AWW Feature & Giveaway: Q&A with Kate Belle, author of The Yearning

Welcome Kate Belle!

I am so pleased to welcome Kate Belle to Book’d Out today. Kate Belle lives, writes and loves in Melbourne, but is a country girl at heart, being born and bred in northern Victoria.  Kate describes herself as a passionate author, adequate wife and devoted mum/step-mum. She holds a tertiary qualification in applied chemistry, half a diploma in naturpathy and a diploma in psychological astrology. Her employment history includes a video library, a travel agent, cleaning campervans for hire, the Victorian public service, a disability organisation and a university sports centre. She has ridden a camel through the Australian desert, fraternised with hippies in Nimbin, had a near birth experience and lived on nothing but porridge and a carrot for 3 days.

Kate has had some publishing success with nonfiction articles and four short stories highly commended in Australian competitions. She recently won the Southern Cross short story competition for Cool Change and has had two erotic romance novella’s, Breaking The Rules and Bloom, published by Random Romance.

Kate’s debut full length novel,  The Yearning, was published in May by Simon and Schuster Australia. This evocative, sensual novel explores the yearning for love, sex, and connection. You can read my y review of this remarkable novel  HERE

“It’s 1978 in a country town and a dreamy fifteen year old girl’s world is turned upside down by the arrival of the substitute English teacher. Solomon Andrews is beautiful, inspiring and she wants him like nothing else she’s wanted in her short life.
Charismatic and unconventional, Solomon easily wins the hearts and minds of his third form English class. He notices the attention of one girl, his new neighbour, who has taken to watching him from her upstairs window. He assumes it a harmless teenage crush, until erotic love notes begin to arrive in his letterbox.
Solomon knows he must resist, but her sensual words stir him. He has longings of his own, although they have nothing to do with love, or so he believes. One afternoon, as he stands reading her latest offering in his driveway, she turns up unannounced. Each must make a choice, the consequences of which will haunt them until they meet again twenty years later.”

I had the opportunity to ask Kate some questions and I am thrilled to share our conversation with you today. Read on…

Q & A with Kate Belle

Q: What are the main themes of The Yearning?

Kate: Love, desire, obsession, intimacy, lust and sexual power. To name a few. The Yearning is an intense story of unrequited and unconditional love. It explores how deep longing for connection with someone we believe we love can push us across social and moral boundaries. Sometimes we just want what we want, no matter what, but in love (and lust) there are always consequences and The Yearning doesn’t shy away from those.

It examines the sexual power balance in what appears at first to be an unequal relationship. But there is always more to these relationships than meets the eye. In a way it’s a cautionary tale for young women growing into their sexuality about the damage that mature sexual relationships can cause if we enter into them too early. The main protagonist is anonymous throughout the novel as a way of expressing her sense of invisibility.

Q: Where did the inspiration for The Yearning come from?

Kate: That’s a tricky one because the story sort of evolved out of a deep place within, as many of my stories do. I can’t pin it to one specific thing. The bones of it began as a collection of unsent love letters I’d written to various unattainable lovers throughout my own life, and a couple of short stories that were going nowhere. When I put them together I saw some common themes and the story took root. It rolled out of me as I wrote. I remember finishing a chapter, taking a deep breath and wondering where the story would take me next.

Q: What about a small Australian town in the late 1970′s made it the ideal setting for The Yearning?

Kate: I grew up in a small country town in 1970’s, so that setting holds a lot of ambience for me. The 1970’s was a time when Australia was coming to terms with the massive social changes sweeping across the Western world. Women’s liberation, the sexual revolution, the civil and equal rights movements. Big changes that challenged people’s moral boundaries and social norms.

Combine this sense of boundaries crumbling with a lack of public scrutiny and the relentless boredom that comes with being a teenager in a small town that offers nothing – no bookstore, no cinema, no culture – and you have fertile ground for a relationship like the one in The Yearning to evolve.

Q: The relationship in the novel  defies social and moral conventions, what can readers learn from this?

Kate: When we are young, it’s so easy to give ourselves away in the name of love. Yet entering a mature sexual relationship too early can be damaging in so many ways, ways we can’t comprehend until we hit full adulthood. I hope people will understand how a relationship like this can evolve, and that Solomon isn’t a monster. He struggles with his attraction, but is a bit helpless in the face of his own psyche and a young girl’s powerful desire for him.

There is a lot of hysteria and blame around student-teacher relationships. Certainly there is a power imbalance, but too often the teenagers are painted as hapless victims without any power at all. The truth is young people hold enormous sexual power and this is part of the reason these relationships happen in the first place. Through popular culture our young people learn early the value of sexual allure and how to ruffle their sexual feathers. If they are to protect themselves from potential exploitation it’s important they also understand the emotional ramifications that come with being involved with an older person.

