The Australian Women’s Weekly’s Book Club picks for April 2020

Our April Great Read: Sheerwater by Leah Swann

The opening scene of this gripping domestic suspense thriller is heart stopping. Mum Ava is driving with her two young sons, Max and Teddy, and their dog, along Victoria’s Great Ocean Road, when they literally see “a bolt from the blue”. It streaks across the sky ahead and quickly they realise a plane has crashed. Should she stop?

Early on we discover that Ava is fleeing her husband to start a new life in beachside Sheerwater, an area where others are also seeking refuge. Her sons love their dad, but something has set this family spiralling out of control.

This domestic drama stays with you, and is worth a second reading when you’ll spot the haunting clues that provide the framework for the plot.

Paris Savages by Katherine Johnson

There’s a horrific moment in this important novel – a testament to the treatment of First Australians which the author researched for six years – when Bonangera, one of three Aborigines who sailed to Europe to be displayed at shows, is subjected to a full body cast at one sitting.

Hilda Müller and her scientist father live on Fraser Island and agreed to take the three islanders to Europe to escape the massacre there and tell the Queen of their plight.

A tortuous tale brilliantly told.

Nothing New by Robyn Annear

In this delightful history of the joy of second-hand versus rampant consumerism, Robyn Annear channels her own family habits.

“My mum had no sisters, only girl cousins who were just her age and size, which pretty much ruled out hand-me-downs. “But Depression and war-time privation not withstanding, her mother contrived to keep her smartly dressed. Not being a needlewoman, Gran outfitted her little girl in quality second-hand from market stalls that promised their stock came from homes in the ‘better’ suburbs.”

Confessions of a Bookseller by Shaun Bythell

Scottish bookseller Bythell’s The Diary of a Bookseller was a surprise bestseller, soon to be a TV series. In this fascintating peek through his shop window, we are taken on a history of ‘The Book Shop’ – the biggest second-hand bookshop in Scotland – where he records the number of daily customers, till total and even the weather. The curmudgeonly author loves to learn, especially from collectors of antique books.

“Most of what I know [about books] is imparted by customers, the very same whom my instinct is to discourage from talking!”

The Strawberry Thief by Joanne Harris

It’s more than 20 years since the multi-million selling novel Chocolat from Harris was released, where seductive Rocher created scandal in Lansqeunet-sous-Tannes in France in the first book, when she opened a chocolaterie. Queues started forming straight away. But the local priest and his supporters were shocked by the customers’ indulgence for this “sinfully delicious” sweet treat and tried to run her out of town. But a rival confectioner has set up in the square, and disarray reigns again in this sequel.

Delayed Rays of a Star by Amanda Lee Koe

Three women’s journeys to stardom laid bare. Marlene Dietrich is nearly 90. The enigmatic actress is now bedridden, the long legs that put her on a pedestal have failed her. But a photographer has hired a forklift, and floating the platform up to the window of the recluse’s Paris apartment, points his telephoto lens.

Rewind to the 1928 Press Club Ball in Berlin, where Dietrich gatecrashes a photo call with Hollywood star Anna May, 23, and infamous Nazi propaganda dancer Leni Riefenstahl.

The Girl Who Reads on the Metro by Christine Feret-Fleury

If it’s good, pass it on. Bookseller’s grand-daughter Juliette is not really cut out to be in real estate.

As she rides the Paris Metro to work, her nose is usually deep in a book, although of late she has been taking more interest in what her fellow travellers read – and what she can glean about them from each book’s title. There’s the moist-eyed woman who re-reads dog-eared romance novels and the man who studies tomes about insects.

One day, she gets off a stop early to take a walk in the Paris backstreets and falls upon a bookshop – its door held open by a book. Offended – why use a book to prop open a door? – the girl who loves the smell of books and rescues them from car boot sales goes inside…

Let’s Hope For The Best by Carolina Setterwall

Swedish (real-life) storytelling at its most stark from Setterwall, who based this book on events from her own life.

Carolina is in the music industry, while Aksel, the father of her three-month-old son Ivan, is in media. Carolina is nursing on the sofa when she receives a chilling email from Aksel: Subject: If I die. Message: “My computer password is ivan2014. There’s a detailed list in Documents/If I die. Let’s hope for the best!” She is angry – typical of her unsentimental boyfriend, who won’t even take paternity leave seriously.

It’s October 2014 and Carolina wakes up rested; Ivan only needed two feeds. “I tell him it’s time to go wake Daddy. Ivan (now eight months old) takes aim for your head, but I notice something is wrong…The way you’re lying is unusual. Crooked and bent, your face pressed against the pillow.”

This is the story of how life can change in a heartbeat.

Individual by Jessica Bellef

The 15 quirky Australian interiors in this inspirational hard back book reveal the personalities of their owners but also offer great tips for your own home décor.

While new builds deliver cookie-cutter blandness, here individuality is championed and the results will make you cheer and reach for the paint pot.