The Last Painting of Sara de Vos

The Last Painting of Sara de Vos by Dominic Smith

Blog written by Marty

This novel which was written by Dominic Smith could well have been penned by a woman with its intrigue and warmth of emotion.

It is a story told in layers.

There are three different times and settings from Amsterdam and the Dutch
SARA DE VOS a woman artist ( which was rare in the 17th Centur) in fact it is claimed she was the first one such artist to be recognized.

New York in the 1950s finds her  rare painting "At the Edge of the Wood" a Winter scene hanging over the bed of MARTY DE GROOT a descendant (three centuries ) of the original owner.

ELLIE SHIPLEY a young Australian artist whose skill is  in restoration of old
art works and who is enticed to make a forgery of this Dutch Painting.

Its story depicts the meeting of Marty and Ellie and the intrigue of their relationship as well as the fete of the paintings.

Sydney 21st Century finds us in another setting where the two paintings
arrive for an exhibition.  The lives of two modern characters is some what unravelled. Somehow the mystery of the paintings comes to light.

The buzz of jumping from one story and time adds to the absolute enjoyment of the book.
All the characters are woven descriptively into the plot. It makes for easy reading and thorough captivation.
Indeed the research that Smith has undertaken to write a novel with such technical description is what really enhances the book and attempts to educate us in the details of an art restorer and painter.

I loved all the characters especially Sara de Vos whose life as the wife of an impoverished artist and herself a painter struggling to feed her family in C17th Holland.

The question one could ask is "who really changed the paintings?  Was it the caterers or someone else?

I think I really could say this was one of the best  books I've read in a while.

Most of the book club had positive enjoyment.
The discussion mainly centered around the use of three characters and three time period.
Each chapter jumped to a different time. Some read it is sequence rather than as written.

Our rating for this book is 8.5/10 and it's been described as "enjoyable, intriguing, delicate, learnt a lot of the art world ".

Our first book selection for next year is The Good People by Hannah Kent and we will meet at Jane's on Wednesday Feb 8th at 7:30pm.

Have a great holiday and happy reading !!

Reckoning by Magda Szubanski

Reckoning : A Memoir by Magda Szubanski

Nov 10th, 2016

Blog written by Megan



















Our rating for this book is 6.7/10 and described as mildly curious.

Our next meeting with be at Marty's on Dec 14th and our book choice is The Last Painting of Sara de Vos by Dominic Smith.

The Story of a New Name

The Story of a New Name by Elena Ferrante
Oct 20th, 2016

Blog written by Melissa

Quoting from the New York Times review by J. Luzzi September 2013:

“The Story of a New Name” is the second part of a trilogy that began with “My Brilliant Friend.” Both novels are primarily set in Naples, are Naples, as they teem with the city’s dialect, violence and worldview. Tracing the friendship between Lila Cerullo and Elena Greco, two extraordinary and troubled girls who become extraordinary and troubled women, Elena’s first-person account charts what scholars and politicians alike have ominously labeled the Southern Question: the cultural and economic divide between north and south that has defined Italian life for centuries. But history never overpowers what is at heart a local story about the families living along a poor Neapolitan stradone, or avenue, with intricate plotlines spun like fine thread around Elena and Lila.

Our Book Club continued reading the epic saga of friendship in Ferrante’s second book of the Neopolitan series; The Story of a New Name”.  We were thankful the novel included a reminder map of who’s who - and we ventured forth into the heart of the story of this unique friendship which provoked fantastic discussions about feminism, class, politics and literature.  The sensitivity and intimacy of the writing had us wondering whether the ‘anonymous’ writer may be writing autobiographically – and if not - even greater credit to her skill and imagination.

The friendship between the women is both fraught and inspirational for each of them. They seem to serve as the grit for each other’s pearls which is uncomfortable at times to observe and yet somehow strangely understandable. It is also fascinating to track their individual, independent journeys and those of the entire neighbourhood - and indeed that of the experience women’s freedom during this era and the cultural and political atmosphere of Italy and Europe at the time.
This rare writer’s voice feels honestly, maturely and deeply female, a raw uncut perspective of truth, whose story is identifiable and believable. It is a joy to read a female story that is completely devoid of cliché, stereotype and predictability – content that is both intimate and worldly – in a structure that is beautifully organised and satisfying.

