The Strays

By Emily Bitto

Summary

In The Strays, Evan Trentham is the wild child of the Melbourne art world of the 1930s. He and his captivating wife, Helena, attempt to carve out their own small niche, to escape the stifling conservatism they see around them, by gathering together other like-minded artists. They create a utopian circle within their family home, offering these young artists a place to live and work, and the mixed benefits of being associated with the infamous Evan. At the periphery of this circle is Lily Struthers, the best friend of Evan and Helena’s daughter Eva. Lily is infatuated by the world she bears witness to, and longs to be part of this enthralling makeshift family. As Lily observes years later, looking back on events that she still carries painfully within her, the story of this groundbreaking circle involved the same themes as Evan Trentham’s art: Faustian bargains and terrible recompense; spectacular fortunes and falls from grace. Yet it was not Evan, nor the other artists he gathered around him, but his own daughters, who paid the debt that was owing.

Comments

• All thought it was very well written but some found the theme of underage relationships very challenging. The garden seems to be a metaphor for the story and characters. Sometimes Idyllic, sometimes almost sounding like ‘the Garden of Eden’ mirroring the children’s playground and fun times, but also overgrown and neglected which happened to the children.
• The perspective of looking back as an adult and remembering the growing experiences and exciting times.
• The plot was captivating and kept everyone reading to the end.

Read By: The Second Tuesday Book Group

The Sound of One Hand Clapping

by Richard Flanagan

Summary

In 1954, in a construction camp for a hydroelectric dam in the remote Tasmanian highlands, Bojan Buloh had brought his family to start a new life away from Slovenia, the privations of war, and refugee settlements. One night, Bojan’s wife walked off into a blizzard, never to return, leaving Bojan to drink too much to quiet his ghosts, and to care for his three-year-old daughter Sonja, alone. Thirty-five years later, Sonja returns to Tasmania and a father haunted by memories of the European war and other, more recent horrors. As the shadows of the past begin to intrude ever more forcefully into the present, Sonja’s empty life and her father’s living death are to change forever.

Comments

• Very real description of Bojan and Sonja in particular. Loved the book but found it disturbing
• Only misgiving is the happy ending, it didn’t quite fit but overall the novel is a very good depiction of Bojan and Sonya
• Well written, sad, gut wrenching. Recommend reading the novel. Can accept the ending where the characters can find some sort of peace at the end. Should be recommended reading as it is relevant to refugee situation today.
• Found the book very sad and almost gave up reading it. Very much related to the present day refugee situation. Found the language flowery in parts. Needed to skip some of the violent sections.
• Read the novel when it was first published, enjoyed it then and really loved re-reading it again. Brilliant writing, characterisation excellent. Written so the reader understood why Bojan was the way he was (violent). Like the juxtaposition of the violence against his tenderness with the wood that he was working on.
• Very well written, a little flowery in the beginning but overall a very good read. Painful to read about Sonja’s life but very good characterisation.

Read By: The First Wednesday Book Group