Blue Wolf Reviews

Tag: contemporary

  • The Barefoot Bookshop on the Beach

    The Barefoot Bookshop on the Beach

    Rebeca Raisin’s latest dose of escapism The Barefoot Bookshop on the Beach is set in the wonderfully exotic location of Ésperé in the  Seychelle’s Islands, a place where dreams can come true and life can be anything you choose to make of it, even running a small bookshop in an luxury resort; a far cry from Harper’s previous part time position as a bookseller and online blogger in London.

    When Harper’s carefully structured world implodes in rapid style she is left with no job, the shame of being dumped online and facing the horrible fact that she is being trolled as she dared, inadvertently, to call out the latest chart climbing romance novel as being created by AI!

    Offered a job at The Barefoot Bookshop on the Beach she arrives in the Seychelles only to find she is being transferred to Ésperé by helicopter, piloted by a handsome young man. She is not happy and wonders just what madness led her to what will surely be her death, and this is only, but not quite, day one in her new job.

    The Barefoot Bookshop on the Beach is a lighthearted look at falling in love with serious overtones such as the effect of AI on everyday lives. Thanks to the lineup of flamboyant characters, none of whom are what they seem to be, a lightheartedness carries a slightly different style of writing from Rebecca Raisin. As always, an entertaining and enjoyable escape from daily life, Seychelle’s style.

  • Wifed In India

    Wifed In India

    From Shadows to Light: A Wife’s Quest 

    Wifed in India is an amazingly powerful book. As the story is often told in the third person, the author can convey the essence of her understated messages. Factually, she describes ordinary everyday circumstances as they are practiced and accepted. This is Indian culture and tradition as experienced by women. For Mrs Dolly Mittal, giving birth to her beautiful son was catastrophic. Her husband had promised his boss he would give him the son to raise.

    The story begins with Pari, a baby born to loving parents. Her relatives are quick to point out that it is a shame that she is such a dark colour. With wisdom and foresight, her parents raise Pari to believe that education and seeking knowledge is the way to fulfilment. But along the way, Pari must learn to overcome many obstacles.

    Her father blocks her desire to study fashion and instead she is made to study computer science. It is at the university that she meets Ayushman, and they develop a relationship. They are so alike in their thoughts and feelings that it seems nothing can separate them. However, Pari’s father is absolutely against their marriage as Ayushman’s family are in business.

    Overcoming objections, the pair marry and although their love is strong, there are so many changes and compromises to be made that Pari must struggle to keep her identity. The following chapters describe the couple as they have children. Pari’s expectations and Ayushman’s duty constantly clash and the expectations they both have are diminished.

    Wifed in India is a story of a constant struggle against perceived norms and traditions. That Pari can still fight for her self-esteem and way of life shows a tenacity and courage that will give heart to many women. She must take control of her life and the life of her children to empower their future. This is an inspirational story.

  • The Furphy Anthology 2025

    The Furphy Anthology 2025

    The Furphy Anthology 2025 has certainly delivered once again with an exceptionally high standard of short story that entertains while it rubs up against the reality of life before and after the grave.

    Although this sounds somewhat maudlin, it is not, as each of the stories take a small slice of life, gently teasing out the emotions which make us all human; the love, hurt, confusion, despair and acceptance, even a turkey dinner that proves to be a guilt-ridden memory.

    Serena Moss, who was until recently ‘just a scribbler of words’, took out the top award with her exquisite The Eulogy Business which is whimsical, quirky, very relatable, funny, wry and so very honest. Have you ever wondered who writes the Eulogy’s for the recently dearly departed, that make you remember, cry and laugh in turns? Now you know.

     Charlotte Askew’s Somewhere Above the Artesian is a simple, yet heartbreaking retelling of a tragedy that could have been prevented.  Grey Nomads, a retired husband and wife who had sold everything for a life on the road: new car, new caravan and no real idea of driving anything that big. One simple mistake and disaster strikes: a man, a boy and their load of cattle!

    The final phases of a parent slowing sinking into dementia has been softly explored by Amy L Montague as she offers in the first person the thoughts of an elderly woman, wife and mother, trying to make sense of her life since her husband died in All the Moments I Still Live In which is bittersweet and elegant.

    Twelve other works are included in the 2025 Anthology that encapsulate everything from a memorable turkey dinner through to The Role of the Cloaca in Monotreme Phylogeny. Let’s face it, how can you resist such a title which evolves into a very intriguing story.

    The Furphy Anthology 2025 is an absolute treasure trove of unexpected slices of life which have captured the imagination of the writers and have now been created to entertain without boundaries.

    Dip in and enjoy!