Q: What scene in the novel was the most challenging to write?

Kate: The challenging bit wasn’t so much a scene as a character. Solomon. True confession: I went through so many redrafts trying to get behind his eyes to get his point of view. In the end my gorgeous critique partner, Margareta Osborn, very gently pointed out that perhaps I was so in love with Solomon that maybe I couldn’t see straight and if I wanted to write him properly I had to stop being so sympathetic toward him. It was a bit of a shock, but she was right. I had a very complicated relationship with Solomon throughout the novel, and it wasn’t until I talked it through with Margareta that I realised it was compromising my ability to write him. Weird, I know, but there it is.

Q: The Yearning is promoted by your publisher as erotic fiction – what does that term mean within the context of this novel?

Whenever a novel like this hits the bookshelves it needs to be categorised in some way so that people understand its genre. While The Yearning contains strong erotic themes and explicit sexual scenes, all of which are absolutely necessary to the story, I hope it’s not defined by that content alone. It’s a love story (as opposed to a romance). The ending isn’t a traditional HEA, but it is perfect for the story. I think the common themes of expectations and disappointments in love and negotiating challenging relationships give it a much broader appeal than erotic fiction.

Q: I understand you need music to write – what was on your playlist during the writing of The Yearning?

Kate: The majority of The Yearning was written to a gorgeous CD of sensual classical music. My hubby received Seduction by Luminesca, an Australian cello/guitar duo, for his birthday. I fell in love with the music and it perfectly captured the intense emotional journey the characters undertake in The Yearning. It inspired me while writing the intense love scenes and scenes of longing in the book. If I could embed the music into the book for readers to enjoy I would.

Q: What’s next for you?

Kate: I’ve just signed a contract with Simon & Schuster for my second novel, working title Saint. It’s another intense and challenging story about a marriage between Jade, a wild artist who flouts social conventions, and her ever patient husband, Banjo. For the first time in twenty years Banjo walks out  after a fight with Jade and is killed in a hit and run accident. Banjo is left with an unanswered question: did his wife, Jade, love him above all the others? He can’t be at peace until he discovers the answer. Only when their daughter, Lissy, discovers Jade’s book of lovers, an artistic journal chronicling her extra-marital affairs, does he discover the truth.

Q.    Can you please share three of your favourite novels by Australian women writers?

My One Hundred Lovers by Susan Johnson – I just fell in love with the prose in this book. It’s a wonderful exploration of eroticism in all its forms.

Tremble by Tobsha Learner – The way she weaves myth and mysticism into this collection of erotic short stories is awe-inspiring.

Anything by Margareta Osborn – Not just because she’s my critique partner. She is a master at character. I can hear them breathing when I read her work.

Q. What is your preference?

·           Coffee/Tea or other? I’m a brewed coffee addict.

·           Beach/Pool or River? River or beach. Pools are fake.

·           Slacks/Jeans or Leggings? Jeans. Even when I’m too old to get away with them. (Do people still wear slacks?)

·           Butterfly/Tiger or Giraffe? Some days are tigers, some days are butterflys, but they’re rarely giraffes.

·           Swing/Slide or Roundabout? Since I did my knee on the trampoline I don’t do play equipment.

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Review & Giveaway: Peace, Love and Khaki Socks by Kim Lock

 

Title: Peace, Love and Khaki Socks

Author: Kim Lock

Published: MidnightSun Publishing April 2013

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Status: Read from April 23 to 24, 2013 — I own a copy{Courtesy the author}

My Thoughts:

Peace, Love and Khaki Socks is an engaging debut novel from Australian author Kim Lock. Twenty four year old Amy Silva is stunned to discover she is pregnant and, despite the support of her long term loving partner Dylan, it’s a struggle for her to accept the idea of impending birth and motherhood. Amy’s busy GP and the abrupt obstetrician she is referred to do nothing to allay her fears and with Dylan, a serving member of the ADF, often absent and her only real friend, Hannah, avoiding her, Amy goes in search of support and validation.

Amy is a likeable protagonist, a little naive and self absorbed but also idealistic, funny and generally well intentioned. A bit of a hippie and free spirit she feels like she doesn’t really fit in on the Darwin defence base. She works, by choice, from home as a freelancer, her family is over three thousand miles away in Victoria and as such she relies heavily on Dylan and Hannah for emotional and social support. All of the main characters are well developed and believable and the conflicts that arise between them are genuine, rather than manufactured.

I think that the reader’s own experience of pregnancy and birth will dictate the ways in which they will relate to Amy, her journey and her decisions. I sympathised with her experience of morning sickness (though mine lasted for 8 months), the constant need to pee and feeling overwhelmed by an unplanned pregnancy. I have given birth to four children, and had seven pregnancies and have had a range of good, bad, absurd and scary experiences.

