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I’ll say from the get-go that Whistler is not going to be my #1 Ann Patchett novel of all time (I think Bel Canto might still have the title) but it is still really wonderful.

Daphne is a teacher in her 50s who, while walking The Met in New York with her husband, the older, retired doctor Jonathan, is followed by an older man. Upon confronting the man, they learn he is Eddie Triplett, who was Daphne’s stepfather for a year or two when she was a child and whom she has not seen since her mother ended the marriage. The divorce comes hot on the heels of a car accident that Eddie and Daphne had, and which Daphne believed was the catalyst for the separation. They were not a family who talked about these things; Abigail never explained why she kicked Eddie out and the girls were too young to ask. By the time they were old enough, they had a new stepfather and a new life, and Abigail wasn’t open to discussing it.

The book tells the story of their reunion and explores the why’s around the end of Eddie’s marriage to Abigail. It’s never controversial - simply an exploration of the relationship between a man and his step-daughters (Daphne has a younger sister, Leda, who is also delighted to reunite with Eddie but whose memories are more scant, given she was only seven when he exited their lives). It’s quickly clear that man and child were very fond of each other back then and that mutual love has not diminished over time; they quickly fall into the rhythm of each other’s lives and there is a delightful normality to it, despite the quite abnormal circumstances.

I think one of the reasons I especially enjoyed this story was that, as a teenager, after my parents’ separation and divorce, my mother was in a relationship with a man named Terry, who my little sister and I really loved. The relationship did not last (like Abigail, at my mother’s behest), but I was able to remain in intermittent contact with him over the years and felt terribly sad when he died a few years ago. So, I felt like I understood how Daphne and Eddie fell quickly into an easy rapport, because when we reconnected, Terry and I always did too.

Whistler is like many of Patchett’s novels, insofar as the story is not one which builds to a crescendo or plot twist. There is an ordinariness in Patchett’s writing - ordinary in the sense that the stories she tells are of characters who are plausible, relatable and pretty normal. The stories themselves are not the sort which feel like they would never happen, or that they couldn’t happen to regular people. There’s an everyday-ness in these stories, and there’s something tremendously comforting about that. There is nothing ordinary in Patchett’s ability to write stories that we connect so intimately. She’s a master of it, and I always know when I crack the spine of a Patchett book, I’m going to have a lot of feelings - but none more than joy. Even the sad ones - there’s just joy in reading an author like her.

Whistler is an objectively joyful book, just like reading Patchett’s work is objectively joyful (for me). I will of course recommend it to all, but that’s a legitimate recommendation - it’s terrific and worth your time.

My other reviews of Ann Patchett novels:

I’ve also read The Dutch House which was fantastic, too!

Set in suburban Virginia, USA in 1963, the main character, Margaret Ryan, unintentionally starts a book club with three neighbours, Charlotte, Viv and Bitsy. Unintentional because it was really an attempt to befriend her new neighbour Charlotte and a way to remove herself from the neighbourhood women’s coffee meet-up, which is best described as vapid - and Margaret knows it.

Over the course of the year, the relationships between the women grow and evolve, against the backdrop of a United States undergoing rapid social change - in the third year of the Kennedy Presidency, with Martin Luther King Jr leading the civil rights charge. The women call themselves ‘The Betty’s’ after Betty Friedan, author of their first book, the controversial bestseller The Feminine Mystique.

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What transpires is a year where each of the women grows and changes, in no small part due to the influence they have on each other. Some of that growth seems unexpected, but not unwelcome. The novel is very much a tribute to ‘sisterhood’ (which, in real life, I swing between relying upon wholeheartedly and being heartbroken by too regularly) and is particularly important in the context of the second wave feminist movement that was really starting to get going in the early 1960s. I felt that much of it was plausible, except perhaps some of the husbands of the women. One or two of them were a little more evolved than I believe likely in 1963. There is also an important interaction with an African-American woman later in the novel which I wanted to believe was as inclusive as it was written (and maybe there were instances where that storyline plays out as described) but which I think might not have been quite so progressive. Maybe I am just cynical?

All of this said - it wasn’t so far-fetched that it bothered me, because overall I really liked the novel. I arrived home with around 90 minutes left to play, and I couldn’t wait til the next day to be home and able to listen to it out loud while my partner was at work, to see how the stories wrapped up.

I cannot pretend that I couldn’t feel the parallels - loose, but there - with Sex and the City. Four women, a close friendship group with one woman in a different age group to the others, major life changes - there are similarities. But they’re not stark - the Troublesome Women are women in the suburbs for a start. I think if you enjoyed SATC in the 1990s-2000s, this might be a novel you’ll enjoy now (minus the fornication).

I really enjoyed The Book Club for Troublesome Women and I really liked some of the trouble they got into - as Congressman John Lewis called it, Good Trouble. A great weekend or beach read and way to escape - I’m recommending this one to you.

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My friend Dalene bought me this book recently, after I was describing my long relationship with a far-away island and its people. I have not read any of Hannah Kent’s fiction, so I had not been prompted to pick up this memoir, but I am glad that I did so, because it was truly lovely.

Hannah Kent, author of Burial Rites and Devotion, is an Australian author. This memoir is really in two main parts: first, her time as an exchange student in a town in Northern Iceland and the challenges she faced, and second, how that and subsequent trips inspired her novel Burial Rites, about Agnes Magnúsdóttir, the last woman executed in Iceland, in 1830. That novel brought Hannah much acclaim, several awards and the freedom to continue writing.

The story of Agnes is, indeed, a fascinating one, and Hannah’s descriptions of her research and the bibliography provided shows that there is much interest in it in Iceland.

For me, the part that resonated with me most about this memoir was the relationship Hannah built with the people she came to know in Iceland, and the land itself. She has continued those relationships with host families, school friends and workmates, more than two decades after she first lived there. She has returned many times and both she and they have become intricately invested in each others lives, and created a sense of family together.

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This was something I had for a very long time myself, in a place where the land is much different to that of Iceland, but is no less beautiful. My connection to that particular island came from a young age and grew each time I returned. It became a place of sanctuary and comfort, where I felt, despite being as far as geographically possible from the land I was born and raised on, like was home. This was something I physically felt in my heart and throughout me, every time I went back there. The title of this book, Always Home, Always Homesick rang particularly true to me - regardless of whether I was in Australia (the big island) or on PEI (the little island), I always felt like I was both at home, and homesick for the other. There is no doubt, too, that the relationships I formed there became sympatric with family and belonging, as Hannah’s did. While for me that connection has changed in more recent times, the connection remains intrinsically part of who I am, and I think part of the best of me. So when Hannah writes about the history of Iceland, its landscape and the imprint of the place on her - I understand it.

