Scratch that Blogging Itch

SINCE MY VERY FIRST BLOG POST ‘My Name is Lucy Barton’ by Elizabeth Strout book review 6th July 2017, posted at 6:01pm, I have currently written 580 post—as at 26th March 2024—over a wide range of topics, mainly illustrated with my own photographs, and I’ve seen many changes. I even have my own personal favourite blog posts.

In 2024 it’s interesting that the Seven-Year Itch has struck. I appear to have hit a malaise where not enough grabs my interest to write about it. However, although I may feel like slowing down, I will continue to be a voracious reader and write regular reviews here and on Goodreads.

Also, I stress that blogging is an excellent form of written and visual expression and I urge anyone to give it a go! Just do it at your own pace, don’t even follow an agenda. Too many self-imposed rules and deadlines add pressure which goes against naturally allowing yourself the freedom of expression.

Of course, your hobby or favourite subject can take pride of place but it doesn’t have to control a daily blog output unless you thrive on uniformity, regularity, consistency—sounds like hard work to me 😀

Preaching to the converted here but I stress that there are many WordPress templates and layouts to choose from, just give yourself a bit of time to become familiar with the settings and capabilities and soon your decision will make itself clear. I gradually discovered my own writing style and headings, and I use them for comfortable working conditions. My only gripe is the inability to change the designated default font/spacing of draft copies. Each template has its own settings. Although things have become a bit more flexible, I am not a fan of block editor; what I draft-type is not what I get layout-wise.

My website ThoughtsBecomeWords.com is not flashy or intellectual but it works for me. Interestingly I chose not to have a date stamp on my posts. Any person can read your blog anytime without being a WordPress blogger so don’t read too much into timings, Likes or Views. I have made friends through blogging. The big thing is to follow other bloggers because that way you can keep your finger on the writing pulse and learn things from around the world, plus they will also follow you.

I have a particular blogger dear to my heart, Paula Bardell-Hedley in Wales, her Book Jotter site is prodigious, packed with world-wide literary information. Paula created Reading Wales ‘Dewithon’ which features Welsh writers every March for the month of March. I have participated over the years and read wonderful Welsh authors.

Nostalgically, I guess I’ve had my day in the sun; and while blogging is more genuine than politics, pics and fakery on social media, the enchantment is fading for me. Inevitably the pressure of life (and general formatting changes) have turned me into a grump. I think I will cruise along now, enjoying the breeze, occasionally stopping to sniff the eucalypt blossom, and not listen to the raucous competition of the world around me. Been there, done that, over it.

Naturally I will keep popping in to post (maybe even a serialised short story I am working on—stay tuned) but for now it’s on with something new! I have my sights set on a photographic journey so perhaps more local Aussie snapshots will emerge. Two more book review posts to add then it’s irregular posting for me—in awhile crocodile!

Kindly note that I will continue ‘Photo Of The Week’ on my Home Page every Saturday—in the meantime happy writing, happy blogging and see ya later alligator!

❤ Gretchen Bernet-Ward 2024

‘The Silent Quarry’ Reading Wales for #Dewithon24

Grandma’s favourite teatowel © image Gretchen Bernet-Ward 2024

This month you can read and review any Welsh authors you like for Dewithon! As you can see from my grandmother’s faded favourite teatowel there has been a bit of Welsh influence in our family. Some of these songs have made me very emotional over the years. And many readers will remember singing favourites in their school choir.

I have been recommended Gareth Williams book ‘Valleys of Song: Music and Society in Wales, 1840-1914′ from University of Wales Press. Quote ‘This enthralling social history focuses on such groups as the fighting choirs of Dowlais and Merthyr that raised armies of supporters, electrified massive crowds and aroused fierce passions.’

But I digress, I have participated in past Dewithons and enjoyed reading Welsh authors I had not previously known thanks to Paula Bardell-Headley aka Book Jotter.

