkes Booth is showing at Doubletree by Hilton in Flinders Street just across from Flinders Streeet Station until 21st April. Tickets can be purchases from Melbourne International Comedy Festival.

Book review: The Murmur of Bees by Sofia Segovia

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Just the title of Sofia Segovia’s novel The Murmur of Bees brings to mind a low hum that evokes the vision of bees flitting around my orange tree blossom.

In life, only potential was free.

An infant is discovered abandoned under a bridge cloaked in a humming blanket of bees. The Morales family take him in and he grows up in the close proximity of his bees to have extraordinary insight. Simonopio never speaks because his cleft palate means no one (except his young brother) can understand his mumbling, but he can see the future and uses this knowledge to help his adopted family.

Without his bees, he could not see or hear beyond the hills. Without them, he could not see behind him or observe the world from above when he chose to do so. In their absence, Simonopio could not smell the exquisite aroma of the pollen, just as the bees did. Without the bees swarming around him, coming and going, the information he received from the world was linear; while with them, from the moment he had begun to feel sensation, he had grown accustomed to perceiving the world as it was: a sphere.

In one instance it is by feigning illness to draw attention to himself and save the Morales from the Spanish flu, in another a handful of orange blossom he presents as a gift save the families agricultural land. When danger comes, he calls on his bees to help him protect those he loves.

Sometimes the soul must be allowed to rest, kept away from the things that hurt it.

The Murmur of Bees, set around the city of Linares in Mexico and translated to English by Simon Bruni is steeped in magical realism. The story offers insight into the political and cultural history of Mexico and the impact of the Spanish flue.

There are class struggles, complex family relations, evil, tragedy, grief and redemption. It is a story to fall gently into and be immersed in Segovia’s beautiful prose and transported to Mexico in 1918

Book review: Toto Among the Murderers by Sally J Morgan

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Anyone who grew up in the 70s will relate to Toto Among the Murderers written by Welsh-New Zealand author Sally J Morgan. A group of young creatives live on the margins in the rough district of Leeds – smoking dope, hanging out in alternative pubs with anarchists, experimenting with relationships and hitching rides to get around.

My mother has dreams of an orderly daughter, and if I cut my hair that would splendidly realise it. I, however, draw the line at being shorn like a sheep for the sake of her delusions.

The novel opens as flame haired Toto and her friend Nel move into a dilapidated rental house opposite a brothel run by a violent pimp. Toto soon befriends one of the sex workers called Janice.

I laugh bitterly. ‘We think we’re living in some French film, but we’re not: we’re in bloody Sheffield.’

Toto is chaotic, wild and reckless. She hitches everywhere despite the news being filled with random attacks on women. She has a set of rules she rides by to keep herself safe. Her friend Nel is dating a guy called Simon who is beautiful but sometime nasty and violent.

Toto and Nel are at an age of experimentation their naivety gets them into trouble, and fear, grit and determination get them out of it.

They look at me blankly. I am the object of gossip in a provincial art school, I’m being held captive, without access to my boots, by a woman who is giving me the best sex ever, but whom I may not actually like.

The close, thoughtful friendships that run through the story sit within a general sense of foreboding that crescendo’s when Toto is hitchhiking in a remote area.

Why does the dark seem so complete tonight? I can’t stand lying next to Callie any more. Her arm trails out of the bed and she is snoring like something hard has stuck in her throat. The petals of my heart?

Toto Among the Murderers is a coming of age story with themes that will be remarkably familiar to women who grew up around the time the story is set. This beautifully written, edgy and moving novel won the 2022 Portico Prize.

Comedy review: The Titwitchez School of Titcraft & Boobery

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The Titwitchez School of Titcraft & Boobery, on as part of the Melbourne International Comedy Festival, is cabaret meets burlesque meets vaudeville meets drag delivered by a troop of trans, non-binary and gender non-conforming actors.

This high energy unconventional school of life is an hour of unbridled guileless fun riffing off good and evil, feminism, transphobia and boobs. Comedy coven duo Emily White and Liv Bell lead the absurdity with tightly choreographed upbeat moves. They are joined onstage by a different set of characters each night – opening night included Darmanatrix who loves a bourbon, a barbecue and a chair dance, Lucy Seale the rollerskating mosquito, and Nicola Pohl the beatboxing janitor whose sweeping was accompanied by an extraordinary range of facial expressions. Oh, and there is an option for a bit of audience participation if you like your moment in the spotlight.