As a non-Aboriginal Australian, I have often wondered if my feelings of connection to Prince Edward Island and Hannah’s to Iceland, is not dissimilar to their connection to country and the lands we now call Australia. If so, although I will never fully comprehend it, I feel like I can appreciate their fight for sovereignty a little more deeply as a result.

I thoroughly enjoyed reading this memoir. It has certainly given me pause to look at Hannah Kent’s fiction and see if I might like to read it, and I was fascinated (although barely surprised) by Agnes’ story and treatment. I am thrilled that Hannah’s novel was broadly embraced, particularly in Iceland, given her deep connection to the place. This is one to put on your reading list.

Australian writer Grace Rouvray recently launched her debut memoir, titled ‘Is It Too Early To Bitch’. The book details (sometimes in quite graphoc detail!) her friendship with Katie Lees, who she met on their first day of university and with whom she spent 13 years as the closest of friends.

The friendship never ends, but instead comes to a tragic halt when, during the Covid-19 pandemic, Katie suffered an extremely rare reaction to the vaccine and died, several days later.

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The two women traverse Sydney together, studying a performing arts course, writing and performing comedy shows together and generally living like so many 20-somethings do - booze, blokes, bad jobs galore, plus plenty of fun times. Both women become extended parts of each other, and each other’s families, even when, as such close friendships inevitably do, they evolve and change, and some fault lines appear.

It was just prior to Katie’s unexpected death that one of those fault lines became more evident, but couldn’t be played out because of her death. Grace considers whether, had Katie lived, there would have been a shift in the relationship or a change unlike any before it. In some ways, I think Grace felt some guilt because of that divergence beginning to emerge. She shouldn’t. There’s no tellling how that would have happened, and as we grow up and mature, some friendships do change, even when we wish otherwise.

I think for Grace and Katie, they were also reaching a changing time in life generally - settling down, considering marriage and families, seeking greater stability. Those things are generally not at the forefront of our minds during our university years or the years thereafter, but eventually, for most, the party lifestyle wears thin and we realise we want experiences of greater substance than a bottle of Johnny Walker and a pack of Marlborough’s - despite the memories those (or other) acquaintances may have brought us. As I read the book, I did wonder if this friendship was one based too heavily on pubs and parties. Yes, many of us create deep friendships at pubs and parties, and some of the best conversations you’ll have in life often happen in those circumstances! However there is a limit to that, I think. Eventually, all the drunk deep and meaningfuls, the gossip and oversharing, the ‘fuck it’ attitude… eventually there needs to be more. Maybe it was simply reaching a point for Grace and Katie where the love was there, the connection would remain but their paths were simply pointing in different directions. It’s awfully sad, but it happens, and it is usually a sign that at least one party is growing up.

I was attracted to this book because I have had several close female friendships in my life, some of which continue and some of which, for various reasons, have ended. The grief you feel at the end of a major friendship is a unique one, often misunderstood or not understood at all. That saying about people entering your life for a reason, a season or a lifetime comes to mind: I can think of some women who I thought were absolutely going to be lifetime friendships (and who I still miss deeply), only for the seasons to be long but, ultimately, finite. It’s a different type of grief to most others, I’ve found.

More pertinently to Grace and Katie, and like so many, I have also had close friends die.

Sometimes I’ve had foreknowledge of what was coming and sometimes without warning at all. All too recently, I’ve experienced that kind of loss, and it is profound. That kind of grief is also particularly complex, because, like Grace writes in her book, being a ‘friend’ when someone dies is not the same grief as that of a partner, a parent, a sibling or a child. I would never suggest they are the same. Friendships also vary on levels of closeness, so one person’s grief as a friend is likely going to be very different to another friend of the person.

However, when you are truly a person’s best friend, and known to all and sundry as such, there’s a layer to it that is hard to place, because of the unique nature of a true BFF. Most of us are lucky to have someone as a best friend for even part of our lives, much less until death-do-you-part. You wonder if you are ‘important enough’ to sit with the family when the person who died is your ‘ride or die’ in life. Or do you reduce yourself to less than you were, so as not to offend or cause confusion? Do you have the same right to grieve deeply or for as long about the loss as those more closely connected?

This was, to me, the most interesting and thought provoking element of Grace’s memoir, and in some ways I wish she had fleshed it out more than she did. I suspect she was unable to do so, because Katie’s family included her in every aspect of their grief, including her being one of the ten people allowed to attend the funeral in person (this was during Sydney’s Covid lockdowns of 2021). I don’t think there would ever have been a moment when the Lees family considered Grace as imposing or overplaying her place in Katie’s life. For that, for Grace’s sake, I am so relieved. Not being able to say farewell would have been crushing.

However, it also meant the question posed on the back cover of whether Grace deserved to grieve as much as Katie’s family was left wonting. It is a subject worth exploration and consideration, but it maybe didn’t get the opportunity here.

Is It Too Early To Bitch? was an emotional read but well worth the time spent. It felt, to me, like a very real representation of young women at that party/youthful stage of life and reminded me somewhat of my best friend at the same time in my own life. I think it makes a solid contribution to the memoir space.

Potential spoilers ahead…do not keep going if you don’t want know details of the film.

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The Devil Wears Prada 2 brings us to the modern day, where Andrea (Andy) Sachs is now a serious journalist, Emily Charlton is a senior figure at Dior and Miranda Priestly and Nigel Kipling are…well, basically still the same.

Andy comes back into the Runway orbit when disaster strikes - just as Miranda is about to be promoted (at long last) by Elias-Clark owner Irv, they run a puff piece on a brand that (it turns out) runs sweatshop labor. The backlash against Runway and Miranda is fierce. Irv, at the prompting of his son and presumptive business heir, hires Andy as the new Features Editor at Runway, to give the magazine some writing substance and respectability. Andy had just been fired (along with her whole newsroom) and the video of that went viral, so she was in the market for work.

Miranda and her attitude hasn’t changed a lot, although clearly she’s had to tone down some of her commentary after complaints to HR, which clearly irritates her. Nigel is still her right hand man and, as we saw in TDWP1, Runway and Miranda really could not function without him. In this installment, that is absolutely the case.

In a bid to gain some standing at Runway, Andy secures an interview with a reclusive billionaire, Sasha Barnes (played by a grossly under utilised Lucy Lui), who admires the resilience of Miranda and believes in female-led entrepreneurship. She also appreciates that during their interview, Miranda did not ask about her divorce from ex-husband Benji Barnes (played by Justin Theroux and whose character my be the most vapid, irritating man on film this year).

The future of Runway is thrown into chaos when Irv Ravist dies suddenly. His son doesn’t care for the magazine or the company the way his father did, making a sale likely and the possible end of Miranda’s career, as well as glossy fashion magazines like Runway.

