Bestsellers for September 2009
1 Dancing Backwards Salley Vickers Fourth Estate $27.99
Anyone who enjoyed “Miss Garnet’s Angel” will be thrilled to read Salley Vicker’s new novel. Following the death of her second husband, Vi Etherington sets off on a cruise liner across the Atlantic, to meet up with her old friend, Edwin, in New York. On the way she re-reads the journals that she kept as a young adult, when she first knew him. Vi’s voyage is enlivened by the array of interesting characters also making the trip and her decision to take dancing lessons with the dashing Des, also known as Dino. But the most intriguing part of the story is the re-visiting of her relationship with Edwin and the fascinating tangle of relationships with Edwin, Vi and her first husband Bruno. Salley Vicker’s background as a psychotherapist informs her writing with insight and wisdom, making this a delightful, warm novel. Very enjoyable!
2 The Solitude of Prime Numbers Paolo Giordano Doubleday $32.95
A stunning debut novel, which has already sold a million copies in its native Italy, tells the story of two friends brought together by childhood tragedy. The theme of the prime number as a solitary thing – only divisible by itself or by one and never truly fitting with another – is central to the novel. Mattia, the male central character is a mathematician and ultimately he has to choose between human love and his love of mathematics. He has a special bond with his friend Alice, who understands him better than anyone else, because like him she has secrets from her childhood that she tries to hide. But will the two friends be able to cope with the possible discovery of Mattia’s missing sister?
3 Sacred Hearts Sarah Dunant Virago $32.99
Sarah Dunant, author of “The Birth of Venus” and “In the Company of the Courtesan”, returns to her beloved 16th century Italy. In her new book we enter the world of the convent, where the daughters of noblemen are sent when their fathers are unable to afford their dowries. The young women devise different methods of coping with their virtual imprisonment and adopt different strategies of survival. We follow the reluctant arrival of novice Serafina, who becomes friends with the convent female physician. Fascinating in its detail, this is a rich and rewarding read
4 The People's Train Tom Keneally Vintage $32.95
Tom Keneally’s latest novel, based on a true story, takes us to Tsarist Russia and the pre-World War 1 Russian émigrés in Brisbane. The hero of the book, Artem Samsurov, a protégé of Lenin and an ardent socialist, escapes to Australia from a Siberian labour camp. He discovers that Brisbane in 1911 isn’t quite the worker’s paradise that he had imagined and the Russian workers, are definitely not a model of brotherhood. He helps to organise a strike and gets dangerously entangled in the death of another exile and makes friends in unlikely places. But what will happen when he returns to Russia for the revolution? Keneally has the knack for bringing history to life and takes us to the heart of the Russian Revolution through the dramatic life of an unknown, inspiring and very human individual.
5 That Old Cape Magic Richard Russo Chatto & Winduss $34.95
Another favourite author – this time writing in a wryly funny mood! Jack Griffin is driving to Cape Cod for a wedding and is assailed by memories of childhood holidays and also his honeymoon, 30 years ago. Jack’s marriage is going through a rocky patch and his parents are never far away – in fact his father’s ashes are in the boot of his car and his mother is always ringing him on his cell phone! The year that follows the wedding is a turbulent one, which Russo observes with humour and sympathy. An impressive analysis of family dynamics and the way we try not to repeat the mistakes of the past.
6 The Angel's Game Carlos Ruiz Zafon Text Publishing $34.95
Those who enjoyed “Shadow of the Wind” by the same author, will be excited to see this one! In the first book, Carlos Ruiz Zafon shared with us his love of books, in this second book, he shares his love of the art of writing. This novel has a darker tone than the first one, but again delights with a central mystery, an unattainable love, a house with a secret, mysterious characters ( some of whom we have met before) and a deep passion for literature. And above all, his passion for the city of Barcelona! An intricate tapestry of a story!
7 We are all Made of Glue Marina Lewycka Penguin $32.95
This is the delightful third book from the author of “Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian”. Marina Lewycka is one of the funniest literary authors around and the characters in “Made of Glue” are bound to delight. Marina combines the story of Georgie, an adhesives magazine writer, whose wealthy husband has just left her, with that of the eccentric and elderly Mrs Naomi Shapiro, whose shadowy past in wartime Europe is gradually revealed. You will enjoy the unlikely friendship that grows up between the two women and the hilarious cast of characters that become involved as Mrs Shapiro is admitted to hospital. An ideal read if you would like a humorous book for a change!
8 Jasper Jones Craig Silvey Allen & Unwin $29.99
Late on a hot summer night in the tail end of 1965, Charlie Bucktin, a precocious and bookish boy of thirteen, is startled by an urgent knock on the window of his sleep-out. His visitor is Jasper Jones, an outcast in the regional mining town of Corrigan. Rebellious, mixed-race and solitary, Jasper is a distant figure of danger and intrigue for Charlie. So when Jasper begs for his help, Charlie eagerly steals into the night by his side, terribly afraid but desperate to impress.
Jasper takes him through town and to his secret glade in the bush, and it's here that Charlie bears witness to Jasper's horrible discovery. With his secret like a brick in his belly, Charlie is pushed and pulled by a town closing in on itself in fear and suspicion as he locks horns with his tempestuous mother; falls nervously in love and battles to keep a lid on his zealous best friend, Jeffrey Lu. In the simmering summer where everything changes, Charlie learns why the truth of things is so hard to know, and even harder to hold in his heart.
9 The Invisible Mountain Carolina de Robertis Harper Collins $32.99
Using three generations of women in a family, Carolina de Robertis, tells a great tale of the twentieth century history of Uruguay and Argentina. The three women are wonderful heroines – Pajarita, whose miraculous infancy leads on to a career in making healing herbal elixirs; Eva, who survives exploitation as a child to become a poetess; and Salome, who picks up on her mothers revolutionary sympathies to become a fully fledged activist and spends many years imprisoned. The writing is full of fascinating detail and real-life characters – Che Guevara and the Perons take their part in the narrative. This is historical writing at its best.
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Book of the Month
September 2010
Freedom
by
Jonathan Franzen