Review: Haxby’s Circus

Haxby’s Circus by Katharine Susannah Prichard

Run away to the circus with this book by award-winning Australian novelist Katharine Susannah Prichard.

A world of wandering mushroom tents, spawning on bare paddocks beside some small town and then off again … places that smelt of milk and wheat, where the farmer people gave you milk and apples, or melons; you got fresh water to drink and a bath sometimes. A dirty, strenuous world. Cruel, courageous, a hard, hungry world for all the glitter and flare of its laughter; but a good world, her world.

Welcome to Haxby’s Circus – the lightest, brightest little show on earth. From Bendigo to Narrabri, travelling the long and dusty roads between harvest fields, the Haxby family and their troupe – acrobats, contortionists, wirewalkers, clowns and wild beasts – perform under the glaring lights of the big top. But away from the spotlight and superficial glamour of the circus the real, and sometimes tragic, lives of the performers are exposed: their hopes and dreams, successes and failures, the drudgery of life on the road.

Proprietor Dan Haxby lives by the maxim ‘the show must go on’, even when his daughter Gina, the bareback rider, has a dreadful accident. Gina may never ride again, but, with some advice from circus dwarf Rocca, who shows her how to transform her liability into art, she flourishes and discovers a courageous spirit within.

My Blurb (3.5 stars)

An impulse buy based on:
1. eye-catching cover: PINK!
2. I love anything CIRCUS related
3. Sale bin
4. Aussie classics

Did it live up to expectations? Yes and No… it’s a very realistic tale of circus life from the point of view of a woman. I love the glamourous face of a circus. Ever since I read Enid Blyton’s Circus series, I’ve always been enamoured (and a bit jealous) of the adventures of circus folks. This novel, however, does not spare you the drudgery and hard work of that life. And in that way, it’s a realistic story but it also made the novel hard to bear as sometimes the author would list of what needs doing etc. I found this last bit a little boring.

Gina Haxby has just bloomed into womanhood with the admiration of the crowd when she fell and broke her back. She will never again ride her beautiful horses nor perform any acrobatic feats. While her back is hunched, she’s lucky to still be alive and able to walk though it didn’t feel like that to her. She then found a reason to live; to protect her weak baby brother from her father’s expectations. Once again, tragedy struck and she decided not to stay with the circus but took her mother and new baby sister away.

She could not stay away forever, however, as fate brought them all back together. This time, however, she is a woman of strength and can stand on her own. Her little sister is also a strong character of her own and together, they will bring the circus back to its brightest.

I didn’t pay that much attention to the blurb at the back of the book before I started reading so I really was surprised when the first tragedy struck (oops!). I was really heartbroken for Gina as she’s such a lovable character but of course, steel needs tempering and that’s what’s happened. It wasn’t an easy road for Gina but she’s traversed it with help from her loved ones and flourished despite all that life dealt her.

I’ve read one other of this author’s work, Coonardo, and it was such a hard book to read (nature of topic). Haxby’s Circus was also a bit of a struggle as it was such a hard life that I barely felt the excitement of the circus. Plus the way she did lists became annoying and dreary after the first couple of times. Still, I did like the characters and the descriptions of life in Australia in those days.

About the author

Katharine Susannah Prichard was born in Levuka, Fiji in 1883, and spent her childhood in Launceston, Tasmania, before moving to Melbourne, where she won a scholarship to South Melbourne College. Her father, Tom Prichard, was editor of the Melbourne Sun newspaper. She worked as a governess and journalist in Victoria then travelled to England in 1908. Her first novel, The Pioneers (1915), won the Hodder & Stoughton All Empire Literature Prize. After her return to Australia, the romance Windlestraws and her first novel of a mining community, Black Opal were published.

Prichard moved with her husband, war hero Hugo “Jim” Throssell, VC, to Greenmount, Western Australia, in 1920 and lived at 11 Old York Road for much of the rest of her life. She wrote most of her novels and stories in a self-contained weatherboard workroom near the house. In her personal life she always referred to herself as Mrs Hugo Throssell. She had one son, Ric Throssell, later a diplomat and writer.

Review: The Big Smoke

The Big Smoke by D’Arcy Niland
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Source: hardcover copy borrowed from library

My interest in D’Arcy Niland was only sparked when I read Ruth Park’s autobiography, A Fence Around the Cuckoo & Fishing in the Styx which of course, referred quite a bit to Niland being a happily married couple who also spurred each other on in their writing jobs. Unfortunately, most of his books are out of print except for one, The Shiralee. Thankfully, my library has a decent collection and carried a few of his works.

I really wasn’t sure what to expect from this novel as there wasn’t much information online about it. I’ve amended the Goodreads page with the blurb from the inside jacket noting the only other review about this book noted (uncertainly) that it was set in 1950’s Sydney but… it’s not. It is actually from beginning of 20th century to mid ‘20s. It is a novel of interconnected stories surrounding “Jack Johnson’s boy”.

