[null, {"document_url": "https://tintededges.com/category/uncategorized/", "unformatted_src": "https://d1w7fb2mkkr3kw.cloudfront.net/assets/images/book/lrg/9781/9104/9781910453490.jpg", "src": "https://d1w7fb2mkkr3kw.cloudfront.net/assets/images/book/lrg/9781/9104/9781910453490.jpg", "alt_text": "Image result for a perfect marriage alison booth"}, null, null, {"document_url": "https://tintededges.com/category/uncategorized/", "unformatted_src": "https://kbimages1-a.akamaihd.net/Images/4df4b906-35fe-494c-92f8-a2a09340a5a9/120/185/False/the-eye-of-the-sheep-2.jpg", "src": "https://kbimages1-a.akamaihd.net/Images/4df4b906-35fe-494c-92f8-a2a09340a5a9/120/185/False/the-eye-of-the-sheep-2.jpg", "formatted_filename": "the eye of the sheep"}, null, {"document_url": "https://tintededges.com/category/uncategorized/", "unformatted_src": "https://covers.booktopia.com.au/150/9781760292485/the-eye-of-the-sheep.jpg", "src": "https://covers.booktopia.com.au/150/9781760292485/the-eye-of-the-sheep.jpg", "formatted_filename": "the eye of the sheep"}, null, null, null, {"document_url": "https://tintededges.com/category/uncategorized/", "unformatted_src": "https://kbimages1-a.akamaihd.net/Images/d9f1febd-a51b-464b-bd5f-8829033b1e08/120/185/False/the-black-tides-of-heaven.jpg", "src": "https://kbimages1-a.akamaihd.net/Images/d9f1febd-a51b-464b-bd5f-8829033b1e08/120/185/False/the-black-tides-of-heaven.jpg", "formatted_filename": "the black tides of heaven"}, null, {"document_url": "https://tintededges.com/category/uncategorized/", "unformatted_src": "https://covers.booktopia.com.au/150/9780765395412/the-black-tides-of-heaven.jpg", "src": "https://covers.booktopia.com.au/150/9780765395412/the-black-tides-of-heaven.jpg", "formatted_filename": "the black tides of heaven"}, null, {"document_url": "https://tintededges.com/category/uncategorized/", "unformatted_src": "https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1511735835l/36668150.jpg", "src": "https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1511735835l/36668150.jpg", "alt_text": "36668150", "rendered_width": 300, "rendered_height": 463}, null, {"document_url": "https://tintededges.com/category/uncategorized/", "unformatted_src": "https://kbimages1-a.akamaihd.net/Images/ce3d1384-75d3-4d9c-aaa6-a90a4ed52652/120/185/False/love-and-other-inconveniences.jpg", "src": "https://kbimages1-a.akamaihd.net/Images/ce3d1384-75d3-4d9c-aaa6-a90a4ed52652/120/185/False/love-and-other-inconveniences.jpg", "formatted_filename": "love and other inconveniences"}, null, null, null, null, null, {"document_url": "https://tintededges.com/category/uncategorized/", "unformatted_src": "https://i.harperapps.com/covers/9780008239411/x293.jpg", "src": "https://i.harperapps.com/covers/9780008239411/x293.jpg", "alt_text": "Cover image - The City of Brass", "rendered_width": 293, "rendered_height": 449}, null, {"document_url": "https://tintededges.com/category/uncategorized/", "unformatted_src": "https://kbimages1-a.akamaihd.net/Images/9cbee9f2-ec0e-4838-9cc9-f2065473a020/120/185/False/the-city-of-brass-2.jpg", "src": "https://kbimages1-a.akamaihd.net/Images/9cbee9f2-ec0e-4838-9cc9-f2065473a020/120/185/False/the-city-of-brass-2.jpg", "formatted_filename": "the city of brass"}, null, null]

October 15, 2018 · 8:51 pm

Love and Other Inconveniences

Incredibly readable romantic poetry from Trinidad and Tobago
 “Love and Other Inconveniences” by Rhea Arielle is a collection of poetry that traces the life cycle of an intoxicating but doomed romance. Divided into three Acts, the book walks the reader through infatuation, heartbreak and self-love.

I started reading this book while waiting for the bus, and I was so engrossed I had finished it by the time I arrived at work. As is probably pretty apparent from this blog, I am not a huge consumer of poetry but there was something about Arielle’s incredibly unique and tactile way of writing that was very arresting. Her poems are very brief and very poignant and I love the way she handles space and time. I don’t often share quotes from books I read, but here are two that I particularly loved:

There are no locks on your future
so why do you knock at the door
Let yourself in.

