Review ‘The Nosy Detectives’ by Louisa Bennet

What a great read! This story has heart and soul and Louisa Bennet’s characters took me by surprise with a dark mystery, light humour, good friendships, anthropomorphic animals and a touch of romance. Monty the Golden Retriever is one of the main protagonists. I love the way the animals are really the heroes, working hard to assist their hooman, Rose Sidebottom, who was formerly a police officer. With her young assistant Ollie Fernsby, Rose has just opened her newly painted private detective agency in an office shed behind the local vet surgery.

The four-legged team consists of three dogs Monty, Summer, Panda, and Betty the rat who is my favourite. There is support from stalwart vet Malcolm Kerr (good with animals but tongue-tied around Rose) and other fascinating personalities in and around the village of Nether Wallop. Flies in the ointment are unhelpful police and people with vague memories.

The plot revolves around young Finn Toyne suspected of arson on his birthday which destroyed his family home. He lost his parents and the ability to speak after the blaze. Finn’s mind is in turmoil. Of course, unscrupulous land developers loom on the horizon, and legal wills and inheritance are brought into the equation. Can his grandmother Phyllis O’Neal be ruled out even though she has hired Rose to investigate this cold case?

Rose gives Monty one of her loving smiles. “If anyone can persuade Finn to talk, it’s you.”
Monty thinks “If a dog could blush, I would. I wag my tail across the floor.”
A nice touch is the shadow silhouettes of Rose and Monty at the beginning of each chapter.
They act as flick-pics moving across the pages of the book.
THE NOSY DETECTIVES BY LOUISA BENNET

In the beginning, Monty and furry friends go on a separate undercover rescue mission. A thrilling ride and very tense moments follow at the Peasemarsh dog pound which brought a lump of emotion to my throat. Further on, Rose offers assistance when a friend’s caravan is wrecked by vandals. Leaving the scene she felt like the canine version of the Pied Piper of Hamelin as she walked across Winterfold Heath followed by four dogs. Strained encounters come in various forms; DCI Leach, Tiffany a perverse cat, and vicar Reggie Mabey who maybe a killer? Rose conducts several interviews including one with a handsome fireman. You can feel vet Malcolm’s disappointment.

Gradually investigator Rose becomes more confident in her skills and she has a tingle-sense which alerts her to people telling lies. It is hard to describe how well this mix works. Monty uses his superior canine sniffer to interpret smells and, of course, there are doggy ways to send messages too. The intertextuality with the animal dialogue is well done and I guarantee after reading you will look more closely at your family pet.

The ending is explosive yet this is the kind of book which can be read by a wide age range. The closest way I can describe it is like your favourite story which left a warm, lasting impression in your memory.

❤ Gretchen Bernet-Ward

Monty Dog Detective series:

1. Monty and Me (2015)
2. The Bone Ranger (2021)
3. The Nosy Detectives (2023

The Nosy Detectives are Back!

THIS is a sneak peek! Monty the dog-tective is a food-obsessed, naughty, and totally loveable Golden Retriever who will do anything for his owner, former Detective Constable Rose Sidebottom.

THE AUTHOR—Louisa Larkin has written two previous Monty stories (as Louisa Bennet) and in August 2023 her new dog-tective mystery The Nosy Detectives will be released.

Monty Dog Detective series:

1. Monty and Me (2015)

2. The Bone Ranger (2021)

3. The Nosy Detectives (2023)

THE STORY—Two nosy detectives Rose and Monty set up their own private detective agency and tackle their first case, a fire at a farmhouse which killed two people. The only witnesses are a teenager who hasn’t spoken since the fire and a dog called Panda. Lots of clues to ‘sniff out’. Can they find where the ‘bones are buried’?

MORE INFO—If you think that’s a little bit cosy crime, author Louisa Bennet also writes gritty thrillers as L. A. Larkin: The Safe Place, Widow’s Island, Prey, Thirst, Devour, The Genesis Flaw and more.

In August 2023 detectives Rose and Monty will hit the shelves,
keep your eyes peeled and ‘nose to the ground’
for their newest crime-busting mystery.
My book review coming soon!
The Nosy Detectives by Louisa Bennet
www.clandestinepress.net

IN THE MEANTIME—Check out these links:

www.lalarkin.com

www.twitter.com/montydogd

www.facebook.com/AuthorLouisaBennet

www.instagram.com/writerwithdogs

Happy barks and furious tail-wagging!