The story began, of course, just before the conception of this boy from the perspective of a fight promoter, Chiddy Hay, who never really made it and is down on his luck. It ended, at a full circle, with Chiddy Hay, a pensioner still down on his luck (though this was during the Great Depression) and the boy grown. Out of the 10 chapters/stories, only one short one is from the perspective of the boy. All other 9 stories are told from people connected to him either directly or indirectly but most assuredly connected by living in the Big Smoke (ie. City of Sydney).

This novel really isn’t about the boy or anyone in particular but rather of the city and its effects on the residents of said city.

”…this city is a character. It talks. It works on its own. It plays fair and it plays foul. I’m what it’s done to me.”

The variety of the characters, their warmth and vitality, was just amazing. At the end of each chapter, I want to know more about that particular character though of course, we’d have to move on. There was a steeplejack, a street sweeper, owner of a burger joint, a night watcher, a housewife, and many others who work in and for the city. Yet, despite everything they do, the city lives on when they fade away.

Sydney, of course, is my city, my home and I have loved each moment I read this novel as I imagine myself as life was back in the last century. These characters expressed what each city dwellers would have felt at one time or another; the beauty of the city, the smog, the loneliness, etc. The Great Depression surely was not a good age to live in but each of these characters felt so real and their stories (regardless of whether it ends well or not) were heartfelt.

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Review: Sense & Sensibility

Sense & Sensibility by Joanna Trollope

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Source: purchased own paperback copy

A retelling of a classic in contemporary setting isn’t usually my cup of tea so I picked this up mostly due to a reading challenge. I seem to do that a lot… picking up “random” books to complete a challenge. There is no other way to describe this book but that it’s pure fluff. Do your brain cells need a break? This one will definitely proof to be a relaxation. You will, however, find it a Requirement to follow up the read by watching the movie.

The thing about retelling is that we know where the story is going so there’s no surprises there. Though being one of a well-loved story, there is still that tiny bit of anticipation of each favourite scenes as they come and the ending, whilst still good isn’t as satisfactory as the original so I always have to go back & re-read. There were some difficulties, I think, in transposing the entailment of inheritance to the male descendant in contemporary times –as Elinor continues to protest that we are no longer in the 19th century. It galls me a little that such prejudices might still prevail but… as you’re reading, keep in mind that this is a retelling and meant only for your light-reading enjoyment. Don’t take it too seriously.

I really could NOT help it that throughout my reading, I was haunted by the images of Emma Thompson (Elinor) and Hugh Grant (Edward). That was the best adaptation ever (of this book) and far being from annoying, I was loving imagining them in the contemporary setting as per this retelling. As always, considerations are to be made for individual interpretation and artistic licence for characters & their development. I somehow found Marianne and her mother to be a lot more annoying that their originals –I guess I personally just can’t stand those wishy washy (disguised as following your passion) type of people. For me, it’s common sense all the way!

 

Despite some rough patches, Trollope’s retelling of Sense & Sensibility was the light entertainment I needed at the time. I loathed to put it down and could not stop but continue thinking what should happen next and in what way… An adorable fluff.

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Review: 12 Years a Slave

12 Years a Slave by Solomon Northup

My rating: 2 of 5 stars

Source: free online e-copy from Project Gutenberg

This was a bookclub read which accorded with our theme for the year, adaptation. Truthfully, it wasn’t really something I looked forward to reading and I was still using the excuse of morning sickness of not being able to finish it on time. I just wasn’t looking forward to reading all about the cruelty we can visit upon another being; of the sadness and depressing things this book may just tell me about slavery etc.

12 Years a Slave is an autobiography first published in 1853 –just after he was rescued from slavery. My friends and I found it, therefore, somewhat odd that the book was quite lacking in emotion. It had the feeling of someone who is telling a story but who was not involved in it. On the other hand, we could understand that delving in past hurtful wasn’t something that he’d like to do. This was written merely as an official record of what was happening in the country at that time.

At the beginning of the book, after Solomon Northup described his background and rise to prosperity, he made a comment on kidnapping people of colour from the North and placed them into slavery in the South. It appears that this was NOT an uncommon thing and this, more than anything else, caught me by surprise. I didn’t realise that this happened regularly and made me wonder whether this is a common sort of knowledge in the US.

My expectation was completely different to what I actually found in the book. This primarily affected my average sort of reaction to this book. It merely tells of Solomon’s kidnapping, his time as a slave (brave and yet, trying to keep under the radar to survive), the atmosphere in the North (types of plantation, the process, the people, etc), and lastly, his miraculous deliverance. There were few moments where I was touched (slightly) but overall, after all the accolades the movie has received, I can’t see it in the book. I haven’t yet seen the movie though I would hazard a guess that being a screen adaptation, there will probably more emotions involved and being on screen, the graphic deliverance of some scenes will touch people harder than the words used in this book.

