After a brief interlude spent with Maisie Dobbs (I finally finished her latest mystery--very enjoyable and am very happy to see the story back on track--more about it next week) I am ready to return to my Australian adventures. As you can see by the photo above I have added a few more potential reads to the pile. These are all just possibilities mind you (wishful thinking I could read more than I know I will in reality manage), though I do plan on starting one of these this weekend. I wonder if you could guess which . . . As I am looking forward to checking out a new book that just arrived at the library where I work (it is in processing at the moment) and it will be the perfect companion read to one of the books in this stack.
For now, however, I am returning to three books which I have missed picking up every day. I did make a little progress in Mary-Rose MacColl's Swimming Home. It would seem there is something of a mystery under the surface that is intriguing me. Young Catherine is an orphan living with her aunt Louisa. Her father has recently died of a sudden heart attack, but her mother died under slightly mysterious circumstances. There is a housekeeper back in Australia (Catherine is now in London) who is a Native Australian, unwed but with a son, who is much loved by Catherine. She practically helped raise her and she and Michael grew up together--often spending more time in the water than out of it. They share a special bond and I wonder how things will play out.
I had been reading A Town Like Alice by Nevil Shute on my tablet, but it had to be 'returned' as another reader requested it, so I am back in line. I do have a very old mass market copy (with very small print that is on the hard side to read). Jean had only just met up with a couple of Aussie soldiers, including Joe Harmon, who has just stolen petrol off the Japanese soldiers to use to barter for medicine for the English ladies. This perhaps is what he will end up "paying for", which I am not looking forward to reading about. Perhaps once I get past that bit it will be easier going. For now, though, the group of women and children is dwindling as they march back and forth realizing that their captors don't really have a place for them to go at all and this seems to be their solution for these foreign ladies.
I had just met "the Authoress" in Kate Morton's The Forgotten Garden when I had to set the book down. She is the lady who brought Nell to the ship that will ultimately carry her to Australia all by herself. When I get back to the story it is the Authoress's history that I am going to be filling in. The story moves back and forth between characters in and time. There is even stories interlaced into the narrative that the Authoress wrote. It is this book that was in Nell's suitcase when she was found. Definitely lots of mystery here to try and piece together. Nell is certainly a prickly character, but I think I am going to like her granddaughter Cassandra as I get to know her better.
I am hoping to start reading a book that will be lush with descriptions of the country. Perhaps I will peruse my pile here for something up that alley . . . in addition to my pair of books that should complement each other nicely. I could happily be on Catherine's island right now. Sitting on the beach watching her swim!