Excellent story that Australians can identify with
358599
It is good to have Australian stories with Australian characters set in Australia. Keith McArdle tells a fast paced story that is not out of the realms of possibility. With characters that are ordinary people in extraordinary circumstances, the reader finds themselves wondering what they would do in similar circumstances. A rattling good yarn.
4213967
I really liked this book.  The Australian characters were real and funny. The story was clever and thought provoking.  I always looked forward to reading more of this story at the end of the day and have since relished all of Moriarty's fiction.
2417911
Compelling story. Very talented writer. Expertly weaves in details about Australia and WWI that make the story more realistic and interesting to reader. Very strong in presenting point of view of characters. Hope to read this author again.
3823661
We'll worth a read if nothing else for the Australian history, and a great story to go with it. .
3058242
An excellent rendition of a true story of the inhumane treatment of the Australian aborigines.  At the time they believed they were doing the right thing which is the saddest part of story.  It is amazing that a young girl could do all that she accomplished!
4642365
A fantastic Australian novel. I love the references that are totally Aussie. This book had me drawn in right from the start and I read it in a day because I couldn't put it down. A touching story showing they way that love can overcome barriers and years. There were tears and smiles. The sex scenes were just right and left enough to the imagination. So well written I can wait to read more from Rachael. This book was gifted in exchange for an honest and fair review.
1984441
At first I wasn't sure I would like the book but then discovered it took place in Australia--and I love anything Australian!  The setting and characters were somewhat unique to any other book I have read lately.  I like the time frame it was set in, right after WWI.  Sort of semi-modern but without all the modern day communication.  The author really takes you inside the characters and the human experience.  What we will do under certain circumstances and what our bottom line is in life--what we can live with.
4053577
Felix Calvino, born in Spain, emigrated to Australia in the sixties where, according to his bio note, he worked for many years in the travel, restaurant and wine industry. He did not attend college until the late 1990s when he studied Spanish and English at the University of Melbourne and began writing. In 2007 he published his first book, a story collection, A HATFUL OF CHERRIES. As of this moment (February 2014) I'm not sure if Felix Calvino's ALFONSO is even available for sale in the United States, but I hope it will be very soon. Because I can't remember enjoying a first novel (a novella really, at just 117 pages) this much in a very long time.

ALFONSO is a deceptively simple story of the life of an immigrant worker, transplanted from his native Galicia in Spain, to Sydney, Australia in the early sixties. Having grown up desperately poor in Franco's Spain, left fatherless by that country's Civil War, Alfonso (there are no last names in the story) is fortunate enough to be apprenticed to a wise old woodworker/carpenter from the age of twelve. Several years later, armed with a skilled trade, an inbred sense of right and wrong, and a strong work ethic, the young man bids farewell to his mother and brother, and sets off for Australia. There he finds regular work with a Sydney construction firm, lives very frugally, saves his money and dreams of a house and family. He takes night courses to learn English and mixes shyly at the local Spanish Club, but fails to find the love he is looking for, feeling torn between the old ways of Spain and those of his newly adopted country, of which a friend says, "Australia had no soul, only overtime, beer, and poker machines."

But Alfonso perseveres in pursuing his dream, buys a ruined row house which he repairs and restores over a three-year period, as he watches his friends and co-workers begin to marry and start families - the part of his dream which comes harder. He listens to other friends complain about Australian women and struggles to slough off the Spanish idea of marriage in which the man must always be dominant and the woman submissive, and engages in a cautious and almost fearful chase-and-retreat courtship of Nancy, a strong young Australian woman. The story culminates with an extremely satisfying and exquisitely crafted scene suggesting rebirth and new beginnings.

Alfonso is a wonderfully imagined and fully realized character that will resonate with readers for a long time. I loved this book! Highly recommended.
2236840
Fascinating read about how the "convicts" were chosen and deported to Australia from England in the 1800's. The descriptions of the country side near Sydney are beautifully written. Easy to visualize what the main character is seeing and feeling.
2777972
Interesting story but quite well written. I have never read books based off of Australia, but the story does sustain itself well once the novelty wears off.
4631882
Loved reading this book. Story telling that makes you feel like  you were a witness to the actual events.
I read this in one sitting late at night, knowing that I had to get up and go to work the next day, but I couldn't put this book down it was that great.
If you like Australian yarns, and a time when although life was harder, people also looked out for each other, this is the book to read.
I found this book in the same vain as A B Faceys " A Fortunate Life".
1589591
Wonderful story combining all facets of English gentry and other transportees and how they made their life in Australia.  Landmarks were vivid and made one feel you were there with them.  Little bit of Argentina mixed in.  Wonderful story wanted to read more.
1677027
A wonderful book set in Australia, so be prepared for some variations in language usage, a great read. Topics such as mega churches, faith healing, family estrangement and cancer are discussed, which were done in a very tasteful way, but at the same time hitting the core of the issue.

It addressed so many things that I often have thought, but not said without being anti church, or anti Christian. The writing style is good and I felt like I didn't want to stop reading. I was wishing for longer doctors appointments so I could finish it quicker.

I really enjoyed reading the experience of someone going through breast cancer at a young age and her journey to God through it all.
859222
For anyone interested in early twentieth century color and conflict, Stephen Crabbe's well-researched second novel is among those to check out. It follows his brilliant debut Song of Australia. We are given vivid insight into Life Down Under with these two works, from Aboriginal life and history, to pre-war tensions among European inhabitants, and life in Australia's charming villages and cosmopolitan cities. Personal underpinnings breathe life into his characters, especially within Pansy Pearce, this story's protagonist. Conflict's big scene and conclusion were satisfying.
1994457
A continuing Australian family saga which gives a realistic depiction of a growing nation and its place in the world.
3776074
One of the great Australian novels (or trilogy of novels) - and in my view better than many of Patrick White's works. The writing is not as florid as White's and there is something a little old fashioned about it but it is, after all, over 100 years since writing. I first read this novel (or at least the first book) when I was at school. On rereading it this year I had forgotten the complexity of the way in which she creates the interiority of her main characters, and also the subtle third person commentary. I probably didn't understand this novel very well as 16! To my mind this novel compares with Middlemarch in its sweep of society at a particular point in time and place - in this instance provincial/colonial Australia in the second half of nineteenth century. The characters are very well shaped and Mahony's journey through his intellectual engagement, then introspection, eccentricity and finally madness  is extraordinary writing. As well the characters are ordinary and even despite the generational difference I found I could identify with them. The death scenes are quite graphic and challenging for the reader. There are so many different characters - charming, ambitious, heartwarming, foolish, arrogant and sad, from high and low society  - early Australian society in microcosm.  Authorial comment on class is interesting and not as snobby as Patrick White - for HHR there is something morally uplifting (as well as feminist) about being reduced to life as a postmistress.  This is a very compelling human tragedy.
4066531
Tom Keneally is a very respected and skilful author, who has written many wonderful novels, based mainly on Australian themes. In this book he mixes known documented facts and imagination about the only wartime detention centre set up during the Second World War, on Australian soil. It contained 'aliens', that is from countries at war with Australia, and also captured prisoners of war. There was a well known break out of prisoners from the actual camp in Australia, but this novel describes an imaginary camp based on the actual camp. This book also looks at many issues such as the type of treatment of internees within the camp, tensions between camp officers,  the type of lifestyle they lived under, the use of some internees to help on surrounding farms, as labour was short during the war etc. A relationship between such a inmate and a wife, on such a farm is featured in the narrative. The build-up and execution of the breakout was dramatically described, and the effect on locals and internees following this was movingly portrayed. A wonderful novel.