Liz ByrskiReseñas

I enjoyed this, my second by Liz Byrski. My own life had many unavoidable distractions while I tried to read the first half and I very nearly didn’t continue. So to be far, because it could have been my lack of attention causing the problem, I decided to read to the end. Managing to read the second half straight through, I finally engaged with these four women. The narrative reminded me a little of Mary Moody’s writing - women, over fifty, who feel they have to leave home to find themselves. What I found a little unrealistic was that all four left at pretty much the same time on their trip of self discovery! I doubt this would happen in real life but maybe I’m wrong and anyway, I didn’t write the story. It was interesting to see what happened to each of the women and what they got out of their time away.½

I noticed that an acquaintance, Margot Knight, was the narrator for this. She read it well. Though Liz Byrski is prolific and this is her latest book, it is my first by her.

Her characters are carefully mapped-out and each is dealing with life’s tribulations - ageing, regret, lost love. Despite this, I found it relentlessly optimistic and not satisfying.

You will have realised from the above descriptor that this is a departure from my usual crime fiction,

I did not realise until I had nearly finished the book that this is a memoir, written hot on the heels of the author's reunion with Karl Heinz 37 years after they first met. By this time they had both been in other marriages, and the book ends just after their reunion.

Plenty of discussion points in the book. Was their original separation on the grounds that Liz was too young for marriage a valid one? What chance did their reunion have after they had spent so long apart, and had so many experiences that were not shared?

At 103 pages in, I’ve decided to return this book to the Library. I’ve read Liz Byrski before and loved her writing however this time I just haven’t connected with the characters and I find I’m reading other books rather than continuing with this. So, as much as I’d love to keep going, with 448 pages I just can’t commit any more time to a book that’s not thrilling me when I have a never ending long list to read.

A heartwarming, uplifting story about friendship, family, love, acceptance and change, in Liz Byrski’s eleventh novel, At the End of the Day, it’s during an unexpected delay in Doha that Miriam Squires, heading home to Perth after visiting her sister in England, strikes up a conversation with Mathias Vander, who is on his way to visit his daughter after spending time with a childhood friend in Belgium.

The pair are surprised by the immediate rapport that develops between them and are reluctant to dismiss their fortuitous meeting on arriving in Australia. In their seventies, they each have concerns about the baggage they carry, Mim is struggling with the debilitating effects of post polio syndrome, Mathias with a secret he’s kept hidden his entire life, and both are anxious about their futures. These are lovely characters, fully realised and portrayed authentically. Through them Byrski explores issues related to ageing, including frustration with physical limitations and compromised independence, as well as those related to mental health such as identity and self-worth.

While Mim and Mathias move towards reconciling with their pasts and making decisions about their futures, Mathias’s daughter Carla is mourning the end of another relationship, until an introduction to a friend of Mim’s, Jodie, sparks new hope. Though they are decades younger, the stories of Carla and Jodie in part reflect those of Mim and Mathias as Jodie struggles to recover from her injuries after a car accident, and Carla musters the courage to trust her heart again.

Written with tenderness, charm and wisdom, At the End of the Day is an engaging, character driven novel with the life-affirming message that it’s never too late to pursue happiness.½

It's been almost forty years since the three girls went their separate ways after finishing school but after the death of her husband, Bonnie moves back to Australia & reaches out to Fran & Sylvia. Together again they share their past lives, secrets & fears.
This wasn't my favourite Byrski book. I love her frank writing style & it touches on a lot of important issues for older women. But I kept on catching my mind wandering on this read which made it a bit hard to keep track of the characters & their parents, children etc. I also thought it was a bit long as well as just plodding on it's way. I actually got a bit bored in the end.

My first Liz Byrski book and what I initially took to be a lighthearted holiday read has surprised me with it's depth of feeling. The four main characters grow and unfold as the story progresses and for anyone reading this there will be a favourite one for sure. The plot could have been soppy and clichéd but Liz Byrski has done better than that and written a beautiful story about friendships, growing old, hidden strengths and the love of books. All four books discussed have gone onto my To Read list by the way!

Women's literature isn't a favourite genre of mine, so when I received A Month of Sundays by Liz Byrski for review back in June 2018, I wasn't in any particular hurry to get to it. An intriguing premise and beautiful cover held promise I might enjoy this, but I haven't picked it up until now in a concerted effort in 2020 to try and reduce my unsolicited TBR pile.

