Book Review-Paper-Daisies

Paper Daisies

by

Kim Kelly

I must confess to having read Paper Daisies earlier in the year and have only just decided to write about it…or rather not write about it.

I have read The Blue Mile and This Red Earth, both authored by Kim Kelly.  Both were enjoyable books and I rated each books as four star read.

Paper Daisies commenced at Christmas 1900, whereas This Red Earth was set at the end of World War I and The Blue Mile in the 1930s and World War II

As I said it has been some time since listening to Paper Daisies and I had forgotten the story.  I was beginning to think that I may need to re-read it.  Then in Goodreads blurb I spied those two words.  Berylda Jones.  With just those two words enough of the story came back to realise why I had not previously reviewed Paper Daisies.

This audio version will go down as not my favourite Kim Kelly book.  From memory, the story seemed disjointed and I simply could not get into to it.  After a few chapters I put it away.

Unfortunately I am one of ten readers who have rated Paper Daisies one star book.  For me that is an unfinished book.   Considering around 75% of readers have rated Paper Daisies as with three (or more) stars, it may a better read than an audio book.

I think

Paper Daisies

 

is a

read.

 

At the time of writing my review, other

Goodreads readers have rated

Paper Daisies

 an average of 3.7 stars from

166 ratings and 45 reviews

Paper Daisies

can be purchased on-line at

Fishpond, Booktopia, and Amazon

 

Book Review-The-Red-Earth

This Red Earth

by

Kim Kelly

This Red Earth commences at the outbreak of, and during World War II.   In reality it is a story of a wartime romance in which we follow Bernadette’s (Bernie) and Gordon’s romance.  Their relationship and the war-time stresses it endures are central to the plot.

Gordon endeavours to avoid the conflict by finding a geologist’s job which sees him in Rabaul, while Bernie is at home trying to keep herself in work.  The long distance romance suffers when mail does not reach the recipient which draws conclusions, incorrectly, that love has fizzled out.

There are several reasons why I enjoyed This Red Earth. In no particular order they are; the era in which it was set; the main plot; it gave an insight into the lives of migrants and how they were treated during that conflict. Finally This Red Earth was a reasonably well paced story.

Most audiobooks tend to have one narrator reading the lines of both genders.  This Red Earth, consisted of two fairly distinct story lines used a male and female narrator.  Listeners are left in no doubt as to which or whose, story they are listening to.  Good narrators are the backbone of any novel in my opinion.

I think

This Red Earth

is a

read.

At the time of writing my review other

Goodreads readers have rated

This Red Earth

 an average of 4.16 stars from

63 ratings and 15 reviews

This Red Earth

can be purchased on-line at

Fishpond, Booktopia, and Amazon

 

Book Review-The-Blue-Mile

The Blue Mile

by

Kim Kelly

While I have grouped The Blue Mile in the General Fiction category, it is said, on the blurb to be an historical fiction novel, which I suppose is, as it takes place at the start of Australia’s Great Depression in the early 1930s.  The Blue Mile refers to the stretch of water, in Sydney Harbour, between the homes of lead characters, Yo O’Keenan and Miss Olivia Greene.

O’Kennan and Greene must overcome their Irish Catholic and English backgrounds and also in the mix is O’Kennan’s young sister who he has taken with him to escape an abusive home environment.

O’Kennan manages to find work building latter stages of the Sydney Harbour Bridge.   This is not ongoing work and upon its conclusion his Irish pride sees his life appear to fall apart.

However, we all know that young love will win out over adversity.  In this case it is a matter of how that is going to happen.

My only negative comment about this novel, and it has more to do with the narrator than the author, was that the male voices working on the Harbour Bridge seemed to be shouting whenever they spoke.  This may have been to convey to the listener a sense of the type of men working in that environment.  I found these gruff voice characterisations a minor irritation in an otherwise enjoyable novel.   That said, I do believe that the idea of unskilled labourers working on the Bridge was thoroughly conveyed by the narrator James Harvy, to his audience.

The audio version to which I listened was narrated alternately by Zoe Ellerton-Ashley and James Harvy.   Overall, I enjoyed their narrations, character voices and the perspective each character put on the same situation.

 

This was my first Kim Kelly novel and it will not be my last as I have just found and downloaded Paper Daisies and This Red Earth, also by Kim Kelly.

I think

The Blue Mile

 

is a

read.

Goodreads readers have rated

The Blue Mile

 an average of 3.8 stars from

150 ratings and 40 reviews

 

The Blue Mile

can be purchased on-line at

Fishpond, Booktopia, and Amazon