I do believe a woman has the right to choose whichever experience suits her as long as she makes an informed choice and had Amy been shown to have made an effort to explore her options, of which there are several between the extremes of hospital/obstetrician managed and home birth, I would have been more sympathetic. Instead, I have to admit I was disappointed by the insinuated bias against medically assisted birth, and I think there needed to be some balance in Amy’s decision making process. However I could empathise with Hannah’s experience of her miscarriage, I had three, and none of them were handled particularly well.

Regardless of where you stand on the birthing debate, Lock is a talented writer. The writing is strong, characterised by natural dialogue and vivid description. The labour and birth scenes are among the best I have ever read. I particularly enjoyed the author’s sense of humour and her frank manner.

Ultimately, Peace, Love and Khaki Socks is a moving, funny and genuine story of Amy’s fraught journey through pregnancy.

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Review & Giveaway: The River of No Return by Bee Ridgeway

 

Title: The River of No Return

Author: Bee Ridgeway

Published: Penguin: Michael Joseph April 2013

Status: Read from April 20 to 21, 2013 — I own a copy

Read an Excerpt

My Thoughts:

In The River of No Return, Lord Nicholas Falcott is about to be run through with a sword on a Spanish battlefield when he is hurtled two hundred years into the future. He wakes at the mercy of The Guild, a seemingly benevolent organisation that supports people who find themselves displaced in time. Nick spends a year in a reeducation center, adjusting to modern life and learning the rules of the Guild:

There is no Return.
There is no Return.
Tell No One.
Uphold the Rules.

Then, nine years after his resettlement in the USA, The Guild demands Nick’s help. He is required to travel back to 1818 and resume his position as Lord Blackdown in order to help The Guild find a Talisman which is said to amplify the ability to manipulate time, before a rival group of travellers, known as the Ofan, do.

The River of No Return is a tale of adventure, romance and intrigue as Nick finds himself a pawn in the battle for the control of time. Two groups, The Guild and The Ofan are comprised of people displaced from their own time who fail to agree on how it can be used but both fear The Pale, a phenomena which is causing time to reverse. Rumours of a Talisman, an object of some kind that could perhaps undo the damage to the timeline, has them all desperately searching, loathe for the other to gain control.

I found the concepts surrounding the time travel element in the novel surprisingly easy to grasp. Ridgeway’s characters have the ability to move both forward and backward in time and even stop time, within a limited range. The how is a little more complicated but it’s an instinctual talent so most people do not discover the ability until in the midst of a life or death crisis. The Guild tells it’s general members that traveling is a one off event in order to protect their own interests in the timeline. The Ofan are essentially a rebel group who have spurned the Guild’s control.

Though Nick makes the leap from 1813 to 1993, our time with him in both era’s are fairly brief. The bulk of the story of The River of No Return takes place in 1818 in England when Nick returns on his mission for the Guild. I think this is, in part, why I took to the novel so well as I didn’t have to contend with multiple jumps through time and the inevitable fracturing of the storyline that leads to.

There are three main points of intrigue in the story, the veracity of the Guild and the Ofan, the identity of the mysterious Mr Mibbs and the whereabouts of the Talisman. Nick is unwittingly mixed up in all three and is forced on a path to try and solve the mysteries.

Romance is a strong element of the novel, Julia, is the seventeenth century neighbour of Nick, raised by her grandfather, who discovers after his death that she she has power over time. Julia and Nick shared a moment as children and it is the memory of Julia that still haunts Nick after his leap in time. When he returns to his own time, a relationship develops between he and Julia, but it is complicated by secrets and misunderstandings.

One word of warning, The River of No Return is the first installment in a continuing story, so it ends with little in the way of plot resolution but I, for one, am looking forward to the next adventure.

I have to admit I was trepiditious when I agreed to review The River of No Return, not entirely convinced a debut author could write convincingly about time travel when it is such a challenging concept. However I was sufficiently intrigued by the premise and sample chapter to give it a try, even after I discovered the novel was nearly 600 pages long.

I am very glad I did because I found The River of No Return to be an entertaining, engaging and well written novel. As this novel crosses genre boundaries, blending elements of historical fiction, sci-fi, adventure and romance I think it will appeal to a wide audience and I am happy to recommend it as a great read.

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Review & Giveaway: The Grand Adventures of Madeleine Cain: Photographer Extraordinaire by Emily Craven

 

Title: The Grand Adventures of Madeleine Cain: Photographer Extraordinaire {#1}

Author: Emily Craven

Published: September 2012

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Status: Read on April 20, 2013 — I own a copy {Courtesy the author}

My Thoughts:

“Just wanted to say, this wasn’t how I imagined the start of my grand adventure; a prig for a housemate and some unidentifiable (possibly Mexican) amphibian called Duncan. My vision of studio loft apartments, spacious and bright come nowhere close to describing this disturbing student housing. I mean, I’m paying a fortune, I have to find a job, and all I get is some crummy, two bedroom apartment with paint peeling off the walls, a cupboard for a kitchen and a bathroom that makes a moss infested cave network look like a barren desert plain. Seriously, there is enough mould on those tiles to start producing our own penicillin tablets.”

