A Brush With Mondrian by Yvonne Louis

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Genre - Biography

This is a fascinating look at the ancestry of a Dutch/Australian woman and her quest to solve the mystery of two paintings from her parent's collection.The story is cleverly constructed and contains many interesting detours into Dutch history.The small painting at the centre of the book's raison d'etre also tells its own story.This is a seriously good read.
---- Reviewed by Kay, Guest

Sunshine on Sugar Hill by Angela Gilltrap

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Genre - Biography


Once upon a time, an Australian girl moved to Harlem. This is the true story of ABC “Strictly Dancing” presenter, Angela Gilltrap who grew up in sunny Queensland, shared a flat at beautiful Bondi Beach and chose to live on Sugar Hill in Harlem. Angela fell in love with an African American and went to live in his sixth floor apartment on one of the noisiest streets in Manhattan. She describes her adventures as the only white woman living in this part of the city with humour and tries to explain her attachment to her new home. I especially enjoyed the contrasts with life in Australia … “the trees, the silence, the absence of guys hanging out on my block”.

---- Reviewed by Sue, Knox

Angela's Ashes by Frank McCourt

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Genre - Biography


I have just discovered Frank McCourt and now on my 2nd book of his. I found Angela's ashes a great read that had me laughing and crying all the way through I could very easily read this wonderful book over and over again.

---- Reviewed by Angela, Guest

Death and the Maidens by Janet Todd

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Genre - Non Fiction


Fanny Wollstonecraft was a 22 year old girl who committed suicide in a small hotel in Wales in 1816. Her sad story is one of the sidelights of literary history because her mother was Mary Wollstonecraft, a famous feminist, and her half-sister was Mary Godwin, who married the poet Shelley, and wrote Frankenstein. Fanny’s life was lonely and unregarded. She was illegitimate and her father abandoned mother and daughter shortly after Fanny’s birth. Her mother died giving birth to Mary when Fanny was only three, and she then lived in the household of her stepfather, William Godwin, with his second wife and several step-siblings. Fanny was the odd one out, not pretty, not clever, put-upon. When Shelley eloped with Mary Godwin, leaving Fanny behind, she was devastated. Her loneliness increased as she was torn between her stepfather and her siblings. Janet Todd’s book is a fascinating look inside this circle of geniuses. Written with sympathy for Fanny’s short, unhappy life, it is essential reading for anyone interested in the Romantic poets.

---- Reviewed by Lyn, Headquarters

Waterlemon: husband in coma and other setbacks

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Genre - Biography


Sydney journalist, Ruth Ritchie was enjoying a perfect spring day at home with her newborn baby boy when she got a telephone call that would change her life. Her husband Jhonnie had been in a road accident and was being airlifted to hospital with life threatening head injuries.

Waterlemon is the true story of the long, hard road to recovery for Jhonnie and chronicles the huge amount of love and support required for Ruth and the family to cope with this trauma and try to return to normality. Ruth writes with honesty and humour about surviving this experience with lots of courage, cooking and communication.

--- Reviewed by Sue, Knox Library

Mozart and the Whale by Jerry and Mary Newport

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Genre - Biography


Mozart and the Whale is an unusual love story told in alternating episodes by two people, Jerry and Mary, who have both been diagnosed with Asperger's Syndrome. Jerry, a mathematical genius, and Mary, a gifted composer, lead lives of misunderstanding and loneliness, however, on meeting each other, a sympathetic recognition draws them together.

They marry , but the continuing 'autistic' frustration and anger still lurking in each of them results in a separation. Jerry and Mary eventually re-marry and it is enlightening to hear the differing perspectives and feelings of these two unique individuals.

Aspergers is now realized to be so common that it is no longer considered an 'illness', but just part way along the spectrum between normal and autistic. This book, one of a raft of stories being written by and about people with Aspergers, elucidates the intricacies and quirkiness of a mind/brain affected by this condition.

---- Reviewed by Clare, Mooroolbark library

Infidel by Ayaan Hirsi Ali

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Genre - Biography


Ayaan Hirsi Ali writes a fascinating account of her experience as a child growing up in Islamic Somalia. As the middle child of her family, she was often told that she was stupid and would amount to nothing. She shares her hardships with Islamic culture, the wars, and the control of the masses. She describes the female circumcision she was subjected to, against the wishes of her parents, by her grandmother. Her life changed when she became a refugee in The Netherlands. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and applaud her for her courage to publish her life story.

---- Reviewed by Julie, Ferntree Gully Library