Ten Essential Winter Holiday Reads
Friday Nights
By Joanna Trollope
RRP $32.95
This latest novel from Joanna Trollope examines the sensitive female friendships of 6 friends and how their relationship changes over time. Trollope is an an accomplished British novelist that has written over 13 novels and doesn’t disappoint with Friday Nights. The circle of six friends range in age from Jules the 22 year old DJ to Eleanor a retired health professional who walks with a stick, this unusal bunch of friends get together every Friday night and support one another through the trials and tribulations of life, love and living in a modern world of transient friendships. Easy to read and surprisingly funny in parts. Great holiday read!
Just a Family Affair
By Veronica Henry
Welcome to the Gloucestershire village of Honeycote, England where country life is anything but quiet. This book has lovely descriptions of the English countryside and the customs and way of life in Honeycote. All of us will be able to equate to the family ties and commitment that evolve thought the course of the book. It has all the ingredients of family life with sibling rivalry, lust, friendship, infidelity, marriage breakdowns and love affairs.
Just a Family Affair is definitely a light read novel for females. It really does describe feminine feelings, disappointment, drive, misgivings and all the others as well. It is a very well written book and once commenced very difficult to put down till the very last page.
Little White Lies
By Bernadette Strachan
RRP $22.99
If you can get past the name of the main character “Billie Baskerville” who is a jilted bride to be running a bridal boutique in a village in England then you will probably love this improbable funny piece of chick lit. It seems that Bernadette Strachan has followed the oldest rule in the book of writing novels – run about something you know – as her one time fiancé and showbiz agent left her “pre-wedding” for chat show queen “Vanessa Feltz”. Pick it up when you need something fun and light to read!
Life, Law and Not Enough Shoes
By Judith Fordham
RRP $24.95
Even if you are not mad about autobiographies this one will still grab your attention if you like reading about strong women with a great sense of humour. This is one woman’s story of her career journey from single mother and house cleaner to top barrister and having the WA Director of Prosecutions drinking champagne out of her shoes! This book has bikies, transsexuals and alleged murderers and rapists that all come into and out of Judith’s life as a lawyer, but she manages to tell her tales with sensitivity and humour making it an easy read. She is now a well respected Professor at Murdoch University in WA. This novel really reads like talking to an old friend that is regaling you with stories from her life, well worth picking up!
The Trouble with Marriage
By Debbie Holt
RRP $19.95
What happens after the 'happy ever after'? When Robin asked Tilly to marry him, it was the happiest moment of her life. Ten years on, the sparkle has faded - household bills, household chores, two small children and a boisterous dog have seen to that - but Tilly is convinced their love can survive even the attentions of interfering in-laws and a glamorous ex-girlfriend. When dramatic news ignites the simmering undercurrents into a full-blown crisis, Tilly is forced to face the fact that her marriage is under threat. Can she and Robin find a way to recapture the love, lust and sense of fun that filled their early years together? Can Tilly find the strength to overcome the obstacles in the path of true happiness? And when temptation arises in an unexpected form - can she, should she - find the will to resist? Perfect holiday read for by a pool with a drink and a little cocktail umbrella in it!
Broken
By Ilsa Evans
$32.95
“Broken is the story of one woman’s journey, both physical and psychological, in the wake of an abusive relationship. It is a story I have wanted to write for some years not just because I myself undertook a similar journey at one stage, but because the aftermath of abuse is what I based my PhD on with the major motivation being the ever present need to raise community awareness of domestic violence. “ Broken – is not autobiographical “All it means is that I was able to drive the character along a route where the scenery was all too familiar. Nor does it make me unique – instead, unfortunately, it means that I am just one the many, many Australian women who have struggled through an abusive relationship and emerged at the other end with hard-earned knowledge and a tale to tell, should they choose to tell it.” Ilsa Evans May 2007.