This year 2024 I am reading a crime novel ‘The Silent Quarry’ in an eight book series featuring DI Winter Meadows written by Cardiff-born Welsh crime and mystery author Cheryl Rees-Price.
1.THE SILENT QUARRY 2.FROZEN MINDS
3.SUFFER THE CHILDREN 4.A KNOT OF SPARROWS
5.LIES OF MINE 6.RISE TO THE FLY
7.WINTER’S CRY 8.HARBOUR NO SECRETS
(standalone ‘BLUE HOLLOW’)

“I do a lot of walking and, fortunately, living in Wales provides
plenty of stunning places to inspire my imagination and feed
the world of Winter Meadows.”
Goodreads quote from Cheryl Rees-Price
https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/11551642.Cheryl_Rees_Price

Also, discover Welsh locations used in crime fiction: https://www.deadgoodbooks.co.uk/crime-fiction-set-in-wales/
and there’s some interesting reading on:
https://crimereads.com/the-rise-of-welsh-crime-fiction/

Rather than me expounding how wonderful Welsh authors are, and the books I have previously read, I will give you some links (below) to Paula’s website which is jammed-packed with information and insights. Paula is the nicest, most organised and prodigious book-blogger that I have had the pleasure to read.

Remember those hashtags #dewithon24 and #readingwales24. Reading Welsh authors has broadened my reading awareness, as the saying goes ‘Try it, you’ll like it!’

❤ Gretchen Bernet-Ward

Prepare for Reading Wales 2024

Winding Up the Week #369

DEWITHON ‘24: Llyfrbabble (Bookbabble) #1

Merry Montage of Books 2023

A small selection of some of the books I read in 2023. Those shown are not block-busting bestsellers (yet) but very enjoyable reads. I liked them all and can recommend them.

The particular standout for me is Stone Yard Devotional because it was unexpected and different and engrossing—and believe it or not I did not write a blog post review. However, below I have re-posted my Goodreads review. I am sure this novel will win a literary prize in 2024.

View the 80+ books I have read and reviewed in 2023, click on link and browse my Goodreads webpage:
https://www.goodreads.com/gretchenbernetward

If you have time, here is my l-o-n-g Goodreads book review for my favourite Stone Yard Devotional by Charlotte Wood:

Charlotte Wood’s books opened up a new avenue of reading for me and I really, really, wanted to read this novel. The whole premise, ethos, structure of the story cried out to be read slowly and with feeling. It did deliver emotions, from the characters as well as from me. It was like bobbing along in a small row boat down a tranquil stream then coming to a bridge with pylons difficult to navigate; fast water swirling around rocks; clumps of bullrushes clogging the oars; finally being chased by hissing swans. These, of course, are my similes for the obstacles faced by the nuns who showed calm resilience in the face of adversity. Mainly a horrendous mouse plague which saw their Chapel and retreat overrun by thousands of hungry mice for quite some time. Then there is the arrival of the remains of nun Sister Jenny who died in Thailand and, perhaps the most unsettling, the enigmatic visitor Sister Helen Parry who doesn’t seem to want to leave. In fact it takes awhile to work out why she stays at all.

And still the mice invade everything and eat anything in their path. The religious sect is nameless and the protagonist is unnamed (at least I don’t think she is named) narrating Her role in the produce garden and general surroundings, written in beautiful prose, succinct, moving, observant, showing respect for others and the Monaro plain. On page 161, nun Simone takes Her to task over the way she prays “Praying was a way to interrupt your own habitual thinking” she told me. “It’s admitting yourself into otherness, cracking open your prejudices.” Enigmatic local farmer Richard Gittens helps out although his wife Annette doesn’t really approve. Many vignettes occurred to me to write in my review. Of course the overzealous rodents predominate but it would be difficult and unfair to isolate and convey the undercurrents in this book; the flashbacks, the past catching up with the future, the enlightenment. If asked, I would say this novel is semi-autobiographical. If not, it surely has those universally relatable feelings of loss, regret and the challenging moments which shape us throughout life.

