A wonderful new Australian novel, a heartwarming story of a refugee from Somalia, and a new cookbook from Yotam Ottolenghi
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| BiP staff review by Leonie |
Gregory Day
July 2015 | Picador | $32.99pb *BiP price $27.95
‘We were islands of the same archipelago adrift in a sea of unknowing.’ Wesley Cress uses these words to describe his relationship with Leonie Fermoy, his partner, and his friend John Lascelles, many years after they first met on King Island. Wes grew up on a farm in the Colac area and was sent off to boarding school after his mother died. His brother Vern was left with their father, who was not coping on his own. When war was declared the two boys enlisted as soon as they could. They fought on Crete with the local partisans against the German and Italian armies. When the Allied troops withdrew Wes missed the evacuation, but Vern was killed on board a boat which was sunk by friendly fire. When Wes heard about his brother’s death he went AWOL in the mountains, doing things to survive which haunted him for many years. Unable to face a return to the family farm Wes landed on King Island with no plans apart from living a solitary life. Gradually some of the islanders tried to befriend him, including Leonie Fermoy, who grew up on the island. Left in the care of her abusive father, she led a lonely and at times terrible childhood, and was allowed to run wild. Wes was fascinated by this interesting young woman and decided that it was easier to write his history for her than to tell her his story directly. John Lascelles is the Assistant Post Officer who delivers the packages containing Wes’ writings to Leonie. He was brought to King Island after the death of his mother while he was still at school. His father needed to start a new life for himself and his son, and so he took over the local Post Office. John missed his friends and the chance for further education. The atmosphere of the novel is enhanced by the depiction of King Island as a community ruled by the extremes of weather. Readers may have fond memories of Gregory Day’s last novel The Grand Hotel. Archipelago of Souls is a book to remember long after you read the last page. The use of lyrical language is remarkable. I wanted to go straight back to the beginning of the book as soon as I finished.
Truth and Other LiesSascha Arango
April 2015 | Text | $29.99pb
Famous bestselling author, loving husband, generous friend - Henry Hayden is a pleasant person to have around. Or so it seems. And when his mistress, who is also his editor, becomes pregnant, his carefully constructed life threatens to fall apart. So Henry works out an ingenious plan. Craftily and cold-bloodedly, he intertwines lies and truths and all the shades of grey in-between. But when he tries to get rid of his mistress, Henry makes a terrible mistake. Not only are the police soon after him, but his past, which he has painstakingly kept under the carpet, also threatens to catch up with him with deadly consequences.
‘A book which reminded me immediately of Herman Koch’s The Dinner, with an apparently simple plot which soon became more complicated. By the time you read the first page you think you know the storyline, but there are plenty of surprises for the reader.’ - Chris.
Shining: The Story of a Lucky Man
Abdi Aden & Robert Hillman
June 2015 | HarperCollins | $29.99pb
Abdi's world fell apart at the age of fifteen when Somalia's vicious civil war hit Mogadishu. Unable to find his family and effectively an orphan, he fled with some sixty others and headed to Kenya. On the way, death squads hunted them and they daily faced violence, danger and starvation. After almost four months, they arrived in at refugee camps in Kenya - of the group he'd set out with, only five had survived. All alone in the world and desperate to find his family, Abdi couldn't stay in Kenya, so he turned around and undertook the dangerous journey back to Mogadishu. But the search was fruitless, and eventually Abdi made his way - alone, with no money in his pockets - to Romania, then to Germany, completely dependent on the kindness of strangers. He was just seventeen years old when he arrived in Melbourne. He had no English, no family or friends, no money, no home. Yet, against the odds, he not only survived, he thrived. Abdi went on to complete secondary education and later university. He became a youth worker, was acknowledged with the 2007 Victorian Refugee Recognition Award and was featured in the SBS second series of Go Back to Where You Came From. Everything he has endured and achieved is testament to his quiet strength and courage, his resilience and most of all, his warm-hearted, shining and enduring optimism.
NOPI: The Cookbook
Yotam Ottolenghi & Ramael Scully
Sept 2015 | Ebury Press | $59.99hb
Nopi: The Cookbook includes over 120 of the most popular dishes from Yotam's innovative Soho-based restaurant NOPI. It is written with long-time collaborator and NOPI head chef Ramael Scully, who brings his distinctive Asian twist to the Ottolenghi kitchen. All recipes have been adapted and made possible for the home cook to recreate at home. They range in their degree of complexity so there is something for all cooks. There are dishes that long-time Ottolenghi fans will be familiar with - a starter of aubergine with black garlic, for example, or the roasted squash with sweet tomatoes - as well as many dishes which will stretch the home cook as they produce some of the restaurant's signature dishes at home, such as Beef brisket croquettes or Persian love rice. With chapters for starters and sides, fish, meat and vegetable mains, puddings, brunch, condiments and cocktails, a menu can easily be devised for any occasion and purpose.
NOPI: The Cookbook will be available on 1st September 2015 at $59.95 hardback