The film then becomes a search for a new owner to save Runway, (first found in Emily’s new boyfriend, Benji Barnes) and then a race for a more appropriate buyer to be found (after Benji outlines his vision for a Runway that is essentially AI generated).

The storyline itself, for me, is a bit ho-hum. It is not that I didn’t enjoy the film - I did - but I felt like the main plot line lacked imagination. I feel like it was a story that could be (and has been) any magazine and was quite predicatble in how it would end. That said, did I expect to wak into a film that would blow my mind, plot-wise? No.

The inclusion of Andy’s love interest, Peter, was an interesting one. Australia’s Patrick Brammall takes on the role and plays it perfectly - understated, knowing that Andy’s job and life is a big one and not trying to muscle in to be the centre of it. Instead, he just hopes to be a part of it, which was refreshing. The same might be said for Kenneth Branagh’s portrayal of Stuart Simmons, Miranda’s new husband. A successful musician who travels the world, he is happy to be the safe, quiet part of Miranda’s life and have his own identity and success. It was great to see two men support the women they love in this way without them being emasculated. Both couples made me feel like they were partnerships, rather than an alpha/beta type connection.

Let’s talk about the stars of TDWP2:

Casting

The casting was excellent. It’s impossible to imagine Meryl Streep not being iconic as Miranda Priestly and she doesn’t let us down here. Hathaway, Blunt and Tucci fit seamlessly back into their roles, and their work is fantastic. I completely hated Theroux’s character of Benji Barnes but that is probably the point, so if that is the case, his performance too was great (although I really hate the cosmetic work he’s had done to his face over the years - his natural looks were always lovely but these days are…less so).

Fashion

This is where TDWP2 really slays - the fashion is unbelieveable - not a single questionable outfit and some of the dresses Nigel loans to Andy for the trip to Milan are so stunning, you can barely believe it. I am not a fashionista, nor can I afford to wear anything worn in these films (maybe except the thrifted stuff!) but I do love seeing beautiful clothes worn in a way that gives their wearer confidence, style and grace. If you are a clothes horse or fashion watcher, I don’t need to tell you to go and see this film - you probably already have.

Overall, I liked TDWP2 and I am glad I saw it at the cinema. I liked that it acknowledged the extensive changes in publishing since the first film and the impact it is having - particularly on a free press. It was a lot of fun to dip back into the Runway world again. Is this one as iconic as the first?

Sorry - no, it is not.

Is it a worthy sequel that can be rewatched and enjoyed? Yes, for sure. A couple of hours living vicariously throuh the fashion elite of New York is always time well spent.

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It was exciting to head to Sydney during the week and see one of my favourite bands, Mumford and Sons, play at Qudos Bank Arena. I was lucky enough to see them in 2025 in Montreal, Canada, for the Rushmere Tour and back in 2019 in Melbourne.

The show in Montreal was outstanding - so I knew the Prizefighter show would not disappoint, and the early reviews were rave. The tour has started in Australia and is now headed to New Zealand, so it’s exciting to be part of the first audiences to see this show.

(Unfortunately I did not get to see the opening acts but all reports were that they were fantastic).

Marcus Mumford, Ted Dwane and Ben Lovett are clearly great mates, and the lighting and set (seen above) was relatively simple yet effective. At different times the various Mumford and Sons logos were alight, others they were cycled through. There was also large string light style lights that protruded from the stage over the audience - so the overall feel was more intimate than an arena show with 20,000 people. Mumford and Sons have a great rock/pop/country/bluegrass feel - there is something for everyone in their catalogue, and the place did not take long to fire up. There was little let up - fans (myself included) staying their feet, singing along and doing their best impressions of mosh-pit-come-barn-dance movement.

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The Setlist

1. Here

2. Babel

3. I Will Wait

4. White Blank Page

5. Rushmore

6. Lover of the Light

7. Badlands

8. Prizefighter

9. Believe

10. Truth

11. Stay

12. Ditmas

13. The Cave

14. The Wolf

15. Icarus

16. Awake My Soul

17. Roll Away Your Stone

B-stage

18. Timshel

19. Rubber Band Man

20. I’ll Tell You Everything

21. Ghosts That We Knew

Encore

22. Delta

23. The Banjo Song

24. Little Lion Man

25. Conversations With My Son

Playlist (Spotify)

Since the 2025 release of Rushmere and this year’s Prizefighter, I’ve seen some reviewers state that they don’t think that these Mumford and Sons albums have the same unique character they did in their early, much loved outings.

I could not disagree more.

A touch different? Yes.

Lacking the x-factor that brought us into our view? Certainly not.

More importantly, having now seen many tracks from both albums played live, it occurs to me that relistening, post-show, will improve the listening experience of these albums (particularly Rushmore) because you know that which songs pack more punch with the bigger band and live audience vibe. That has certainly been the case for me, and I liked both albums from the first listen.

However, there is not much that beats Mumford and Sons live. I have seen many concerts/gigs over the years, and they are pound for pound as good live as anyone I’ve seen. If rock’n’roll is your jam, you haven’t lived ‘til you’ve seen these guys play The Wolf live and loud. If you haven’t experienced Babel live, you haven’t wanted to break out your facepaints and charge over the hill in the name of all that’s true (think Braveheart - you’ll get the picture).

And if you haven’t listened to 20,000 people sing at the tops of their voices the lyrics ‘I really fucked it up, this time, didn’t I my dear?‘ from Little Lion Man, have you really yelled your feelings out?

Mumford and Sons - I’d see them any place, any time. If you haven’t done so yet, get on it. This is a band everyone should get to experience at least once.

I definitely want to read more reviews

Where the Light Gets in does not disappoint.

I know a lot of people are cynical about the kind of work people like Crowe do. Frankly, I agree with some of it. However, the thing I like about Ben Crowe is the lack of ‘woo-woo’. I don’t know if it’s his Australian-ness, the big family dynamic he grew up in or working for a company who changed the rules on branding, but it always seems to me that he authentic, has integrity and while he takes the work he does seriously, he does not take himself too seriously. I like people like that.

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I also have seen the change in some of the big name athletes Crowe has worked with. They’ve gone from very talented but lacking the capacity to finish the job and achieve sporting success, to being respected and achieving sporting glory - all while keeping a close relationship with the person they are, rather than defining themselves by the accolades and trophies. Think Ash Barty, the grand-slam winning tennis player from Queensland who conquered the tennis world with a constant smile, then walked away at 25 because she wanted something more from life.

Think Trent Cotchin, the captain of the Richmond Tigers AFL club, who started working with Crowe when the club was not performing well and Cotchin, a Brownlow Medallist, was questioning whether the hard work was worth it. He and his coach worked with Crowe, expanding what they learned across the playing group. In 2017, they won their first premiership in more than 40 years and they followed up in 2019 and 2020.