And so begins The Grand Adventures of Madeleine Cain: Photographer Extraordinaire in New York where Madeleine will be studying photography at a prestigious private arts college. Having left behind her friends and family in Australia she is on her own, adjusting to her new life while lurching from one hilarious encounter to another.

I have to admire Craven’s creative approach to storytelling, and admit to being somewhat surprised it actually works. The Grand Adventures of Madeleine Cain: Photographer Extraordinaire is told entirely in Facebook status updates, notes and private messages as Madeleine communicates with her friends and family. From the descriptions of her first day at college, where her housemate’s stowaway chameleon causes havoc, to her photographic study of cross-dressing little people and her crush on her cute, if self absorbed neighbour, Kevin, Madeleine apprises everyone of every step of her journey. Her family and friends are variously supportive, concerned and disbelieving in their replies, and each update earns Madeleine more ‘Likes’ from an unseen audience.

But it’s not all about Madeleine, from afar she is called upon to defend her wayward genius brother, comfort her hypochondriac best friend and continue to tease Tim about his relationship with his toaster. These ‘conversations’ give the story added depth and develops a uniquely connected cast, especially as her New York friends join her friendship circle.

Despite the unconventional format, The Grand Adventures of Madeleine Cain: Photographer Extraordinaire reads well. Anyone familiar with Facebook will quickly become comfortable with the rhythm of posts and comments. It’s a short read at just about 150 pages yet there is plenty happening to ensure the reader’s interest.

I was disappointed at the rather abrupt ending though, even with the knowledge that Craven expects to continue Madeleine’s adventures. In fact Craven is hoping that readers will become involved in shaping the story by joining the various Facebook pages she has established for her characters. It is an ambitious idea and though one I admire, I’m not sure it’s one readers are ready for quite yet.

The Grand Adventures of Madeleine Cain: Photographer Extraordinaire is a funny, lighthearted story of a twenty something Aussie making her way in the Big Apple. Well written and entertaining it is a unique contemporary read and I hope to be privy to Madeleine’s next adventures.

Join Em Craven and Madeleine on her adventures at: The Grand Adventures Of Madeline Cain Facebook Page

 

See your favourite characters interacting and join in! Like These Pages and Go For It!

 

Madeline Cain; Kathy Bloomingdale; Tim Gleeve; Cliff Wheeland; Kevin Doherty; Nadine Cain:; Mike Cain; Kim Enuik

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Review & Giveaway: Out of the Silence by Wendy James

 

Title: Out of The Silence

Author: Wendy James

Published: Momentum April 2013

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Status: Read from April 11 to 13, 2013 — I own a copy {Courtesy the publisher}

My Thoughts:

Set at the turn of the last century in Australia, Out of the Silence is a compelling blend of historical and crime fiction. Based on a true story it draws from historical record and the imagination of Wendy James to explore the fate of two women, working class Maggie Heffernan and genteel immigrant, Elizabeth Hamilton at a time when the suffragist movement, led by Vida Goldstein, was gaining ground in Victoria.

Maggie’s story is told in the first person, beginning in rural Victoria where she lives with her family. A little wild, Maggie wants more than “…a life indoors where nothing happens but potatoes boiling over and socks that need darning, or a child to be fed or changed or beat.” and when she meets Jack Hardy, who similarly longs for more than his status offers, she falls desperately in love.

Elizabeth’s life is shared through letters to her brother and private journal entries. The tragic death of her fiance in an accident shattered her dreams for the future and she chose to emigrate to Australia to take up a position as a governess. When she determines she unsuited to the situation she is instead offered accommodation with her cousins and Elizabeth joins the staff of a private school in Melbourne, finding herself a witness to the growing suffragette movement but yet hoping for “the promise of the fulfillment and contentment and happiness that for [Elizabeth] only marriage can provide”.

Vida Goldstein, who is a real figure from history, is Elizabeth’s employer at the private school where she works, and a close friend of her cousin, Harriet, with whom she lives. Vida’s passion for women’s rights is what brings these three very different characters together, when Maggie is accused, convicted and sentenced to death for murder.

Out of the Silence is not a who-dunnit but a why-dunnit exploring the social and personal contexts that led Maggie to commit such a heinous crime. It questions where the blame lies for the path her life takes, for the choices she is forced to make and how society’s perception of who she is, and so what she deserves plays a part in determining her fate. It’s a fascinating tale that James writes with empathy and adds human interest to the wider debate about women’s rights.