♥ Gretchen Bernet-Ward

A SWEET SAD NOTE—“This third book in the series is my most mysterious and, I hope, the funniest. It also means a lot to me personally because The Nosy Detectives is dedicated to my golden retriever, Pickles, the book’s inspiration, who died last year. My publisher commissioned Laura Gaitán, a fabulous artist, to hand sketch the cover and to liken the picture of the dog to Pickles. It gives me such joy to see him on the book jacket.” Louisa Bennet 2023

‘How To Be Remembered’ Michael Thompson Reviewed

Tommy Llewellyn (a name he chose) is a young boy whose entire existence is wiped from the memory of everyone who knows him each year on his birthday, the fifth of January. Fortunately Tommy does not regress to babyhood each time but he grows up and has to start his life all over again to re-establish himself every single time.

A long waitlist for this book at my local library so I considered borrowing an audio book (narrated by Lewis Fitz-Gerald length 10 hours 16 minutes) but downloaded the e-book at the same time as a friend gave me the p-book, saying ‘excellent story’.

This time-slip novel starts off well with a smooth transition, easy to believe, somewhat elegiac, but plenty of compassion. One year old Tommy is sent to a former dairy converted to Milkwood House for lost, abandoned, nobody-wants-them children.

Tommy grows up and the world around him doesn’t know he already had an existence—many in fact. The scenes build, the young (soon to be forgotten) baby/child/teenager/adult matures and his life gradually unfolds amid some dramatic events. The fallout is that everyone around Tommy forgets all about him when his life resets like a bad reboot. Again and again and again. And it also resets the minds of close friends who knew Tommy—even lovely carer Miss Michelle—with no recollection of him nor the circumstances surrounding his ‘departure’.

Four things I must mention:
First, I am not sure if this is YA or an adult book
and
Second, the swearing is a bit distracting
and
Third, initially Tommy doesn’t rail against his Reset circumstances, he doesn’t tell anyone or try to engineer change. Although he feels like an outcast, he becomes accepting of his strange situation, never tempted to reboot, until one fateful hot afternoon
and
Fourth, this story is like a modern fairy tale e.g. don’t analyse too hard!
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A bitter sweet experience occurs when Tommy turns fourteen. Something rather ordinary happened to him. Of course, given his unique circumstances, even the ordinary is going to be a problem. Tommy Llewellyn finds romance and falls in love with Carey Price, a girl older than him and he knows it won’t be smooth sailing. He already has a ‘history’ with Carey but she will never remember the true story. And Tommy is not about to tell her the upsetting details of her near death experience because she believes it was creepy Richie Sharpe who saved her life.

Disillusioned, Tommy sinks into the doldrums, a mass of rage and self-pity with a stolen bottle of Johnnie Walker Scotch Whisky chaser before winding up in a life and death situation. Will it be hospital, heaven, romance or a chance for Tommy to beat the odds and alter his unique rotating life sentence?

Further questions only answered by reading the book:
Does the reader find out what’s going on?
Is the ‘evil spell’ broken?
Does Tommy take steps towards a normal life?
Can Tommy create his own happy ending?
‘How To Be Remembered’ by Michael Thompson

Sneak peek, fast forward and Tommy does get real world experience via ‘former friend’ Josh Saunders. That’s all I’m divulging. The second half of the book is quite moving and while there is romance it is sliced through with angst and violence, pulling out all the stops. You may or may not like the ending…

If we need one, I think the moral of author Thompson’s story is to do little things to be remembered. Good things, leave a legacy of kindness and hope and love. Everyone leaves a mark on this world. Even indirectly, fleetingly, you are remembered for something you have done during your lifetime.

♥ Gretchen Bernet-Ward

Author Bio: Michael Thompson has been a successful journalist, producer and media executive for fifteen years. He now co-owns a podcast production company and is the co-host of one of the highest-ranked podcasts in Australia. ‘How to be Remembered’ is his first novel. Thompson lives in Sydney with his wife and two young children.

