Deb Fitzpatrick

Representation: N/A
Trigger warnings: Racism, car accident and death of a relative from a physical illness in the past, PTSD and OCD mentioned, physical injury, bullying
Score: Four points out of ten.
Find this review on The StoryGraph.

What a disappointment.

I wanted to read Have You Seen Ally Queen for a while. One library had a physical copy until they gave it away because it was too old, no one read it, or both. Unfortunately, I couldn't get my hands on that one because someone else got it. Fortunately, another library had an eBook edition of Have You Seen Ally Queen. Ultimately, when I picked it up and closed the final page of this novel, it underwhelmed me.

It starts with the titular character, Ally, moving to a town in Peel from Perth after a traumatic event. Her mother saw a hit-and-run and now has PTSD. First, the full name is post-traumatic stress disorder, not post-traumatic stress. Second, I appreciated the author setting the narrative in my home state. Ally restarts her life by going to a new school and adapting to the new environment through activities like fishing.

A chunk of the story only features Ally escaping to the beach when she isn't at school, and another is for her discussions with other characters. My most prominent gripes with Have You Seen Ally Queen are the characters and the plot. I couldn't connect or relate to any of the people in this fictional composition. However, Ally was the worst as she can sometimes be irritating to read. Even the plot doesn't know what to focus on as it keeps jumping all over the place. It's so disjointed and confused on what's the idea. Is it about camping? School? Mental health? Friendship? Have You Seen Ally Queen touches on all of them but never goes beyond scratching the surface. The pacing is also off. For a novel barely above 200 pages, it sure is slow-paced. Toward the conclusion, Ally's mother has to visit a hospital to recover from her PTSD, and she does, finishing Have You Seen Ally Queen on a high note. I won't read any other creations from this author.… (altro)

The Break is a quiet, slim book that sneaks up on you and leaves a lasting impression. Reminiscent of the type of cynical love Tim Winton has for Western Australia with similar biting, observant prose, this story looks at the positive and negative aspects of big city living versus life in a small community. It’s a novel with an ensemble of main characters, rather than just one. Two couples are chosen for their differences and the reader follows them as two sets of lives entwine in a way nobody thought would happen.

We first meet Rosie, a disillusioned reporter. One day it’s all too much and she chucks it in. Her partner, Cray, is the same. He’s a FIFO (fly in, fly out worker) for a mine and his longed for promotion is now a step sideways working with people he hates. The couple decide to make a sea change and move from Fremantle down south to Margaret River (translation if you’re not a local – move from the city to the country). Margies has surf, wine, cheese, chocolate and a more relaxed lifestyle – or so they think.

Liza and Ferg have lived on a farm (originally cattle, now trees) just outside Margaret River all their lives. They’re used to the small town feel, of everyone knowing their business. Still, things are not too good between the couple (as Sam, their son says, ‘he gets a funny tingling in his bum’) and there are issues with Ferg’s brother Mike and how he’s treated the family. Now Mike wants to live with them again, which Liza and Ferg have reservations about. Sam, he’s just happy that Mike can help him with his computer.

It takes some time for Rosie and Cray to adjust to life down south, but when a potential development threatens the local community, they meet Sam, Ferg and Liza and form bonds. However, there’s something more worrying on the horizon…

I did enjoy The Break – it made me remember how much Aussie slang I’ve forgotten or simply don’t use in this age of international communication at the click of a mouse or touch of a finger. It has a true blue (real) Aussie ring (sound) to it and made me hanker for times that are simpler. (It’s not just that the book is set some time ago, when dial up internet, Netscape and those coloured Macs were all the rage). However, sometimes the narrative sounded more summarised rather than fleshed out. I would have loved to see more of the development of the friendship between the two couples as they seem to go from casual friends to close friends quite quickly. On the other hand, I don’t think the event that was life changing would have been as powerful if we knew all there was to know about the characters.

I must commend Deb Fitzpatrick on the way she handled the tragic event of The Break, which is based on a real event that happened in the area. It was handled with sensitivity and care and reflected the anguish and devastation that occurred. It also reflects the pain and uselessness felt by those involved. The aftermath was beautifully handled and gives a spark of hope.

I enjoyed the themes of dissatisfaction with the rat race/your lot and feeling a fish out of water in a new area. Fitzpatrick nailed the sense of isolation and being an outsider that is common to Aussie country towns. I would have liked to have read more about Mike’s addiction, but I think the lack of detail helped to make his character more of the unpredictable enigma that the others think he is.

A beautifully written story that is unsettling yet celebrates life.

Thank you to Fremantle Press and The Reading Room for the copy of this book.

http://samstillreading.wordpress.com… (altro)

I liked the concept of this novel :- bad boy Joel is sent to his father's shack in outback W.A. for 3 months where he is to contemplate his past misdeeds and emerge a changed boy. Clang! Enter even worse bad boy mate Cragg who steals the hermit up the roads' rifle and goes on a rampage in the tiny local town nearby and also Joel's discovery of a cannabis crop within walking distance. These 2 things seem to blow away any chance Joel has of rehabilitation, and it is all compounded by the distance growing between Joel and his girlfriend Bella. This book didn't quite deliver what it promised. I found the main character extremely hard to warm to as he swung between self-loathing and beligerence, and the profuse use of the f-word throughout ( I mean, it wasn't really that necessary when the character is THINKING to himself, is it?) really grating. The only truly engaging character in this novel was Joel's father who seemed to be grappling with his own demons and was also less-than-perfect but didn't come across like a complete no-hoper. I also could not really recommend this to my students as the drug use is only written about in a positive light; there is no real consequence to bring across the evils of pot smoking. Pity about the delivery as the idea was really good.… (altro)