Though Elizabeth’s accounts can be rather dry, her moderate views temper Vida’s enthusiasm and Maggie’s desperate circumstances. I like that James gives each woman and her perspective a voice without judgement. Though their situations are very different their basic desire, to choose their own fate, is the same.

Out of the Silence is rich in period detail, it illustrates a time, place and attitude where science, religion and social awareness began to conflict. In large part this novel is a historical record of the momentum of the suffragette movement in Australia around the year 1900. It explores the role of women in accordance with class, privilege and law of the time, contrasting the circumstances of individuals like Maggie and Elizabeth.

A well crafted, thoughtful novel, Out of the Silence is a fascinating story of women, of love and desire. I am very pleased that Momentum has republished this award winning title for a new audience to discover.

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Review: Ask Me To Stay by Elise K Ackers

Title: Ask Me To Stay {Homeland #1}

Author: Elise K Ackers

Published: Destiny Romance April 2013

Status: Read on April 13, 2013 — I own a copy {Courtesy the publisher}

My Thoughts:

I have previously read and enjoyed The Man Plan by Elise K Ackers a sweet, lighthearted contemporary romance. Ask Me To Stay, the first novella in a new series by the author, is quite different with less emphasis on the romantic relationship between the protagonists.

Ethan Foster left home at eighteen without any explanation, deserting the brother who raised him after the tragic death of their parents and his childhood sweetheart, Samantha O’Hara. In the past ten years or so he has returned only a handful of times for family occasions, never staying more than a day or two, leaving town with gossip trailing in his wake. But this time it’s different, Ethan’s brother’s wife has died, leaving Dean to raise their two young children alone. Despite the animosity between the brothers, this time Ethan doesn’t leave, even though he risks disclosing the secret he has carried for the last decade, the secret that has stopped him coming home.

Though written in the third person, which allows us to learn what Sam, and the other characters, think and feel, I was pleasantly surprised to discover that Ethan takes the lead in this story. The plot centers around the ruinous secret that haunts Ethan and it is his regrets and hopes that drive the story.

Ethan is a credible, sympathetic character and I found his motivations believable. I especially liked the way in which Ackers developed his relationship with his niece and nephew, child characters are notoriously difficult for authors to get right and I think the author did so wonderfully in this instance.

I thought Sam could have been a stronger character as I didn’t get much of a sense of why she and Ethan should be together above all things but I did like her. She is one of the few who never loses faith in Ethan despite having good reason to.

While within the scope of the story the romance works fine since it is a relationship rekindled, fans of the genre may be disappointed by the lack of direct interaction between Ethan and Sam. There is a happy ending though which should satisfy most romance readers.

The secondary characters in Ask Me To Stay are also likeable, with subsequent books in the Homeland series to feature Ethan’s best mate, Cal and brother, Dean.

At only 130 pages, Ask Me To Stay is a short, quick read but a very engaging novella with appealing characters and surprising emotional depth. I am looking forward to reading Cal’s story in July.

Click HERE to read a guest post by Elise K Ackers posted earlier today

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AWW Feature & Giveaway: Elise K. Ackers and her reputation

I’m happy to welcome Elise K. Ackers back to Book’d Out today to introduce you to her  new Homeland series being published by Destiny Romance.

Elise K. Ackers is from Melbourne, Australia and is an animal foster carer, a magnet for unusual accidents and an enthusiastic couch commentator. She writes contemporary romance and romantic suspense and is published with Destiny Romance and Escape Publishing.  Late last year I reviewed The Man Plan, warm, lighthearted, contemporary romance, and Elise shared a post about subconcious inspiration.

Ask Me To Stay: A Homeland Book is her fourth book, an engaging novella I have reviewed HERE. Here is the blurb:

“When family tragedy brings bad boy Ethan Foster home, he doesn’t expect a warm welcome. In the small town of Hinterdown reputation is everything – and Ethan’s was ruined long ago. Nobody wants him around, particularly not Sam O’Hara, the girl he left behind. There’s still a powerful spark between them, but Sam is afraid to risk her heart again. And Ethan is hiding a secret that will have repercussions for his whole family. Will the townspeople ever forgive him? More importantly, will those he loves the most find it in their hearts to take him back?”

The second title in the Homeland series will be available in July 2013. To learn more about the series and how you can win a copy of Ask Me To Stay, read on…

Reputation as a currency

Ask Me To Stay: A Homeland Book is the first in my novella series with Destiny Romance, and it introduces the common theme across the series: reputation.

Ethan Foster, enigma, run-away and all-round contradiction, has just returned to his home town with an undeserved reputation and a whopping great secret. Over a decade ago, he fled the small country town of Hinterdown in New South Wales, Australia. He left behind a brother, a lover, a best friend, and a life interrupted by untimely death.