Mature female characters Adele, Ros, Simone and Judy have belonged to an online book club for years but have never met face-to-face. When Adele agrees to house-sit a property in the Blue Mountains, she decides on a whim to invite the other three women for a bookclub getaway. All four women are facing different challenges in their lives, and accept the invitation for different reasons.

The trip will be about rest, recreation and reading. Each woman is to bring along a book for bookclub that tells the group something about themselves and enough copies for all participants to read. Taking it in turns, the women will read a book a week and discuss one each Sunday, hence the title, A Month of Sundays.

Once I was able to keep the characters' lives straight in my head, I warmed to the setting and social interaction between the women quite quickly. Their book discussions were my favourite part of the novel - naturally - and their growing friendships were a 'feel good' guilty pleasure.

The problems each of the characters were dealing with were of interest, despite the fact that the women were at least two decades or more older than me. The familiar Australian setting of the Blue Mountains was also a plus.

A Month of Sundays by Australian author Liz Byrski is a novel about ageing, the joy of reading and the importance of deep and meaningful friendships. It was an unexpected delight to read and I can highly recommend it.

* Copy courtesy of Pan Macmillan Australia *

First of all, blog follower, let me point out that this is not crime fiction.

It is in fact the second novel I've read by this remarkable writer who just seems to hit the spot for me. So many of the scenarios that she uses in this novel resonate with me.

I think when I was young, the people that I knew in their 60s and 70s all seemed at the end of their lives. I never thought of them as embarking on the next stage of life. They had had hard lives, compared with us, and I don't suppose many of them had so many years to go. Things are different now.

Our street, indeed our suburb, is going through something similar to what happens in Emerald Street. People are moving out, houses are being demolished, blocks sub-divided, apartments being built. Those of us left are well into retirement and things have changed for good, and not necessarily for the better.

This is a well constructed, well written book. To use the words of one of the characters, the scenarios feel very "authentic."

I have enjoyed it very much.

Please note: another book that isn't crime fiction!
And one that I really enjoyed.

Each of the women in the online book group is facing some sort of crisis. Three of them are retired, but they all jump at the chance to meet up and discuss books after over 10 years online. They have met before only through Skype and so they don't really know each other.

I loved the way we got to learn about each of these women as well as share in their book discussions.
Their discussions, by the way, were very different to what happens at the books clubs I attend, where we take a rather cursory look at the book and then move quickly on.

For those who'd like to explore this book further the author has kindly provided starting points on her website.

This book came highly recommended and I certainly intend to read another by Liz Byrski.½

A Month of Sunday’s, Liz Byrski’s tenth novel, is told with warmth, humour and wisdom.

When Adele is offered an opportunity to housesit a cottage in the Blue Mountains of New South Wales for a month, she nervously decides to invite the other three members of her online book club, whom have known each other for a decade, but whom have never met in person, to join her. Simone, from Tasmania, is excited by the prospect, while Judy, from Western Australia, is uncertain, but in desperate need of a break from her business. Usually Ros, who lives in Sydney, would never agree to spending weeks with women who are essentially strangers, but bad news has left her with a need to escape. At a crossroads in their lives, the retreat becomes an opportunity for the women to not only get to know one another better, but also themselves.

Thoughtfully exploring the themes of ageing, memory, personal growth, and friendship, A Month of Sunday’s by Liz Byrski is an engaging character driven novel. I love that this book features women in their late 60’s to 70’s, I was moved by the author’s examination of the issues facing these particular mature women, such as retirement, illness and grief, and the support and strength they find within each other.

“We’re all single and we’re all getting older; each of us has had to face something serious since we’ve been here. That’s a bond. This is no longer just a book club. It can be much more; it can have a life long after we leave here.”

This is also a novel that celebrates the ways in which literature can enrich our lives. So that the women get to know one another during the retreat, Adele suggests that each chooses a book of personal significance to share each week. The resulting lively discussions allow the women to communicate and explore who they were, who they are, and what they want moving forward.

“This is us, this is what we do. We talk about books, we make them work in our own lives: walk through the doors they open for us, cross the bridges they lay out for us, and pick and choose what we need to take away from them.”

While I think A Month of Sunday’s is particularly suited to a mature aged readership, who are more likely to identify with the characters and their issues, I also think it would be an excellent bookclub choice, and any bibliophile can relate to the author’s observations about the value of books.