  • The Peach King

    The Peach King

    Young children are always inquisitive about the changes they observe in nature. Accomplished author Inga Simpson’s hard covered picture book, which has been beautifully illustrated by acclaimed illustrator Tannya Harricks, will certainly satisfy their curiosity. The author experienced the devastating effects of the Black Summer which badly affected the south coast of New South Wales; over the ten days of lack of power, she savoured some delicious Araluen peaches.

    On top of a hill the Peach King overseas and protects the orchard where there are many rows of peach trees; however Little Peach Tree is just a sapling.  With each passing season the reader witnesses the Little Peach Tree grow and develop into a bountiful fruit tree. However, nature isn’t always kind causing the Little Peach Tree to experience the devastation of drought and fire.

    Emerging readers are not only taken on an enchanting journey through nature’s seasonal cycle but also the disastrous effects of drought and fire. They will enjoy the simple text combined with the wonderfully detailed illustrations.  

    This beautiful, nature picture book is a must for all school libraries.

  • The Time Hop Coffee Shop

    The Time Hop Coffee Shop

    The Time Hop Coffee Shop is a novel with a considerable difference as it uses the ‘be careful what you wish for’ analogy to set the plot between the perfect past and the reality of the everyday present.

    Greta Perks life is in a terrible mess and no matter what she tries to do about it nothing works. Once the star of the Maple Gold Coffee commercials, she was a woman used to living the dream with a handsome husband and talented young daughter, until it was time to modernise, upgrade and replace their entire family with other people.

    She is on a trial separation from her husband, and her daughter is resentful of being driven to do anything she does not want to do. Work has dried up and life is drab, dull, and depressing. Her once glittering career is over!

    After an eventful and disastrous evening presenting a talk at a local Café, she is handed a small leaflet about the Time Hop Coffee Shop and decides to investigate what this mysterious place is really offering; in doing so she is delivered into the world of Mapleville, a place where everything is always perfect, just like the world created in the coffee commercials.

    This timeslip offers Greta a second chance at what she believes she wants, but she is eventually forced to decide; to let the past and all its shining glory go and grab the present with both hands enjoying life for what has to offer.

    Couched within the storyline is a lovely lesson on life, living and accepting delivered in the third person although the overall tone of what looked to be a quirky take on life, failed to deliver.

  • Snowflakes Over Starr’s Fall

    Snowflakes Over Starr’s Fall

    Kate Hewitt has delivered another heartwarming story from Starr’s Falls a place that seems to make magic happen even in the most challenging of circumstances. In Snowflakes Over Starrs Fall it is Jenna’s turn to have a little magic in her life even though she believes she is doing just fine on her own.

    Jenna has lived in Starr’s Falls most of her life and has inherited the families Mercantile General Store which while it has been a large part of Starrs Falls for many years is well past its time and use by date, drastically in need of either an overhaul or closing.

    Jack Wexler has arrived in town wanting to buy Smoked Salmon along with  other upmarket food items. When he discovers they cannot sourced in town, he and Jenna trade words, sparks fly, and ill feeling is left behind.

    This sets the tone for the balance of the book as the two antagonists never seem to miss an opportunity to spark conflict, until they begin to realise that by working together perhaps, they can make some sort of sense out of the diverse pathways their lives have taken.

    Both are struggling to face a very different future, both resenting the demands placed on them. A town meeting forces them to work together to try and make the most of the forthcoming Winter Wonderland festival and parade as well as renovate the ailing Mercantile Store before Christmas.

    Will they finally learn that the past is past, and the future can be  filled with promise if only they can learn to trust again. Old friends populate the storyline giving a lovely sense of continuity to the series as they too celebrate new beginnings and old friends passing.

    Book three in the series on Starr’s Fall from Kate Hewitt does not disappoint and will charm the romantic in us all once again as we step out of reality and into the magic that is Starr’s Fall.

  • Crow

    Crow

    Crow opens with a young man standing in the chill dampness of the Arthur River Cemetery people watching. His commentary is somewhat disturbing; a funeral is to be held outdoors in the bleakness that is a Tasmanian Spring.

    Through the opening chapter each character is introduced, leaving behind a sense of wondering what is going on and why there are so few, but so many attending this funeral. Who is the stunning, smartly dressed woman who arrives late and why are there only five chairs set out for mourners to use?

    Rhonda McCoy has in her debut novel Crow captured a very defined sense of atmosphere, broody, almost creepy, a sense of the past history of the Church hanging over the event; the funeral of Harold Crow, a man respected and admired by the local community.

    His death was unexpected; a Coronial inquest is to be carried out  into the events leading up to his death in the local hospital where Dr David Boyd, a very dear and close friend of Hal’s had practiced for many years, as had his father before him.

