Wearing Paper Dresses: Review

Welcome to my stop on the blog tour for Wearing Paper Dresses by Anne Brinsden! 

Wearing Paper Dresses is a raw tale, detailing the struggles and triumphs of life in the extremely remote Mallee region in north western Victoria in the middle of the 20^th Century. The story focuses on the life of young protagonist Marjorie and follows her and her family’s journey over a number of years. The reader is a witness to the rural lifestyle and shows that no matter how far away you are, the Mallee is always with you.

The synopsis is as follows:

You can talk about living in the Mallee. And you can talk about a Mallee tree. And you can talk about the Mallee itself: a land and a place full of red sand and short stubby trees. Silent skies. The undulating scorch of summer plains. Quiet, on the surface of things.
But Elise wasn't from the Mallee, and she knew nothing of its ways.

Discover the world of a small homestead perched on the sunburnt farmland of northern Victoria. Meet Elise, whose urbane 1950s glamour is rudely transplanted to the pragmatic red soil of the Mallee when her husband returns to work the family farm. But you cannot uproot a plant and expect it to thrive. And so it is with Elise. Her meringues don't impress the shearers, the locals scoff at her Paris fashions, her husband works all day in the back paddock, and the drought kills everything but the geraniums she despises.

As their mother withdraws more and more into herself, her spirited, tearaway daughters, Marjorie and Ruby, wild as weeds, are left to raise themselves as best they can. Until tragedy strikes, and Marjorie flees to the city determined to leave her family behind. And there she stays, leading a very different life, until the boy she loves draws her back to the land she can't forget...

Delving into the world of ‘country’ based fiction is something new to me but is opening my eyes to a whole new genre of writing. This book, while written in third person, allows the reader to imagine they are present and a witness to the events which are unfolding through the vivid descriptions of setting. While not having travelled to the region, Brinsden successfully captures the essence of the region for all readers as the familiarity becomes apparent as we progress through the narrative. I really enjoyed how it also spanned over a number of years so we could see the family over time and how they adapted to life in the country and their triumphs and struggles. I did find it confusing at times, when shifting between time, to work out how much time had passed and how old the characters would have been. I’m unsure if this was intentional and for the reader to work out, but it did make it a little hard to follow. By the end, I assume Marjorie was in her early twenties but it was not disclosed.

One of my favourite elements of this book was the characters and their relationships and how they developed and faltered over time. Marjorie was bold and daring, Pa was set in his ways, Elise was confused and Jesse determined. Each of the characters were developed so well throughout the narrative as we beared witness to their highs and lows. In particular, Elise was a stand out. Coming from the city, she was already a social outcast when she relocated to the Mallee region. Despite her best efforts to fit in, she found herself in a downward spiral towards insanity which began to severely impact those around her. After catastrophic events occurred, she further distanced herself from her family and the world. The author did this in such a way that the character remained authentic as she believed it was the environment impacting her actions and moods. I liked seeing the relationship between Marjorie and Jesse develop over time as well. From the beginning with him being coined a childish nickname by Marjorie, to them leaning on each over as times became tough and their families became infested with issues. Despite time passing and locations changing, they still had a special bond which held them together.

While I enjoyed the pace of the book, the characters and the country setting, I feel as though the book did lack an overall plot. The plot emphasises the importance of place on the characters and their lives and tells their experiences over a period of time. Despite this, I feel like other than a retelling of events, there was no climax but by the end, there did seem to be a resolution in place. Overall, the story with its chronological tale with flashbacks squeezed throughout, was one I will remember for a long time due to the memorable characters and beautifully descriptive settings.

I rated this book: 3 stars ⭐⭐⭐

Thank you to Pan MacMillan for providing me with a copy of Wearing Paper Dresses for review and for the opportunity to participate in the blog tour!

Wearing Paper Dresses was released in September is now available for purchase in bookstores and retailers throughout Australia

Wayward Son review

Wayward Son by Rainbow Rowell is the highly anticipated sequel to fan-fic favourite Carry On. Continuing on, presumably a few months after the previous novel, Wayward Son addresses some of the repercussions from the previous book as the characters go international to save the day. All the favourites return as well as some equally awesome new characters who pack a punch.

The synopsis:

Simon Snow did everything he was supposed to do. He beat the villain. He won the war. He even fell in love. Now comes the happily ever after, right? So why can’t Simon get off the couch? What he needs is a change of scenery. That’s how Simon and his two best friends end up in a vintage convertible, tearing across the American West.

That’s how they end up in trouble.

This book drew me in, again, through the wonderful characters that are immersed within the pages. I really love sequels as you get to see the characters who you got to know so well again and watch their development over the course of the book. While the first book is so focused upon Simon, this book gave more attention to the other main characters and their personal struggles after finishing school. The inclusion of the new characters was great too: I really like Shepard and how energetic and enthusiastic he was about helping the gang. The vampires in Las Vegas were a welcome addition as well, who doesn’t love reading about vampires living in the casino capital of the world? Baz’s interactions with them were great as well, while he was originally hesitant, he knew that he was going to be the only one successful enough to get their support. The multiple perspectives were a welcome inclusion as well. By providing multiple narrators in a book, the reader is able to gain a better insight into how they think and the actions that they take. They are all written so differently and I admire the author’s ability to do this.

One element of the book I was a little confused about was the relationship between Baz and Simon. At the conclusion of Carry On, Simon and Baz had become an item and their relationship had blossomed. In Wayward Son, they are barely talking and I found this really interesting as it was never disclosed as to what the issue was that caused this. Whilst I enjoyed the banter which the two always find, I was hopeful that their relationship would develop further in this book.

A highlight of the book for me was he road trip element. Following the characters through their travels in a new country adds uncertainty and adventure and it kept me guessing as to what was going to happen next! Being to the United States myself before, I liked being able to follow along on the places that they visited and the experiences that they had. I also wish I had powers to fill my car up with fuel without needing to pay for it! The inclusion of the different types of slang in the two different countries was interesting as well and I applaud Rowell for doing this as no two countries have the same slang and it was nice to see it included within a book.

One issue I found within the book was the focus on trying to find Agatha. The characters spent the entire book focused on trying to find Agatha while they did not seem to address the other underlying issues which were impacting them. Agatha treated them pretty poorly and it surprised me that they would be so willing to travel across the Atlantic to go and see her despite her ignoring them. Her storyline within the book was intriguing and I spent most of the book assuming what was going to happen and was blindsided with what did occur.

Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed my experience of reading Wayward Son and feel that any true Rainbow Rowell fan will adore it as well. It has the well developed characters, an interesting plot and the banter between the characters that everyone loves.

I rated it: 3.5 Stars

Thank you to Pan MacMillan for providing me with a copy of Wayward Son for review.

It is now available for purchase in Australia where books are sold.