Blue Wolf Reviews

Tag: secrets

  • The Far-Back Country

    The Far-Back Country

    Raw and poignant Kate Lyons lays bare the secrets and violence that lie hidden in many families:  a legacy that saw many leaving their home, eventually creating a life far different to that which they knew.

    In Far Back Country, Ray leaves his home at the age of fourteen to escape the violence after a particularly violent confrontation with his dad.

    He builds a new life, always on the move as a shearer’s cook or labourer, picking up work as he moved about the outback regions of Australia, always as a loner, worried that the violence of his past was somehow inherited.

    When a man’s body is found in a country pub, with Rays wallet and papers with him it sets of a train of events that will see family secrets come to light: secrets kept hidden for many decades. Ray’s sister Ursula is contacted to come and identify him and collect his belongings, but when she takes a look at the man supposed to be her brother, and even allowing for all the years since she saw him, she realises this is not Ray.

    She decides that perhaps it is time to try once again to find him and sets out to follow his pathway over the years to discover what it was that made him disappear so completely. Her journey leads along a pathway which would bring back memories of a long-forgotten time in her own life, offer solace and heal the wounds of long ago.

    Emotional, stark and beautifully constructed The Far Country is more than a work of fiction, as reading through the pages it is very hard to define whether this is, or is not, a biography as Kate Lyons has captured the very essence of reality that was and still is a component of outback living and many people’s lives.

  • Scrublands

    Scrublands

    The heat rises off the buildings, the road, and the parched, dry country. The sun is hot, unforgiving in its constant ferocity; from the first sentence in this enthralling story you are there, the smell, the very essence of sunburnt country envelops you, places you firmly where the endless summer sets the scene for something so horrific the small, isolated town of Riversend will carry the scars forever within its DNA.

    Marten Scarsden, journalist and a troubled man is sent to cover the story almost a year on from the tragedy to see how the town is coping in the aftermath and also to try and save his failing a career.  What was it that caused a much loved and respected young Priest, Byron Swift to finish greeting his parishioners before the eleven o’clock service, change into his robes and crucifix, calmly pick up his high powered rifle and set about killing seven of his parishioners before being shot dead by the local police constable.

    When Scarsden reaches the town the temperature is in the 40’s and still rising, the town appears to be deserted of all life, dead and dry like the country he has travelled through. A lone soldier stands on his monument, witness to the town’s events, unremarkable and unremarked. He finds a small bookshop that offers coffee where he meets Mandalay Blonde, owner of the bookshop. A beautiful woman also damaged and in love with Byron Swift, the mother of his child, Liam, now only a few months old.

    As the days go by Martin discovers there are several different opinions of why, with very few people supporting the theory it was to cover up sexual abuse through the church. Before long the tragedy of a damaged and poisoned town begins to become exposed. Martin becomes more embroiled with Mandy and the townspeople, the hermit Codger, Snouch, a man with a mysterious past, young policeman Robbie Haus-Jones and Fran Landers, widow of Craig Landers, killed in the church shooting. He files a story based on what he considers are the facts only to discover he was way off in his supposition, which inadvertently sets off a chain reaction that could prove to be deadly.

    The story moves between the past and the present seamlessly divulging the many dark secrets held within families and small towns that eventually leads to one of the biggest news stories in Australia, causing the Press to descend on the small town of Riversend and the neighbouring town of Bellington. How far and for how long is Martin prepared to keep digging to discover the truth of what really did happen on that fateful day when seven men lost their lives.

    Scarsden somehow finds himself as the story and as he struggles with his demons, he also begins to find that there may be a small chink of salvation to be found in the tragedy that is Riversend

    Carefully constructed, Hammer has drawn on his previous experience as a journalist and author to paint the authenticity of the characters, the setting and the storyline, to deliver a thriller of a tale that will keep you engrossed and guessing until the last word has been read.

  • The Yellow House

    The Yellow House

    Cub, or Coralie is a twin who lives in a broken down property in the country. Her family consist of her Mother, who often takes to her bed, her father who is quiet and detached, and her older brother Cassie, who is a troubled teenager. Cub’s twin Wally she describes as having no connection with her at all. They don’t think the same thoughts, or intuitively respond to each other. At the beginning of the story, as related by Cub, we learn that her Grandfather has committed some hideous murders. She poses the theory that his life has affected them all: “He was the God of all our lives.”