Titwitchez’s is a late show starting at 10.30, but Carlton is such a great spot for a night out that I made an evening of it and caught Ethan Coen’s latest film at the Nova, grabbed a bite to eat at D.O.C then a coffee at Brunette’s before the show. The venue, Motley Bauhaus also has a great little bar if you like a tipple before a giggle.

The Titwitchez School of Titcraft & Boobery is showing at the Motley Bauhaus till April 26th, so there’s plenty of time to grab a ticket for this raucous ride.

Book review: Goyhood by Reuven Fenton

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As Emerson said, it’s about the journey – not the destination, and there’s something about a road trip that is transformative. They broaden and unwind the mind and soul, and like Australia, the USA is made for long driving adventures.

Reuven Fenton’s debut Goyhood, is a unique and unconventional take on the road trip story. Goyhood is a funny, heartfelt well crafted story that explores an existential crises bought on by the exposure of a family secret.

Marty and his twin brother David grew up poor with their single mother Ida Mae in Moab, Utah.

She also had a weakness for gin, amphetamines and men who smelled like motor oil.

At age 12 when Marty’s mother explained to the boys that they were Jewish after a visit from the local Rabai (Yossi), Marty (now called Mayer) began a journey to become a religious scholar. Soon he moved to New York and married the daughter of a famous Rabai. David pursued a more wayward life smoking dope and chasing women and get rich schemes that inevitably failed until one day he got lucky.

He quit cigarettes, but smoked more weed than Willie Nelson.

When Ida Mae took her own life, the now middle aged men, who have not seen each other for years, return to Moab for her funeral. Yossi hands the brothers a letter left by their mother in which she explains that they are not Jewish.

The thing is this: remember how I said I was Jewish? Don’t get me wrong, I’m Jewish in the sense that my husband was Jewish, all of my friends are Jews, my boss and best friend is a rabbi. I consider myself an honorary member of the tribe. But I know your mother’s got to be a Jew in order for you to be a Jew, and my mother? Not a Jew, Lord no. She hated Jews more than my dad. In fact her dad, Grampa Karl, was a Nazi of some kind. SS I think. Or Gestapo? Anyway, he and his family escaped to Argentina after “Der Krieg” before coming to the USA. Frau Abernathy would’ve flipped a biscuit if she ever found out I’d married a “Judensau.”

For Mayer this means his whole life has been a sham, he’s not Jewish nor is he married. He decides to try and cover up the issue by converting to Judaism so he can continue his life as it was. Yossi helps him and a date is set for the ceremony in a weeks time.

You and me, we’re all we’ve got left.

David suggests they go on a road trip for the intervening week. Mayer reluctantly agrees and the two men, along with their mother’s urn, begin a life changing adventure through the south of the USA to New York in a rented Charger. And in the vein of all good road trips it is transformative – but you’ll have to read the book to find out how.

Listen, see, if there’s one thing I’ve learned, it’s when the going gets tough, the tough get in a car and drive.

Themes include sibling and family dynamics, identity, relationships to faith and religion, belonging, self discovery and search for meaning. Goyhood will be published by Simon and Schuster in May, order your copy now.

Thanks to Reuven for the advance copy, I thoroughly enjoyed reading it.

Book review: Red Queen by Juan Gómez-Jurado

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The English translation of Spanish crime thriller Red Queen by Juan Gómes-Jurado is a fast paced gripping read with an unconventional lead. Antonia Scott is a personally challenged reclusive genius – think Sherlock Holmes/Lisbeth Salander.

Scott was the lead advisor in the shadow crime fighting ‘Red Queen’ unit due to her talents at reconstructing crimes and solving difficult murders. She left when an incident left her husband in a coma, for which she blamed herself.

A sign from the universe outside, meaning whatever Antonia wishes it to mean. Which is why the universe sends them to us, so that we can do what we want with them.

Disgraced detective Jon Gutierrez is given an opportunity for a reprieve – if he can convince Scott to return to work on a bizarre murder case involving the son of a wealthy family.

