Blue Wolf Reviews

Tag: shattered

  • Fool Me Once

    Fool Me Once

    Fool Me Once from much loved Australian author Karley Lane is guaranteed to be the perfect light read for the somewhat unusual times, we all find ourselves learning to manage.

    Spare a thought for Georgie Henderson, a young woman who, ever since she was a very small girl, dreamed of nothing else other than to become a farmer, Family circumstances were such that even though her dream of working family acreage was no longer an option, she had carved out a niche for herself as the manager of a cattle property at Stoney Creek, for crusty old bachelor Harry, who had reluctantly gone to Melbourne due to age and health reasons.

    Reluctantly agreeing to go with long time friend Shannon, to the local  B&S Ball (Bachelors and Spinsters), she is standing watching the dance floor, wishing to be anywhere but there, when she looks up and makes eye contact with a rather good looking, slightly older man, appearing to be the same as her, wondering why he was there!

    Michael Delacourt has a back history, as does Georgie Henderson, which at the beginning of what proves to be undeniable attraction, would not seem to be a problem, as surely this burning, almost addictive desire for each other, would fade into wonderful memories. Surely!

    As the days and then weeks pass, their attraction simply gets stronger and stronger. Michael, once he realises his family business interests are behind Georgie’s passionate commitment to buy back her family farm, faces serious conflict as to how much to let Georgie know about his stepfather’s business, and why he, Michael, is no longer is a part of the family business concerns. He also has to face up to the fact he should have told her right at the beginning of their relationship.

    Once things come to a devastating head, both Georgie and Michael find themselves estranged, damaged and deeply distressed about their lives, relationship and trying to rebuild if at all possible, a future together.

    Karley Lane began this story-line some years ago, leaving it to one side to embark upon another project. Rediscovered and now complete, she has woven a delicious tale of lust, love, betrayal, consequences and chasing dreams, which as time passes often need to be reconsidered.

    Georgie and Michael finally decide is what is important in their lives, but it is how they come to this conclusion, that will keep the pages turning until the final word.

  • Hydra

    Hydra

    Reading a play can be a two edged sword, in that you interpret it how you choose, not necessarily how playwright intended, but in Hydra, Sue Smith has deconstructed the emotional and destructive love between what is billed as Australia’s famous literary couple Charmain Clift and George Johnston, weaving the words of their acclaimed works throughout their everyday lives into a play that is powerful, raw and as tumultuous as the people themselves, making it very difficult to misconstrue the intent of the piece.

    Set on the Island of Hydra, Charmain Clift and George Johnston have left behind the post war years of Sydney to follow their dream; to live away from the madness of city life, to return to the simple pleasures and to give their children and their writing time to grow and mature.

    Told through the eyes of their oldest son Martin, the years of what turned out to be almost exile on Hydra, paints a fascinating canvas of passion, talent, jealously, obsession and in the final years and days of their life together, illness and alcoholism.

    Charmain dreamed of being free, being able to write, to dream and to fly in her new life on Hydra; George wanted the simple life after the years spent as a War Correspondent, a life where his children could grow without the trappings of a more mercenary civilisation.

    Being the first artists to escape into a modern bohemian lifestyle on Hydra, they were the beginning of an eclectic group who discovered Hydra, believing it to be a place where talent would blossom, that daily life was simple, wholesome and achievable.; sadly this dream turned out to be far less than the shining vision once held.

    Facing poverty, struggling to write the ‘great’ novel, deteriorating health and the crumbling of the dream, George finally begins to write what was to become the award wining novel My Brother Jack, and then the follow-up novel Clean Straw for Nothing. Charmain never realised her dream of writing her great novel, considering George was the focus and her role was that of midwife to his work.

    Their talent was remarkable, their story one of tragedy and despair, their life together one of immense highs and desperate lows.

    Performed in March to huge acclaim by the State Theatre Company of South Australia and Queensland Theatre, Sue Smith has captured to perfection a storyline which will remain with both the reader and the audience: a play which could be considered as on its way to becoming a classic piece for intimate theatre.