    Next door to Cub’s house is where Grandfather lived. Helena and Tilly, an Aunt and cousin of the family come to live there. Cassie is excited at having neighbours, but soon realise that there is not going to be a close connection between the two families. It is at this time that Cub realises there is a secret in the family and she asks her older brother, but he fobs her of with dire threats. Later Cassie brings home a friend, and from the beginning we see that Ian, the friend, is evil. He has an uncanny control over her brother Cassie and divulges the secret about Grandfather’s involvement in murder to Cub.

    Now, so many things make sense. The kids at school are told not to play with her, and most people in the town want nothing to do with the family. Sightseers who come to the property looking for signs of violence are chased away by Dad. Mother is sad and powerless, and Dad becomes surlier as Ian’s effect on the family gradually creates disharmony. Cassie is totally dominated by Ian who eventually destroys him.

    This is one of the bleakest books I have read. It is also one of the truest stories, where you can see the consequences of a horrendous action and how it affects the family in later generations. A family locked in poverty and who have no sense of respect, cannot find a way to escape the tragic past. The combination of inertia and depression create a cycle from which there is no escape.

    The Yellow House was the Winner of the 2018 The Australian/Vogel’s Literary Award.

  • Little Gods

    Little Gods

    Olive the main character in Little Gods is twelve years old, and it is her thoughts and feelings that are followed in this story. She knows her family is different, and it is widely known that her mother’s family were also, “A bit odd.” The background for this unfolding of Olive’s story is the Mallee region, in Victoria, where her uncles were in sheep, not wheat. Olive’s mother and her sister married two brothers, and to continue the unconventionality in this very conventional area, her mother’s name was Audra, her sisters Thistle and Rue.

    From the beginning of the story we sense Olive’s isolation. She is a loner, but not by choice. Her mother is very distant, and Olive spends much time outside and with Peter, the one friend she has. Her father helps her to make a cake to celebrate her twelfth birthday, it sinks in the middle, but he solves that problem by filling it with icing. The girl slipped with the food colouring, and the icing became bright red. One of the boys in her class, who the cake was made for, vomits after eating her birthday offering, creating an unpleasant scene.

    Olive is a realist, and when she was taken to task by the school Principal, for throwing a pencil in the class and putting his best teacher in danger, she wanted to explain to him why Mrs Barton was not an excellent teacher. When their project for school was to work out how much water their family used in a week, she wanted to know how she could measure that amount of water. She was told to estimate, but the very idea made Olive uncomfortable. Soon her family moved to the farm belonging to her Uncles. Here she could ask questions of her Aunts, and discover why thing were strange in their family.

    Thistle, who is the most unconventional of all the sisters, is the one to be honest with Olive, but she refuses to discuss the fact that there was a baby sister in the girl’s family. Here is a mystery that needs answers, and the young girl is relentless in her curiosity. Her total absence of fear, and full on approach to life, in this queer and dysfunctional family, is poignant.

    The language used in the story is minimal in some areas, and the reader has to be fully engaged to take in the impact of the meaning. It is a story that is both tender and tragic, and about secrets in families.

     

  • The Secrets We Keep

    The Secrets We Keep

    Set in the town of Kalgoorlie, this is a story about boundaries, those we can see on a map, and those that live in our hearts. As a Social Worker, Aimee begins to learn that her new job in this Western Australian mining town will be a challenge. The community is small, and she is living and socialising with the very people she is helping. The new recruit, has her own secrets, which lay buried in her past, and are hinted at, but only slowly revealed.

    Many characters, both fascinating and friendly, are introduced to Aimee, as she begins her job. Lori, is the daughter of an Italian migrant, who came to Kalgoorlie, and made a life for himself and his family. She is bubbly, energetic, and caring. She also has befriended one of the old women of the town, Aggie. Aggie can read tea leaves, but more than that, she can see the future, and can communicate and foretell many things that will happen. Lori also has a gift, and chooses to learn how to use it for the good.

