Literary Brooding

Unholy Terrors  Lyndall Clipstone  Published 2023, Penguin Australia, 370 pages  Everline Blackthorn is a warden a group who guard against monsters known as the vespertine.   When the vespertine threatens the border of her homeland, Everline decides to investigate and discovers that the vespertine may not be the blood thirsty brutal monsters she has been led to believe. When her friend and fellow warden Lux is taken captive by the vespertine. Everline decides that getting Lux back is paramount and breaking her vows as a warden to achieve this is a small price to pay. What Everline does not expect is that Ravel a vespertine, will make her question everything about being a warden, including who you can love.    Clipstone has created an interesting world that her characters inhabit. It is a dark, oppressive place that is governed by a magic system that requires blood.   The main character is Everline who is haunted by her mother's past and has a desire to not replicate the same mistak

Set My Heart on Fire Izumi Suzuki Helen O'Horan  (Translator) 192 pages, Paperback, Expected publication: 12 November 2024 by Verso Fiction, first published 1 January 1983. The Japanese underground music scene in the 70's is rife with drugs, alcohol, sex and plenty of musicians trying to be something. We are taken into this world by Izumi, a young woman in her early 20's, who takes drugs and is free with her body. As we journey with Izumi, she works her way through a series of personal situations where she ruminates on what is real love, what is friendship, and who has power in relationships. Izumi is one of the most complex characters, I have met on the page. At times she is a blank canvas that men can paint to suit their wants and needs. At other times, she is manipulative, forthright and plain nasty. Her thinking at times is warped, as she concludes that she will not do drugs but will need plenty of sexual partners to offset the cravings, “The meds would kill me before l

The Price of Salt Claire Morgan (Pseudonym), Patricia Highsmith  249 pages, Paperback Published: 1 January 2015 by Dover Publications Therese is a young woman struggling to find her place in relationships and career. She works as a sales clerk in a large department store to earn enough money to pursue her real love of set design. She is in a relationship with Richard, whilst he professes that she is the one, Theresa is indifferent and does not have the same strength of feelings. In the drudgery of selling dolls, Theresa serves Carol, a striking middle-aged woman, with whom is immediately enthralled with. Rather, than let this chance meeting pass by, Theresa sends Carol a card which elicits an invitation to lunch. The relationship between the two women evolves into love. A love that is forbidden and if exposed could result in ruin. Where do I begin? Quite simply, Highsmith’s novel is an underrated American classic, it is not perfect but captures a time, character, societal norms and eve