It’s been a while since I posted any new fiction. I thought you might like some! Scroll down for ‘Touche’ — a short, chivalrous story of a fencing match.
Also, I’ve dipped into the shortlist for 2022’s ARA Historical Novel prize. (All works by Australian writers.) Here are my quick reviews and recommendations. Take your time machine of choice…
The Winter Dress by Lauren Chater
I love a story centred on a sumptuous dress. Even better, The Winter Dress is based on a real gown, that survived a seventeenth century shipwreck off the coast of Holland. The Winter Dress is a dual timeline story — an Australian expert investigates the story behind an artefact. The story of seventeenth century Anna is vivid and bittersweet. The modern story didn’t engage me as much. I’m not sure why Chater chose (three times!) to reveal major plot-spoilers from the distance of the modern historian rather than through Anna’s eyes.
‘Will I like this book?’
If you are a lover of costume, Dutch masters, or The Miniaturist, read The Winter Dress.
Anna blinks at the yellow gown that has been folded carelessly and shoved towards the back of the drawer. As she draws it out, the fabric shimmers and dazzles and flares… The silk train slithers to the floor and the scent of faded perfume arises — oil of roses, their mother’s favourite… Holding the gown against her body, Anna caresses the hem of a sleeve with her thumb, the lustrous fabric clinging to her waist and legs like a second skin. 1
(Actually The Winter Dress is on the longlist, not the shortlist, but I started reading before the shortlist came out.)
Horse by Geraldine Brooks
Shortlisted Horse has a similar structure to both The Winter Dress and Brooks’ own People of the Book. This time an art historian is searching for the provenance of a racehorse painting, which leads back to the life of a black slave jockey in Kentucky. I am conflicted about Geraldine Brooks — I admire her writing, generally. But so far, every book of hers I’ve read has explicit descriptions of gruesome violence. I will be giving it a miss.
‘Will I like this book?’
If you’re into horses, and you don’t mind graphic violence, you might like Horse.
Corporal Hitler’s Pistol by Thomas Keneally
First, ignore the title. This is not a Nazi Germany/WWII novel. Although I’m not near finished, so far it’s a small town story, about class, race, shame and secrets, mostly set in Kempsey, New South Wales, 1933. It reminds me a bit of The Dressmaker. (If you liked that. I didn’t much.) But after a jaunty, tongue-in-cheek start, I think Keneally will be more compassionate towards his cast of characters:
He would tell his father the school term had been pretty good, and his father would say the farms were pretty good, and so everything was pretty good. The missingness between them, the big vacuum. That wasn’t pretty good. That was a mongrel. 2
‘Will I like this book?’
If you enjoy something of a yarn-spinning style, plus strong characterisation and social insight, this one’s for you.
Cold Coast by Robyn Mundy
This one is my surprise favourite, so far. I’ve only read a few chapters, and I’m transported, trekking in the wild vistas of Svalbard with the first female trapper. And I’m wondering about the fate of the Arctic fox family who open the novel. Author Robyn Mundy is an eco-tour leader on Arctic and Antarctic trips, and I feel she knows what she’s writing about.
‘Will I like this book?’
If you like, say, the visceral Iceland of Burial Rites by Hannah Kent, or Attenborough’s Life on Earth, in lyrical writing, then set sail for Cold Coast.
In his mind’s eye is a simple hut of bleached driftwood, clouds pressed upon those pointed peaks from which Spitsbergen takes its name… Ah but life is short, is it not, the promise of the future sweet as cloudberry. Anders downs the dregs and sets down the glass. He pull his cap from his pocket and punches it into shape. The north frees a man. No time for maudlin thoughts. Loneliness never. No other life comes close.3
Mundy also has stunning Arctic/Antarctic photos on her website.
New Fiction Here
Haven’t got time for a novel? Here’s a short story from me, fresh off the word processor. It’s part of the back story for a character in the 1888 novel I’m writing. Hope you enjoy it!
[This story is an exclusive for email subscribers. If that’s not you yet, sign up here:
I’m bowing out for now. As always, I love to know your thoughts:
The Winter Dress, p 42.
Corporal Hitler’s Pistol, p 10.
Cold Coast, p 3-4.