By Kate Greenville   –   Fiction   –   2005   –   334 pp

William Thornhill arrives in Australia in the early 1800s as a convict with his wife and two children.  After serving his sentence, William is able to raise a loan and buys a riverboat and eventually becomes an independent businessman. 

 He lays claim to 100 acres of what he considers to be uninhabited land and is determined to make it his own.  The aboriginal people however consider this land to be their own and trouble ensues.   

 (This title was originally in the 2008 Catalogue but copies of the book were unable to be purchased until mid-2010.)

Comments from BDS Reviewers:

“Well told, this story is captivating from the start.”

“Good people with good intentions can still do horrible things simply through ignorance.  This is the story of surviving Australia, the weather, the pests and the struggle to make a living – and the story of a good man caught up in a troubled and shameful part of Australian history.”

By Kathryn Stockettt   —   Fiction   —   2009   —   451pp

The book is set in Mississippi in the 1960s and is an intriguing exposé of the lives of black maids and the white women they wait on. 

We follow the lives of three women: Aibileen (a wise, kind black maid); her friend Minny (a sassy, black maid); and Skeeter (a young white woman struggling to be a writer).  Skeeter naively decides to record the experiences of black maids - she meant well, but she puts her own life at risk and the lives of Aibileen, Minny and others.

A must-read for those who are looking for a lighter style of readin on a serious subject.

Comments from BDS Reviewers:

“It is a great read (ie, easy and compelling) but it is also well written and thoroughly researched.  There is enough mystery to keep you reading plus plenty of well-rounded characters, black and white.  It is also a painless history lesson.”

“Excellent and likeable characters.  Good story line, suspense and humour.  Very easy to read and kept this reader interested.”

“Great!  A real page-turner.  Loved it.”

By Pearl S Buck   —   Fiction   —   1931   —   357pp

This book was originally published in 1931 and due to popular demand has been reprinted.  It’s the story of a young Chinese farmer in pre-revolution China who vows to better himself – he marries a slave from the house of a rich landowner and we follow their life through good times and bad.  He acquires the great wealth that he always desired but it never brought him the happiness he expected.

Comments from BDS Reviewers:

“This is an amazing book written over 60 years ago.  Buck has such a talent with her writing, the characters come alive for the reader.”

“It’s no wonder this book is considered a classic.”

“A good book that is easy to read and yet takes you into the culture of China before the revolution.  The characters are so well defined.”

By Sue Monk Kidd   —   Fiction   —   201   —   374pp

Lily, a 14 year old girl in southern USA, is the narrator in this book which has since become a movie.  Lily desperately misses her mother who was killed when she was only four.  She is brought up by her abusive father and a motherly African American housekeeper, Rosaleen, who looks after her.  They run away from home after a racial incident and eventually take refuge with bee-keeping sisters where Lily comes to terms with her life and the loss of her mother.

Comments from BDS Reviewers:

“So very well written.  The characters are well developed, interesting and believable.  There is enough suspense to keep the story from becoming too introspective.”

“The first person narrative gives the story an intimacy which is very appealing and necessary for this story to succeed.”

“The book is well written and an easy and enjoyable read.”

By Lawrence Hill   —   Fiction   —   2007   —     518pp

Aminata is snatched from her African village as an 11 year old and sold as a slave.  The book spans three continents and more than 60 years – we learn what it was like to live as a slave with one’s heart fixed firmly on freedom.

Comments from BDS Reviewers:

“Outstandingly well-researched so that the events described ring true, whether in London, Guinea, US or Canada.”

“This is a captivating, engaging and memorable story that was delicious to savour.”

“Good portrayal of the African people and what they went through – slave owners having such power and using terrible punishment.”

By Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie   —   Fiction   —   2009   —   217pp

A selection of 12 short stories based in Nigeria or around the lives of Nigerian people new to the American way of life.

Comments from BDS Reviewers:

“I was totally immersed in each of the stories and found they each revealed a little more of the total picture of ‘being’ Nigerian today.”

“This is a superb book – 10 out of 10.  The writing, the clarity of observation and analysis, and Adichie’s ability to make her message within stories that are as the cover says, dazzling, take the book high on my list.”

“The stories have humour as well as deeply distressing material.  Compelling reading.”

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By Simon Winchester   –   Non-Fiction   –   2008   –   317 pp

This is the biography of the brilliant British bio-chemist and academic, Joseph Needham, who developed a life-long passion for China after falling in love with a Chinese research student.  This book explores Needham’s life, his journeys through China and how he came to write his critically acclaimed book, “Science and Civilisation in China”.

Comments from BDS Reviewers:

“This was a very interesting and illuminating read.  The book is written with wit and spiti and I found it fascinating.”

“The excellent writing of Simon Winchester converts what could be an obscure and unappealing subject matter into a fascinating insight of both the main and China’s enormous contribution to the world of knowledge and invention.”

By Clarissa Dickson Wright   —   Non-Fiction   —   2007   —   328pp

This is the autobiographical account of the life of one of the “Two Fat Ladies”.  Clarissa tells us of her upper-class childhood, her fascinating family, her career development, a struggle with alcoholism and her personal relationships. 

Comments from BDS Reviewers:

“It is very accessible and written in a conversational tone as if she were sitting down in front of a fire with a tape recorder.”

“A character that really wins one’s heart!”

“We meet many people in the narrative who have lost their fortunes, friends, family and even life to alcohol or some other dependency.”