    Kerry is another character we meet. Her much adored husband is terminally ill with lung cancer. He is dying at a very young age, and as most people believe, the underground mining is often seen as a contributing factor. It is Kerry, who in her distress, begins to make a fuss about the apalling smell from the smoke stacks, smells that leave the school children coughing, with irritated eyes, when on the school oval. Her fuss gets picked up, and due to lack of interest by the Mayor, a protest rally is held. She is invited to apply for a job on the council, and hopes to make a difference.

    There is a dedication of the Social Workers, and the team who care for the venerable people in the community, that is warming.  In the mix of unemployment, high rentals, and isolation, there are many people who have lost out. Those who have lost their land, their families, and any customs and laws they may have lived by in the past, are the greatest sufferers. When they are told to move to another settlement, Aimee is suspicious, and contacts her father, a politician. Sure enough, a Japanese mining magnate wants to look at the uranium deposits on their land.

    This is a really well researched and well rounded story. It covers aspects of personal lives and struggles, as well as looking at the bigger picture. We come to smile at Lori, with her exuberance and loving Italian family, and Aggie, who has taken care of her neighbour for many years, as he pops in each day for a cuppa, and to read the paper. Kerry has an enormous struggle ahead of her when her husband dies, but her little girl Amber will be her strength.

    The characters are wonderfully rounded, and real. The added beauty of this story is the descriptions of Kalgoorlie. Lori likes to go to the little hill out of town to watch the sun rise, and the sense of the surrounding landscapes is quite magical. The theme that “Good must come from bad,” is followed throughout the story, and gives it a heart.

     

  • The Six Secrets

    The Six Secrets

    In the light of the current global political situation, this ‘tell all’ book written by Daniel Springfield is well worth the read. The work is based on the life and work of one Dr Max Stroheim, a man who spent 34 years working with what was then known as the National Security Agency (NSA) as an Astrobiologist. He was recruited for his brilliant mind, for ‘An important new government scientific project’ being created in the year 1947.

    This date is particularly significant as in the period post World War II there had been much interest in Alien Beings arriving on earth in space craft, the like of what had never been spoken off prior. His meeting with this LIVE ALIEN took place at his first visit to the highly secretive and classified area known by the name of Area 51: a location he was to work at for many years.

    The background of the storyline has a serious ring of truth to the information used throughout the book, information written by Max Stroheim, information that uncovers what is referred to as “The Six Secrets’; information that is astonishing, believable and seriously concerning.

    Many younger readers will need to understand a little more about the basis of the story, the secretive and highly classified underground bases in America, and the deliberate ‘Fake news’ created to dumb down and disseminate  sightings of UFO’s notable around the world, during the years of 1945 to modern times.

    Aliens, Nordic’s and similar have long been recorded in the cave painting of Ancients, underpinning the information that these beings did visit this earth, often over many, many centuries.

    Close to his death Max Stroheim spoke with his son CJ about his past history working for the secretive and dangerous department of the NSA, the work he carried out and the detail left in a series of documents, only to be retrieved after his, (Max’s) death.

    His final request of his son CJ, a journalist, was to take this information and write it as a book; the danger in the situation was explained carefully and in detail. CJ was to discover first hand just how dangerous life was to become, as he confronted a friend from the States, who somehow discovered CJ’s whereabouts, arriving with one purpose in mind – to kill CJ.

    Once CJ becomes seriously intrigued with his father’s revelations, his life has been placed in danger, along with the life of local lawyer and friend Emma Burgess. The story moves from the quiet bay of Boat Harbour in Tasmania to locations across the world, as the two slowly sift through the many layers of intrigue uncovered in Max Stroheim’s documents and letters, presented in the form of a puzzle to be solved.

    Names have been named such as Vannever Bush, Albert Einstein, Harry S Truman, James Forestall, Eisenhower and many more. Names familiar in world politics today have also been named with many others still remaining unpresented.

    Many agencies notable in the American Security and Scientific arenas have also been named, with some interesting links.

    The author has stated from the beginning that he believes the facts narrated in the story are indeed true, all of which have been meticulously researched. Although the work is presented as and appears to have become ‘a saga’ as well as a ‘journey of revelations’ for the author, it is definably far more complex than that!