Jon is still suspended without pay, but the charges against him have been dropped for the moment. And the video showing him planting the junk in the pimp’s car has disappeared as if by magic from the TV and newspapers

The Red Queen is a race against time slightly gruesome thriller with a couple of eccentric lead characters.

Book review: Iris by Fiona Kelly McGregor

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Historical fiction novel Iris by Fiona Kelly McGregor is a fascinating tale about Iris Webber, a young woman from Glen Innes in NSW who grew up hunting rabbits out bush, then lived in Sydney in the 1930’s during the Great Depression. Iris became known as ‘the most violent woman in Sydney’ having been charged with murder twice.

I was born in Bathurst in the Salvation Army Women’s Home. My mother Marge had been doing a stretch for larceny in Cooma Gaol. She was a servant for a publican, she would’ve known his family ’cause she was born in Adaminaby. They said she stole two rings and five pounds, Ma said they fitted her ’cause the publican’s wife was jealous. My mother was beautiful then she always said, with dark wavy hair that took one hundred strokes to brush, it was that thick and long. She would’ve got knocked up with me just before going inside. They let her out early for the birth.
She went up to Glen Innes after having me ’cause she wanted a fresh start

On arrival at Central Station, Iris is saved from the unwanted attentions of a man by a woman who masquerades as her aunt and offers her a place to stay. This becomes her introduction to a marginalised life of sex worker under the tutelage of Tilly Devine, petty crime, bar work, drug running and busking.

This is how life has always ensued, as a series of events determined by others that rides over her like a tram. All she can do is lie there.

Some of the language is challenging – words and phrases that are not in use now – rozzers, bungers, going Yarra, boree log, bidgee angie, just to name a few.

Detective Mallon started at Iris. She stares back. Powerful reek of pipe on the man, wrinkled suit, shiny face. One of those men who sweat all the time. Get them as a customer there isn’t much you can do, the sweat’s pouring out rank and sticky as soon as they’ve washed.

The story jumps back and forth between Iris’s time in prison for murder and the years leading up to that time. The violent tale and its language evoke Sydney’s underbelly and inhabitants in technicolour, never shying away from the hard life and discrimination dished out on some members of society.

Iris is a great read about a little known Australian character.

Book review: Lucy by the Sea by Elizabeth Strout

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Have you ever naively read a book at random and come away thinking it was non-fiction, then to be told a friend it was fiction? I confess this is what happened to me when I red Lucy by the Sea by Elizabeth Strout. I think it is probably a sign of a very well crafted novel.

It is a gift in this life that we do not know what awaits us.

Lucy by the Sea is a sequel to a book called Oh William, that I have neither read, nor was aware of. Perhaps I was just in a general state of vagueness when I picked up Lucy by the Sea! Needless to say it holds up perfectly well as a stand alone novel.

We all live with people — and places — and things — that we have given great weight to. But we are weightless, in the end.

When the pandemic strikes, Lucy’s ex-husband, a scientist, sees what’s coming and takes charge. He rents a house on the coast of Maine and insists that Lucy goes there with him to wait it out for a few weeks. Lucy is grieving the death of her second husband and goes along with Williams demands in a state of detachment bewilderment. William also begs their daughters Becky and Chrissy to leave New York with their husbands – one does, and one doesn’t.

Who knows why people are different? We are born with a certain nature, I think. And then the world takes its swings at us.

Lucy is a midlife writer and what follows is her account of the day to day and minute of what we all experienced through the pandemic. Working from home, cancelled events, people dying on ventilators, no funerals, face masks, surgical gloves and hoarding supplies. Lucy and Williams fill their days with walks along the cliffs, trying to work, and to manage familial relations from a distance. Lucy becomes frustrated with their circumstances, she hates Maine and at times cannot stand William. He is endlessly patient and as time passes, they become closer.

What is it like to be you? I need to say: This is the question that has made me a writer; always that deep desire to know what it feels like to be a different person.

Lucy by the Seas is a moving, meandering account of the pandemic that exquisitely captures the frustration, boredom and fears experienced across the globe during the pandemic before vaccines became available. It is an extraordinary story about the ordinary in extraordinary circumstances.