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Review: Green Eggs and Ham

Green Eggs and Ham by Dr. Seuss
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Source: Own Copy

I just adore this book. It’s a great book to read aloud to your child with a terrific theme to end it all.

If you’ve read Dr. Seuss then you know how wacky his stories are. If you haven’t, then you’d either love it or hate it. There were some strange bits in this book but then again, you need the words to rhyme and to appeal to children at the same time. It’s great to read this aloud with all the repetitions as your child/ren can chime in as they got into it. They would absolutely love this.

The theme is to try foods you don’t think you’d like at all because hey, you might just love it after all. I’m sure all parents out there will know just how tough it is sometimes to get your children to try something new. This is one fun way to drill it into their little heads 😉

I have an issue with the colour choice though; why green? Why not blue or purple or yellow…? I keep thinking it’s a mouldy eggs & ham and it’s just wrong… In any case, my son doesn’t know anything about mouldy food yet so he’s loving it.

Challenges read for:

ScatterShelves -January

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Review: The Women in Black

The Women in Black by Madeleine St. John
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Source: My local library – get your own copy from The Book Depository OR direct from Text Classics.

This book tells the lives of the Sales Assistants in Ladies’ Cocktail Frocks of the posh F.G. Goode department store. There are Patty, Fay, and Magda (a Continental in charge of Model Gowns –one of a kind gown available in one size only). Lisa (aka Lesley) had just done her Leaving Certificate (ie. HSC) and is looking to earn some pocket money during the Christmas / New Year’s period. These ladies are required to dress in the uniform black dress (cut in 1930s style).

They are heart-warming stories that tickle with endings to melt your heart and make you smile in remembrance. From Patty’s cold & childless marriage, Fay’s failures for love, to Lisa’s yearning to be grown up, there are anecdotes there for readers to identify with and sympathise. The chapters are very short and made this book to be very quick read (only a couple of hours) but really enjoyable. If you’re looking for a relaxing beach read – I’d totes recommend this book.

‘I’ll see,’ she said. ‘But Lisa! Lisa! How could you such a thing? To change your name like that, and not a word to me. It’s so sly.’
‘Oh Mum,’ said Lisa. ‘I didn’t mean to be sly, I didn’t. I just wanted – I wanted a real girl’s name. Lesley is a boy’s name.’
‘It’s a girl’s name too,’ said her mother. ‘It’s spelt differently for a boy.’
‘But it sounds the same,’ said Lisa, ‘ that’s what counts. I wanted a proper girl’s name, for when I grew up. I’ve been a child for so long now; I want to be grown up.’
‘Oh Lesley—‘ said her mother, ‘Lisa. If you only knew what being grown up can be like, you wouldn’t want to do it any faster than you have to.’

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Review: Playing Beatie Bow

Playing Beatie Bow by Ruth Park
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

It looks like I’ve got a really good start, this year, in catching up with the Aussie lits. This is another classic which pretty much everybody has read but me! Seriously, looking at the cover, I thought it’d be something creepy (a quote at the back of the book reads, “It’s Beatie Bow – risen from the dead!”) but it’s not at all creepy! It’s a time travel tale which I adore and I love this book!

Abigail Kirk is not perfect. She was hurt deeply years ago and has never let go. She felt that she should and she wanted to but she doesn’t know how. It took a trip in time for her to learn about love and what it means to love. The ending, whilst pretty predictable, also carried a twist which I didn’t expect.

The story is set in Sydney’s Rocks area and I had in my head through the book the images of cobblestones paths, sandstone buildings, and the Sydney Harbour Bridge… One of the loveliest places around! This is one of the factor of my loving this book because I can see it clearly in my head as I know the place well 🙂

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Review: Seven Little Australians

Seven Little Australians by Ethel Turner
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Source: Own a copy -get your own copy from The Book Depository OR a free electronic version from Project Gutenberg

I think I would have enjoyed this story a lot more if I read this at a much younger age. This is, of course, one of those classic books that everyone (or at least most Aussies) would have read in school that I have missed out on, being an immigrant. But I am catching up!

It was an easy story to read and enjoy on a fine weekend. In between, we went to a birthday picnic where children were indulged in sugar-y goodness and lots of play in the sun. So, I had the same sort of image in my head when I was reading this book. But… I have to say that those children were pretty tame in comparison to what these “Seven Little Australians” get up to!

The book was evenly spread out between all children; what they are like, why they are so, their own brand of mischiefs but all imbued with their own innate goodness. There were some shocking things that they do but as a reader, you can’t help but laugh –although, if my child did any of those things, I would’ve been so… angry and disappointed. The ending was really unexpected but I would love to continue and follow their stories.

