IMPOSSIBLE by Stan Walker

 

Stan the man. What a man, what a story, what a journey. An account so honest, so heart breakingly raw, really, Stan should not even be alive after the terrible things that happened to him in his childhood. Damaged parents produce damaged children generation after generation - to somehow break that cycle of appalling domestic violence  and sexual abuse would seem to be impossible  - impossible to survive, impossible to fix. And yet Stan does it, with God on his side, the overwhelming power of forgiveness, redemption, and love. 

The guy is only 30 and yet he has lived a life full, of good and bad, poverty and riches, hatred of self evolving to love and acceptance of self, childhood dreams come true, faith, determination. So much life lived in such a short space of time. Only 30 years old with the wisdom of someone twice his age or more. 

I didn't know Stan's story really aside from it being a bit of a Once Were Warriors story, and that he won Australian Idol of course. Who doesn't know that bit! I remember watching his audition video ages ago and being entranced by this nervous, shambolic young lad who became completely bewitching the moment he started playing his guitar and opening his singing voice. Magnificent. Even then. 

Ghost writer Margie Thomson has contributed equally to this book, pulling the story together, collecting the many threads of this young man's life, his deepest thoughts, his compassion, his kindness. It is a  wonderful collaboration. Not only is there an insight into the man that Stan is, but also a true privilege to be let into the good parts of Stan's childhood and there were good times on the family marae, growing up with siblings, cousins. His enormous love and respect for his aunts, uncles, grandparents, his tupuna, his origins, where he came from, his everything, his foundations. 

This is a book I have wanted to read ever since it was published, and it will sit proudly on my shelf. But only after I share it round the book clubs I belong to, because it deserves to be read and shared and celebrated. 

THE POWER OF KNITTING by Loretta Napoleoni

What a gorgeous book to pick up and hold. Shocking pink cover with empowering hands holding a set of needles aloft. Lovely glossy thick pages, nice font, cute illustrations, all beautifully bound into a thick hard back cover. A treat to look at, a treat to hold. But what about the content? 

The author is an Italian journalist, a prolific and well known political/economics analyst, whose work takes her all over the world. And everywhere she goes she takes her knitting. She learnt at her grandmother's feet in the strong family community she grew up in. Idyllic. Her life takes a wild left turn when her marriage collapses due to her husband's money issues. Knitting is there, it saves her, gives her a focus, keeps her going. And in the process, tells us about knitting and its power. She touches on where and how knitting originated - a long, long time ago. Why did those old women knit as the guillotine sliced off the heads of the aristocrats during the French Revolution? Did you know knitting has been used to carry codes and secret messages? And is now being used in climate change protests? And what is it about the simple act of knitting and purling row after row after row that somehow seems to reduce tension, stress, allows us to connect with one another?

It is not a particularly deep or literary book, and she flits from subject to subject, which is a little frustrating. I would've liked to have known more. It is  also difficult to determine if it is a memoir, a history of knitting - very broad and generalised, or a sort of commentary on the state of the world. Despite this aimlessness I did enjoy it, and my reading of this has made me look at my knitting needles again and take a renewed interest in all the lovely wools out there at the moment. 

SHUGGIE BAIN by Douglas Stuart

 

For once a Man Booker winner that is approachable, readable, memorable and will probably end up a modern classic. I feel that this book has become more famous since people started reading it and recommending it to others. Winning probably helped, but people are no longer reading it because it won, but because it is such a great book. It becomes instantly relatable because it is about a childhood, narrated from the point of view of the child. But it is also hard to relate to because it is a childhood that the vast majority of readers won't have gone through. Thankfully.

Set in the slums and housing estates of Glasgow during the 1980s - what a truly awful existence - Shuggie Bain is a little boy with a horrible life. His mother is an alcoholic, his father has deserted the family. He has an older sister who can't wait to get away, and a brother also desperate to get away. Shuggie is an unusual boy, a bit different from all the other local boys. Constantly teased, bullied and ridiculed, somehow through all the poverty and neglect of his existence, he retains his innate goodness, his hope that things will get better. His shield of self preservation is astounding as is his love for his mother, the only constant in his life. They are all victims of poverty,  lack of opportunity, lack of jobs, living on credit, alcohol their only true escape from the boredom, dreariness, Catholic-Protestant discord, and no hope for the lives of anyone at all to get better. 

The writing is brilliant, achingly beautiful and heart rending. Apparently it is not autobiographical but was inspired by the author's own childhood in working class Glasgow during the 1980s. Maybe this gives it the ring of authenticity, of feeling like the writer is living his own story. The writing is so vivid, the characters so complex. It is horrific and confronting in many places through the story, but also so beautiful and alive. I loved it. 

WHO IS MAUD DIXON? by Alexandra Andrews

What a surprising page turner this turned out to be. I was gripped by this from the beginning to the end. With its twists and surprises, in a monumental downward spiral, you just wonder where on earth it is going to end up. Naturally it does, but it is a bit of a wild ride!

