People have been reading a great assortment of books this month.  Trish Potter only took 2 days to read The Daughters Tale by Armando Lucas Correa, based on the true story of the Nazi massacre of a French Village in 1944.  The author also wrote The German Girl.  The Light After the War by Anita Ariel, written in a similar vein  to The Daughters Tale,  is also a true story of two Jewish friends who survived the Holocaust.  The Girl They Left Behind by Roxanne Veletzos a family saga and love story that offers a glimpse into life in war torn Bucharest in 1941 and living behind the Iron Curtain.  So after all those rather sad stories some lighter reading for you. 

Shirley really enjoyed a small book of Collected Short Stories by Somerset Maugham, as Shirley said these were meticulously written.  Being a fan of murder and mayhem Shirley also read, Stately Homicide by S.T. Haymon, mystery in a stately manor in Norfolk where Anne Boleyn once stayed.  Forty Years of Murder is the biography of Keith Simpson who was Home Office Pathologist, he spent 40 years in the midst of murder, according to Shirley there was some humour in parts of this story.  The Haunted Monastery by Robert Van Dubilk AD666, travellers seek refuge from a mountain storm  in a Taoist monastery where the Abbott Jade mysteriously dies.  

Now another change of pace, A Ration Book by Jean Fullerton.  Jean Fullerton has written a series of `Ration’ books about the era when London’s East End was being bombed during the blitz.  Quite a good read.  The Lost Pearl by Emily Madden, a romance saga from Pearl Harbour to the shores of Sydney.  For readers of Fiona McIntosh and Anne O’Connor you will enjoy this book.  Heart of the Cross also by Emily Madden, takes you from Ireland to Kings Cross, a young married woman finds life in Kings Cross is a lot different for her and their young son. 

I have just finished The Bee and the Orange Tree by Melissa Ashley, set in France in 1699, the untold story of the woman who invented fairy tales.  I enjoyed this, but probably not for everyone.   

​Hopefully we are coming to the end of being unable to see each other.  I would like to think we could have a get together perhaps in early November, even if it is in the Benalla gardens.

Geraldine McCorkell

Welcome, everyone - hope your reading has been enjoyable over the last few weeks as we continue on our merry way. 

I had a chat with Helen Squires who has enjoyed Bye Bye Baby written by Fiona McIntosh.   A schoolteacher is found murdered in an alleyway in a northern English city.  Three months later a courier’s body turns up in a toilet block in a rough London suburb.  Two men with very different lives but a common death both bodies brutally mutilated.   A heart stopping tale of brutal revenge with a chilling twist.  We have all enjoyed The Lavender Keeper by the same author. 
 
As usual Heather Sloan has read a few varied books.  The Beautiful Mother by Katherine Scholes.  In a remote corner of Tanzania Essie Lawrence lives with her husband in an archaelogist’s camp.  One morning a chance encounter with two strangers sees  her making a rash promise.  When she returns to the research base she has a baby in her arms.  Sounds intriguing.  The Goldminers Daughter by Alison Stuart.   In 1873 Eliza Pemrose arrives in the gold mining town of Maiden Gully Creek in search of her brother.  Instead she finds a tragic mystery.  You will have to read this to find out what the mystery was.
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Noelle has read a different but enjoyable book My Name is Red by Orhan Pamuk.  This book was the winner of the 2006 Nobel Prize in Literature.  It is a philosophical thriller constructed around the clash between two world civilisations.  The review said it is `an outstanding novel’.

Also enjoyed by Noelle The Sand Archive by Gregory Day.    This was shortlisted for the 2019 Miles Franklin Award.  The book spans decades from present Geelong to Paris.  The book references the need to find a solution to the shifting and destablising influence of sand on the Great Ocean Road.  There is love, poetry and politics involved in this book, which received good reviews.  The Love that Remains by Susan Francis, a memoir with secrets, life’s shocking twists and unconditional love.  Sounds interesting. 

I have just finished The Paris Seamstress by Natasha Lester, set in Paris and the USA during the WW2.  Quite enjoyed this one. 

Keep reading and stay warm. 
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Geraldine McCorkell