People made their own assumptions about his reasons for leaving, and as the years passed, assumptions became fact, and fact became legend.

By the time Ethan returns home, people’s misconceptions are inflexible and damning, and their opinions are getting in the way of salvaging a relationship with his brother, Dean. Because Ethan rarely kept in touch, and because Dean has built a life for himself that Ethan’s had almost no part in – their estrangement is only fuelled by inaccurate gossip.

Both experience and research had told me that a person’s reputation in a small town is like a kind of currency. It’s either tracking well against the baseline, or it’s underperforming. You only get one reputation – and no one is likely to forget what you choose to do with it.Your reputation represents your worth. It determines if people are likely to trust you, rely on you or even like you.

But one wrong move – one mistake – can cancel out years of good behaviour. Ethan’s only mistake was to leave. Prior to that he was a well-liked teenager who was afforded a lot of patience because of his parents’ untimely deaths. Everything changed the day he stopped deciding to put on a brave face. When he left, he was condemned for abandoning his brother, for breaking his then-girlfriend’s heart, and basically for daring to start again.

Ethan quickly learns that rebuilding a reputation takes a lot longer than it takes to lose it, and that taking on someone else’s mistake – and thereby adopting their bad reputation – has heart breaking, far-reaching consequences.
Maybe it’s time to set things straight. But to restore his reputation, he must ruin another’s. Is the price of acceptance too high?

In the second and third Homeland books, which explore the lives and loves of Ethan’s brother, Dean, and Ethan’s childhood best friend, Caleb; reputation is similarly explored. Without spoilers, Cal reignites a friendship with an ex-local with a bad girl reputation, and Dean must battle against people’s perception of him, since his loss in Ask Me To Stay. Both men will challenge their reputations, and the reputations of those they love.

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Review & Giveaway: Sweet Damage by Rebecca James

Title: Sweet Damage

Author: Rebecca James

Published: Allen and Unwin April 2013

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Status: Read from March 27 to 28, 2013 — I own a copy {Courtesy Allen & Unwin}

My Thoughts:

Sweet Damage is the second novel by Rebecca James. Her first, Beautiful Malice, gained international success for it’s chilling story of twisted friendship.

In Sweet Damage, Tim, an easy going, twenty something kitchen hand who has been staying on his ex-girlfriends couch since his return from an overseas trip. When she insists he finds his own space he is thrilled to find an inexpensive room in a large house in the leafy Australian suburb of Fairlight. The only catch is his young, agoraphobic enigmatic housemate, and landlord, Alice, who is not only haunted by unspeakable tragedy, but perhaps something altogether more sinister.

I was immediately drawn to the premise of Sweet Damage, tantalised by the gothic overtones and the promise of a chilling mystery and I was barely a quarter of the way through when the first wave of shivers rolled over me. It wasn’t the last time I felt that tingle of dread, the measured pace allows the suspense to build as the narrative weaves in and out of the past and present, before twisting unexpectedly.

Anna is such an interesting protagonist, and the ambiguity surrounding her character plays beautifully into the suspense. Her agoraphobia, her secretiveness and her difficulty interacting with Tim suggests she has something to hide and as strange things begin to happen in the house, it is understandable that Tim suspects her, especially since she is unable to deny any wrongdoing.

Tim is a little wary of Anna and her odd behaviour but with the arrogance of youth he is not really threatened by the odd occurrences at Fairview. Tim is more concerned with his on again/off again relationship with Lilla, his ex-girlfriend, with whom he admits an obsession. However Anna ignites his protective instinct and he is drawn to her vulnerability which contrasts so vividly with Lilla’s brash personality.

The writing is finely crafted to create an atmospheric and gripping story of psychological suspense. Several suspects move in and out of the frame as the mystery unfolds. As the story reaches it’s climax I thought perhaps Anna and Tim piece things together perhaps a little too quickly but the final confrontation is shocking and not everyone will see it coming.

I devoured Sweet Damage in a few hours, it is an easy yet engrossing read. I think it can be enjoyed by a wide range of ages (16 and up) and recommend it to those who enjoy spine tingling suspense.

Earlier today I posted a Q&A with Rebecca, make sure you take a look!

Sweet Damage is available for purchase

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AWW Feature: Q&A with Rebecca James, author of Sweet Damage

Welcome Rebecca James!

I am delighted to feature Rebecca James at  Book’d Out today and talk a little about her newest release, Sweet Damage. Rebecca James was born in Sydney, Australia, in 1970 and grew up in various different places throughout New South Wales, including Bourke, Sydney, Wellington and Bathurst. During her twenties Rebecca worked as a waitress, an English teacher in both Indonesia and Japan, a bartender, and (most memorably) a mini-cab telephone operator in London. During her thirties Rebecca spent most of her time having babies, she has four sons, and helping her partner run a small kitchen business in Canberra.

