Book Review - Call of the Wattlebird by Victoria Carnell

by Jeanette O'Hagan @JeanetteOHagan

The Book

Duty’s demand or heart’s call?

In nineteenth century Tasmania, Catherine Nicolson enjoyed the privileged lifestyle on the grand estate of Willowbank, and inspired by her grandmother Kate, she possesses a deep-rooted compassion for those less fortunate.

When her idyllic life is shattered by unexpected tragedy, Catherine’s circumstance becomes difficult and precarious, and she wishes to escape it's drudgery and danger. She is torn between two choices. Should she follow her heart and risk her place in society? Or should she marry well, pleasing her family and securing the means to fulfil her life-long desire to help the ‘Ordinary Folk’?

Will Catherine pursue intimacy or seize convenience? What path will she choose? Where will her faith and choices lead her?


Published: October 2017
Available at Amazon (ebook & print) or from the author.

The Author

Though a late-comer to the field of writing, Victoria Carnell's formative years were influenced by her mother, an avid reader, and by her father who indulged his passion: the philosophy of language. As an adult, serving in Christian ministry in Wesleyan Churches in Australia, alongside her husband, and being employed in the spheres of management and education in the wider community has afforded many valuable experiences. Her children, their partners and her grandchildren delight her life. Due to the many opportunities to interact with people from all walks of life, She have garnered an abundance of subject material to inform her writing. Since She approaches life from the perspective of a Christian worldview, her aim is to encourage her readers to develop a relationship with the Redeemer, by identifying with her characters, as they wrestle with the issues of life and faith.  Find out more on her website.

My Thoughts

Catherine Nichols is a delightful heroine who throws herself into life and has much to learn. Initially, her biggest concern is her annoying younger brother but tragedy shatters the safety of her world and she finds herself searching for a meaningful future. Should she submit to societal expectations or follow a larger vision of the meaning of life and her heart.

Call of the Wattlebird is set in late nineteenth century Tasmania and the setting with its wealth of historical detail is a definite strength of this book. In particular, I liked how Victoria Carnell explored the different strata of society from the landowners to the those far less fortune. In many ways a coming of age story with a Anne of Green Gables vibe, Call of the Wattlebird also includes a faith element and romance, with Catherine having to decide between the family's choice of a moneyed suitor or following her heart.

While not a fast-paced novel, I found it a charming and enriching read and look forward to the sequel.

Disclosure: I designed the cover for the Call of the Wattlebird and helped in the formatting and publishing, but was otherwise not involved.

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Jeanette started spinning tales in the world of Nardva at the age of eight or nine. She enjoys writing secondary world fiction, poetry, blogging and editing. Her Nardvan stories span continents, time and cultures. They involve a mixture of courtly intrigue, adventure, romance and/or shapeshifters and magic users. She has published numerous short stories, poems, two novellas and her debut novel, Akrad's Children and new release Ruhanna's Flight and other stories.

Jeanette has practised medicine, studied communication, history, theology and a Master of Arts (Writing). She loves reading, painting, travel, catching up for coffee with friends, pondering the meaning of life. She lives in Brisbane with her husband and children.


Find her on:

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Book Review A Single Breath

A Single Breath by Lucy Clarke

Blurb

When Eva’s husband Jackson tragically drowns, she longs to meet his estranged family. The journey takes her to Jackson’s brother’s doorstep on a remote Tasmanian island. As strange details about her husband’s past begin to emerge, memories of the man she married start slipping through her fingers like sand, as everything she ever knew and loved about him is thrown into question. Now she’s no longer sure whether it was Jackson she fell in love with - or someone else entirely … The truth is, it was all a lie …

My Review

I was intrigued by this story which drew me into the mystery right from the beginning and kept me wondering to the final conclusion, which is shocking at yet totally believable.  The novel is a great reflection on what happens when a person begins to tell lies, how the first leads on to more and more until life is a tangled mess - in this case one there is no escape from. The challenge in regard to truth telling, it’s costs and the devastation which follows when the truth is skirted around or avoided, is prominent throughout the story, as its complexity grows.

The main characters, Eva, and her brother-in-law, Saul, are well rounded and likeable. It was easy to get deeply involved emotionally with this story because the points of view of both these characters are handled very well. The romantic aspects of the relationships are tender and sensitive. The story will definitely appeal both to those who love romance and to those who like mystery. The pace of the story is good. I didn’t feel there were any parts which dragged and side stories about Jackson’s father, Dirk, and Eva’s best friend, Callie, only add to the  intensity of the main story. To say anything about other characters would give too much away in regard to the plot, which I thought was incredibly well developed.

Most of the story unfolds on a small island off Tasmania and Lucy Clarke describes the environment beautifully and brings it alive to the reader. It’s clear she researches her setting well and also has a good understanding of the diving which Eva and Saul do off the island beach. The ocean, its moods, beauty and terror are woven into the story in graphic and tantalising images. Readers should be warned there is a small amount of bad language in the dialogue, but I was able to accept this as realistically evoked, given the dramatic nature of what was being dealt with by characters.

Lucy Clarke lives in the south of England and travels widely to research for her writing. This is the first of her novels that I have read, but I have already downloaded her other novel, The Sea Sisters. Both are available through Amazon.

