Have just reviewed Nene Davies book Distance. Here it is. You can find it on Amazon - amzn.to/13gNr8w Distance by Nene Davies This story takes us into the heart of a family. Dialogue and interactions feel absolutely authentic – between parents, between parents and children and between siblings. When redundancy visits the Richardsons, all aspects of their secure lives in the Welsh coastal village are tested. Parental closeness is stretched thin enough to worry the children when solutions are elusive. Readers are taken on an emotional journey until Leo and Isobel’s innate resilience comes to the rescue and family balance is restored. But the pattern has been broken and a long held dream of living in Australia beckons. Suddenly migration becomes possible and a new clutch of issues emerges; practical issues, complicated decisions, assumptions that don’t hold up, searing guilt and sorrow when Grandmother Helen refuses to go with them, leaving life-long friends. Although the family throw themselves into living the dream, not everything is rosy in the land Down-Under and relationships and understandings are challenged again. The writing seamlessly moves between the practical, the emotional and the lyrical. Two quotations show how the author has woven poetic or dramatic passages depicting the contrasts in the natural worlds in Wales and tropical Australia into the narrative: “A biting wind cut straight through Isobel’s blue fleece, as she tramped along the beach with a beanie-topped and buffeted Leo at her elbow. . . . . . the seemingly ownerless dogs hurtled along the edge of the seething water in a pack, tails tucked and haunches bunched as they tore after flying splats of dirty white beach foam.” and “A tiny Willie Wagtail was shimmying on a rough patch of vegetation at her side. The bird caught her attention with its joyful dance and as she watched it, her senses melted, her jaw relaxed and for the first time in a long while, she started to feel in control. Cautiously, she took Helen’s words and spread them out in front of her mind’s eye.” This is a novel for anyone with an interest in family relationships, and particularly the stresses and strains of migration. If you’ve been there and survived, it will resonate. If you’re thinking of it there are insights galore. Although the story ends with a satisfying sense of rightness and completion so far, readers are left with a sense that the family will have more adventures to relate. Looking forward to the sequel. Davies, Nene (2013-06-13). Distance (Kindle Locations 3919-3920). Really Blue Books. Kindle Edition.
Posted on: Mon, 01 Jul 2013 07:45:43 +0000
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