++++++½

Four women who have not met each other, but have been in contact via an online book club spend a month together in the Blue Mountains. Each of these women have had experiences in their past that they have been unable to resolve. Through the friendship that develops, this diverse group of women find a way to deal with their past, the present, and plan for their future. A very thought provoking book.

A pleasant novel about neighbours who become dear and long-lasting friends, about love, and loss, and about ageing and acceptance of the retirement years. The author has created lovely characters whose lives intertwine and provide a supportive network for each other. Set mostly in Perth, Western Australia in 2014.½

I received this book through Goodreads’ First Reads programme, thank you to Fremantle Press for the copy. It’s a book that I probably wouldn’t have bought, but borrowed from the library. I have an interest in the day to day life during World War II (as my blog readers would have guessed) and I was looking forward to it. Like many other people, I’ve heard of the Guinea Pig club. To be a member, you had to be burned and treated by Archibald McIndoe, pioneering plastic surgeon. These men (and a few women) had horrific burned that made their features grotesque to many. However, McIndoe not only helped to bring function back into burned areas but made the area around his hospital a safe haven for the Guinea Pigs. How did he do this? By enlisting the help of the townspeople to treat them as they were exactly the same as everyone else and having an easy going, jovial and naughty at times feeling in the ward.

This is where Liz Bryski’s personal link to the Guinea Pigs comes in. As a child, she remembers being terrified by the Guinea Pigs. Many years later, she returns to her hometown to speak with not only the Guinea Pigs, but those who looked after them – the nurses. She interviews both groups and encounters a range of emotions and thoughts relating back to that time. She also attends what is likely to be the last reunion of the Guinea Pigs. Some of the Guinea Pigs have remained heavily involved with the club, supporting each over in emotional times and also in getting a job. Others have distanced themselves (one gentleman was worried that he may have been shunned for being gay). For the nurses, the gamut of emotions is even wider. The men were encouraged to flirt with the nurses and a little time in the broom cupboard was not frowned upon. How did these women feel? Some didn’t mind. Some felt it was part of the war duty. Some felt distinctly uncomfortable.

Byrski’s interviews and history of the Guinea Pigs is interspersed with her own history and personal reflections. I wasn’t prepared for this on reading the blurb – I thought this was more of a straightforward history. I found just as I was getting interested in the story, it would move back to Byrski’s own memories. I felt that the last chapters, where Byrski talks about her own troubles in getting the book written and becoming ill detracted from the focus of the book. However, I got incredibly frustrated on page 204 by a factual error where Byrski states she contracted the ‘Legionella virus’. Legionella is not a virus, it’s a class of Gram-negative bacteria. Byrski also states she ‘probably acquired it on the flight to London’ which is quite unlikely given that Legionella tends to thrive in stagnant water (think cooling towers). Also, the most common way of contracting Legionella in Western Australia (where Byrski resides) is through potting mix, soil and compost (Legionella longbeachae). After this, I wasn’t too sure who or what to believe.

I wish I could say I enjoyed this more, but I didn’t. The history parts were interesting, but due to the errors at the end, the book just didn’t work for me.

http://samstillreading.wordpress.com½

This is classic Byrski 'Chook Lit': multiple parallel intersecting stories, older women as major characters, male characters are defective people, all stories are wound up neatly and moderately happily, women achieve goals and personal growth by taking up some new activity, etc. This story has the addition of a number of more serious non-fiction "issues": the Australian indigenous 'stolen generation', the Bali bombing, and late 1960s politics and women's liberation.
I heard the audiobook version while I ran long distances at night. Th ereader was very good and voiced the various characters well, so I could remember their backgrounds (there seemed to be a cast of thousands).½

Took a long time to get to the meat of the story. Would not recommend it.

When Liz Byrski turned fifty she keenly felt the lack of literature that reflected the lives of women in mid life, and drawing on her experience as a journalist and freelance writer, set out to change that by writing the sort of books that she wanted to read.

Family Secrets is Liz Byrski's eighth fiction novel, a story about love, regrets, forgiveness and redemption.

After a long, debilitating illness, Gerald Hawkins passing is both a cause for sadness and relief for his wife Connie, and his adult children Kerry and Andrew. For decades they have lived their lives as Gerald, a dominant man, had wished them too and now that he is gone they are all forced to find their own way forward.