Birds and the Bees
RRP $19.95
Romance writer and single mum Stevie Honeywell has only weeks to go to her wedding, when her fiancé Matthew runs off with her glamorous friend Jo MacLean. But Stevie knows exactly how to win back her man. By undergoing a mad course of diet and exercise, she is sure things will be as sweet as nectar again before very long. Adam MacLean is determined to win back his lady, Jo. All he needs to do is convince Stevie they should team-up - a prospect neither of them finds attractive, seeing as each blames the other for the mess they now find themselves in. Like a Scottish country jig, the two couples change partners but continue to weave closely around each other. And Adam and Stevie find they have to deal with the heartbreaks of the past, before they can deal with those of the present. When Adam’s crazy plan actually starts to work, the question is: just who will he and Stevie be dancing with when the music stops? Great romantic comedy that will have you laughing out loud one minute and reaching for the tissues the next minute!
Family Baggage
By Monica McInerney
A funny, warm and moving novel of family secrets, dilemmas and dynamics from the bestselling author of The Alphabet Sisters tour guide Harriet Turner knows all about journeys. She's arranged hundreds of them for her family travel agency. Desk bound for the past year since her parents sudden death, Harriet is thrown into leading an eccentric elderly group to the UK on a themed tour based on the English TV detective series Willoughby, Harriet soon has her hands full. But as the bus wends its way through the picturesque countryside of Devon and Cornwall, the tour becomes another kind of journey for her. She finds herself facing big questions about her family, her childhood and her feelings for the guest of honour on the tour, the charming star of Willoughby, Patrick Shawcross. And the biggest puzzle of all: what has happened to Lara her foster sister? Brilliantly written by Australian Monica McInerney you will not want to put it down till you find out what is Harriet’s fate with devastatingly handsome Patrick Shawcross and the object of her sibling rivalry, foster sister Lara. Well worth reading!
Remembering the Bones
By Frances Itani
RRP $32.99
This is a lovely gentle book in which you meet Georgie, both in the present and in the past. Georgie, who shares a birthday with the Queen, has been invited to England to join in a celebration of the Queen's (and her own) 80th birthday, Except that in her excited state, Georgie drives her car off the road, tumbling hood over trunk into a thickly wooded ravine. Thrown from the car, injured and unable to move but desperately hopeful that someone will find her, she must rely on her strength, her full store of family memories, her no-nonsense wit and a recitation of the names of the bones in her body—a long-forgotten exercise from childhood that reminds her she is still very much alive. As Georgina lies stranded and helpless, she reflects on her role as a daughter, mother, sister, wife and widow; she casts back over family histories, lost loves and painful secrets. What has it all amounted to? Frances Itani has given us an insightful, moving and beautifully written novel, fanciful and profound by turns. Remembering the Bones goes deeply into the life of an ordinary person who, in her instincts to survive, becomes extraordinary.
The Pyjama Girls of Lambert Square
By Sara Donati
A charming new novel set in Lambert's Corner, South Carolina-a beautiful town where no one's secrets remain secret for very long. For John Dodge, moving to new places and reviving ailing businesses is a way of life. So when he sees an ad for Scriveners, a stationery shop in a small town in South Carolina, he decides to take the plunge. As soon as he arrives in Lambert's Corner, Dodge falls happily into the whirl of gossip, gifts and quintessential Southern hospitality. Link Kay, one of his employees, warms up to him after Dodge admires his expertise on pens. Bean Hurt-a feisty and outspoken ten-year-old-becomes a fast friend. And Maude Golden, the mayor, supplies him with indispensable information. But the one person who really catches Dodge's eye is Julia Darrow-the beautiful but aloof pyjama wearing-owner of the Cocoon, a popular store specializing in luxury linens. Dodge tries to befriend her, but she remains elusive and mysterious. Everyone knows that she is a widow, but no one seems to know why she came to town or why she never leaves Lambert Square-or does she? Like Dodge, Chicago-born Julia is fleeing a tumultuous past. But with the help of a hilarious and endearing cast of characters, Julia and Dodge learn that, sometimes, you don't need to go far to find home. This irresistible modern love story marks a triumphant contemporary fiction debut for this bestselling and beloved author.