Similar shades of:
Life After Life by Kate Atkinson
The Time Travellers Wife by Audrey Niffenegger
The House on the Strand by Daphne Du Maurier
The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold
Labyrinth by Kate Mosse
A Stitch in Time by Kelley Armstrong
The Outlander Series by Diana Gabaldon
The Forgotten Garden by Kate Morton
Midnight is a Lonely Place by Barbara Erskine
Dandelion Time: Romance Through Time by Nel Ashley
The Sleeping Angel by Margarita Morris
The Sins of the Fathers by Andy Conway
Lost In Time by A. G. Riddle
At the Edge of the Solid World by Daniel Davis Wood
Sea of Tranquility by Emily St. John Mandel
Mariana by Susanna Kearsley
Time Out of Time (YA) by Alex Marchant
The Timeslip Series (YA) by Belinda Murrell
The Boy Who Stepped Through Time (YA) by Anna Ciddor
Making It Home (YA) by Suzanne Roche
Playing Beatie Bow (YA) by Ruth Park

Many more I have not yet read or perhaps forgotten…

Time Is… © image Gretchen Bernet-Ward 2023

Skye McKenna ‘Hedgewitch’ Book Review

Hedgewitch by Skye McKenna © book styling Gretchen Bernet-Ward 2023

A great read for the school holidays. Goblin bombs anyone?! It starts off very well, there are exciting bits, scary bits and then mystery takes over. I loved this type of book as a kid, such an imaginative and inventive storyline founded in fantasy and grounded in real life, albeit with a talking cat and nasty little imps. Young Cassandra Morgan is a great protagonist (you can’t say heroine anymore can you?) who meets some pretty big challenges head on.

First there are uncomfortably cruel boarding school scenes but after much trauma, and a train trip, Cassie arrives in the enchanted village of Hedgely which watches over The Hedge that protects England from Faerie. Cassie has a familiar (partner) cat named Montague. She starts witch training school, a bit like Girl Guides, hoping to earn the inimitable pointy black hat. All the while preparing her secret quest to find her missing mother.

Cassie wears a key around her neck, the only memento of her mother.

Rule One is ‘Do not walked through The Hedge alone’. Learning the magic of witchcraft, friendships blossom alongside potions, cauldrons, experiments, incantations and wonky broom riding. But the golden thread is Cassie taking risks to reunite with her mother. She sneaks into her Aunt Miranda’s study, the eponymous and cranky Hedgewitch of Heartwood Hall, searching for information. The background scene-setting is vivid, coupled with Mrs Briggs the housekeeper, Brogan the gardener, Uncle Elliot, goblins, shape-shifters and the ethereal Erl King.

As an adult I probably appreciate the setting more than an action hungry young reader might until the spooky second half of the book. I have enjoyed magical realism before, e.g. the Stella Montgomery series by Judith Rossell who illustrates her own books. The ‘Hedgewitch’ chapters and full page pen and ink artwork by illustrator Tomislav Tomic are evocative and his Hedgely map is superlative.

Chapter 20 is one of my favourites, ‘The Midsummer Fair’ would be delightful to actually visit. However, with certain chapters I had to curb my jaded adult view because of what I might find stereotyped, a new reader will not. Especially as this is reasonably removed from iconic Harry Potter’s hardship but many similarities can be conjured.

A
Book
Quote
‘Ignis Fatuus’
Chapter Seventeen
“This is a terrible idea,’ croaked Natter.
‘For once, I am in agreement with the frog,’ said Montague.
‘Toad, but look, you can’t go wandering about in there on your own.’
It was a glorious, sunny afternoon and the grassy hill that led up to The Hedge
was spotted with buttercups and daisies. The sun was warm on their backs and they were well provisioned for the journey with ham sandwiches, bottles of Mrs Brigg’s
homemade ginger beer and a packet of digestive biscuits.”
Cassie came with her broom Tantivy once owned by her mother.
Rue had her salt Goblin Bombs, just in case.
Hedgewitch
by Skye McKenna
Welbeck Publishing Group 2022

In hardcover ‘Hedgewitch’ has 403 pages double spaced and I have seen library books where turned pages seem to stop in the middle. I hope this is not the case with this story otherwise the erstwhile reader will miss out on some magical treats “By mirrored moon and shining flower, Over sea or mountain peak, Reveal to me this item’s keeper, For I would glimpse the one I seek.”