Connie chooses to revisit her past, announcing her plans to go to England for an extended holiday, hoping to reconnect with the woman she was before she married Gerald and gave up her dreams to become a dutiful wife and mother in Tasmania, and to rekindle her relationship with her childhood best friend, and Gerald's sister, Flora, who has been estranged from the family for many years. Connie's journey is not what she imagined it would be however, especially when she is confronted with some home truths about the choices she made and the person she has become.

Meanwhile her children are grappling with their changing futures. Andrew, disillusioned with his career and his marriage, is unsurprised to discover his wife's affair but determined to protect his teenage daughter, Brooke, from the fall-out. Kerry, harbouring long held resentment and guilt about her father is at a loss when he dies, and is left struggling with the symptoms of clinical depression.

Byrski explores the way in which it is often difficult to be honest with ourselves, and others, and the corrosive nature of failing to accept the truth. Each main character in Family Secrets is challenged to reconcile their past and escape the shadow of Gerald's legacy by taking responsibility for the people whom they have become, and making changes that allow them to reconnect with the people they love.

I thought Family Secrets was an engaging read, not especially gripping but a thoughtful and well told story of realistic domestic drama.

I'm a bit over Liz Byrski. All her novels follow the same formula. I'm not totally averse to the "chook lit" genre because I'm in the over-50 target demographic. The issues raised are the sorts of things that people my age have to deal with: your parents getting dementia and dying; some of your own peers starting to die; your children getting serious about their own relationships and perhaps starting to have their own children; problems in your own relationships; getting near the end of your work life, etc. The trouble with Byrski is that she tries to get every issue into every book and she deals with every issue at a pretty superficial level. She always has a big cast of characters with at least three or four featuring most prominently. She also write in a very self-consciously "Australian" genre, like Di Morrissey (who writes in what I'd call the romance-on-an-outback-sheep-station genre). I wonder if Tourism Australia sponsors their work? I think I'll stick with novels that offer greater depth and less breadth in the future.½

I loved the sense of community that author Liz Byrski created at Benson’s Reach; what a perfect work environment it would be to work in. I have spent time in Margaret River in Western Australia and felt comfortable in the setting. IN THE COMPANY OF STRANGERS is a complex story where the plot is interwoven with back stories of family relationships, friendship, love, betrayal and loss. It follows a few different characters who have all come from various backgrounds and age groups and are mostly strangers to each other when the story opens. Of the characters I was least drawn to Lesley who I felt needed a good shaking and very upset at Paula’s storyline, why did the author not see any salvageable qualities in her life. Still in real life people don’t always get on, and often we don’t try and understand the reasons behind the behaviour of people we come across, so an unlikable character is not out of the question. One aspect I really this Byrski did well was how the shameful story of the UK Child Migrant Scheme is interwoven into the story. Never in your face, or even the main focus, yet has it subtly affected the story from start to finish.

In this engaging character driven novel, author Liz Byrski draws together a group of very different people after the death of Catherine Benson, the proprietress of a lavender farm and holiday park, Benson's Reach. A complex web of old and new connections are examined to reveal an intricate tangle of friendship, love, betrayal and loss amongst strangers, friends and family.

Estranged from Catherine for years, Ruby is stunned to be left controlling interest in Benson's Reach and reluctantly returns to Margaret River, Western Australia, after a forty year absence, intent on tying up loose ends quickly and returning to her life in England.
Wrestling with his guilt over neglecting Catherine in her final months, anxious about Ruby's arrival and struggling to remain sober, Catherine's nephew, Declan, is overwhelmed by the responsibility of being made a partner in his late aunt's business.
Declan's offer of a job and a place to stay at Benson's Reach is a source of relief for Alice who has her freedom after serving five years in prison but does not know how to move on with her life.
Frustrated by her confused feelings about her thirty six year long marriage Lesley decides to spend two weeks alone at Benson's Reach in the hopes of working out what she wants from her life.
Each weighed down by their pasts and uncertain about their future, this disparate group of strangers must also contend with Catherine's legacies including a lonely teenage boy, an abrasive cleaner, and the practicalities of reinvigorating Benson's Reach.

