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Three Juliets
Minnie Darke
Following Mother's Day, I was thrilled that this unmissable, exquisitely crafted book found its way to Gordy’s Desk.
It is an intricately woven love story about mothers and daughters, and the ties – of both nature and nurture – that can never be broken.
Three dresses.
Three daughters.
One search.
In 1980, designer Claudie Miller is a household name. Girls are begging their mothers to make them her famous dress, the ‘Juliet’.
But there’s a big hole in Claudie’s life – sixteen years ago she was forced to give up her baby for adoption.
Now she’s in a race to track her daughter down before it’s too late.
In 1980, Roisin, Miranda and Bindi are turning sixteen on the same day. Raised in different families, in different parts of the country, they know nothing about each other . . . or their connection to the dress every teenager is talking about.
But the Juliet was designed with one of them in mind – and its threads are slowly pulling them closer to the truth.
Minnie Drake is an Australian author who I have recently become acquainted with – she is a lover of freshly sharpened pencils, Russian Caravan tea and books of all kinds. She lives on the beautiful island of Lutruwita/Tasmania, at the bottom of the world.
If you enjoy this book there 3 other wonderful books she has written to keep you going!
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The Glass Maker
Tracy Chevalier
From the moment I read The Girl with the Pearl Earring many years ago I knew I had found a writer whom I wished would keep writing for many more years and fortunately for us she has!
Her latest book The Glassmaker is as spellbinding as ever or as a review I came across said, ‘A spectacular feat, crafted by a maestra at the top of her game,’ of which I totally agree.
Venice, 1486. Across the lagoon lies Murano. Time flows differently here – like the glass the island’s maestros spend their lives learning to handle.
Women are not meant to work with glass, but Orsola Rosso flouts convention to save her family from ruin. She works in secret, knowing her creations must be perfect to be accepted by men. But perfection may take a lifetime.
Skipping like a stone through the centuries, we follow Orsola as she hones her craft through war and plague, tragedy and triumph, love and loss.
The beads she creates will adorn the necks of empresses and courtesans from Paris to Vienna – but will she ever earn the respect of those closest to her?
To find out you will have to read the book!
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Bloomer
Carol Lefevre
Though Gordy is still a way off from 70, I found myself drawn to this new book by Carol Lefevre, of course captivated by the gorgeous cover! I have been reading Carol’s books for several years, so I was very happy to see a new book recently published.
Bloomer is a beautifully written and uplifting reflection on ageing, perfect for those looking to embrace personal growth later in life (or now). In a world that often overlooks the value of older generations, Boomers stand out as individuals who have shaped cultural and social movements. Their formative years were fuelled by ideals of peace and love, and many continue to engage with activism today.
Set against the backdrop of her suburban garden’s changing seasons, Lefevre’s memoir captures the year she turned seventy, interweaving personal reflections with thoughtful meditations on ageing—it’s quiet sorrows, its potential for solitude, and its deep connection to the past and mortality.
Ultimately, Bloomer challenges conventional views on ageing, portraying Boomers not as people nearing the end, but as individuals still evolving - ready to flourish in the later chapters of life.
Quiet City: walking in West Terrace Cemetery, Carol’s first full length work of non-fiction tracing the stories of some of the little-known inhabitants of Adelaide’s historic West Terrace Cemetery was also a very absorbing and fascinating treasure trove of Adelaide social history.
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Cello
Kate Kennedy
This new book by Kate Kennedy written as an eloquent and multitextured homage to this warmest of stringed instruments starts with a Prelude of which the first sentence is –
‘What better instrument than a cello, half thunder, half prayer, to listen to the world?’
The book takes us on two parallel voyages of discovery. Outwardly it is a journal of her travels around Europe, tracing four cellists of the 19th and 20th centuries beset by misfortune and tragedy, discovering what befell them and their instruments. But at the same time, it is her own coming to terms with the injury that silenced her own playing, through getting under the skins of these cellists, as well as through interviews with present-day players and makers.
Her accounts of her chosen cellists are peppered with ‘Interludes’, philosophical musings and explorations in art, science and lutherie.
Part quest narrative, part detective story, part philosophical meditation.
A cello has no language, yet it possesses a vocabulary wide enough to tell, bear witness, and make connections across time and continents —a feat brought to life in this brilliant new book.
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Restless Dolly Maunder
Kate Grenville
Dolly Maunder was born at the end of the nineteenth century, when society’s long-locked doors were starting to creak ajar for women.
Growing up in a poor farming family in country New South Wales but clever, energetic and determined, Dolly spent her restless life pushing at those doors.
Most women like her have disappeared from view, remembered only in family photo albums as remote figures in impossible clothes, or maybe for a lemon-pudding recipe handed down through the generations.
Restless Dolly Maunder brings one of these women to life as someone we can recognise and whose struggles we can empathise with.
In this compelling new novel, Kate Grenville uses family memories to imagine her way into the life of her grandmother.