Not one of the seven is really good, for the very excellent reason that Australian children never are…. But in Australia a model child is – I say it not without thankfulness – an unknown quantity. It may be that the miasmas of naughtiness develop best in the sunny brilliancy of our atmosphere. It may be that the land and the people are young-hearted together,… There is a lurking sparkle of joyousness and rebellion and mischief in the nature here, and therefore in children.

If you enjoyed children classics such as What Katy Did / What Katy Did at School or even Little Women, I believe you may enjoy this tale too.

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Review: Careful, He Might Hear You

Careful, He Might Hear You by Sumner Locke Elliott
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Source: My local library -get your own copy direct from Text Classics

This is actually my first read for 2013. We were going to the beach on New Year’s Day and I took the couple of days before to consider which book I’d like to start the year with. I still didn’t quite decide ‘til nearly the last minute. We went to Balmoral Beach and when I cracked this book open, by happy coincidence, it was set around that area (Balmoral Beach / Neutral Bay). I was stoked!
I made a mistake by reading the Introduction though for it told me more of the story that I’d like to know and I continued reading with a hesitant spirit. I wanted to get it over it but I kinda already knew that will happen and I hated that feeling! I resolve from now on to skip Introductions (maybe to save it til after the reading).

The Child and the Mother in me protest at calling a child PS (short for Postscript). Understandably, whilst it was the mother who began the nickname whilst bub is still peanut-size, I found it unbelievable that it would carry on for years! To read, in the Introduction, that “the painful struggles of PS…is based on his [the author’s] own experiences in childhood”, made this story especially painful knowing that it was partially, mostly true.

PS had 4 aunties (his mother’s sisters): one whom he lived with & mothers him so, one who adores him but only when convenient, one who believes the end of the world is coming in a few months’ time, and one who lives half a world away but is on her way to take charge of him. I did not find any of these aunties to be endearing and hence, my not liking this book so much.

Aunt Lila is basically the mother he knows but she is overly protective among other annoying habits. Spelling every inconvenient not-so-happy thing / someone or even disguising ‘unhappy’ bits to make them sound innocent and lovely was a bit much for me. Reading it was smothering and I can just imagine what effects it would have on a child who is now old enough to understand if some adult will take the time to explain things to him.

Aunt Vanessa wants him for reasons she herself doesn’t quite realise. She’s determined to change him, to mould him to what she wants him to be. PS is fascinated by her and at the same time, frightened of her and is disliked her for the changes she’s wrought in his life. Being pulled in 2 directions with family politics and machinations of which he isn’t aware of the details of but could understand enough from the moods of his aunties, that things aren’t well, distressed him. Aunt Vanessa’s silent treatment and moodiness upset him.

I’m not a perfect or the best mother around but the mothering in this book irks me so! It might have been typical of the time to assume that a child just will not understand many of the issues however it never does well to underestimate what a child will understand. In the end (as most of the book is told from PS’ perspective), it is PS who is empowered –who grasped the knowledge of self and grabbed hold of it, looking forward.

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Review: The Daisy Chain, Or, Aspirations: A Family Chronicle

The Daisy Chain, Or, Aspirations: A Family Chronicle by Charlotte Mary Yonge
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Source: Project Gutenberg

The scene opens with a typical sort of day in a genteel rural family –a physician with a number of well-loved children. Children of all ages with their own strength and foibles –each and every one of them unique and yet traces of each parent are visible in each. I just started to settle down thinking of a leisurely read when disaster struck! The pillar on which their lives evolved around has been removed and all felt lost…

This story is told from the perspective of Etheldred. She is not the oldest or the youngest. She is not the most intelligent or the dullest. She is, however, possibly the second most intelligent child and yet, the most intelligent of female child. Along with her intelligence, she also has inherited most of her father’s characters and they were thought to be unseemly in a girl child. I understand certain things like tidiness of oneself needed to be ingrained in oneself by habit and Etheldred needed to pay more attention to things like that however, it was most interesting that her mind is the analytical sort which needed a reason as to why things are a certain way prior to being able to apply herself to do things correctly! And yet, despite her intelligence and her analytical mind, because of her sex (and therefore, her position in the family), she had to give up her studies to serve her family.

It certainly is a humbling experience to read of Ethel’s sacrifice. Whilst it was, at first, with a heavy heart that she gave up her time from studies to household & other duties, she loves her family in such a way that she was willing to do so. And at the end of the book, you do not see her only willing but to have been transformed to be a humble serving young woman (I don’t mean like a servant but one who serves others out of love) that even if it is not an ending I would have preferred, I do admire her for her character improving work to become who she is. Etheldred is a character to warm your heart.

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