While some of the characters in In The Company of Strangers are difficult to like, they are all intriguing individuals. Initial impressions are challenged as the author reveals their past tragedies and disappointments as well as their present hopes and desires. I especially liked how Catherine was revealed to be deeply flawed after she is initially presented as an almost saint like figure. Liz Byrski is one of the few Australian writers whose books feature mature age women, Ruby is in her early seventies and Alice and Lesley are only ten years younger. I think it is wonderful to see these women realistically represented in fiction, defying the age bias so prevalent in society.

While the story focuses on character, one of the interesting elements of the novel is Byrski's references to the UK Child Migrant Scheme during World War II. The program saw thousands of young children sent to Australia, some, like Ruby, were lied to and told their parents were dead, others were relinquished by parents convinced Australia offered their children grand opportunities in the sunshine, while many others, like Cat, were orphans. Shamefully many of the children were subject to exploitation and abuse by the religious institutions charged with their care. Provided with only very basic care, regularly humiliated and beaten for minor transgressions, Ruby and Cat were deeply affected by their experiences and forged a close bond to survive the adversity. It is a touching moment when Ruby witness the public government apology and is finally able to let go of some of her anger and bitterness over her lost childhood.

Heartfelt, poignant and perceptive In the Company of Strangers is a wonderful novel. Though I have enjoyed her previous books, this is perhaps my favourite by Liz Byrski and I look forward to the next.

In the books I like most, such as those by Per Petterson and Marilynne Robinson, very little happens. In fact people who review them complain about this. You'll never have that problem with a Liz Byrski novel - too much happens! Every major character has a lot happening in their life and has a dramatic story to tell. Further, every one of the sub-plots is tied up neatly by the end. No one is left unhappy, although everyone (well, every woman, anyway) gets emotional about some issue and expresses that emotion in words as well as tears. In "The Gang of Four", even the death of a main character happens in the nicest possible way with no extended period of suffering. The novel almost defines the chook-lit genre: middle-aged women making something positive out of their life despite a series of adverse events, usually mediated by men. If you accept the limitations of the genre, the interest in this book is in the characters themselves and how they relate to each other. I found some affinity with each member of the 'Gang of Four' and even found myself emotionally involved with their lives. For me, I found Liz Byrski's characters to be truly three-dimensional even though their lives have some rather unlikely events and situations to deal with.½

This is chick-lit for the over 50s: "Chook Lit". Nonetheless, I don't regret reading it. It easily passed the Nancy Pearl test for me. It has plenty of plot interest, (just) enough feel of reality and enough character depth to keep me involved. Like its chick-lit cousin, it suffers a little from predictability (in a general sense) and excessive amounts of "feel good" for women readers. Men are generally seen as incompetent, out of touch with their inner self, violent, stupid, selfish or all of the above (whereas of course, we all know real men are never in those categories!). I guess Byrski's secret to success is that she creates (female) characters who go through experiences we can imagine could happen to us, and they respond (ultimately) in a way we'd like to think we could ourselves.

The challenges and issues faced by several women and their family in contemporay Australia. many of these women had met in pubs and cafes in the 60's as they were part of the Women's movement. Noe time has moved on and they have experienced life including families and their success and problems, marriage failures, new romances and a loss of focus and confidence.
In remeeting some of the old passion comes into their life and their days are changed as a result. This novel focuses on friendship and family. Although readable it was not up the compulsive read that was the Gang of four.

Gang of Four is about four friends in their early 50's who are all reaching a crisis point in their lives, how each deals with their new situation and how their friendships sustain and support them. Isabel starts the ball rolling with her decision to leave her husband and grown-up children for a year to travel Europe, following in the footsteps of a journey her mother made many years before. Each of her friends reacts differently to her decision and this acts as a catalyst for their own lives to change. Liz Byrski is an Australian author whose novels are usually set in and around Perth and WA. I enjoyed reading a novel set in places I had been and could picture and because of this found it easy to relate to the characters as well - or it may just be that I am in the same age group and could recognize so many of their situations and emotional reations. This is chick lit for the more mature reader - think "Eat, Pray, Love" with better plot progression and more sympathetic characters.

This is a quite readable story which, despite being a little contrived in places, has enough realism to keep me interested. What's more, I was even emotionally involved at times, but that may be more a reflection of my soppy sentimentalism than the quality of the writing. I think Ms Byrski has made a quite reasonable attempt to look seriously at issues of self-acceptance and aging, with a particular emphasis on a woman's perspective. I'll be reading more of her books, courtesy of my local library (Stanton).½