I've read a lot of World War 2 literature over the years, but very little from the Polish point of view, so I was more than willing to read Halina Rubin's Journeys with my mother when it was offered to me a few months ago. Rubin was born in Warsaw on 27 August 1939. Note the date: her mother, … Continue reading Halina Rubin, Journeys with my mother (Review)
Review – Autobiographies/Memoirs
Phillip Stamatellis, Growing up café: a short memoir (Review)
Phillip Stamatellis' Growing up café is the third book I've read in publisher Finlay Lloyd's fl smalls collection. Unlike the previous two, by established creators Paul McDermott and Carmel Bird, it is a debut work by an unknown writer. According to the author bio provided at the beginning of the book, Stamatellis is studying writing at the University of … Continue reading Phillip Stamatellis, Growing up café: a short memoir (Review)
Emma Ayres, Cadence: Travels with music (Review)
Although Emma Ayres' memoir Cadence had been passed around my reading group with much enthusiasm over the last year or so, I wasn't intending to read it - not because I wasn't interested, but because there were other books I wanted to read more. However, when I found the audiobook at my aunt's house while … Continue reading Emma Ayres, Cadence: Travels with music (Review)
Rochelle Siemienowicz, Fallen (Review)
Being a reader who focuses more on "truths" than "facts", I'm not averse to writers playing around with fact in their fiction or fiction in their fact. This issue raises its head most frequently in historical fiction of course, but it's also present in autobiographies, memoirs and even biographies. And so, here I am, having … Continue reading Rochelle Siemienowicz, Fallen (Review)
Helen Keller, I go adventuring (Review)
My reading has been so disjointed recently that I thought I'd look at recent Library of America (LOA) offerings for inspiration, and came across Helen Keller's "I go adventuring", an excerpt from her Midstream: My later life. It appealed to me because I haven't read anything by Keller since I was a teenager, and because this … Continue reading Helen Keller, I go adventuring (Review)
Biff Ward, In my mother’s hands (Review)
"Profoundly moving", "a kind book", and "harrowing" could be blurb words for Biff Ward's memoir, In my mother's hands, but they're not. They are some of the words used by members of my reading group when we discussed the book this week with - lucky us - the author in attendance. It's quite coincidental that I happened to … Continue reading Biff Ward, In my mother’s hands (Review)
Jill Sanguinetti, School days of a Methodist lady: A journey through girlhood (Review)
When I read a memoir, particularly one by an unknown person like Jill Sanguinetti's School days of a Methodist lady, my first question is why was this memoir written? Sally Morgan's My place, for example, explores how she discovered her indigenous origins and why her family had kept this hidden, while Frank McCourt's Angela's ashes chronicles the … Continue reading Jill Sanguinetti, School days of a Methodist lady: A journey through girlhood (Review)
Kate Forsyth, Stories as salvation (Review)
One of the best things about being involved in the Australian Women Writers' Challenge is hearing of writers whom I may not otherwise have come across, or, if I had, who may not have registered strongly with me. One such writer who regularly pops up in the challenge is novelist Kate Forsyth. The reviews that keep coming in for her … Continue reading Kate Forsyth, Stories as salvation (Review)
Olivera Simić, Surviving peace: A political memoir (Review)
I hadn't heard of Olivera Simić when Spinifex Press offered me her book, Surviving peace: a political memoir, to review, but her subject matter - the Bosnian war, to put it broadly - was of particular interest to me, so I said yes. You see, I worked for several years with a woman who, like Simić, was also … Continue reading Olivera Simić, Surviving peace: A political memoir (Review)
Simone de Beauvoir, Memoirs of a dutiful daughter (Review)
I have only read one other work by Simone de Beauvoir - and I'm ashamed to say that it wasn't The second sex (which still sits in my long-in-the-tooth TBR pile). It was, instead, one of her autobiographical novels, She came to stay. I enjoyed it as I recollect, but that was a long time ago. … Continue reading Simone de Beauvoir, Memoirs of a dutiful daughter (Review)
Whispering Gums 