The second book ‘Woodwitch’ has hit the shelves!

♥ Gretchen Bernet-Ward

You Read Jasper Fforde Yet?

The author who pulled me back into reading…

On the brink of health and family dilemmas, I was flaying around to get my mind off what was happening, not settling on anything, unable to find something which would give me peace of mind even for a short time. I had lost my way regarding books, those recommended were not my style, and everyone seemed to be pushing their own agenda. Looking at you Goodreads. Naturally all the publishers had Number One Bestsellers. After all, an author has to eat, drink and support a family too. But nothing clicked for quite some time. Until…

Did you hear the drumroll? Or get a soft-fade kind of feeling?

A reverie, down memory lane…

I had a flex-day off work and decided to trot down to the small local shopping centre where the mobile library van parked once a week. Those were the days when you could park because everyone actually went to work in person in the city. Anyway, the mobile library was like a family caravan with shelves and books instead of bunk beds. The updated version is huge with flash modern stuff inside (and out) like a library space ship on wheels.

Sorry I digress. I actually visited twice before I selected a book. Of course my library card had expired so I set that up again. The book I had returned for was The Eyre Affair by Jasper Fforde, a UK author who, fortunately for me, had already published more books in the series. The one I carefully placed in my carry bag was obviously well-handled so I thought that was a good sign. Please note the bookcover had been artistically distressed. The Well Of Lost Plots (above) is my favourite through the prose portal, although other readers don’t feel this way when it comes to favourites, but I think it suited my Literatech nature.

If I had been in an advertisement for Gold Lotto Pot of Gold I would have had a rainbow encircle me as I started to read.
What is going on? Is this bloke off his rocker? This is fantastic! What an oddly intriguing twist!
Spec-Ops inside books!
Thursday Next is promoted to Detective Sergeant and inducted into SpecOps-27, the Literary Detective division of the Special Operations Network.
As you may have guessed I also liked the late Douglas Adams and his Hitch Hiker’s Guide To The Galaxy so perhaps I was already predisposed to Jasper Fforde – anyway he took everything one step further, then another, and soon I was racing along with Thursday Next in Bookworld, a place which is familiar yet different. Not too scary, not too weird, just right.
And Thursday’s career and family life grow with each book.
From our world to the worlds created inside books, some very well known, with many inventive twists – and humorous twists too.
I loved it. Still do!
GBW 2023

The Well Of Lost Plots (above) remains my favourite absurdist fiction story, although now I fluctuate having enjoyed a similar sense of weird comedic novels from UK author Jodi Taylor, her Chronicles of St Mary’s series about a group of disaster-prone historians who investigate major events throughout history… they are very clever, well, not necessarily the historians but the way Jodi Taylor writes them. I haven’t revisited either series in a while… sharpening focus… back to the world inside books…

Check out these titles:

Thursday Next Series
   1. The Eyre Affair (2001)
   2. Lost in a Good Book (2002)
   3. The Well of Lost Plots (2002)
   4. Something Rotten (2003)
   5. First Among Sequels (2007)
   6. One of Our Thursdays Is Missing (2011)
   7. The Woman Who Died A Lot (2012)

Jasper Fforde has written other book series for adults as well as teenage readers which I own and have reviewed in the past. Apparently he will have a looong awaited sequel Red Side Story to join his much-loved Shades Of Grey. Yes, ironically published at the same time as THAT book but no connection whatsoever. The blurb says “The long-awaited sequel to Jasper Fforde’s cult bestseller Shades of Grey, set in a world where social hierarchy revolves entirely around visual colour.”

I cannot stress enough how readable his books are so visit his website—https://www.jasperfforde.com/

Back again to my discovery story! Pretty soon I had devoured (and reviewed) Jasper Fforde’s subsequent books, starting with The Eyre Affair through to The Woman Who Died A Lot. Love his YA The Last Dragonslayer, a four-part series featuring young orphan Jennifer Strange, and his newer standalone novels are just as quirky, just as enjoyable.