Crowe is sought after as a speaker and coach globally - not just with athletes. It’s not hard to understand why.

Where the Light Gets In is the long awaited book, which details Crowe’s life but also the key lessons he has learned and teaches to people around the world. Specifically, Crowe believes that changing one’s perspective is the key to happiness and fulfillment, whatever that looks like for the reader. It’s an easy thing to say, and far more difficult to achieve - let’s be honest about that. And yet, the way Crowe frames it and the examples of ways (big and small) that it can be facilitated is where the real value of his work is.

I did not only buy the book - I listened to the audiobook and listening to Crowe narrate brought so much of his advice to life. So much of what he talks about, he lives. He knows it is not easy and, frankly, life is not supposed to be easy, is it?

Topics include

• ‘From Pressure to Freedom’ (and I have to say straight up, this one hit hard for me and I have been working for the last month to really embrace this one)

• ‘Person versus Persona’

• ‘Agency, Acceptance, Appreciation’

and more.

This isn’t a book that tells you that you have to be grateful every day to be a better person. Crowe knows that there are days there is very little to be grateful for. He reshapes that philosophy, and in a way that is digestable and practical, with far less pressure placed on it. He also has some wonderful thoughts about the ownership we have to take of our own stories. It was that topic that first drew me to his work several years ago and it has been part of my evolution as a person since.

I am not a huge fan of self-help books or guru’s who tell their followers to do as they say to win in life. I don’t believe there’s a single person on earth who completely has their life fully together, who has achieved perfection or who knows something more than the other eight billion people on the planet. Crowe doesn’t pretend to be any of these things. This is not a preacher-man.

This is one that I think, even if you are in a good place in life, people can get something from and take steps towards their personal goal for a contented life. After all, it is not money or property or material things that brings contentedness: it’s the person we are, the people we surround ourselves with and our individual integrity that is the legacy we leave.

Note: I listened to this aurdiobook in January 2026.

You know who Cynthia Erivo is, right? The star of the two Wicked films and a Broadway veteran who can sing the pants off any person or sedentary object. Try this if you aren’t sure.

This 2025 quasi-memoir, written and read by the author, was a wonderful listen. Erivo details aspects of her career when she was subjected to closed doors because of her colour and sexuality, but intersperses these stories with examples of her resilience, self-belief and determination to maximise her obvious talent. Erivo’s upbringing wasn’t easy (although she would concede herself that she enjoyed some privileges others in her situation did not - often provided by her fierce and strong mother).

It’s a relatively short book but emphasises her belief that people like her (particularly women) are often labelled ‘too much’. Erivo pushes back on this - this is where the book becomes more self-help, complete with questions it asks of the reader. There’s a participatory element to this book, if you want it, with Erivo the teacher.

The book is certainly one that prompts you to think and to consider the lessons being offered. I liked that and recommended it to a friend for this reason. However, I think I’d also have liked something more memoir-like and more substantial. Erivo is a force and her career has been a picture of hard work leading to phenomenal success, so she has a lot to offer in the memoir space. I enjoyed this, but if Erivo writes more (and I hope she does), I’d love her to dig into her life and the events that shaped her more.

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This review would be incomplete if it did not acknowledge the plagiarism story that arose after the publication of Simply More in late 2025. Specifically, a chapter which many people believe Erivo (or, possibly, a ghostwriter that may have been assisting her) plagiarised directly from a speech by her Wicked co-star, Ariana Grande. There’s no denying that, if you compare the transcripts, it’s a direct lift of Grande’s words, and that wasn’t acknowledged in Erivo’s book. This was later noted by the publisher and future reprints will correct the ‘oversight’. It does, however, raise questions of how much Erivo actually wrote and, although Grande is said not to be worried by the issue, it raises questions of authenticity of an artist who’s vulnerablity, authenticity and power has been a trademark. It’s a shame, because it sours a book I loved listening to.

Notwithstanding the above, if you could use a little pep talk, or a little love, this is a book you might enjoy. Erivo’s story is a unique one and worthy of attention. And it may just give you a nugget of wisdom you need to get through to tomorrow and beyond.

The Correspondent was written by Virginia Evans and published in 2025. The story is told through a series of letters sent to and from Sybil Van Antwerp, a retired lawyer and divorced mother of three children, two who lived to adulthood. Sybil has a lifelong letter-writing practice, both to people she knows and authors she admires, including Joan Didion and Ann Patchett.

The story unfolds over a decade (Sybil is 73 when we meet her), and as Sybil’s eyesight begins to fail, the letters to and from her take on a more self-reflectory tone, as she explores the truimphs and tragedies of her life and the impact it has had on her and others.

I listened to this as an audiobook while on a long drive, and the characters are all voiced by different artists, which made for excellent listening and engagement. It is, indeed, Sybil’s voice that takes centre stage, but the contributions and information garnered through her correspondence creates a rich, multilayered story that is both funny and warm, as well as genuinely devastating. For me, what struck me most was the likelihood that there are absolutely people like Sybil in the world. She felt very realistic and flawed, as we humans always are. Her relationships with others reminded me of some of my own, and her responses to the various events being written about felt like reactions people of her age and lived experience often have. I liked this - Sybil and her correspondents are just like so many of us.

I regularly saw this novel come up on lists and had read the synopsis, believing it wouldn’t be one I’d enjoy. Epistolary stories (those told through letters without direct dialogue) are ones I have previously found confusing. However, listening to it made a huge difference, as I was easily able to distinguish who the author of the letter was and recall their part of their story with Sybil. That said, I cannot recommend The Correspondent enough, whether you choose to read it or listen to it. The story itself is fantastic, and it was great to listen to a story where the central character was a woman, over 65 and still engaged with life in a way that felt authentic.

This was a debut novel for Virginia Evans and she has set a high standard, should she continue to publish. The Correspondent is well worth your time.

What better way to start a new year than spend some time reading Ann Patchett?

State of Wonder was published in 2011 and is the story of a researcher, Dr Marina Singh, who travels to the Amazon after the death of her colleague, Dr Anders Eckman, who had travelled there to report on the progress of a deliberately uncontactable doctor undertaking research funded by the pharaceutical company Singh and her colleague work for.

It’s difficult to say a lot about the plot because I don’t want to spoil it, but what Dr Singh finds on her arrival in Brazil and upon finding the reclusive Dr Swenson. The story takes what I felt was an unexpected turn, though completely plausible in the research world, if unlikely.

As with the other Patchett books I have read so far, the development of character is central to her writing and State of Wonder is no different, although I’d argue that this book has equally as much focus on the plotting itself, more than some of her later novels I have enjoyed. In this instance, the balance is great and, as Patchett is wont to do, she leaves some questions open and the character progression is not tied neatly in a bow. That’s not to say there are storylines left incomplete. They’re just left in a place where there is of course more, we just don’t get to follow it up.