A brilliant example of literary showing-not-telling with quite graphic moments, strange dreams, and egg-laying hens. Coupled with Her past memories it caused me to reflect on my own youth and how I retained snippets of a particular event but regrettably never found out the full story, or the true story behind a family’s grief. In fact, this story is layered with other people’s despair and made me delve into my own preconceived ideas of forgiveness. There is almost a comfort in not knowing the people whom Charlotte Wood weaves through the pages, I read, I understand, but I don’t have to take action. Just like the written characters, pursed lips, a head shake, a tut-tut and let’s move on; our society has been good at looking away for centuries. Through the unnamed narrator, sense has been made of all this and I came to grips with Her world without maudlin sentiment and saw the truth of what transpired in several dysfunctional lives. Perhaps a potential for trigger moments, this is a moving, insightful and significant adult read and holds up well to discussion.

❤ Gretchen Bernet-Ward

Author: https://www.charlottewood.com.au/

Short bio: Charlotte Wood is the prizewinning author of six novels and three books of non-fiction. A recent book is The Luminous Solution about creativity and the inner life.

Interview: https://www.smh.com.au/culture/books/the-shock-was-so-deep-novelist-charlotte-wood-on-the-experience-that-changed-everything-20230925-p5e7f3.html

HAPPY HOLIDAYS, HAPPY NEW YEAR 2024 🦋 GRETCHEN

Cool Rules for Street Performers

Street Performer at Mary Poppins Festival, Maryborough Australia
© Gretchen Bernet-Ward 2022

Street performers and buskers have existed all over the world since ancient times delivering accessible entertainment to the masses. Many people volunteer their time to historical re-enactments and charity events. It is an opportunity for undiscovered talent and the fearless and creative artisans of theatre to strut their stuff for a coin in the hat. However, a hat is not the only consideration for a street performer.

Australian Laws regulating street performances vary between Australian States. I don’t think these Maryborough performers need to worry but if your performance contains possibly offensive dialogue and/or conduct, you will need to be aware of the Summary Offences legislation. This includes legal constructs of what is considered to be “offensive” and who is the “reasonable person” in the 21^st Century.

Technical stuff—Arts Law Centre Australia
https://www.artslaw.com.au/article/performers-taking-it-to-the-streets/

View my original blog post—
https://thoughtsbecomewords.com/2022/07/26/mary-poppins-and-folks-boppin-at-maryborough-festival/

Mary Poppins Festival—Maryborough Queensland
(Home of the author P.L. Travers)
https://www.marypoppinsfestival.com.au/

Next spectacular day—Sunday 30th June 2024
https://www.marypoppinsfestival.com.au/program/

❤ Gretchen Bernet-Ward

The Ten Penners ‘Backyard Beasts and Curious Capers’ Review Highlights Blog Tour & More

The Ten Penners have created an anthology of magical creatures and mysterious moments. Young humans took me on their humorous and enlightening adventures involving broomstick riding, crystal balls, a backyard concert, a magic mirror, intrepid Pixie P.I. Dandelia Oakleaf, frogs, friendships and more—read on!

The Ten Penners latest anthology Backyard Beasts and Curious Capers contains imaginative reading for that age group of children who love a good giggle at preposterous things. Or are they preposterous?

✨ BOOK LAUNCH ✨

Book launch at BOOKS ETC, Paradise Centre, Surfers Paradise
Saturday 21st October 2023 – 11.00am to 2.00pm
“Come and have your book signed by a Witch called Floriece, a Pixie, and Jeremy the Spaceman.”
https://thetenpenners.wixsite.com/the-ten-penners

BLOG TOUR & BOGGLE COLOUR-IN COMPETITION
DETAILS BELOW

Perhaps making a rocket is not such a strange idea?

‘Jeremy Albatross’ by Marion Martineer highlights the delight and disaster of making a backyard 🚀 rocket. This story is both funny and a health and safety warning during an action-packed BBQ for Dad’s birthday.

‘The Trees are Alive!’ by Jill Smith (of Poo Boom Cat fame) is a tale about Maggie and Caleb who get ‘a cubby house and a living garden’ during the school holidays when they rejuvenate an old tree 🌳 and receive benefits in return. Part awareness, part ecological, a story of nurturing and working with nature.

‘Wizardo’s Spell’ by Jennifer Scicluna involves Simon digging in the backyard with his father. Or not digging in the backyard with his father “Who wants to plant boring 🌸 begonias?” Simon relents and with a whack of his spade he falls through the earth into Muderoon where he meets irascible Agrim Kateus.