Young Florence Darrow comes to New York with stars and dreams in her eyes of becoming a widely successful writer. But first she has to serve her time, ending up as an assistant for some ghastly editor in a publishing company, one of many assistants to many editors. After going about things the wrong way - she is a bit of a square in a round hole - she ends up losing her job.  But hope springs eternal, and in a marvellously serendipitous stroke of luck, she finds herself the assistant for the reclusive and secretive world famous author Maud Dixon. Maud has only written one novel which was an instant best seller, she never gives interviews, in fact no one has ever met her. No one knows if she is even male or female. Florence cannot believe her luck. 

Maud is a woman by the way, she leads a solitary slightly eccentric existence in a small town in New York State. Florence is in awe, and slowly a working relationship works itself out between the two women. Maud is writing her second novel set in Morocco. For research purposes Florence and Mad travel to Morocco. And this is where the real action begins! After a night out with Maud, Florence wakes up in hospital apparently having been in a car accident. Maud has disappeared, as has Florence's purse and passport. In a plot straight out of The Talented Mr Ripley, Florence has some big decisions to make. How is this facade going to pan out?  Can she reinvent herself? And where is Maud's body? 

THE POWER OF SUFFERING by David Roland

 

Daily we read about, we hear about, we watch, eavesdrop, observe voyeuristically the tragedies and horrors of the events and crises that affect, devastate and destroy the lives of ordinary people going about their ordinary and unexceptional lives. Ordinary people just like us as it happens. Car accidents, natural disasters, sudden health crises, random acts of violence - and all the time we think thank goodness it is not me/us, and then, how would I cope with such a trauma? Well, after reading this, I know that I would cope -  eventually - and undoubtedly come out of it a different person, a changed person, maybe a better person. 

The author, David Roland, is a psychologist but it is not until he himself goes through a major personal crisis that he turns his eye and his own recovery onto the stories of others. The eleven people he profiles in this book have gone through life changing and devastating happenings. He carefully narrates their stories, not just the traumas, but more importantly how their approach to life and living has changed as a result of learning to live on a daily basis with their various tragedies. In the process David Roland comes to terms with what has been going on in his own life, and learns to live again.

This book is an extremely personal narrative of many life journeys, incredibly intimate and a true privilege to be allowed to read. Also very humbling. I hope I may never be in the position of finding my life completely turned up on its end, but if it ever is, I will have this book to help me on my way, to reassure me that one day things will get better, change, improve. And it may also help me help others. 

THE STORM SISTER by Lucinda Riley

 

Massive series this Seven Sisters series. Must be extremely difficult to consistently hold together all the threads of these sisters and their stories, plus the stories of all their origins. So much to juggle, and this is only story number 2. Despite the various online reader reviews saying this probably worst of the books so far published, I actually really liked it. I liked Ally, found her personal story quite believable, admired her courage in getting on with her life, her independence, her good heart. 

Ally is a professional sailor, very good at what she does, in demand for international crewing. A short lived and tragic love affair leaves her totally bereft, and with the death of her father - the enigmatic Pa Salt - who leaves each of the girls with the coordinates of their birth, she decides to go to those coordinates. Norway. What she uncovers is her connection to the late nineteenth century composer Edvard Grieg, the writer Henrik Ibsen and the classical music, players and singers of the day. Central to this cast of characters is Anna Landvik, a wonderfully talented singer who achieves great heights as natural interpreter of Grieg's music. The story in the past follows Anna's life, and those of her descendants.  All incredibly interesting and absorbing. Being a classical music nut, I loved this storyline. The power of music to transform lives and our inner souls. 

I have now read 3 of the books, I do like them without loving them. I do want to keep reading the series just to find out how it all holds together. They aren't perfect stories or perfectly well written, but they are still compelling, and I do want to find out what happens next. What better reason is there to read a book or follow a series. 

THEN SHE WAS GONE by Lisa Jewell

 This is good! Most of us are just average families doing the best to raise our children, look after them, love and care for them. Most children are well-adjusted, doing what their parents/carers expect of them, growing up, learning, just being children. And then one day all that normality just explodes into a million smithereens. Your 15 year old gorgeous loving smart daughter, Ellie,  goes to the library and disappears. Just like that. Gone. No body, no witnesses, no motive, nothing. 15 years later, her mother Laurel is divorced, son Nicholas has grown up and moved away. A body is found - Ellie's. So some closure, but even with the cold case publicity there is still no progress on finding out how or why Ellie died. Not long after Laurel is sitting in a cafe, and out of nowhere the perfect man, Floyd, appears and makes an instant connection with Laurel. He has a daughter,  9 year old Poppy, who literally takes Laurel's breath away - she is the spitting image of Ellie. What would you do?

Narrated in turn by both Ellie and Laurel, this is a twisted and dark tale of suburban life gone completely wrong, both in Ellie's world and in Laurel's present day world. It is excellent as the unexpected horror begins to unwind. The characters are all believable, all seemingly normal, the people you come across in every day life. How afraid do we need to be of those in our community? And with a  satisfying ending to boot.