DANDELION WISHES by Lisa King

Dandelion Wishes: The Untold Story of Coral Maxwell-King is the work of Queensland writer Lisa King.

Dandelion Wishes: The Untold Story of Coral Maxwell-King is the work of Queensland writer Lisa King. I have known Lisa for about four years now and when she asked me to be a beta reader for this book, I said yes because, well, I love to support friends. What I did not expect was to read a book that would stay with me well after the final page was turned and which I rank as one of my favourites of 2024.

I have been bursting to tell everyone about this book since I finished it a couple of months ago!

Coral Maxwell-King was Lisa’s mother in law, and this is a memoir about her life, infused with some fiction to create a narrative that is based on true stories but given life and character. Most of the fiction comes in the form of characters around Coral, and take nothing away from Coral’s story.

Coral was unfortunate, in that her father left her and her siblings in care in order the enlist in World War Two, only to fail to return for them when he was discharged shortly into his military service. What resulted was for Coral to be shunted between foster families and state care homes, and the result was a young woman who was never really given the opportunity to show what she was capable of. It is my view that Coral was, in fact, capable of so much more and I think as life wore on, she was able to show a few people just what she was made of.

This is a story that hit home for me, as it is largely based in and around Melbourne, Australia - my home city. There were parts that made me cry, and parts that made me laugh out loud - the sign of a well written book.

In the hands of Lisa King, Coral’s story is told with compassion but no punches pulled - just as Coral would want it. I feel like missing out on meeting Coral is my loss - her life story is so astonishing, it has to be real. Fiction can never match what the real world throws at us!

If you are at all interested in the challenges of youth post-war, and stories of triumph in spite of tragedy, this really is a book you will enjoy reading. I may have read it initially as a favour to a friend, but I review it as an unabashed fan of this wonderful fictionalised memoir and of Lisa’s writing. I hope Lisa continues to write these kinds of books - I will line up to read each and all.

You can buy this in good bookshops or, better yet, directly from the author (putting the profits in the pocket of the artist! by visiting Lisa’s website.