Rebecca’s first novel Beautiful Malice (Allen & Unwin 2010), a young adult psychological thriller, placed Highly Commended in the 2010 FAW (Fellowship of Australian Writers) Christina Stead Award and became a international best seller.

Sweet Damage is a compelling story of suspense that  I devoured within hours. My review is available HERE and I have three copies to giveaway, for now I am going to let Rebecca tell you more about her fabulous new novel, read on…

Q&A with Rebecca James

Q: Can you give us the ‘elevator pitch’ for Sweet Damage?

Rebecca: Laid back surfer Tim Ellison can’t believe  his luck when he scores a cheap room to rent in a  Sydney mansion. The only catch is his new flatmate, Anna London:  withdrawn  and agoraphobic she’s not exactly easy to make friends with. When strange and terrifying things start happening in the house, Tim wonders if he’s made a mistake taking the room and soon he’s caught up the tragic mystery of Anna’s past and the discovery of secrets both shocking and horrific.

Q: What was the first element of inspiration for creating Sweet Damage?

Rebecca: I was thinking about anxiety and agoraphobia and how having a person who’s basically  trapped in a house had a lot of potential for a story. And then I started thinking about how a lot of people view mental illnesses like agoraphobia, how they see it as a weakness, a failure. I thought it would be interesting to narrate most of the story from Tim’s perspective – a well-meaning but slightly insensitive guy who is completely baffled by Anna’s situation, her inability to leave the house. That was the basic set-up and then I had to put Tim and Anna under a whole lot of pressure and create a big mystery and lot of twisty plot elements to keep readers guessing and turning the pages.

Q:  Sweet Damage is written in the first person view from a young male,  did his gender pose any difficulties for you as you wrote?

Rebecca: Sometimes, yes! In my first draft my editor made the comment that Tim at times sounded like a 40 year old woman rather than a young man in his twenties. In redrafting I had to be really conscious not to let my voice override his, make sure he wasn’t thinking the way I would in his situation.

Q:  Is Fairview, the house in which Anna and Tim live,  based on a real location?

Rebecca: The location is real but the house itself is a product of my imagination. I know Fairlight the suburb pretty well, as I’ve lived there myself (in a small flat, not a mansion!) and my grandmother used to live in the very street – Lauderdale Avenue – in which I set the book.

Q:  What draws you to the young adult /psychological thriller genre?

Rebecca: I didn’t set out to write YA fiction. When I was writing my first book, BEAUTIFUL MALICE, I wasn’t thinking about categories or genres at all. It wasn’t until I started looking for an agent that I had to start thinking of how to pitch it. Interestingly, Beautiful Malice sold as a YA book in most territories, but as an adult book in others. in fulfilling my contract (BEAUTIFUL MALICE sold in a two-book deal) I had to try and write a book with similar crossover appeal – and so I hope SWEET DAMAGE is the same as BEAUTIFUL MALICE in that it will appeal to both teens and adults.

I’m definitely drawn to psychological thrillers. I think it must be my favourite genre in both books and movies. I enjoy the element of suspense and I always love it when there’s a completely unexpected twist that you don’t see coming.

Q: Do you and your sister, Wendy (The Mistake) talk about your writing with each other?

Rebecca: Yes, we do. We read each other’s manuscripts and give feedback. We talk about plot and characters and pacing and style – all the elements of novel-writing basically.

Q: Name three of your favourite novels by Australian women writers

Rebecca: It’s difficult to name only three  and I find it hard to list favourites as I don’t tend to think of books in that way. So I’m going to list three books that kept me thinking about the characters  and the writing long after I closed the last page.

OUT OF THE SILENCE by my sister Wendy is a book I couldn’t get out of my head for a long while. Maggie’s plight really brought home to me how dreadful and unfair life could be for women before feminism made abortion possible. Her story’s a great reminder how important feminism has been for women (and still is) and how much we’re now able to take for granted. (OUT OF THE SILENCE has just been republished as an ebook by Momentum press so you can now buy it from Amazon).

THE SPARE ROOM by Helen Garner is another book that resonated for me. I love Helen Garner’s ability to apply a her sharp critical lens to the domestic life of ordinary people. She’s honest about people’s motivations, and their small pettinesses and there’s a courage and beauty in that honesty that I really admire.

I also love Liane Moriarty’s work, particularly WHAT ALICE FORGOT (I haven’t read her latest yet, but intend to remedy that very soon). Liane Moriarty reminds me a bit of Anne Tyler in that she’s fundamentally kind to her characters. She shows people in all their flawed glory without being judgemental or superior, which is, I think, a great novelistic skill. The idea that people can be both flawed and lovable, that life is sticky and complicated, and that people can surprise themselves in both good and bad ways, is, for me, a recurring message of her work.  Her books somehow make me feel more optimistic and cheerful.

