review TOP 4 BOOKS TO READ THIS MONTH
A BOOK LOVER’S REVIEW BY JACQUI SERAFIM
“Home is more than a place. It’s a feeling.” From bestselling food writer and cook Rick Stein comes this stunning collection of all time favourite recipes and essays that celebrate the rituals of home cooking.
The Wife and the Widow
The Lincoln Highway by Amor Towles An absorbing, exhilarating ride, The Lincoln Highway is a novel as vivid, sweeping, and moving as readers have come to expect from the author of A Gentleman in Moscow.
A Bloody Good Rant by Thomas Keneally Beautifully written, erudite and at times slyly funny, A Bloody Good Rant is an invitation to share the deep humanity of a truly great Australian.
Little People Big Dreams Treasury A beautiful keepsake from this critically acclaimed best selling series that explores the lives of outstanding people in a way to appeal to children.
by Christian White
Kate Keddie’s husband, John, is away in London for a medical conference. When he fails to arrive home to Melbourne on the expected flight and can’t be contacted, her concern turns to dread as she discovers that not only did he not attend the conference but that he has been unemployed for months. She soon discovers that John never left the country and their skyped conversations took place from a fake hotel room. As Kate and her father-in-law work with the police to search for answers, they are soon led to the family’s holiday home on Belport Island off the coast of the Bellarine Peninsula. It is difficult to write about a murder mystery without giving too much away – but there are no spoilers here. It is clear from the chapter heading on first page of the novel that Kate is “The Widow”. This engaging story unfolds from two narrative perspectives. Kate Keddie, is “The Widow”, married to John Keddie, an affluent doctor living in Melbourne and mother to a 10 year-old girl. She is shy and restrained but dignified and strong – she is aware that John is troubled but has allowed him to keep his secrets and later discovers that “she had spent the better part of the past two decades living inside a cocoon.” The alternate narrative perspective is that of Abbey Gilpin, “The Wife”. Abbey is a Belport Island local scraping by, supporting her husband’s meagre income as an Island caretaker for the holiday homes of the wealthy tourists, by working part-time shifts at the local supermarket. Abbey is mother to two teenagers and has an unusual interest in taxidermy. She faces the challenges of her life with wry humour and energy. While these two women are separately uncovering their husbands’ secrets, they are both forced to question how well they really know their husbands and are drawn slowly but inexorably into a compelling confrontation with each other. The Wife and the Widow is an easy but compelling read. It is wellpaced and engaging but is also more than just a murder mystery. The novel explores the contrasted worlds of these two families – the tensions between the locals and wealthy tourists, the difficulty of making a living in a small coastal town and the challenges of marital relationships, family life and adolescence. It also explores the impact of suppressed trauma: “If we don’t talk about the monsters in this world, John’s voice whispered, we won’t be ready for them when they jump out from under the bed.” As the stories of these two women and their husbands unfold, the characters are revealed as complex and well-drawn, each with convincing motivations and actions. White’s prose is lyrical but precise – his atmospheric descriptions of the eerie island in winter creating a perfect backdrop for this psychological thriller. This is a well-crafted crime novel with deft misdirection and an unpredictable denouement.
The Wife and the Widow is the Winner of the Ned Kelly Award for Best Crime Fiction 34 TVO