Only a quick glimpse at three Ten Penner author tales but you can discover a brave cat, a sensitive tree, a blue Quoggle and a fright night sleepover. In fact, twenty inventive short stories for young readers. Here’s the list:

Ten Penners, twenty stories! Always imaginative and highly readable, their newest anthology Backyard Beasts and Curious Capers contains fantasy and fun with cool character illustrations, kooky critters and silly stuff which appealed to me. Apologies if I’ve left out your favourite. There’s much more including a wakeboarding octopus and an old fairytale reimagined. Ideal for 8-12 year old readers and group reading. Story length would also suit reading before bedtime, or reading in your favourite tree. Just don’t laugh too hard!

❤ Gretchen Bernet-Ward

The Ten Penners – Saturday 14th October 2023
https://thetenpenners.wixsite.com/the-ten-penners/blog
Tour dates and launch details announced.
Sunday 15th October – Jill Smith
https://authorjillsmith.wordpress.com
Jill on her role as coordinator, what it involves, and a bit
about our happy writing group.
Monday 16th October – Romi Sharp
https://www.justkidslit.com/blog/
Romi interviews Jill Smith, Ten Penners’ coordinator.
Tuesday 17th October – Marion Martineer
https://marionmartineer.wordpress.com/
Marion on being the former coordinator of The Ten
Penners, and a long-term member of the group.
Wednesday 18th October – Gretchen Bernet-Ward
https://thoughtsbecomewords.com/
Gretchen is a blogger and reviewer.
Thursday 19th October – Katharine R. Pepper
https://katharinerpepperauthor.wordpress.com
Katharine on putting the book together, her other published novels and works in progress.
Friday 20th October – Jennifer Scicluna
https://jenniferscicluna.wixsite.com/artscape/jennifers-blog
Jennifer on her experience illustrating the book and cover.
Book Launch!
Saturday 21st October 2023
https://thetenpenners.wixsite.com/the-ten-penners/blog
Books Etc, Paradise Centre, Surfers Paradise, Queensland
11.00am to 2.00pm and Colour-In competition.

BOOK LAUNCH & QUOGGLE COLOUR-IN

Saturday 21st October—BOOKS ETC.
Paradise Centre Surfers Paradise 11 am to 2 pm.
Saturday 28th October—Big B Books 10 am to 12 noon outside the shop.
Saturday 4th November—The Ten Penners monthly meeting (near Melbourne Cup)
Saturday 18th November—Gold Coast Writers book launch/promotion 15 mins confirmed.
Saturday 2nd December—Upper Coomera Library 1 hour 10 am to 11 am (then their Christmas Party lunch at the café)
Saturday 9th December-—Bookness, Mudgeeraba (to be confirmed) Draw the Quoggle colour-in competition winner!
NOTE:
The Prize Activity Pack will include more of their characters to colour-in. A badge. A Word Search. A copy of Backyard Beasts & Curious Capers, signed by the authors, and more.
Please send your entry via email to thetenpenners@gmail.com
Or hand them to The Ten Penners at their presentation.
CONTACT:
The Ten Penners look forward to your feedback on their new book so please visit their WIX site, become a member and make a comment: https://thetenpenners.wixsite.com/the-ten-penners/blog

📚 HAPPY READING 📘

‘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!
GBW 2023

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

‘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.
GBW 2023

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)

William Trevor ‘Love and Summer’ Review

My Thoughts:
A beautiful story of ordinary life and love with extraordinary depth. Author William Trevor invited me into the pages so I could gently and thoughtfully read my way through the summer months in an Irish village named Rathmoye and learn about those who lived there in varying degrees of peace, comfort, toil and hardship. So different from today’s way of living, except our emotions never change, human nature is what it is.

I read this novel for ‘A Year With William Trevor’ Reading Challenge (info below). I could see the countryside, the characters. William Trevor captures the very essence of humanity with ease. His style of writing is deceiving, he makes it look simple but every sentence is meaningful.