Many of us, inspired by this intimate and intelligently written drama, have now completed all four novels in the sequence.  Highly recommended.


Our rating for this book is 8.5/10 and it is described as sensitive, intelligent and intimate.

Our next meeting is on Thursday Nov 10th at Megan's and the book choice is Reckoning : A Memoir by Magda Szubanski.

For Whom The Bell Tolls

For Whom The Bell Tolls by Ernest Hemingway

Blog written by Lee

I chose this book due to my current obsession with Spain and having visited Ronda where the atrocity on the bridge took place, and having been shocked by a photo I saw in a restaurant there of a Republican supporter being dragged away by Nationalist soldiers possibly to his death.


This classic antiwar novel was enjoyed by all, surprisingly so as I wondered if Hemingway's literary style might seem dramatically out of date compared with the more contemporary works we generally read.  Our group discussed it in the light of the history of the Spanish Civil War and in comparison with foreign fighters in current conflicts.  Anselmo was singled out as the most appealing character and of course Pablo as the most despised.  Pilar was much admired and her telling of various relationships allowed Hemingway to digress into Spanish culture and bull fighting in particular.  His writing regarding the nature of fear as felt by the bull fighter and the participants and victims on both sides of the Civil War is deeply sympathetic and at odds with the machismo style we usually expect of Hemingway.  Several of the group questioned what Robert Jordan's motives could be for signing up as a foreign fighter in the International Brigade and we discussed the influence of his father and grandfather in Roberto's decisions, one, becoming a fighter and then two, ending his life rather than being captured.  We all enjoyed passages describing Roberto's day dreaming about what life could be and his imaginings of a life with Maria and discussed the impossibility of a future in those circumstances.  Hemingway's machoism was viewed and noted to be rather out of place in 21st century literature, but as a Nobel Prize winner for Literature we all thought that that his canon is worth rediscovering.

Our rating for this classic novel averaged 8/10 with one member rating the poem by John Donne 10/10. We take the opportunity to quote the poem "No man is an island" below :

No man is an island,
Entire of itself.
Each is a piece of the continent,
A part of the main.
If a clod be washed away by the sea,
Europe is the less.
As well as if a promontory were.
As well as if a manor of thine own
Or of thine friend's were.
Each man's death diminishes me,
For I am involved in mankind.
Therefore, send not to know
For whom the bell tolls,
It tolls for thee.

Our next meeting is on Oct 20th Thursday at Melissa's and our book will be The Story of a New Name by Elena Ferrante.

Just Kids

Just Kids by Patti Smith

Blog written by Robyn


In Just Kids, Patti Smith's first book of prose, the legendary American Artist offers a never-before-seen glimpse of her remarkable relationship with photographer Robert Mapplethorpe in the epochal days of New York and the Chelsea Hotel in the late sixties and seventies.

An honest and moving story of youth and friendship.








Our average rating for Just Kids is 7/10 ; enjoyable and interesting read

Our next book is For Whom The Bell Tolls and it will be on Thursday Sept 15 at Lee's.

The Forgiven

The Forgiven by Lawrence Osborne

Blog written by Sarah

The Forgiven is Lawrence Osborne's story of drama and debauchery among wealthy westerners in Morocco as they attend a hedonistic party while the local servants look on in increasing despair.   To quote Jane Austen, “Everything happens at parties.”

The story slowly simmers as we are taken on a journey into the dessert of Morocco.

Osborne has a keen and cruel eye when it comes to the complexities that make up his characters, laying bare their morals and their failures to truly know themselves.

Throughout this story Osborne forces us to walk the hire-wire between several juxtapositions; post-colonial angst of the privileged westerners and the local Moroccans; the deteriorating relationship of the bad tempered Doctor David Henninger and his wife and author, Jo; the escalating tension between employer and employee, rich and poor as the workers look on at the debauched revellers and the repercussions of David’s earlier actions.

