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Life in Seven Mistakes by Susan JohnsonIf fractious family-drama tales make you cringe, then Life in Seven Mistakes is not the book for you.Published 1 July, 2008 
If fractious family-drama tales make you cringe, then Life in Seven Mistakes is not the book for you. However, if you revel in the minutiae of dialogue and relationships, read on. Susan Johnson (not the US erotic literature author!) introduces us to the Barton family. Elizabeth Barton, elder daughter of Bob and Nancy, is our narrator and mother of three children by different fathers. It becomes evident very quickly that she has a difficult and strained relationship with her family. Her father is an overbearing, opinionated man and her mother, too submissive. Her brothers are equally testing and the bond with her third husband, Neil, is tenuous. The story switches from the past-Bob and Nancy’s meeting and courtship-to the present, the family gathered in the Barton’s Gold Coast apartment for Christmas and Bob and Nancy’s wedding anniversary. Johnson has captured the ‘still feeling like a child’ situation around parents very well and the conversations between family members are excruciatingly well executed. As the title suggests, Life in Seven Mistakes does not set out to be a feelgood novel, nonetheless, it is thought-provoking and leaves you feeling like you should probably call your parents, just to say hello. Katie Horner is assistant editor of Bookseller+Publisher This review from Australian Bookseller & Publisher magazine is reproduced by kind permission of Thorpe-Bowker, a division of R R Bowker LLC. © Copyright 2008, Thorpe-Bowker More from Fiction Book Reviews
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People will buy this collection of erotic short stories, because of the author names they are familiar with.1 October, 2008 
Grace Notes by Jenny Pattrick is a lively read, with well-rounded characters, feisty dialogue and excellent sense of location.1 October, 2008 
It’s the sixth year of UQP’s ‘Best Australian Poetry’ series, and guest editor David Brooks, whose recent novel was shortlisted for the 2008 Miles Franklin award, invites us to once again sample the cream of contemporary Australian poetry.1 October, 2008 
Like a child reading Animalia for the first time I devoured this illustrated biography of a talented and fortunate man in one extended reading and then went back to examine choice pages.1 October, 2008 
According to a recent poll of 15,000 Dymocks booklover members, Pride and Prejudice is considered one of the best books ever written and yet one that I am shamefaced to admit has never quite made it to the top of my reading pile.1 September, 2008 
If you’ve read Laurens’ ‘Bastion Club’ series you’ll find Edge of Desire similar to the previous seven books.1 September, 2008 |
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