    As the ‘saga’ unfolds it is hard to believe this is a total work of fiction: there is far too much fact, hard, basic fact that cannot be disputed. This degree of knowledge needs to have been experienced firsthand; therefore there is a complete ring of truth in regard to the entire storyline.

    The blockbuster novel by Dan Brown, The Davinci Code contained elements of truth that added a certain gravitas to the book; The Six Secrets goes far further than that. Edward Snowden is perhaps the most recent person to have attained world-wide notoriety for ‘whistle-blowing’, Wiki-leaks equally so, as do the many documents which are now becoming ‘unclassified’ and into the public domain, which gives a certain credibility to this work which is intriguing, somewhat worrying and definitely entertaining.

     

  • Libby in the Middle

    Libby in the Middle

    The author has written many books for young readers, and this, her latest, is a very engaging story. It talks about so many relevant issues for today’s young readers. In fact, it is really a snapshot of family life here and now, with such common issues as cyber bullying, anxiety and family relationships being raised.  The scenarios are relevant and show how young people can tackle an issue and not feel isolated and alone.

     We meet Libby, the narrator, and middle child, with two other sisters. Their family has been a close and loving one, but suddenly Bella, the older sister, has become a teenager in love. This is causing friction with her father who is very protective of his elder daughter. Father’s sister, who is disliked by the family, has offered to fund the girls’ fees at an exclusive girls’ school. The family will have to move back to the town where Dad was raised, and though he instantly refuses, Mum cajoles him into realising that it will be a great educational opportunity for the girls. Also, it will get Bella, the older sister, away from Sam, her boyfriend.

     The family moves to the country, and unbeknownst to them, Bella’s boyfriend moves there too. When Libby finds out, she is torn between wanting the sisterly bond to be strong and loyalty to her parents. She keeps the secret, but when Bella steals some money to help Sam out, things get out of hand. Meanwhile, Dad has to cope with his sister who has become rather insular living by herself, and she tends to say just what she is thinking. He had an unhappy childhood, with an overbearing father, and returning home brings back many sad memories for him.

     Each of the family members has to confront a change of sorts. For the youngest child, Gracie, it is moving house, for Libby, it is always feeling like she is in the middle of the family, and how she will cope at a new school. For Bella, falling in love and being able to speak freely to her parents, seems an unachievable goal. Mum has found a job straight away, and so the financial pressure that existed before is eased. Dad is the one to confront most of the issues. He has never spoken much about his past, and gradually past events come to light, which he has to face and share.

     This story just seems to reflect the real world as it is created from so many very real day- to- day happenings. How people cope and their individual strengths and weaknesses are shown. For all that happens, this is written with humour and a great understanding of family love and care. All of the characters are well rounded and real which makes for a delightful read, with a happy ending.

     

     

  • Yuki Chan in Bronte Country

    Yuki Chan in Bronte Country

    What an intriguing title! What an unusual story.  Yuki is on a mission to make sense of her mother’s death. We all deal with grief in different ways and make many a journey to come to grips with the loss of a loved one; but there are many reasons why Yuki is stuck, and can’t move forward until she understands her mother’s reasoning.

    The journey that Yuki takes follows her mother’s footsteps overseas, and from photos and postcards Yuki discovers the exact tours that her mother took and the exact B&B where she stayed.

     Hence we begin the story with Yuki in the Windermere district of England, on a tour of the Bronte sisters’ home and surrounds. As she is the youngest person on the bus by a long way, we gradually discover that it is not her passion for the writings of the Bronte sisters that has brought her here, but rather an effort to retrace her mother’s footsteps. Bit by bit, we begin to understand what drives Yuki, and slowly information is revealed which makes her search even sadder.

     An obsession with snow and snowflakes is discussed and Yuki discovers an English friend with whom she can communicate slowly and carefully. Denny shows Yuki some short cuts and introduces her to people who may have remembered her    mother’s visit ten years previously. A local psychic in an old folk’s home that the girls break into gives Yuki another tiny clue.

     Slowly, as more information is revealed, we see that Yuki has some enormous issues to confront. Her sister handles life by being gruff and dismissive, but Yuki’s father is able to see things more clearly and factually. He is the one who shows Yuki how unlike her mother she really is.

     This is a serious issue gently handled. Yuki’s journey is one we can all relate to, but hopefully will never have to undertake.