At the start of his journey the main protagonist David Henninger is a smug, alcoholic doctor, hateful and unlikeable.  He is objectively failing in his profession, evidenced by malpractice.  Despite, or more likely because of his privileged schooling and upbringing, he is utterly unable to see anything outside of his own frame of reference; though it is clear that neither are none of his other party-goers.  By the end of the story, despite all that happens to and around him, he singularly fails to change in any discernible way.

Whilst the group generally found the book not “enjoyable” as such, it did generate a long and interesting discussion; we largely agreed that the plot, whilst dark and complex in nature, was woven together very tightly and we found its ending satisfying,

This plot was intriguing to us, with the complex relationships between the characters all seemingly searching for the same thing; forgiveness.  However, this forgiveness was ultimately never given.  The characters themselves, though in some cases unlikeable and sharing a common inability to know themselves were generally very rich and rewarding to explore.

Given its exotic location the book unsurprisingly highlights the cultural contrast between the Western attitudes and hedonistic tenancies of the party-goers, and the local Islamic culture, throwing up plenty of provocative subjects for debate.

We enjoyed the writer’s description of how he based it on a true story, his own experiences of being in places like these and never really being sure of the shifting ground and dynamics between him and the indigenous population.  We felt it could be made in to a movie, with it’s realism and darkness would play well as film noir. Reading Paul Bowles, The Sheltering Sky might be an excellent companion to The Forgiven.


Avg rating – 7.5

Our next book is Just Kids by Patti Smith and we will be meeting at Robyn's on August 25th.

The Glass Castle

The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls

Blog written by Meredith

The Glass Castle from Jeannette Walls has proven to be another popular book club choice.
The 'almost unbelievable' true story of a white American family living in poverty bears witness to the fact that homelessness can sometimes be a choice.  Of course, the children didn't choose to be forever hungry, homeless and vulnerable to the world, but the parents did. In fact, the mother felt no shame in her life, advising her daughter to just tell the truth about her childhood.

So that is exactly what Jeannette has done.

Her memoir opens with her earliest memory at the age of 3, a shocking event where she has cooked herself some hotdogs in the trailer, setting herself alight in the process. She ends up in hospital for 6 weeks with severe burns, only leaving when her father breaks her out saying "you don¹t have to worry anymore baby, you're safe now".

This clearly sets the stage for a life on the run with totally dysfunctional and irresponsible parents, proven time again with each incredible story in the book.

A number of moments in the book stood out, for example, when Jeannette
decided she didn't like her teeth and tried to make her own braces.  The
time when the father stole the money from the children, their hard earned
savings drained away at the pub.  The time when Jeannette's mother and
sister went away and at the age of 12 she had to try and manage the
budget, her younger siblings and hardest of all, keep her Dad away from
the money.  The times when Jeannette was at risk of sexual attack, in
particular from her uncle.

The stories are endless, and all add up to a very different childhood than
the rest of us. What is particularly interesting is the way in which the author narrates
the story.  It is a very detached voice,  neither appearing to judge or
ask for pity. She could almost be accused of sugar sweetening the
stories, it was almost unbelievable, and therefore, even questionable as a
memoir.

In fact, when viewing a You Tube video of her and her mum, she almost
seems like she is a presenter of some TV show, it is a little divorced
from reality.

There is no question, that The Glass Castle was a gripping and powerful
read.

It received a high rating, averaging 8 all round.

Our next book is The Forgiven by Lawrence Osbourne and it will be at Sarah's on Thursday July 21st.

My Brilliant Friend

My Brilliant Friend by Elena Ferrante

Blog written by Sally

This a compelling story of a childhood in Naples in the 1950s. Elena narrates the story of her relationship with her best friend Lina – starting from her first impressions of Lina as a rebellious first grader, up to their 16th year, when Lina gets married to a local boy and the two childhood friends appear to be set to live very different lives. It is the first novel of a trilogy and from the prologue we learn that Elena is writing the story in her sixties, when it appears her friendship with Lina has taken another dramatic turn.

