Short stories by an Australian author. I managed a few, but decided not to continue. The “To Read” Pile is too high…. and tempting.
Publisher page: The High Places – Fiona McFarlane
The High Places – Fiona McFarlane
The Female Persuasion – Meg Wolitzer
Another slow start. The Germaine Greer parallels felt a little too blunt.
Once I got past Greer Kadetsky’s first name and Faith Frank’s character, this novel about women, friendship and feminism through the late 19th and early 20th century was a speedy and timely read.
Publisher page: The Female Persuasion – Meg Wolitzer
In The Distance – Hernán Díaz
Håkan Söderström becomes separated from his brother Linus in the hustle and bustle of Portsmouth on their journey to New York to start a new life in the New World.
After mistakenly boarding a ship for San Francisco by way of Cape Horn, he finds himself in the West that is starting, slowly, to become sparsely populated with shanty towns and wagon trains, emigrants, prospectors and miners – and those who prey on them.
We follow in Håkan’s footsteps, and occasional travels on horseback, as he traverses the deserts the plains and the prairies, determined to get to New York to find his brother.
We see how few key encounters and experiences impact his life, and take our leave of The Hawk as he takes his of an ice bound ship en route to Alaska.
Beautiful.
Publisher page: In The Distance – Hernán Díaz
The Accusers – Lindsey Davis
A bit of a slow start for me on this one. We’re back in Rome, and Falco is tangling with a pair of legal eagle informers… and a suicide that he suspects may be murder.
Author page: The Accusers – Lindsey Davis
The Jupiter Myth – Lindsey Davis
After solving the mystery of the Fishbourne Palace project overrun/overspend and keeping King Togidubnus onside, Falco and family decide to spend a few days in Londinium on their return home to Rome, visiting Helena’s uncle and aunt.
Unfortunately their arrival coincides with the apparent murder of King Togidubnus’ friend, Verovolcus, whose banishment to Gaul Falco engineered at the end of A Body in the Bath House.
Londinium, it seems, is starting to experience the less attractive side effects of Roman life – extortion rackets run by the big boys from Rome.
As Falco and Petro run parallel investigations, the will-they, won’t-they romance between Petro and Maia continues. We meet two ladies who loom large in Falco’s life – Chloris, Falco’s ex aka the notorious rope dancer, and a British orphan called Flavia Albia.
Author page: The Jupiter Myth – Lindsey Davis