From Dunedin's 24-hour Regent Booksale.

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Picked this up at the Brissie Bookcrossing convention. Miss Felicia Fairy said it was a must read so I quickly snaffled it.

Finally! This book came in at no. 8 on the poll to find the Great Australian novels. It's actually the only one in the top 20 that I've really loved (or even remotely enjoyed to be truthful).

It was subtle and understated. Beautifully written.

Bookray:
lakelady2282 - Lake Macquarie, NSW, Australia
blakkat-bne - Brisbane, QLD, Australia
Arrietty - Adelaide, SA, Australia

Back to Fushmush then:
SKingList - Japan

Looking forward to reading this but I have About an Author bookring book to read first.

Gosh! I didn't realise I had had this book so long. Will try and get to it next. Have had four bookrings all at once.

Sorry fushmush you are going to hate me but I found this book very labourious. I mean how long do you need to spend in a paddock with a cow? The novel started out okay and around 60 pages I thought, good, interesting character viewpoints but very soon after that I'm afraid Felicity had me pulling my hair out and by 120 pages when I stopped I just couldn't face the scene at the Women's Institute or Heritage meeting or whatever.
When I am around a third of the way through a novel I generally expect there to have been some character interaction and sort of drama or tension but there was none. Sorry to be so harsh but I was very surprised to be so disappointed.
Thank you anyway it was interesting to give it a go but Matthew Condon awaits. Will pm blakkat-bne.

PS. I did love the descriptions of the bridge. They were quite beautiful.

blakkat-bne has asked to be skipped. He?she? is swamped with tbr's at the moment. Will pm Arrietty.

RELEASE NOTES:

Arrived in the mail yesterday :) Thanks for passing it on!

***UPDATE 07/02/2006*** Started reading this today... like lakelady, I'm finding it rather hard to get into this one though :/

***UPDATE 17/02/2006*** finished reading this while sick at home. I didn't enjoy this one but I battled my way through it. Will send on to the next person ASAP.

Posted yesterday! Very sorry about the delay *sheepish look*

Thanks received this on Friday. Will start reading it soon. I loved Grenville's Dark Places so think I will enjoy this too.

Fushmush - I'm with you; it's a beautiful book. Sure it's slow but that's what makes it so special. A story of love, fear and discovery set in a bush town with an old heritage bridge as its centre. Here I've just experienced 5 days of hot hot weather and the book made a perfect companion as I sat in the house or bus reading on those soporific, lazy days. Yes I got a bit frustrated with the 2 main characters taking until page 255 before going on a date but the author had to set the scene first which as it turns out is just as important as the characters.

Here's why I loved it. Harley (main female character)as a child is reflecting on the quilt cover her gran made from triangles of material cut from men's suits.

"Lying pinned under the weight of the bedcover in the morning, listening to the chooks waking up and Gran clanging Agatha's door, she could lose herself in the pattern. Light, dark. Light, dark. Somehow it wa a comfort. Close up the pattern was harder to see because some of the dark lights were almost the smae as some of the light darks. But even if you were too close to see the pieces were light, dark, light, dark you know that that was what they did. You knew you could count on it being there, whether you could see it or not. Light, dark, light, dark."

So the not-so-perfect quilt with its triangles of dark and light patches is synonymous with the old bent bridge which is bent and imperfect. It is in this setting of light and dark, of concrete and timber that the 2 main characters, rejected by their partners and peers, gravitate towards each other.

Will contact fushmush about where to post it next.