I really enjoyed reading this one!  Elena tells a very vivid tale of what seemed to me to be a very foreign place and period of time. I felt she was writing just as much to understand herself as to present the story of Lina, and her perception of herself seems to be shaped from the contrasts she sees in Lina. The relationship of these two girls drawn together despite their very different personalities is certainly complex and often unsettling.  There is a strong sense of foreboding about the future for Lina despite her apparent effortless brilliant intellectual and creative ability and drive as a child. While Elena, who seems to be pushed by a need to prove herself and fear of failure, seems to have a future that will be much more secure. Her hard work at school earns her the title of “my brilliant friend” from Elena.


Overall our group enjoyed the book scoring it between 7 and 8. I think we all agreed the writing style was masterful. The negatives included getting started was difficult with many different similar sounding Italian names to get used to. The index of characters at the front of the book is definitely useful. Most of us found the level of violence in the community which pervades the whole book from the first encounter between Elena and Lina to be disturbing. It doesn’t really offer relaxing reading. A few of us found the tale of childhood as told by the adult Elena perhaps a bit affected. Some were not satisfied by the abrupt ending. Despite these shortcomings, it was a very intriguing and stimulating tale for discussion and we all agreed we wanted to read the next book in the series.

Our next book is The Glass Castle by Jeanette Walls and we will be meeting at Meredith's on June 16.

The Secret Chord

The Secret Chord by Geraldine Brooks

Blog written by Jane 

Overall the book got positive feedback. The score collated to 8.5 average and those that finished it were glad they did. Melissa felt the word that summed it up was detached. Some members found it a bit hard to get into and didn't like the Hebrew names.

The reasons why people enjoyed it was that they thought it was a brilliantly researched book and written with the detached air of a real historian and is a superb example of historical fiction.  Most people knew  the story of David and Goliath and his love of Batsheva .

Lee felt the character of Natan was so well developed and yet he too is the historical recorder of the times.  His own history is so tragic and yet he relates it in quite a detached manner in the same way he views and records all the events that happen around him in such blood thirsty times.

The extremely complex character of David is described in an unambiguous manner that draws you in to want to read more and more about his extraordinary relationships with his wives and sons and enemies.  The novel was commended for being so far from the usual telling as a biblical story,  it was an in depth study of an age and personalities written without hysterics or exaggerated drama was just a superbly satisfying read.

Our next meeting is at Sally's on Thursday May 19 and we will be discussing
My Brilliant Friend by Elena Ferante

Lyrebird Hill

Lyrebird Hill by Anna Romer

Blog written by Sharon

This is Anna Romer's second novel and is about Ruby's memory loss as a result of her sister's death and how she slowly recovers this missing block of time and unravels the mystery surrounding her death.  There is also a parallel story about Ruby's ancestor Brenna.

I find the writing style captivating and Anna jumps easily between the 2 stories set in the 1800's and modern day Australia.  We are given insights into what life must have been like in a land as harsh but beautiful as 19th century Australia although one reader felt the author's treatment of the Aboriginal characters was stereotypical and "embarrassing".

Without giving away spoilers to the story, our general comments on the novel were that it is a good read and we couldn't wait to finish it and that all the ends tied up neatly.  I was intrigued by the 2 main characters and their stories although I find it difficult to believe the midnight trysts between Brenna and Lucien would have happened during the 1800's.  I greatly enjoyed the childhood relationship between Roo and Wolf though. We think this book will work well as a movie !

Our rating for the book averaged a 6.8 out of 10.

Our next meeting will be on Thursday April 28th at Jane's and the book selection is The Secret Chord by Geraldine Brooks.

The Art of Hearing Heartbeats

The Art of Hearing Heartbeats by Jan-Philipp Sendker

Blog by Marty

18th Feb, 2016 Our first book group meeting of the year














Our rating for this book averaged 7.25/10 and was described as "endearing, lovely but gauzy".