Ivone is a Paediatric Research Nurse based at the Royal London Hospital.
The Four Winds - Kristin Hannah
Texas, 1934. Elsa Martinelli had finally found the life she’d yearned for. A family, a home and a livelihood on a farm on the Great Plains. But when drought threatens all she and her community hold dear, Elsa’s world is shattered to the winds.
Fearful of the future, when Elsa wakes to find her husband has fled, she is forced to make the most agonizing decision of her life. Fight for the land she loves or take her beloved children, Loreda and Ant, west to California in search of a better life. Will it be the land of milk and honey? Or will their experience challenge every ounce of strength they possess?
Ivone says: "This book is based on events that are thought provoking. It is about how our fellow men and women are treated and some still being treated this badly. The Four Winds drew me in right at the beginning as I connected with young naïve Elsa and her fairy tale visions of love. An amazing story of love that holds lives together through rejection, environmental challenges, poverty, and the strength we can have if we believe in something.
An excellent book, graphically depicting the appalling consequences of the drought and depression of America in the 30s where millions are out of work and a drought has broken the Great Plains. Farmers are fighting to keep their land and their livelihoods as the crops are failing, the water is drying up, and dust threatens to bury them all. One of the darkest periods of the Great Depression, the Dust Bowl era, has arrived with a vengeance. It is also a story of hope through adversity. You will fall in love with the characters, fume over the cruelty of human greed and smile at our ability to overcome hardship for the love of our children and families.
Elsa Martinelli like many of her neighbours make an agonizing choice: fight for the land she loves or go west, to California, in search of a better life. This is a story seen through her eyes, an indomitable, resilient, strong woman whose courage, and sacrifice will come to define a generation, with the delicate dynamics of a mother/daughter relationship burdened by abandonment, poverty, and political and ecological tragedies.
Wonderfully written and a great read. I was completely engrossed and absorbed by this moving story. Some parts may be hard to bear, but this only makes the book more believable and the characters more realistic. Keep the tissues handy, but don’t let this put you off. I absolutely loved this book!"
The Family String by Denise Picton
Dorcas, an aspiring vet, dreams of having a dog, or failing that, a guinea pig named Thruppence. Ruthy wants to attend writing school, and Caleb wants to play footy with the local team. But Christadelphians aren’t allowed to be ‘of the world’ and when their older brother Daniel is exiled to door knock and spread the good word in New South Wales after being caught making out with Esther Dawlish at youth camp, each try their hardest to suppress their dreams for a bigger life. But for a girl like Dorcas, dreams have a habit of surfacing at the most inopportune moments, and as she strives to be the daughter her mother desires, a chain of mishaps lead to a tragedy no one could have foreseen.
Ivone says: "A darkly funny and poignant coming of age story, that explores a fraught mother-daughter dynamic, and the secrets adults keep from their children. It is about resilience, and the loves that sustain us when our most essential bonds are tested, and how to find the way back through hope and forgiveness. A book written from a child's point-of-view.
Dorcas is a spirited 12-year-old struggling to contain her irrepressible humour and naughty streak in a family of Christadelphians in 1960s Adelaide. Dorcas could never manage to think before she spoke, and it was forever getting her into trouble. She is her mother’s least favourite child and always at the bottom of the order on the family’s string of beads (kept in the tree house) that she and her younger siblings Ruthy and Caleb reorder according to what sort of a day their mother was having. Was it a Jesus day, when she was happy? Or a head day when she spent her day in bed? Or a cross day when she’d be yelling so much. Dorcas seems to be getting further away from her mother with her request to have a pet which could make Caleb have an asthma attack.
Their lives are mostly centred around their church and school and their religion plays a big part in what they can and can’t do. Their dad works long hours, and their mother is very strict on the rules and was forever frustrated with the children, especially Dorcas.
The book, a delightful read and both heartwarming and heartbreaking, narrated by Dorcas. I fell in love with Dorcas’s character straight away. I found myself chuckling away at times and other times my heart ached for what was going on. This book takes you on an emotional journey of laughter and tears, witty in some parts, but most of all it touches on some important topics like religion, mental health, and relationships.
The most important undertone of this book is mental illness and the importance of family support and understanding. The author captures so well what it is like for children to live with a parent experiencing deep depression, despite understanding their parents’ erratic behaviour. This novel gave me an insight into Christadelphians and their style of worship and lifestyle as the children struggle to understand why their mother behaves as she does."
The Old Girls’ Network - Judy Leigh
It's never too late to change…
After a health scare, 77 year-old spinster Barbara goes to convalesce in the sleepy picture-perfect English country village of Winsley Green with her sister Pauline. As the spring turns to summer, and the English countryside comes to life, can the three friends make the changes they need to, to embrace fresh starts, new loves, new journeys and new horizons. Or do old habits die too hard?
Ivone says: "The Old Girls’ Network is very entertaining story of second chances, rekindling bonds, romance, relationships, community spirit, plenty of drama and fun. A simple story of second chances will resonate whatever your age, there’s something for everyone among the characters and a perfect ending. This is a heartwarming, uplifting, compelling and very entertaining read! Be prepared for plenty of fun and giggles!
Barbara, a 77-year-old spinster woke up in hospital from a pretty nasty fall and a memory full of regrets. Her doctor told her to go stay with someone for a while who could ensure her recuperation. Therefore, she invites herself to her sister Pauline’s cottage in the village of Winsley Green.
The sisters are like chalk and cheese – Barbara is outspoken and aloof; not entirely likeable at first, fiercely independent. She does not have a filter and is often unwittingly harsh and judgmental. Pauline is good natured and homely, a widow and a Mum, she's kind, caring, has a big heart. Since her husband passed away, Pauline is struggling but luckily, she has the close-knit community to help support her – so it’s not long before the tension starts to rise.
One day out on a drive, Pauline accidentally knocks down Bisto Mulligan, in his mid-70's as he leaves the village pub – to all appearances, an elderly and rather smelly vagrant, the ladies find themselves with another houseguest. He is injured and despite his unkempt appearance, she invites him into her home to recuperate.
As he recovers, it becomes clear that Bisto is not who he first seemed. He was in fact travelling through on his way to France. As the sisters get to know the kind and courageous man he really is, it’s clear Bisto has the potential to change both of their lives.
Then the fun begins. Barbara makes great connections amongst the villagers. The main characters interact with the varied folks who live in the village. The villagers, however superficial with the bouncy female vicar, the surly farmer, the standoffish new neighbours, the eccentric novelist writing her bodice-rippers, the Greek god of a window cleaner who becomes an object of lust to hairdresser Dizzy were wonderfully written. As the trio spend the spring, and then the summer together, each begins to make changes in their life and learns to embrace new loves and new adventures.
Forget about the pandemic, this story had enough drama amongst all the villagers to keep me interested. I felt like I was part of the village experiencing the May Day festivities, the Welly Wanging Contest, and the Shakespeare outdoor drama on the green. It was fun to see how the summer impacted everyone’s lives.
A charming book, a very cute, easy read. It's enjoyable to watch how the three main characters work through their respective issues and baggage to become happier, healthier people."
Luxury Item
"'I would have chosen oil paint and a huge canvas, and I would paint the deserted island in different ways."