I am a huge fan of Patchett since reading Tom Lake back in 2023 and I deliberately spread out reading my copies of her books for the first time, because I fear the day there will be nothing left of hers to read. Patchett has become on of my all time favourite authors, and State of Wonder is another excellent contribution to fiction, even if it is not her best of all time.

This one has more of what I would call adventure in it than a Patchett novel normally would - I think that’s why people like it. It’s different to her other outings while remaining true to her style of writing and story telling.

State of Wonder was a terrific first read of the year.

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Certainly in Australia but indeed around the world, you’d probably have to have lived in a cave, under a rock without coming out, to have not heard about the triple murder trial in Victoria, Australia, dubbed The Mushroom Murders.

The case revolved around the poisoning of four people, three of whom died, by the daughter in law of one couple after separating from their son. She invited them to a lunch where she lied to them about having cancer, and served them beef Wellington that was laced with death cap mushrooms.

I have largely stayed clear of the books/documentary/media coverage of the incident, predominantly because it was crystal clear to me that the perpetrator of the murders, a woman and mother a couple of years older than me, was guilty and I am not someone who likes to devote energy to evil. However it was impossible not to know about the case.

This book is a different approach to true crime and by three authors who have significant experience in writing books like these, all of whom are amongst the best in the genre. When I picked the book up at Readings Emporium, I was suprised to find it wasn’t like other books.

The Mushroom Trials is a book largely consisting of transcripts between the three writers, recorded at various junctures of the trial that they were either travelling to Morwell (in country Victoria) for or watching online in the media room at the Supreme Court of Victoria in Melbourne. I believe the initial intent was to create a podcast. There are certainly some additional writing in this book, to give the conversations context, and the book is presented as the conversations occurred - that is, as they were listening to evidence and watching the key players in real time, not knowing what evidence was to come and what was not being presented to the court. I found this fascinating as a writing style - because although I don’t believe any of the three authors genuinely thought there was a possibility of innocence in this case, they were discussing the evidence and the case in real time, rather than retrospectively. It meant that they often came back to previous discussions and thoughts about the case progress and recognise how evidence was being linked together by the Prosecution or question why the defence took the course of action it did.

This results in a relatively quick read: I read The Mushroom Trials in one afternoon/evening (on New Year’s Eve!). It means that there is a lot of speculating and positing by the writers, as they discuss the why of what Erin Patterson did. I am certain that by the end, they have no greater understanding of the woman as a person than before they started, but their attempts to try to intellectually understand her choices were very interesting. All three women writers are highly intelligent and engaged, and Krasnostein’s background as a lawyer offered insight where the other two sought to understand some of the legal decisions being made.

I thought the women treated the trial and the participants with respect and empathy, gave enough detail to understand the social aspects of what surrounded the trial (such as the intense international and local media interest, as well as the true-crime enthusiasts who wanted to watch the trial action) and to get some insight into the people, without making it a reporting exercise. This book casts no real judgment of Patterson, and really they don’t need to. The only opinions that mattered during that trial were those of the jurors, who found her guilty of three counts of murder and one of attempted murder.

Did reading the book make me more empathetic to the woman now in jail for the rest of her life? No. While I could certainly understand her frustration with the difficulties in her marriage and dealing with the approach of the family to it (they are a devout Baptist family who largely stayed out of the weeds on the marriage breakdown), I could not illicit any sympathy for her. She was independently wealthy. She had a home of her own and children she loved. There was absolutely no need to even try to make these people ill and no doubt in my mind that she had a reasonable belief that the mushrooms she served could or would kill her guests. My thoughts are that she was anticipating her ex-husband to also attend (he pulled out the day prior) and to cover the fact she had attempted to poison him previously (evidence that could not be admitted in the trial) and believed if they all got sick, it would be harder to convince people her actions were deliberate.

I confess, when it was revealed that while she was allegedly quite sick the day after the lunch herself but that she drove her son two hours round trip for a flying lesson, I thought that seemed odd. Most people with the violent gastric reactions she was reporting would not be getting in the car for a long drive. When I read that she did so wearing white pants, I knew: she was absolutely full of crap, even if not as literally as she was suggesting. It was an “Elle Woods” moment for me - no middle aged woman with diarrhea drives in white pants on a two-hour round trip.

This may or may not be everyone’s cup of tea but I really enjoyed it and learned enough that I don’t feel like I need to read or watch anything further. I loved the conversational nature of the book and hearing from an observer’s view as the trial went on, rather than a retrospective edit. I believe there is an audiobook version as well which the three writers narrate, which would be a fantastic way to consume this one as well.

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The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches by Sangu Mandanna has come up on a lot of lists I have seen about great witchy novels as a favourite, so prior to Christmas I bought a copy and settled in.

The story is of Mika Moon, a young English witch who has grown up essentially alone and isolated from other witches, at the behest of her adopter, Primrose. As an adult, Mika meets other witches occasionally, under Primrose’s watchful eye, at a meeting of witches called anything but that.

Mika finds a job at an isolated property after being headhunted by a gentleman named Ian on the internet. Mika makes “fake witch” videos and Ian believes she has something to teach three young women in his charge, who are witches. At this property, also lives Ian’s partner Ken, Jamie the librarian and cook Lucie - Nowhere House owned by the absent archeologist and witch, Lillian.

The story progresses from there and starts out really well….until it kind of moves into being a romance novel. I won’t say more because it would reveal the plot but it goes in a direction - one scene particularly - which was unnecessary and took this from being a fun book to one which I would describe as just alright.

The novel is described often as “cozy” and that is probably a good description - it’s one to curl up in a chair to read, without having to entend yourself intellectually in any way. The characters are loveable, even when they aren’t, and the story line sweet, if a little very predictable. This is not a novel you’ll read and say “I did not see that coming!”

You absolutely will, and that’s OK.

Do I think it’s amongst the best witchy novels I have read? Ah, no. It’s a little romancy and predictable for that, but am I glad I read it? Sure. It was an easy to read novel at a busy time of year, a fun escape from the realities of the Christmas season that approached and the atrocities of the world. Sometimes, that’s just what one needs to engage with.

If easy, romantic, cozy witch vibes are for you, you’ll like this. If you like novels with a tad more substance, maybe don’t worry about this one.

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It is approaching summer here in Australia and the end of a very long, difficult year. In particular, I’ve recently had some quite devastating changes in my life and I am unable to fully process all of it, and this comes on the end of about two and a half difficult years. I burned out in January of this year, and while I have made some improvements, I am still in a challenging space emotionally.

So I have decided to end Be Curious as a newsletter - I have appreciated those of you who have read it and engaged with it, and I hope you’ll continue to engage with my book reviews, which I will continue to post.