This is the story of a woman, working her way through a world of limits and obstacles, who was able—if at a cost—to make a life she could call her own.
Her battles and triumphs helped to open doors for the women who came after.
A work of history, biography, story and memoir, all fused into a novel that suggests the great potential of literary art as redeemer, healer and pathway to understanding
. . . the writing sparkles with Grenville's gift for transcendently clear imagery.
Request a copy via our catalogue
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The life impossible
Matt Haigh
Did you enjoy Matt Haig’s previous book The Midnight Library?
I did, so I was keen to read this new book – The Life Impossible, which even came with a glowing recommendation from one of my favourite actors Benedict Cumberbatch who said it was 'A beautiful novel full of life-affirming wonder and imagination' and I think he was right!
'What looks like magic is simply a part of life we don't understand yet . . .' When retired Maths teacher Grace Winters is left a run-down house on a Mediterranean island by a long-lost friend, curiosity gets the better of her.
She arrives in Ibiza with a one-way ticket, no guidebook and no plan.
Among the rugged hills and golden beaches of the Balearics Grace searches for answers about her friend's life, and how it ended.
What she uncovers is stranger than she could have dreamed. But to dive into this impossible truth, Grace must first come to terms with her past.
Filled with wonder and wild adventure, this is a story of hope and the life-changing power of a new beginning.
Just a few days ago in an interview Matt Haigh himself said, 'I’m an optimist, but it’s something I’ve had to work on'.
…I certainly can relate to that!
Request a copy via our catalogue
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Rapture
By Emily Maguire
The motherless child of an English priest living in ninth-century Mainz, Agnes is a wild and brilliant girl with a deep, visceral love of God. At eighteen, to avoid a future as a wife or nun, Agnes enlists the help of a lovesick Benedictine monk to disguise herself as a man and devote her life to the study she is denied as a woman.
So begins the life of John the Englishman: a matchless scholar and scribe of the revered Fulda monastery, then a charismatic heretic in an Athens commune and, by her middle years, a celebrated teacher in Rome. There, Agnes (as John) dazzles the Church hierarchy with her knowledge and wisdom and finds herself at the heart of political intrigue in a city where gossip is a powerful—and deadly—currency.
And when the only person who knows her identity arrives in Rome, she will risk everything to once again feel what it is to be known—and loved.
One of my other favourite writers, Charlotte Wood (author of the wonderful book Stone Yard Devotional ) beautifully quoted :
“Rapture is astonishing – a scorching vision of a book. Drawing on history, legend, speculation and gossip. Maguire’s medieval girl-Pope story is made of many things: flesh, earth and blood; ambition and abegnation; rage and transcendence, all pouring into this pagan, biblical, strange and mighty work from an imagination in soaring flight.”
Also as a bonus Emily Maguire will be at Adelaide Writers' Week!
Request a copy via our catalogue
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Why do people queue for brunch?
Edited by Felicity Lewis
Here is a compelling companion for the curious reader! Something a little lighter and bit of fun for this holiday period and for anyone who has ever wondered … just about anything! This is the book for you.
What's the meaning of a bee's waggle dance? Who thought budgie smugglers into being?
And why is cancer so damn hard to cure?
In these lively and surprising Explainers, writers from Australia's leading mastheads reveal the mysterious workings of the world, from outer space and the deep sea to our own backyards.
Navigate life's quirks and curiosities with journalists from these newsrooms-across health, science, culture and human behaviour as they ask some of the deeper questions in life. Does handwriting still matter? What are rogue waves? And how do you make the right decisions?
Who knows? But at least you can have a laugh finding out.
The curious reader will enjoy the variety of subjects in this book. Queueing for brunch is mentioned and also the known history of the queue which is thousands of years old!
Request a copy via our catalogue
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Reading the Seasons: books holding life and friendship together
By Germaine Leece & Sonya Tsakalakis
It's the perfect time of the year to reflect on relationships and books read or to embrace new books such as 'Reading the Seasons' which not only offers an entryway to new titles but affirms the power of books to console, heal and hold us together as friends and as individuals.
Reading the Seasons charts the evolution of a friendship through candid letters between bibliotherapists Germaine Leece and Sonya Tsakalakis.
Ignited by a shared love of reading, of finding a book for every occasion, every emotion – both for themselves and for their clients – their conversations soon confront life’s ups and downs.
The authors they reach for range from Stephen King to Javier Marias, Helen Garner to Maggie O’Farrell, as they reflect upon loss, change, parenting, careers, simple pleasures, travel, successes, fears and uncertainty.
This is a warm-hearted and beautiful celebration of reading and all it achieves in our lives.
Thank you for following Gordy’s Desk, it has been fun for me and a pleasure to share these titles with you, I hope you have enjoyed the variety of recommendations and tried some new books.
The very best wishes from Gordy’s Desk for a fulfilling new reading year in 2025!
Request a copy via our catalogue
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