Past the Shallows by Favel Parrett

Past the Shallows is the debut novel for Favel Parrett and has been shortlisted for the Miles Franklin Award.

This novel follows a Summer in the life of three Tasmanian brothers, Joe, Miles and Harry, after their mother has died in a car accident.

It is an evocative novel, filled with emotion and yearning for another way of life. As the story unfolds the sparse text intimates their father’s violence before he ever lays a hand on them.

The boys live under the shadow of their violent father and his irregular drunken beatings.

It is the character of Harry who is the heart and soul of this novel. As a reader, you can embrace his innocence as a ray of hope in the brothers’ lives.

It is only Harry, the youngest son, who escapes work on their father’s illegal fishing boat. His light hearted view of the world is contrasted against Miles and Joe’s oppressive and steeled ‘adult’ view of the world (yet Joe at 17 is the eldest of the three).

The depth of this novel lies in Parrett’s ability to draw the reader into the brothers’ lives without giving everything away up front. She uses the suggestive power of her writing style to great effect, particularly in the books striking concluding chapters.

Past the Shallows embodies the Tasmanian shoreline, rough and unrelenting – yet beautiful in its simplicity.

The Younger Man by Zoe Foster

What a fun read!

The Younger Man is Zoe’s third novel, and is strictly a ‘girls’ own’ kind of story.

The storyline focuses on the life of Abby and her two girlfriends, Maddy and Chelsea, sassy and self-confident thirty-somethings, whose voices ring true throughout the text.

The book rollicked along with romance, work-life balance and friendship as the central themes.

The ‘younger man’ of the title is Marcus, a twenty-two year old, who captures the attention of thirty-three year old Abby.

The to and fro as to whether it is appropriate for Abby to be dating a man who is ten years younger than her is an old storyline, but Zoe makes the plot fresh and modern, which is helped by the playful interaction between the characters. Like this interplay between Abby and Chelsea:

‘How young? Like, eighteen?’

‘No, you sicko...twenty-five.’ Abby looked down.

‘How. Old.’

‘Twenty-two.’

‘WHO’S the sicko?? Twenty-two! Was he wearing a nappy?’

Oh, you’re an idiot. Twenty-two is an adult! God knows what I was up to at twenty-two, but I wasn’t a child. I knew what I was doing.’

The conclusion doesn’t feel as if Zoe has fought too hard to tie everything up in a neat little bow, but it is still satisfying.

The Younger Man is a great option for an easy-to-read romantic novel for the intelligent reader. I wouldn’t recommend this book to males or those with a distaste for chick-lit.

Find The Younger Man in the Adult Fiction section of the library.

Ruby Blues by Jessica Rudd

Ruby Blues is one book that you don’t want to judge by the cover!

In this second novel by Jessica Rudd, she once again lets us delve into the life of Ruby Stanhope. If you haven’t read Campaign Ruby yet, while it is not crucial to understanding the plot of Ruby Blues -- it may aid in your enjoyment!

Ruby Blues takes place two years after Campaign Ruby leaves off, Ruby is now working for the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO), and it is easy to believe that Rudd has some insight into what takes place in this office, given her father’s profession.

As the book’s title suggests, Ruby is in a different place mentally and emotionally in this book, but that doesn’t make her any less loveable as a character.

Throughout the book she sails from one government gaffe to the next all the while throwing herself into her work to avoid the problems in her personal life, of which there are a few – she even gets the power cut off from her house at one stage!

This novel is well-structured and easily read, with characters that ring true. Ruby’s niece Clementine easily steals the show with her child-like seriousness: “I really, really hate green, pacifically neon green and car key green. Car keys aren’t even green so it’s a silly name.”

This is easily one of the best written books in the chick-lit genre that I have read in awhile.