I kept tabs on his works and even purchased merchandise, the black Spec-Ops cap still fits but the t-shirt is a tad small now. I attended his author talks and book festivals here in Australia and, another drumroll please, actually joined a private group chat at Brisbane Writers Festival with drinks and hors d’oeuvre and devoted fans. See blog https://thoughtsbecomewords.com/2019/09/15/brisbane-writers-festival-notes-part-3/

The only glitch was that we were all too tongue-tied to actually chat to him like a real person. I think I said something about his newest standalone (not part of the Thursday Next series) but that was it. I will know better next time 😃

♥ Gretchen Bernet-Ward 2023

“Dream Worlds” panel discussion (left to right) moderator Sarah L’Estrange, guest authors USA Karen Thompson Walker, UK Jasper Fforde, Australia Krissy Kneen. And I purchased each of their books.

‘Death in the Sauna’ Dennis Altman Book Leak

“Imagine Agatha Christie parachuting into the heady world of gay saunas and HIV research, and you’re getting close to this delicious, camp and tightly-plotted murder mystery” – Benjamin Law, Writer and Broadcaster.

Death in the Sauna by Dennis Altman 2023

Melbourne-based author and academic Dennis Altman is a giant in academia and the gay rights movement. He has written and spoken widely on sexuality, politics, and culture both in Australia and internationally. With over 17 published non-fiction works up his sleeve, this is Dennis’s first foray into crime fiction.

“I grew up reading Agatha Christie and see murder stories as both elaborate games and a very useful genre for satire. I know of no other crime book that takes place in the international AIDS/HIV world, which I know very well” – Dennis Altman.

Synopsis – Death in the Sauna – On the eve of a major international AIDS Conference in London, the Conference chair is found dead in suspicious circumstances. Tracking down how he died reveals layers of deception, rivalry, and danger for those close to him.

“There could be no better author to take us into this story of secret lives, sexuality, politics and competing agendas. A searing and enjoyable read”
Tara Moss, bestselling author.

EVENT: MELBOURNE. Hares & Hyenas and Australian Queer Archives ‘Life and Death in the Sauna’ – Dennis Altman and Andrea Goldsmith + the workers from Wet on Wellington – amazing chat and panel. Pride Centre 31 May 7.00pm
EVENT: SYDNEY. The Bookshop Darlinghurst with mystery guest. 6 June – from 5.30pm. info@thebookshop.com.au
EVENT: SYDNEY. Dennis Altman in conversation with Sue Turnbull. Better Read Than Dead 26 June 6.30pm
EVENT: BRISBANE. Avid Reader Bookshop 25 July 6.00pm Dennis Altman and Myles McGuire. An IAS 2023 affiliated event.
https://cloudsofmagellanpress.net/death-in-the-sauna-by-dennis-altman/

Dennis is available for interview—
Please contact: Laura Benson, BENSON PR
Website: https://bensonpr.com/

Author Bio: Dennis Altman is the son of Jewish refugees, and a writer and academic who first came to attention with the publication of his book Homosexual: Oppression & Liberation in 1972. His book, Global Sex (Chicago U.P, 2001), has been translated into five languages. Recent books include Queer Wars (co-authored with Jonathan Symons), Unrequited Love: Diary of an Accidental Activist, and God Save the Queen: the strange persistence of monarchies.

Altman is a Vice Chancellor’s Fellow at LaTrobe University in Melbourne, Australia. He was President of the AIDS Society of Asia and the Pacific (2001-5) and has been a member of the Governing Council of the International AIDS Society. He was listed by The Bulletin as one of the 100 most influential Australians ever and was appointed a Member of the Order of Australia in 2008.

Publication: “Death in the Sauna” by Dennis Altman—

ISBN-13:	9780645732801
Publisher:	Clouds of Magellan
Publication date:	May 2023
Pages:	216

Thanks to sources who supplied this information ♥ Gretchen Bernet-Ward

‘The Sun Walks Down’ by Fiona McFarlane

Absolutely love this book! Although I am not a clever reader of literary fiction, Fiona McFarlane got me hooked. It is sometimes a demanding read but so alive and full of richly portrayed characters.

Of course, the South Australian landscape is the main protagonist, tortured and decimated as it is, ruined by European settlers who did not see beauty or learn bush secrets nor had the ability to properly sustain the land; they just saw desert to be conquered. And they did it badly.