Q. What is your preference?

• Coffee/Tea or other? Tea.
• Beach/Pool or River? Beach. But I love pools too. And rivers.
• Slacks/Jeans or Leggings? Jeans. (Slacks? No way! They sound so old -ladyish!)
• Butterfly/Tiger or Giraffe? Giraffe. They have cute faces. Though I don’t know what I’d do with one.
• Swing/Slide or Roundabout? Actually the thought of either makes me a feel a bit queasy. I’d rather just sit on a bench seat and read, thanks very much!

You can connect with Rebecca James at

Blog I Facebook I Twitter

Sweet Damage is available for purchase

@Allen & Unwin I @BoomerangBooks I @Booktopia I @Amazon Kindle

via Booko

A special edition of Beautiful Malice, with a preview of Sweet Damage, is currently available from Allen & Unwin

Review & Giveaway: The Wild Girl by Kate Forsyth

Title: The Wild Girl

Author: Kate Forsyth

Published: Vintage: Random House March 2013

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Status: Read from March 15 to 17, 2013 — I own a copy {Courtesy the publisher}

My Thoughts:
The Wild Girl is a stunning tale of passion, love and war where history and imagination intertwine to create a wonderfully rich portrait of a woman whose contribution to the legend of the Grimm Brothers is finally acknowledged.

Dortchen Wild lives in the small kingdom of  Hessen-Cassel in Germany in the early 1800′s, as Napoleon Bonaparte marches across Europe. One of five daughters of an apothecary,  her only relief from her father’s tyranny comes from the rare occasions she can escape his attention and her friendship with her next door neighbour,  Lotte Grimm. As the war intensifies, Lotte’s older brothers Jakob and Williem return home. With a single glance, twelve year old Dortchen falls in the love with the scholarly Williem but he barely notices her and she can only worship him from afar. As war rages and Cassel is plunged into economic ruin, the Grimm brothers hope to reverse their fortunes by publishing a book of collected fairytales.  It’s not until Dortchen shyly offers to contribute that Williem realises Dortchen has grown up, but her father forbids any courtship between the desperately poor neighbour boy and his daughter. While the lovers endure years of enforced separation due to abuse, war and poverty Dortchen never stops hoping for her own happily ever after.

Kate Forsyth uses historical record as the anchor for a story that she then develops with informed imagination. The Napoleonic War and it’s social effects grounds the tale in time and place while her fictional narrative winds in and out of what is known about the Grimm brothers, the origins of their fairytale collection and Dortchen. I don’t doubt that Forsyth’s research, using primary sources such Williem’s diaries amongst others, is impeccable but I most admire how she creates a plausible, seamless narrative melding fact with fiction. The author’s intuitive grasp of behaviour and motive ensures her characters, their environment and their lives feel authentic.

In the tradition of the original Grimm’s fairytales, Dortchen’s childhood is beset by darkness. Her mother was a weak woman addicted to Laudanum and subservient to her husband. Dortchen’s father, pious and strict during her childhood, devolved into a drunken, abusive tyrant in her adolescence, illustrated in several harrowing scenes. The war and resulting economic deprivations is hard on the family and though three of the sisters are eventually able to escape, Dortchen is forced to remain at home and care for her ailing parents. It is saddening to see Dortchen withdraw into herself in self defense, her spirit eroded by her fading hopes for escape from her father. The spark is only revived when she steals a moment or two with Williem. Her relationship with him is fraught with angst, drama and passion, their love is challenged repeatedly and a happy ending is never guaranteed.

The fairytale’s appear in the narrative not just as stories passed between the characters but also with some relationships to the plot. Dortchen often hopes that Williem will recognise her pain in the tales that she tells, though his scholarly focus seems to make him somewhat oblivious to the subtleties. They also reflect the political and social instability of times with tales of greedy kings and an abandoned, unfed children, despite their origin being from other times and places. The fairytales themselves are both versions of familiar stories like Cinderella and Snow White as well as less well known tales like that of a singing bone that identifies a murderer.

Really I could go on, The Wild Child is remarkable. A tale of triumph over adversity, an epic historical romance, a fascinating glimpse into the history of storytelling – it is all those things and more. One of my favourite reads for the year, I recommend it wholeheartedly.

 

Earlier today I posted a Q&A with Kate Forsyth HERE. Visit to learn more about the author, the book and  download an ESampler.

The Wild Girl is available

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via Booko

ENTER TO WIN

Random House is offering my Australian readers the opportunity to win

1 print edition of The Wild Girl

To enter

CLICK HERE

Entries close March 31st. Winner is drawn via Random.org