Gradually rural mid-century characters show the reader their world, from joy to sorrow, their hidden thoughts amid the daily grind. Making do ‘just because’ the majority of things are hard to come by.

There are the not-so-hidden thoughts from people in the village about the visiting stranger from Castledrummond, Florian Kilderry, and local lass Ellie Dillahan who are the two main characters on a collision course. Among others, we have Miss Connulty with secret desires, wearing mother’s jewellery, wondering if she is jealous of Ellie. There is advice from Sister Ambrose, and old Orpen Wren who wanders about with his hopeful memories and tragic past.

FOUNDLING QUOTE: Ellie “We were always there. The nuns pretended our birthdays, they gave us our names. They knew no more about us than we did ourselves. No, it wasn’t horrible, I didn’t hate it.”

Everyone and everything has a part to play; woven through the story is a decaying estate; dogs, sheep and Ellie delivering farm fresh eggs on a bicycle; sewing a summer dress on the kitchen table. Amid the endless toil of farm life, Ellie’s husband battles his own demons after losing his first wife and child. Most of all, religion and the Irish nuns who cared for and raised Ellie from a baby, the lessons they taught her never forgotten.

‘But she saw Florian…’
Ellie watches him, she is captivated. He stirs her in strange and mysterious ways, slowly drawing her onto forbidden ground. Florian is both accessible and distant. They come from different and difficult backgrounds, they both have the vestiges of abandonment. Not getting too close, searching for something, they don’t really know what that something is—Ellie is smitten but she also has a strong conscience.

Florian Kilderry starts off photographing a funeral with his old Leica camera but later feels that photography would fail him like everything else. We know that he has other plans but he cannot get the lovely Ellie out of his thoughts as he prepares to sell the family estate.

They pass notes in a niche in a stone wall, go walking, talking. In between times, Florian is literally burning everything from inside his family home, it seemed such a waste to me but his memories are bitter-sweet. A charming flashback has Florian and cousin Isabella reading some of his short stories written by hand in an old field journal years before. I wondered if they were really William Trevor’s when he was young?

The ending is powerful and actually crept up on me. It is three-pronged and at first I wondered if I’d interpreted it correctly. Snappy vignettes of speech and thought are used to heighten the denouement. Also a tantalising question is left hanging in the air. Great stuff!

Conclusion: I finished this book and wanted to meet the characters, sit and chat with them in the sunshine. To ask questions and maybe visit the village pub; walk through the fields, splash across streams, eat a farmhouse meal. So much of this tale is real and true but mostly vanished from the universal landscape. Domesticity, societal rules and etiquette, that time immemorial quality of hard, tedious tasks being done by hand, without grumbling, because there was no other way.

For better or worse, close-knit farming communities are changing and moving on from villages like Rathmoye in many ways except for emotions, our deep desire for love and tenderness and a partner to walk beside us.

♥ Gretchen Bernet-Ward

________________________________

READING CHALLENGE

‘A YEAR WITH WILLIAM TREVOR’

https://readingmattersblog.com/a-year-with-william-trevor/

https://746books.com/category/irish-literature-2/

A Note from the Creators

William Trevor (1928-2016) was an Irish writer who left behind an amazing legacy—dozens of novels, novellas, short stories and plays—for us to enjoy. In 2023, on the occasion of the 95th anniversary of his birth, what better way to celebrate his work than by spending a year reading it?

That’s why I (Kim) have joined forces with Cathy from 746 Books to spend ‘A Year with William Trevor’. Between the two of us, we think we can cover a good chunk of his writing over the course of 12 months—and we’d love you to join in!