September 1883, in the South Australian outback, young Denny is lost in a dust storm but author McFarlane’s tale spins off into other areas as well; the climate, people showing strength and fear, love, intimacy, unthinking cruelty, making good and bad decisions, and those who trek back and forth across the bone-dry landscape on enduring camels. Colonial Australia was raw and rough; every human emotion is detailed here, channelled into finding a lost boy, coercing the reader into moods of discomfort, dreamlike imaginings, and showing the struggles needed to sustain a viable future.

Although I dislike the non-indigenous trees on the bookcover, I could write copious notes on each character in this story. McFarlane brings to mind earlier Australian authors, superlative Patrick White and inimitable Thea Astley. Here, McFarlane’s character of Mrs Joanna Axam reminds me of my great-aunt, a strong and opinionated woman with natural cunning subdued for polite society and an unerring ability to read people’s personalities, often using it against them.
GBW 2023

Joanna Axam has a whippet named Bolingbroke which shows her sense of humour. Henry, her deceased husband, left behind a biblical garden, not because he was devout but because he liked the idea. Joanna knows it’s thirsty, a waste of water, but cannot let it die even though their land is barren due to cattle over-farming. I found her chapters quite riveting and she is obsessed with the possum cloak worn by Jimmy, one of Sergeant Foster’s trackers. What a schemer! Did she want it taken from the rightful owner to cover her own disfigurement? Did she understand mob and Country significance of a possum cloak?

Although young frightened Denny is the catalyst, over seven long days, there are many people good, bad and indifferent, trying to find the youngster by using their own particular skills. Two people spring to mind, Karl and Bess, penniless itinerant artists wandering in the desert in search of creative inspiration. They are woven through Denny’s story for better or worse, you decide.
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I read this book when I was feeling strong otherwise I may have been overwhelmed by emotion at what Fiona McFarlane has created. As indicated by my first name, I am a descendant of German settlers to South Australia where the story is set. My great-great grandfather was a Lutheran pastor who documented the sad decline of Indigenous populations, caring for them as best he could. His records are in University archives and that’s all I know.

Just like life ‘The Sun Walks Down’ has turmoil then a resolution of sorts.

Set aside a chunk of quiet time to read it.

♥ Gretchen Bernet-Ward

My Goodreads reviews—
https://www.goodreads.com/gretchenbernetward

That Special Book Shelf

My small selection of How To Write books from various decades.

Interestingly the most handled judging by its spine is ‘Writing For Pleasure And Profit’ by Michael Legat 1992 (published Robert Hale Ltd London) with a foreword by P D James.

Chapter One says “…the obvious practical necessities for writing are pencil, pen, paper, typewriter, or get a typewriter friend to transcribe your work for you. Or have it professionally typed.” Legat used a word processor and called it a magic machine. Times have changed. Has creativity?

The book ‘Writing Down The Bones’ by Natalie Goldberg generated the most interest when I purchased it at a book fair. School’s out on this approach. In my opinion it depends on the genre.

Of course, all these books are senior citizens now, mainly due to the electronic era and the whole world on our phones. I cannot find my Stephen King ‘On Writing’ and I gave away my hardcopy of Julia Cameron’s perennial ‘The Artists Way’ but she is now live online https://juliacameronlive.com/the-artists-way/ However, I did find ‘See Me Jump: 20 things I’ve learned about writing books for children’ by the inimitable Jen Storer who has hundreds more tips now!

Books, hand-written, keyboard, paper drafts, online, speech-to-text, any format writing is writing and you just have to keep at it.

♥ Gretchen Bernet-Ward

MY LIST:

Books on writing:
‘How to Write History that People Want to Read’ by Ann Curthoys & Ann McGrath
‘The Writer’s Guide’ by Irina Dunn
‘How to be a Successful Housewife Writer’ by Elaine Fantle Shimberg
‘Weasel Words’ by Don Watson
‘Writing for Pleasure and Profit’ by Michael Legat
‘The Maeve Binchy Writers’ Club’ by Maeve Binchy
‘Writing Down the Bones’ by Natalie Goldberg
‘The Stage Manager’s Handbook’ by Bert Gruver & Frank Hamilton
‘Why We Write’ edited by Meredith Maran (20 acclaimed authors advice)
‘Picador New Writing’ edited by Helen Daniel and Drusilla Modjeska
General inspiration:
‘The Works’ by Pam Ayres
‘See Me Jump’ by Jen Storer
‘Playing Beatie Bow’ by Ruth Park
‘Short Story Favourites’ edited by Walter McVitty
‘The Animals in That Country’ by Laura Jean McKay (shown below, adult concepts, indigenous animals not included with book)

Review ‘A Message Through Time’ Anna Ciddor

What a great read! A story with non-stop action and well integrated historical facts revolving around a modern duo, Felix and his stepsister Zoe, who are visiting France with their parents. Felix accidently (due to curiosity and a writing stylus) gets Zoe and himself transported back over a thousand years to 315 CE and Arelate (modern-day Arles, France) in ancient Roman Gaul.