2026 is going to be one of further change and challenges. Of this I am certain. Most will be of my choosing but some will not. I am somewhat retreating from the world - outside of my book reviews (which I will try to remember to cross post to Instagram…I sometimes forget to do that), I won’t be online.

I am hoping to commence some postgraduate study in March (unless the dream job comes along in the meantime) and I want to be focussed on that, on reading and creative projects, and my family and friends. I do not want to be lonely! However, while I work through some challenges, including the formal ADHD assessments which I have commenced, I am very sensitive that I do not want offend or hurt anyone while I am not at my best (and sadly, I think that has happened recently, unintentionally and without knowing how I did so) as the impact on others is significant and has been recently catastrophic. I don’t want that for any of us, espcially those I care for deeply.

So while I am not going to write newsletters, I will still post my reviews and I might even expand those to the odd film or series I have enjoyed. I’m going to work on getting healthy and being the best version of myself, and start living my life according to what helps facilitate that Kass.

I will leave these newletters up for people to review, should they wish. I just wont be adding to them.

The warmth and kindness, the camaraderie and intellect of the book world is something I cherish. I certainly want to remain engaged with that, so stick around and say hello! As in all of life, we are stronger together.

May the road rise up to meet you.

With love,

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If you are of a certain age, Cameron Crowe needs no introduction. By that, I mean you probably need to have been born before or during the 1970’s. If you fit that category, you’ll know Crowe’s work: cover articles in Rolling Stone on bands like the Allman Brothers and the Eagles. Films he wrote, like Fast Times at Ridgemont High (starring the burgeoning star Sean Penn) and Jerry Maguire. And the autobiographical film of his life as a prodigious kid in Southern California, Almost Famous, for which he won an Oscar for Best Original Screenplay.

Or you can be like me, and know him because of the film Singles, with its association to Crowe’s friends and my favourite band, Pearl Jam.

The Uncool is Crowe’s first memoir about his life and career, and it’s a cracker. I am absolutely sure there’s another couple of memoirs in Crowe, should he choose to write them. At 15, he was writing for Rolling Stone magazine and hanging out with the biggest stars in rock music in the 1970’s.

The book has stories about some seriously weighty musical legends. David Bowie, the Eagles, the Allman Brothers, Fleetwood Mac, Joni Mitchell - just to name a few. The best thing about all the name dropping? It doesn’t feel like name dropping. Crowe tells these stories in a straightforward, unassuming manner - neither lionising many of these legends nor himself, but letting the stories and their characters speak for themselves.

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There’s little in it that would send shock and awe through readers; quell surprise, rock stars do a lot of drugs. Crowe tells these behind the scenes stories without giving away secrets, and for that reason the memoir doesn’t feel like a cash-in on a decades long career nor a betrayal of trust or friendships.

The hero of The Uncool and of Crowe himself is, inevitably, his mother, Alice. A mighty, steadfast woman who took some convincing that her son’s rock’n’roll lifestyle was a legitimate choice (as opposed to her choice for him - law school). It’s clear Crowe was his mother’s biggest fan, even in her worst moments. Those came in relation to her relationships with Crowe’s sisters, Cindy (who became estranged from her mother and, for many years, her brother) and Cathy, who died by suicide aged 17.

Despite this, Alice is Cameron’s greatest cheerleader and was likely the reason that Almost Famous: The Musical made it to the stage for a successful run, such was Crowe’s fear that it would fail where the film had not.

As a fan of 90’s grunge, I was a touch sad that Crowe’s relationship with bands like Pearl Jam and Soundgarden were not touched on in The Uncool, but I am hopeful that there might be more to come from Crowe in the memoir space, as I am sure he would have recollections of those times that fans globally would appreciate.

I really liked the straight story telling of Crowe’s writing in The Uncool. It never feels like a bragging session, nor does he ponder the enormity of his career and the success he found at such a young age. Careers like Crowe’s simply don’t happen these days like they did fifty years ago, and we are poorer for it. I hope there’s more to come from Crowe. We need great story tellers now more than ever.

Feel free to make a contribution to my work through Buy Me a Coffee using this QR code. All support is appreciated.

Continuing with my witch-inspired reading of recent months is The Stone Witch of Florence by Anna Rasche. Rasche is a historian and gemologist, which inspired her story of Ginevra, a woman in 14th century Italy who returns to Florence after banishment, to assist in the investigation of several relics from Catholic churches in the Florence area.

What I liked about this is the location. Italy hasn’t been the setting for any of the witch stories I have read, so I was interested to see how that influenced the story. I wondered if the strong Catholicism of Italy would feature in the story and it did, which brings a fascinating clashing of cultures - withcraft and the old orders of Roman Catholic belief. I think they are perhaps not as different as many would like to believe, but of course at the heart of it is the murder of witches (predominantly women) by those of faith, out of fear mainly. And let’s name that fear: they were afraid of losing their grip on power and the riches that came with that power.

What I also liked was the heavy leaning into stones and gems as a part of witchcraft, which issomething we continue to see modern witches utilise. Whether I believe in the power of stones and gems is not the point; I find it fascinating to read about and consider. If there are people who take comfort in their use, that’s great for them!

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One of the things I enjoyed about The Stone Witch of Florence was the friendship between Ginevra and Lucia. It is not all smooth sailing and I liked that there was no pretence that women who are friends do not argue or have frustrations with one another. Of course we do, yet many of us remain dear friends and reliable ones.

The downside of this book was what I considered the predicatability of the storyline itself. It seemed clear fairly early into Ginevra’s investigation what was occuring and why. I also guessed reasonably early who the “villian” was, and not too far further in, the story almost explicitly tells us. When the reveal finally comes upon the reader, it’s such a let down - I’d really hoped there would be a twist, but it didn’t come. There were other elements of the story, too, which seemed to simply be included for the sake of it and which did not add anything to the finality of the story.

The writing itself is good and I liked the protaganist. Ginevra is a compelling woman and her desperation to solve the case of the missing relics is understsandable. The characters are well developed. But the story itself lacked punch and that made the finishing of The Stone Witch of Florence a little bit of a let down, despite the promise.

None of this is to say this is not a good novel - if witch stories are your jam, then this one is a good read that you’ll enjoy, even if it doesn’t land on your list of all time favourites.

Welcome to Be Curious, a newsletter where I talk about…well, anything that springs to mind really, including books, TV shows, travel, life…anything goes really. I am grateful that you’re here.

I am now 17 days from heading back to Australia, having been on Prince Edward Island since early September. The weather here is cooling, I have spent time with many dear friends and I have enjoyed a range of experiences.