 Carol Preston  

Carol writes historical novels based on her family ancestry in Australia from the First Fleet. They include the Turning the Tide series; Mary’s Guardian, Charlotte’s Angel, Tangled Secrets and Truly Free. Her earlier novels Suzannah’s Gold and Rebecca’s Dream have been re-released by EBP. Her new novel, Next of Kin, is soon to be released by Rhiza Press. You can see more about Carol and her novels on her website  

www.carolpreston.com.au

www.amazon.com/author/carolpreston

www.facebook.com/writingtoreach

OUR FIRST LOCAL WRITERS FESTIVAL

The Executive and Board members
of Festival of Golden Words Inc.

The Beaconsfield Festival of Golden Words was simply awesome. 

Check it out: http://www.festivalofgoldenwords.com.au

On the website it was advertised as “Free marquee sessions, poets’ breakfasts, literary lunches, a literary dinner, a national address, writers workshops, vineyard food and wine writing sessions. A unique writers festival in Tasmania’s beautiful Tamar Valley in March."

I have never been able to attend any large Writer Festivals and always vaguely thought they were only held in large cities like Sydney, Melbourne and even Byron Bay. Then multi-published Stephen Dando-Collins and his wife returned to Tasmania to live only a few kilometres away from us here in the West Tamar region.

Volunteer Mary

When I first heard about this venture for our small Beaconsfield village and close to an hour’s drive from Launceston, I was a little sceptical about what was being planned and anticipated. However, I did sign up to be a local volunteer. But now, I am rather ashamed of myself for underestimating the whole thing. The Beaconsfield Festival of Golden Words gained local and state government support. It attracted eighty published authors presenting workshops in various locations and sharing on panels in two large marquees with the many hundreds of attendees. The Beaconsfield primary school principal reported there were about 570 school children on Saturday who arrived from several areas of our island. The eleven authors there included Wendy Harmer, Andy Griffiths, Christina Booth and Lian Tanner

Because I was unable to attend many sessions and also did not take photos, I asked my local, published author friend, Margaret Muir, to share some thoughts and photos of the event.

Margaret Muir - background is the Tamar River

                                                                                                 

Margaret, one of the eighty busy authors reports:

Festival launch. L-R Stephen and Louise Dando-Collins,
Premier Lara Gidding, West Tamar Mayor Barry Easther

I thoroughly enjoyed the conference and though I have attended conferences for Romance writers and Historical novelists and, in some cases, travelled overseas and outlaid a fortune in travel expenses and registration costs, this BFOGW was the best I have ever attended. It was so well organised and well attended, the only problem for the attendees was choosing which of the lectures’ panels to go to as two marquees of events were happening throughout the day.

The Festival was the first of its kind organised in Tasmania and is set to rival the Byron Bay Festival in Australia. 

Already funds are available for a similar event next Year.

Also, I think, because it was not a limited field – such as Romance or Historical, the authors and those attending came from very diverse fields including fiction, non-fiction, children’s, food/wine etc.

One of the many panels

 As for myself, the first panel I was part of was chaired by Stephen Dando-Collins.

 It was excellent with Rachael Treasure, Irina Dunn and Tim Lack of Foot and Plaisted printers. The topic was “Is self-publishing the Future of Publishing.” 

Speaker on left is Steve Bisley

While no direct answer was achieved, some of the terms – self- publishing, assisted self-publishing, vanity publishing, independent publishing were discussed. There was considerable interest from the audience and I received several follow-up questions after the event.

Beaconsfield gold mine entrance

 Apart from the free marquee events there were several other sessions and paid workshops.  Two very enjoyable gatherings were the Gala opening cocktail party where Maggie Beer and Julian Burnside QC were keynote speakers. 



In memory of the ABC journalist who died at Beaconsfield during the mine disaster, at the Literary Dinner Charles Woolley delivered the Richard Carlton address. 

Mary again:

Thank you so much, Margaret. I have just enjoyed reading another of your books, Admiralty Orders, that I bought at the Festival. your books are also now available as e-books. 
Do check out her website:
http://www.margaretmuirauthor.com

I also enjoyed Finklestein's Miracle by Stephen Dando-Collins and then discovered it had quite a story to how it was published. Do also check out his interesting website and 30 books: http:www.stephendandocollins.com
 

Running in conjunction with the Saturday and Sunday was the Fringe Golden Word event with the aim of providing a valuable platform for promising, emerging writers. I presented a workshop to a small group of fiction writers that was well received. This was organised by Yvonne Gluyas and Joy Elizabeth with help from Robyn Friend - who unfortunately became ill during the session of readings by emerging writers.

It is planned to make this Festival an annual event. Whether annual or even bi-annual, stay tuned for another opportunity to attend our next Beaconsfield of Festival Golden Words.

Mary Hawkins is currently finishing her latest Christian romance manuscript, Her Outback Cowboy, and still trying to put into practice what she has been learning about romance writing for nearly thirty years. Last December she celebrated twenty years since her first book, Search For Tomorrow, was published in 1993 by Barbour. She is excited her back list contemporary and historical Heartsong Presents novels are again available as e-book through Barbour’s Truly Yours Digital Editions.
http://www.mary-hawkins.com