Inadvertently Felix and Zoe meet a haughty high status Roman girl Petronia and her wilful dog Furia. At first the characters of Zoe and Petronia seemed abrasive to me but as time went on I found their personalities much more interesting. There are threads of understanding and relating, and for Felix and Zoe to come to terms with their parents new relationship. If they ever get back home!

The busy streets of the city of Arelate with its library, meeting place, and special bathhouse, teems with activity and the sights, sounds, smells, strange food and citizens are well documented by author illustrator Anna Ciddor.

My favourite chapters start from ‘Over The Boat Bridge’ which leads to hard labour and major discomfort on a terrifying leaky boat trip. As if the coarse food and anxiety isn’t enough, Anatolius is an overbearing boat owner. But it’s true what the book blurb says, a rollercoaster adventure. There is high drama on the Druentia river before the trio reach their destination, Avennio.

After a disappointment, there is a long climb to reach the Sacred Spring and Villa Fontanicum. Why is this place their hard-won goal? I guess you’ll have to read the book and follow the map to discover the answers. And find out if they like the food along the way. Felix tastes a variety of strange dishes (and sees how cheese is made) but my favourite dish was Calves’ Brain Pudding. Ugh!

The duo witness street processions (Hermes/Mercury with his snake staff named Caduceus) and see unusual medical treatments. Petronia is keen to take them to a live theatre performance; but the big question here is will Petronia lose her snobby attitude and make friends? Meanwhile Felix must face a worrying situation regarding their time transporting stylus. He needs to problem solve fast to get Zoe and himself back to the future.

As a fan of irreverent TV series ‘Plebs’ for adults, I think Anna Ciddor has written a factual yet rollicking adventure suitable for children/teenager/adult readers. An ancient Roman must-read, an exciting immersive time-slip journey into the past.

♥ Gretchen Bernet-Ward

ABOUT THE AUTHOR ILLUSTRATOR

Anna Ciddor has always been fascinated by the past. It would be her dream come true to step through time! Instead, she immersed herself in research and hunts out the tiniest details so she can bring the past to life in her imagination—and her books. To find out more Visit https://annaciddor.com/
Booklist https://annaciddor.com/books-by-anna-ciddor/

The acclaimed standalone companion novel ‘The Boy Who Stepped Through Time’ is also well worth reading Visit https://annaciddor.com/books-by-anna-ciddor/the-boy-who-stepped-through-time/

Nota bene: You can see two Romans on this Brisbane Writers Festival poster, not connected to the book, nevertheless they indicate that people have been reading and writing for a long, long, long time…

The BWF advise “In May 2023, Brisbane Writers Festival is spinning a rollicking tale of festive entertainment across five days, four nights and more than 100 literary events.”
Visit highlights https://bwf.org.au/

NonFiction Reader Challenge ‘Little Cornwall’ Philip Payton

Pictorial History of Australia’s Little Cornwall by Philip Payton © Styling Gretchen Bernet-Ward 2023

I have decided to accept the Non-Fiction Reader Challenge from Book’d Out and make non-fiction part of my regular reading. I am currently reading ‘Pictorial History of Australia’s Little Cornwall’ by Philip Payton.

Why this particular book? Do I have Cornish connections?

Well, I chose this book because I attend Cheryl Hayden’s U3A classes on Cornish History and all that entails. Cheryl has a passion for Cornishman Tristram Winslade and she studied with author Philip Payton. On the first day, the first thing I recognised were the names of towns and places because Cornish miners came to Australia around 1840s and left their mark on the South Australian landscape.

Miners and their families came to South Australia to take part in the new colony’s great copper boom from 1845 to 1877. These skilled men used their expertise to extract the rich ore which gave Australia world-wide acclaim as the Copper Kingdom. Mining was a grim life for everyone and added to that physical toil was the mental toll of being thousands of miles away from home.

