Misconceptions (Sophie Townsend, Bantam, $23.95 tpb ISBN 9781741667844, May) ****

Sophie Townsend’s debut novel is both tender and readable. Best friends Ruth and Mim have been each others’ rock through countless experiences, including the death of Ruth’s mother when they were young. Now, Ruth and her partner Simon want to have a baby and Mim is forced out of the house, away from her friend and the garden she has worked on and loved. A case in her job as a social worker also puts her under pressure and she flees to Broken Hill, the place where her mother grew up. Meanwhile, Ruth and Simon discover the way a child can both come between them, and draw them fiercely together. It doesn’t take long for the blissful bubble of an anticipated pregnancy to burst. Ruth also has to learn to let her father take over her beautiful antique shop, which she has worked so carefully upon. Misconceptions explores the way both celebration and tragedy cause cracks and strains in personal relationships. It shows how different each individual’s perception can be on the same situation. It explores how bonds in friendship and love can both fracture and grow under difficult circumstances. Fans of Monica McInerney or Jaclyn Moriarty would enjoy this mature and moving novel.

Angela Meyer is a writer and Honours student - http://literaryminded.blogspot.com

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

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