    Hal’s death sets off a train of events bringing with it hatred, mistrust, devastation and death before acceptance and renewal can begin.

    Many strings are woven together to form the close-knit community of Arthur River, one that can strike down as easily as it can support as the Boyd family are forced to confront so many carefully hidden issues, the townspeople all to ready to sit in judgement as much of the Boyd’s past and present is too be lived out in the public domain.

    Crow is a riveting read of tragedy, friendship, love, understanding and forgiveness created from a visit to a small town in Tasmania that simply begged to be the setting for a novel and a chance meeting with a farmer in South Australia who helped form the character of Harold ‘Hal’ Crow.

    Highly recommended.

  • Crimson Light Polished Wood

    Crimson Light Polished Wood

    Crimson Light Polished Wood is a tender and gentle journey into the world of family, friends and the combination of both through the eyes of Lydia, a young impressionable and lonely young girl as she grows through the years searching for understanding, seeking to accept and desiring to create a tribute to a friend who changed so much in her younger world.

    Gently provocative the story of Lydia unfolds through a house, two women and her mother Anna, a Polish immigrant who lives next door to Margaret and Leonora. These women are a couple in an age when this was kept carefully hidden, but was also intriguing to Lydia, who would often see them lying under the shade of the huge tree in the garden, enjoying their time away from prying eyes.

    Margaret and Leonora introduced her to the gems of performance, art, and literature and upon the death of Margret, Leonora and Anna become friends with Leonora becoming accepted into their family adding another dimension to Lydia’s life.

    On the death of Leonora some years later she discovers the house next door has been left to her brother to do with as he wishes, she has inherited several pieces of furniture and other assorted and treasured items.

    She makes the decision to create a lasting, living memory to Leonora and in doing so exorcizes the ghosts of her past, understanding that time and life move on eternally, that whatever she has created will as all things eventually do, gently and inexorably fade from the public eye and come to an end.

    Unusual though very readable Crimson Light Polished Wood dissects the bonds we all create, the severing of these bonds and the acceptance that many things influence the pathway taken when we seek understanding through compassion, understanding and acceptance.

  • The Path Through the Coojong Trees

    The Path Through the Coojong Trees

    Author of seven books Leonie Kelsall has once again focussed her settings in the Australian bush. As a child raised in outback towns and has a knowledge of small-town characters and mentalities. This keeps her tales and characters based in reality. The Path Through The Coojong Trees looks at many aspects of small town living and some of the perks and draw backs.

    Natasha is a young 16-year-old who is desperate to escape her home and town. She has a plan, and it involves studying hard and moving to Sydney to university. Her home life is horrendous. Her parents, one Aboriginal, one Australian, are happy for her to work two part time jobs and pay the bills.

    They do not believe she will ever leave and are not that interested anyway. Natasha is different. At school as she is deaf and comes from the wrong side of the railway line, she has very few friends. Then a family moves into town. They are from Turkey and viewed with reservation by most. The young man, Tarik, and Natasha become close.

     We skip about nine years and Natasha has moved to a small town as a classroom teacher. She has her daughter with her. The town mimics others in its suspicion of newcomers, however, being a teacher affords Natasha acceptance. She gradually meets and befriends different people. Then one day a new shop announces its opening. It is a Turkish bakery. The story unfolds as chance and fate play a hand in the resolution.

    Definitely one for the romantics.

  • Day Aunt Gina Came to Town

    Day Aunt Gina Came to Town

    Life is certainly never all it seems, as this somewhat philosophical look at family and the structure that is created in The Day Aunt Gina Came to Town, portrays the modern-day family rising up and falling down only to rise up again through the pages of John Schoneboom’s latest novel.

    As with the style of the book, the names of the family members are somewhat eclectic; Father Bapa Jim, Mother Matalulu, daughter Bahena and son Saho form the somewhat dysfunctional family; each one cocooned in their own world, each one influencing the other without understanding how or why.

    The introduction of Aunt Gina adds a further dimension to the already complex family structure as she is purportedly, like many a family member whose visit is somewhat dreaded, about to arrive to visit. Is she the answer to the family dysfunctionality or just another wayward soul looking for reality.

    She, it would seem has connections everywhere and yet nowhere, while at the same time, so much appears to be ephemeral. This also creates the speculation that perhaps in many families the art of acceptance or deception is the fabric that holds them together.

    The Day Aunt Gina Came to Town is for the reader who enjoys eclectic prose, fragmented characters, a somewhat tragi-comedic look at life and what could be very easily considered as the modern-day family!

    Readers who enjoy a cult style of literature will enjoy this entre into a world that is more than slightly off-center.