Statue Dedicated to Kapunda Cornish Miners of South Australia Bruce Elder Aussie Towns

And, no, I don’t have a family connection to Cornwall. But I am fascinated by the strength, courage and determination of those Cornish pioneers who travelled to the other side of the world for work.

The motto of Cornwall is ‘Onan hag Oll’ which in English means ‘One and All’ a sentiment of unity that pervades the Cornish spirit and has defined its character over centuries.

My mantra would have been ‘Damn dirt and dust’. They were religious people so perhaps did not swear. If you’ve read about the Prayerbook Rebellion and King Edward VI part in it back in 1549, they took that pretty seriously.

Book photographs show grim, hardworking Cornishmen above and below ground. Of course, in those days the people being photographed had to keep very, very still otherwise the image blurred. These blokes changed the fortunes of Australia.

QUOTE: The Cornish steam engine was revolutionary when it was introduced into Australia in the mid-19^th century, enabling mining of metals at depths not previously possible. This new form of deep, hard rock mining required new skills and technology not then present in Australia. Mining for copper required the skills of miners who knew how to establish mines and systematically work them in a way that gave the best return for the effort and cost required to access the ore body.
Australian Government Parks and Heritage National Heritage Places – Australian Cornish Mining Sites

Due to my claustrophobia I don’t know how men could go down a shaft and work in tunnels underground. I get palpitations and cold sweats just looking at the B&W photos of mining accomplished hundreds and hundreds of metres—Moonta as deep as 762 metres (2,500 feet)—below the surface in low lighting with little ventilation… sorry, have to stop and take some deep breaths…

Copper Mining South Australia Burra Mine Site c1900s

Death and infant mortality would have been regular visitors, coupled with irregular supplies of food and clothing necessities. For example, Burra is 164km from the city of Adelaide and two hours travel by car now. Back then it would have taken several days, if not a week, allowing for the weather. What consideration was given to housing, health, education and even entertainment? It seems like it was all work, work, work for mining families. But I bet it wasn’t!

I certainly hope those intrepid miners were well paid with bonus credits because I reckon they deserved every penny they earned and more. In conjunction, the Moonta Mines women on the Yorke Peninsula deserved gold medals for their Cornish Pasties, continual scrubbing of clothes and the ability to produce a home-life as normal as possible under the harsh conditions.

When the mines were closed in 1923 many Cornish families stayed in Australia. By then ‘Little Cornwall’ and its Cornish heritage had achieved legendary status. Festivals and parades were held Kernewek Lowender and Gorsedh Kernow. There are early photographs of Chapels, brass bands and street parades with proud banners. This tradition still exists in South Australia today.

Kapunda Copper Mining Mounds and Pond, South Australia

It’s easy to say nothing really remains of the old mines but it does. It’s there in the engine house, the rocks, the mounds and mineral ponds; the names of Cornish descendants and, of course, the original town names like Redruth, Burra, Kapunda and the ‘Copper Triangle’ of Wallaroo, Moonta and Kadina. Today Burra and Moonta are of outstanding national heritage significance as two places in Australia where Cornish mining technology, skills and culture are demonstrated to a high degree.

Mining continues in Australia; minerals are a finite resource yet presently unrecycled copper products are widely used in building construction, electrical grids, electronic products, transportation equipment and home appliances.
Image GeoScience Australia https://www.ga.gov.au/education/classroom-resources/minerals-energy/australian-mineral-facts/copper

One hundred years from closing in 1923 to 2023 today, those Cornish miners had no inkling of the controversy, dilemma and great debate earth mining is causing in Australia right now. Benjamin Franklin said ‘No nation was ever ruined by trade.’ But whose bank account does it fill and at what cost to the environmental future of our country?

Now I am going for a walk, very conscious of what could lie beneath the grassy parkland.

♥ Gretchen Bernet-Ward

Pictorial History of Australia’s Little Cornwall
By Philip Payton
Format: Paperback
Size: 265 x 218 mm
ISBN: 9781743056554
Extent: 96 pages
Wakefield Press is an independent book publishing company based in Adelaide, South Australia.

Opinion Piece GBW March 2023