We have come up with a proposed reading schedule and we’ll be posting our reviews in the first week of every month between January and December 2023. #williamtrevor2023

Biography William Trevor
Ireland (1928 – 2016)

William Trevor was born in County Cork in 1928 and spent his childhood in various provincial Irish towns. He went to Trinity College, Dublin and then to England in 1953. In 1977 William Trevor received an honorary CBE in recognition of his services to literature, and in 1998 he was awarded the prestigious David Cohen British Literature Prize for a lifetime’s achievement in writing. He wrote novels, plays, essays and short stories, appeared in anthologies and won many literary awards.

https://www.irishcentral.com/culture/william-trevor-irish-writer-interview

Book List:

A Standard of Behaviour (1958)

The Old Boys (1964)

The Boarding-House (1965)

The Love Department (1966)

Mrs Eckdorf in O’Neill’s Hotel (1969)

Miss Gomez and the Brethren (1971)

Last Lunch of the Season (1973)

Elizabeth Alone (1973)

The Children of Dynmouth (1976)

Old School Ties (1976)

Other People’s Worlds (1980)

Fools of Fortune (1983)

Nights at the Alexandra (1987)

The Silence in the Garden (1988)

Reading Turgenev (1991)

Juliet’s Story (1991)

Felicia’s Journey (1994)

Death in Summer (1998)

The Hill Bachelors (2000)

The Story of Lucy Gault (2002)

My House in Umbria (2003)

A Bit on the Side (2004)

The Dressmaker’s Child (2005)

Cheating at Canasta (2007)

Love and Summer (2009)

Selected Stories (2010)

The Mark-2 Wife (2011)

Last Stories (2018)

Postscript: At the time of writing this book review, I did not know that ‘Love and Summer’ was the last NOVEL William Trevor wrote. (My review posted on St Valentine’s Day)

Photography: My book-styling image was hijacked by JoJo who insisted that I use it in my ‘Love and Summer’ review. Apparently all other William Trevor novels had flown off the shelves, so I borrowed a large print edition from my local library. It has an odd front and back cover design as though someone has scribbled postcard graffiti to match an element in the story. Happy reading!
♥ GBW.

New Calendars and Old Books

Forward thinking and backward reading. Or a calendar in nearly every room and at least three retro books on the bedside table…

Some of my favourite New Year calendars 2023 © Gretchen Bernet-Ward 2022

First in line ‘The Fourth Crow’ (2012) a Constable & Robinson Ltd hardback featuring a series written by well respected historical fiction author Pat McIntosh. Her Gil Cunningham murder mysteries are lusciously populated with all manner of people and goings-on in Glasgow in fifteenth century Britain. The ye olde atmosphere is so vividly written that you can imagine yourself right there, and this series was recommend to me by a medieval historian and lecturer.

Historic Note: 👑
The movie ‘The Lost King’ (2022) is a story about the real Philippa Langley who actually found the final resting place of King Richard III. The poetic licence has been challenged but it’s immersive viewing, filmed entirely on location in Edinburgh Scotland with great care and compassion, humour and heartache and so relevant on so many levels. Can recommend!

Three retro books for New Year reading © Gretchen Bernet-Ward 2023

Next in line ‘Death in Disguise’ (1992) by Carolyn Graham on BorrowBox Audio, but do I really have to mention anything about Caroline Graham’s Midsomer Murders mystery series? DCI Tom Barnaby has had so many crimes to solve over so many years in books and on ITV television that he’s almost a real person.

This story is nicely read by John Hopkins with a foreword by John Nettles who played the first Tom Barnaby. I have to admit I am not far into this tale of criminal intent because I am finding the plot slow and the scene-setting long. However, the writing quality is top notch in relation to some of the light-weight stuff around today.

Summertime in Brisbane © Gretchen Bernet-Ward 2022

The third book ‘Love and Summer’ (2009) a Charnwood large print hardback written by highly regarded award-winning Irish author William Trevor. I had not heard of him until a WordPress blogger Reading Matters posted and wrote about the William Trevor Reading Challenge.
https://readingmattersblog.com/2022/12/17/a-year-with-william-trevor-is-almost-here/
This tale hooked me straight away with subplots, instant twists and turns and interesting characters. “Ellie falls in love with Florian, although he’s planning to leave Ireland and begin anew after what he considers to be his failed life… and a dangerously reckless attachment develops between them”.

Of course, I review books on Goodreads regardless of whether or not anyone reads them. Either the books or my reviews! The interesting fact of my 2022 Goodreads Reading Challenge is I nominated to read 37 books over the year. I ended up reading 78 books (211%) so that was a surprise.