PERHAPS A GIFT VOUCHER FOR MUM?: MOTHER'S DAY
ABBEY'S BOOKSELLER PICK ----- Barney Clarke wakes up one hot morning to find his backyard is going to be excavated by the police searching for a long-disappeared local woman, Ginny Lawson. He was unaware that his new rental was her last address; but his nextdoor neighbour Leonie has been waiting six years for this very thing to happen. She has long had her suspicions that her friend was a victim of domestic violence, but Ginny's popular and well-regarded husband has protested his innocence of any wrong-doing. Barney and Leonie begin a tentative friendship, not asking the obvious questions about other missing women in their lives - where is Barney's wife? Why is Leonie looking after her nephew?
I've enjoyed Throsby's previous novels (Goodwood; Cedar Valley) all centred around a southern highlands/south coast shire and set in the early 90s, but this one is her best so far. Community and connections are important to her stories, and this one explores the quiet hurts of ordinary lives and the gentle possibilities of moving past them with a tenderness and regard for the characters that makes them feel very real. Lindy
'Clarke is illuminated with such wonderful, vivid characters. Rarely have I felt so deeply invested in a story - I loved this book so much. Throsby is a supremely gifted storyteller, and Clarke truly is a wonder.' Mark Brandi
Holly Throsby is a musician and novelist. She has released five solo albums, a collection of original children's songs, two albums as part of the band Seeker Lover Keeper, and has been nominated for five ARIAs. Holly's novels, Goodwood (2016) and Cedar Valley (2018), were both critically acclaimed bestsellers. For her fiction, Holly has been shortlisted for the Barbara Jefferis Award, an Indie Book Award, two Australian Book Industry Awards, two Sisters in Crime Davitt Awards, and a Ned Kelly Award. Clarke is her third novel.
ABBEY'S BOOKSELLER PICK ----- Barney Clarke wakes up one hot morning to find his backyard is going to be excavated by the police searching for a long-disappeared local woman, Ginny Lawson. He was unaware that his new rental was her last address; but his nextdoor neighbour Leonie has been waiting six years for this very thing to happen. She has long had her suspicions that her friend was a victim of domestic violence, but Ginny's popular and well-regarded husband has protested his innocence of any wrong-doing. Barney and Leonie begin a tentative friendship, not asking the obvious questions about other missing women in their lives - where is Barney's wife? Why is Leonie looking after her nephew?
I've enjoyed Throsby's previous novels (Goodwood; Cedar Valley) all centred around a southern highlands/south coast shire and set in the early 90s, but this one is her best so far. Community and connections are important to her stories, and this one explores the quiet hurts of ordinary lives and the gentle possibilities of moving past them with a tenderness and regard for the characters that makes them feel very real. Lindy