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Cavendish Literary Festival

I was very excited to attend the inaugural Cavendish Literary Festival at the end of September. I listened to a range of authors talk about their work, most of whom were new to me. The festival was well attended and I especially enjoyed asking Keir Lowther if he thought Rafael Nadal should purchase underwear that fits him, raising many laughs while talking about Keir’s new book Greatness.

I also really enjoyed the sessions with Sarah Emsley about her new book The Austens, and drawing the parallels with the Island’s own L.M. Montgomery.

Miriam Toews

Miriam Toews was awarded the Symons Medal earlier this month at the Confederation Centre of the Arts and it was lovely to listen to her speak when accepting the medal, and have her sign my copy of her new memoir, A Truce That Is Not Peace. It’s not often you happen to be in town when a major Canadian cultural award is being handed out, so that wasvery exciting

Lesley Crewe

Just tonight I attended an author talk/reading with Canadian author Lesley Crewe, about her new book The Spirit of Scatarie. I recently read Crewe’s novel The Spoon Stealer which I absolutely loved, so meeting her tonight and having her sign my copy of that novel was a real treat.

If you haven’t already, my review of The Spoon Stealer is here.

I’ve also purchased her novel Nosy Parker to read when I get home to Australia.

What I have been reading

Apart from The Spoon Stealer, since I last wrote I have also read another fantastic novel about witchcraft called The Weaver and the Witch Queen by Genevieve Gornichec. I absolutely loved it. You can read the review below.

In fact I loved it so much, I bought Gornichec’s first novel to read as well, The Witch’s Heart.

Which brings me to a confession…..

Hi, I am Kass and I buy books. A LOT of books. This is what I have bought so far since arriving here in Canada.

*I Who Have Never Known Men by Jacqueline Harpman
A Truce That is Not Peace by Miriam Toews (non-fiction)
The Witch’s Heart by Genevieve Gornichec
*The Weaver and The Witch Queen by Genevieve Gornichec
Next Year in Havana by Chanel Cleeton
The Stone Witch of Florence by Anna Rasche (which I am currently reading)
The Essential Tles and Poems of Edgar Allan Poe
A Tangled Web by L.M. Montgomery
The Blue Castle by L.M. Montgomery
How To Kill A Witch by Zoe Venditozzi and Claire Mitchell (non-fiction)
Procession by katherena vermette (a poetry collection)
*The Spoon Stealer by Lesley Crewe
Nosy Parker by Lesley Crewe
The Book of Alchemy by Suleika Jaouad (non-fiction)
Magic Lessons by Alice Hoffman
The Lighthouse Witches by C.J. Cooke
The Loneliness of Sonia and Sunny by Kiran Desai
The Ten Thousand Doors of January by Alix E. Harrow
The Witches by Stacy Schiff (non-fiction)
Greatness by Keir Lowther
Witchcraft for Wayward Girls by Grady Hendrix

*indicates I have read it since purchasing

Yes, I am seriously into books about witches right now. But also, I am just seriously into BOOKS. Fair to say, this is where most of my money goes, which is better than hard drugs (I’m told)…but gosh…I need to get a wriggle on!

What I’ve watched

I’ve had the opportunity to binge watch some shows since being here too. I enjoyed My Life With the Walter Boys but I absolutely LOVED The Summer I Turned Pretty! I am 100% team Conrad!!

I watched the second season of Love Life but it didn’t do a lot for me. I am looking forward to watching the new season of The Diplomat next week hopefully (with my faves Allison Janney and Bradley Whitford from the West Wing joining as the President and First Gentleman this season!)

I also went to the cinema last week to the official The Life of a Showgirl listening party for the new Taylor Swift album. My friend Tracy and I went along and listened to Taylor explain each new song, sing along to it and see the new video on the big screen, as well as BTS footage of filming of the video. It was a really fun way to welcome the latest TS Era!

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What’s Next?

Tomorrow I am flying to Montreal to see Mumford and Sons play at the Centre Bell! I am really excited - I’ve loved this band since their first album and I cannot wait to sing along to their long list of banger tracks! I am also looking forward to exploring some of downtown Montreal, as I have not been there before and I understand it’s quite beautiful.

I have also been dabbling back into a sketchbook/art journal. Whether I share pages or not, I am unsure as yet…the journey back to artistic endeavour is a challenge for me, but I am trying and so far I have made four pages, which is pretty good!

Until next time, stay kind and remember to look up!

This is the second book by author Genevieve Gornichec, and it is rather good! The story centres around three young girls - Gunnhild, and sisters Oddny and Signy. After a seeress refuses to tell them their fortune, beyond it being bound together for the three, they make a blood oath to each other. Shortly thereafter, however, Gunnhild runs away with the seeress to learn the ways of witchcraft.

The timeline is Norway in around the 10th century, a time where witchcraft was not necessarily seen as a bad thing, and women stepped into their power in this way. It remined me of The Witches of Vardø, which I read a while back (and also loved).

The girls are reunited years later when raiders go to the farm of Signy and Oddny’s family and Signy is kidnapped. Gunnhild and Oddny pair up to find Signy before it is too late, along the way working alongside unlikely types of friends and foes. The story features the strength of female friendships, overcoming trauma and cruelty, acceptance of those first thought to be enemies and, of course, witchcraft.

The story is told through predominantly Gunnhild and Oddny (alternating chapters) and I thought the writing was great - I was often thinking about this story when doing other things and I was awake until 1:30am this morning finishing it - I needed to see what happened and wouldn’t sleep until I knew!

Regular readers know I’ve been on a witchy bent this year and this addition to the list of withcy books has been a good one! The Weaver and The Witch Queen was one I picked up based on the title (I am a weaver for fun!) and I am so glad I grabbed it. I loved the imagery conjured through the descriptions of the land and of the activities of the three young women, particularly Gunnhild as she develops her witchcraft skills and uses her powers (to varying degrees of success).

There is a lot to like about The Weaver and the Witch Queen. One to look for and enjoy!

Nova Scotian native Lesley Crewe’s books are well known in Canada, but they are new to me. When I read the back cover description, I thought this seemed like a sweet read that took in part of the Maritimes, to which I am especially partial (although my heart belongs to Prince Edward Island!). A quick search tells me that this is a beloved book in Canada, so it came home with me.

The Spoon Stealer is the story of Emmeline, a young woman living in rural Nova Scotia with her four older brothers and her parents on a farm. From the outset, Emmeline is a heavy-set girl, and she is teased about this, called lazy and generally disdained by her mother particularly. She is, however, close to one of her brothers, Teddy, and he acts as her protector and friend when she has precious else.

When World War 1 starts, Teddy and John enlist and go to Europe. Her mother never recovers from their eventual loss, and Emmeline travels alone to Europe, against her family’s wishes, while Teddyis listed as injured. It is years before she returns and, when she does, she is not greeted especially warmly. The family has descended into a toxic disfunction - more so than ever - but after 10 years of caring for her mother and brother, she leaves again, and is, she believes never forgiven.