When your lips
part to speak
the winds shimmer
under your voice
and carry music
to my waiting ear.

Romantic poetry is certainly not for everyone, and the themes in this book are very familiar. However, Arielle brings a freshness to a topic that most people can relate to.

This is the kind of poetry that even people who don’t normally enjoy poetry can enjoy. I liked it so much I bought a copy for my friend.

Love and Other Inconveniences Filed under Book Reviews, Poetry, Uncategorized

Tagged as book reviews, books, love and other inconveniences, Poetry, rhea arielle

October 13, 2018 · 5:10 pm

No Country Woman

Carefully-considered memoir about race, belonging and growing up in Australia

I received a copy of this book courtesy of the publisher, however I have been looking forward to it for a long time ever since I found out the editor of Feminartsy (a journal I write for occasionally) was working on it. I also interviewed her in the most recent episode of my book podcast Lost the Plot. “No Country Woman” by Zoya Patel is a memoir about growing up as a third culture kid with a Fijian-Indian background in Australia. Divided into loose thematic chapters, Patel blends personal experience and social theory to reflect on what it means to belong somewhere and the colonial and economic drivers behind generational migration.

This book is an excellent insight into what it is like to navigate two cultures. Patel has a crisp, cool writing style and patiently and piercingly walks the reader through issues such as racism, poverty and identity. She unpacks the theme of belonging in exacting detail and examines what it means to look the same, sound the same, share the same cultural identity and share the same beliefs as people in Fiji, Australia, India and Scotland.

I particularly enjoyed Patel’s words on economic inequality, and her chapter on poverty in India. I think that examination of class is often absent in other memoirs I’ve written, however Patel is forced to confront issues of privilege on a family visit to India as a child and the stark comparison between the lives of family who left and family who stayed. I was also really fascinated by Patel’s experience with language, and the complexities around language, identity and belonging. In a country where the number of people learning a second language in school is on the decline, I was interested to read about the role of language in belonging and the interrelationship with cultural identity.

I think it needs to be said that this is not a book about overcoming adversity in the same way as other women of colour like Maxine Beneba Clarke‘s horrendous high school bullying experience and Roxane Gay‘s trauma as a teenage girl. It certainly isn’t filled with the same rage and hyperbole as Clementine Ford‘s book either. Patel’s family are tight-knit, resilient and entrepreneurial, and are the backdrop rather than the focus of the book. While this book is certainly very personal in many parts, Patel has a measure of reserve that sets this book apart from other memoirs.

While sometimes it can be incredibly engaging to read something that seems entirely unfiltered, I think that Patel’s memoir serves a different purpose. Rather than being an exposé of self, it is an exposé of systems, and provides an academic lens through which to examine personal experiences. While some people connect with the ultra-personal, I think that this style of memoir is particularly effective and I think most readers would find it hard to argue with or minimise Patel’s points.

Memoir is a growing genre in Australia and is an excellent way to explore different perspectives. This book is a particularly sharp look at the realities of race and migration in Australia, but more importantly the diversity of those experiences.

No Country Woman: A memoir of not belonging 
October 10, 2018 · 10:46 pm

The Rain Never Came

Post-apocalyptic Australian fiction
 “The Rain Never Came” by Lachlan Walter is post-apocalyptic fiction set in a not-too-distant future Australia plagued by drought. Bill and Tobe are best mates who live in a derelict town that has been all but abandoned. They spend their empty days drinking at the local pub. However, when the pub’s bore runs out and they see some mysterious lights on the horizon, Bill agrees to leave town with Tobe.

Australia really lends itself to desert dystopian stories and the premise of this one was interesting. Set around Western Victoria, I enjoyed imagining the hot Victorian summers I grew up with taken to their extreme. I was intrigued by the mysterious ruling entity that decreed that everyone had to be moved to northern regions where there was still rain. This is an action-packed book and once Bill and Tobe are on the road, the action is non-stop.

There were some things that were a bit difficult about this book though. Walters writing style is very active and his characters are constantly doing things like walking, looking, smiling and laughing. Although as the story progresses, we learn a little more about Bill and Tobe’s past, what I really wanted to learn more about was the world they lived in. It wasn’t completely clear why people were being forced to leave the towns, and I would have liked to have had some more reveals about what led to this situation and what the purpose of the mass removal was.

A compelling idea, but I would have liked more world-building and character development.


Filed under Australian Books, Book Reviews, Science Fiction, Uncategorized

Tagged as book reviews, books, dystopia, lachlan walters, the rain never came


