Life From A Window

A love story, beautifully told but with no happy ever after ending.  We know it's over when the narration starts and as love stories tend to end in only heartbreak, death or sometimes both - there should be no surprise at what follows. Paul is 19 and Susan 48.  But this is no adolescent fantasy of a young man's sexual education by an older, experienced woman.  There is flirting, fun and ultimately love.  Though as Paul searches in vain all his life for a true definition of love - we are left knowing that was truly it, but not quite knowing what "it" is. I'm no student of literature, and the shift in narrative from first person to second and third, grated on me a little.  I'm sure it had a purpose and signified something deeper than I managed to fathom - but it felt just odd and unnecessary to my untutored eye. The time and place are beautifully evoked and readers of a certain (middle) age will find lots of resonance in the cultural and sociological refe...

This is close to being my favourite book of the year so far.   Jaxie Clackton is a product of abuse. His life is not simple or pretty. He is complex, vicious, gentle, profane, poetic. He's very human and very real.  He’s searching for something and for himself. Brought to life by Tim Winton, Jaxie should be hard to love but you will root for him from page one and at the end you will hope for him. I loved it. I laughed, I cried, I turned away and watched through my fingers.  Couldn’t put it down