Later in life, 70-something Emmeline writes a memoir and joins the local library memoir writing class, led by the nasty Joyce Pruitt. Through the class, she reads aspects of her memoir to a largely enraptured class, and continues reading to a select group when the class disbands. Reading her story, Emmeline recognises that her story in Nova Scotia is not complete, so when a letter arrives to say her eldest brother has left the family farm to her, she determines to go home. Her dog, Vera, travels with her and the conversations between Emmeline and Vera are the very best parts of this novel.

I won’t spoil what happens to Emmeline on her return to Nova Scotia and what awaits her. It is both hilarious and tragic. This book with break your heart, make you laugh out loud and remind you that (almost) everyone can achieve redemption, with “just a spoonful of kindness”. What results is a truly beautiful novel that I did not want to end, and I will not soon forget.

An acquaintance told me which Lesley Crewe book I should read next - it’s called Nosy Parker and I now have a copy! However, it will take a sensational writing effort by Crewe to top The Spoon Stealer for me. I am excited to be going to an author talk with Lesley Crewe in a couple of weeks time, about her new book, too!

Despite the sometimes heavy topics (suicide, mental illness, war), this is a book that is warm like fresh bread from the oven - you cannot wait to see what happens next and you know it’ll be wonderful. The Spoon Stealer is one of the best I’ve read this year.

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Welcome to Be Curious #15, written from the traditional lands of the Mi’kmaw people, Epekwitk, now known as Prince Edward Island. I am here for my tenth visit and spending time with extended family and friends here, and it is my second home!

I don’t have a lot to report - mainly just a reminder that I am reviewing books and posting those and enjoying the last of summer as the Great White North commences the beautiful fall season. I went to the Sommo Festival recently which would have been vastly improved had the skies not opened! My favourite was Hollow Coves, a great band from Brisbane who I finally got to see live on the other side of the world! I missed seeing Hozier unfortunately (I’ve seen him before - he’s great) as it was just too wet and cold to stay once we were drenched. All reports say he was excellent, as was Alanis Morrisette the night before.

This weekend I am headed to the Cavendish Literary Festival which I am looking forward to!

I’m also looking forward to seeing Miriam Toews receive the Symons Medal on 3 October, and Lesley Crewe on October 16 (I’m currently reading her novel The Spoon Stealer).

Since I last wrote, I’ve posted reviews of these books:

It’s actually been a great reading month - I also read My Brother Jaz by Gideon Haigh which was incredibly moving (it’s really short and talks about the death of Haigh’s brother in a traffic accident, aged 17).

Only one DNF - All The Murmering Bones by A.G. Slattery - I wanted to like it but at 24% though, gave up. It’s a book that will have its audience, which I am happy about - it just wasn’t for me.

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I have also reactivated my Bookstagram - mainly to link back to this website, but I have missed the book community it generated for me. I am still not engaged with my personal accounts and don’t see a time I’ll do so again - who knows?

I’m also doing some fiction writing. Who knows if I will ever let anyone read it or if the story will ever be finished but it’s been sitting in my mind for a while. I am trying to be disciplined about writing but failing miserably, but the story remains and I am sure I’ll feel a surge. I’ve planned it a bit - I’d love to say I’m a pantser but who am I kidding? I am a planner in every single aspect of my life; writing be no different!

I also am still really loving witchy stories and since being here have picked up some novels unknown to me, and two magazines - one from National Geographic and another special edition mag! I don’t know what’s driving this hyperfixation on witchy historic fiction but I am here for it! Being in North America ahead of Halloween has been a boon of fun stuff too.

My priority for this trip is to relax, give myself space for clear thinking and reconnection, and to enjoy the last months before life gets hectic again, either through work or study.

I’m glad you’re here with me.

Until next time,

I had recently seen (on Substack) a lot of recommendations of I Who Have Never Known Men by Bengian author Jacqueline Harpman, and when I saw it last week at Bookmark in Charlottetown, I thought it was something outside of my usual interest. However, my curiousity was piqued, so I took it to the counter.

Emma, who works at the store, happened to be serving me and we got chatting. As you can see by the sticker, she highly recommended it.

I discovered later that this book has had a bit of attention on #BookTok. That worried me - sorry BookTok folk, but usually when something goes viral there, I don’t end up enjoying it (to be fair, I often have a negative response to winners of major literary awards too…)

I Who Have Never Known Men was published in 1995 and is considered a science fiction novel (like I said - WAY out of my normal choice!) but I would say that’s not exactly right. Yes, it is dystopian, but it remains deeply human as well and I guess I consider science fiction to be less human and more imagination driven. That’s just me. I don’t know if its the world we are living in, in 2025, but I certainly did not find the storyline so surreal that I couldn’t imagine it occurring. Unlikely, yes, but not impossible.

The story is a group of 40 women who are imprisoned in an underground cage. There was an “event” which is not described, but it would seem that it was a catastrophic environmental and political disaster, which has left much of where they inhabit empty. Narrated by the youngest of the women, she is referred to as “the child” by the older women and has no name, despite all the other women having one. They are caged up for several years.

This would be my only complaint about the women - they do not take the time or care, even after they are freed, to give the child a name and, thus, an identity of her own.

One day, a siren sounds and the guards evacuate. Keys were dropped closely enough that the women can unlock the cage and escape. There is no sign of the guards and they leave without taking anything with them. The women navigate their way out of the bunker to find a desolate, empty plain - they’re not even sure they remain on earth.

Of course, they must be on earth because they have oxygen and, eventually, trees and grasslands to build a community within. The bunkers - many scattered across the lands they explore, are powered. So although they don’t appear to work it out, the reader knows they remain somewhere on the earth.

I Who Have Never Known Men is, essentially, a story of survival, female strength and resilience, and a thought provoking contemplation of a planet that has been essentially levelled and devoid of humanity. It looks at how the women maintain theirs, and their sanity, and live lives that are different to those prior to the “event” but are complete in a new context. It considers matriarchy, and how power and wisdom is passed from woman to woman, generation to generation. And, it is a story of love, despite the women probably not considering the bond they share one of love. It is that, in a miriad of ways.

This book does not have chapters, so it’s often difficult to find a spot to stop reading. There are some natural plot points though, so I’d say trust your instinct, if you need to, say, sleep or work!

About a quarter of the way in, I wasn’t sure I wanted to keep reading I Who Have Never Known Men, but I am so glad I did, because it was a fantastic book. It won’t be for everyone, but I think readers with feminist ideals and a concern for the future of our planet will really get something from this novel. I am also grateful that I stepped out of my usual comfort zone to read this - I have to remind myself to do that more regularly.