Stephanie Bishop

This book had quite a profound effect on me. It’s the story of a married couple, Charlotte and Henry, who are living in England in the 1960’s. Charlotte is an artist, but when she begins to have children, she goes through a depressed period and has difficulty painting or dealing with life as a mother and wife. Henry, having been born in India and who has never liked English weather, decides that it would help their family to move to Australia and start a new life there. Charlotte has no show more desire at all to leave her beloved England behind but is so worn out that she gives in.

While there was a part of me that could certainly relate to Charlotte’s struggles, my main sympathy was for Henry, who tried so hard to make life better for his family, even throughout his own difficulties. I can understand Charlotte being homesick as I know I would be, too, if I left all that was familiar. But home is where the heart is and she had her “heart” with her – her husband and little girls – and I feel that she was almost trying not to adjust to the new country. Regardless of how I felt about the decisions that Charlotte makes, I also cared for her and so very much wanted the best for them all. The author developed her characters magnificently and had great insight into their lives.

This is such a beautifully written piece of literature. I truly loved it. Ms. Bishop has written an honest, no bars held masterpiece. She knows how to capture her readers’ attention and hearts. The ending is shocking and heartbreaking and literally took my breath away. Most highly recommended.

This book was given to me by the publisher through NetGalley in return for an honest review. show less

Stephanie Bishop’s novels are atmospheric, with complex characters and subtle clues as to what lies ahead for them. Her novels have a dream like feel at times to me with reveals that bring me crashing back to earth. The Anniversary is very emotive, with twists that were unexpected and a narrator that pulls at your heartstrings. It also asks questions of creativity and its ownership.

J.B. is an author on the rise. Her latest novel has won a prestigious prize, but her husband Patrick show more doesn’t know yet. They’ve planned a cruise for their wedding anniversary and J.B. will fly on to New York to accept it at its conclusion. The problem is that for J.B. and Patrick, the cruise ends early and abruptly after Patrick falls overboard. J.B. is taken off the ship in northern Japan to view the body and make her own way after that. As she meanders through the tough days ahead, she reflects on how they fell in love and their marriage. The story continues with more and more revealed about how they worked and lived together. J.B.’s own childhood losses are explored as well as how they made her into the adult she is and her decisions for life. It’s the type of novel where you can easily get away with saying that a main character dies, but can’t reveal too much more for fear of spoiling some of the twists that are to come.

Bishop has once again written characters that are complex, with some very unlikeable traits and actions. But she also creates them in a way that you can emphasise with them and continue reading because you want to know what happens to them. Both J.B. and Patrick are great examples of this. Both experts in their fields of writing and films, they can be pretty nasty at times (particularly to each other). But J.B. is left adrift by his passing and you can’t help but feel sympathy for her, for having to present to the media after such a tragedy. For people that ask soulless questions and that still want a piece of her professionally, despite her falling apart. As J.B. negotiates her way through life alone, things get increasingly uncomfortable as her suspicions begin to rise and taking solace in her sister’s family doesn’t help at all. It’s a slow burn as J.B. is finally shaken out of the dream like state she’s been in, but as the fog clears the truth begins to dawn on the reader. The sentences are sharper and J.B. as the narrator is more direct.

During J.B.’s grief, there is a lot of thought put into describing scenes, not just their contents, but how they felt. How they smelled, and the little quirky touches that left an impression like a character’s eye brow. The weather also plays a role as a character, from the storm on the ship disturbing the peace to the humidity of a Sydney summer as J.B.’s time begins to run out. Other themes, such as who owns real life experiences and whether they should be fictionalised run through the novel. Status is another big one, with J.B. and Patrick having an imbalance through their marriage, tipped on its head as J.B.’s own star begins to eclipse Patrick’s. Is creativity a power struggle? How much should be based in truth? Do we owe it to the other players to seek their permission? These questions are asked during the novel, with various emotions from the characters. It’s interesting and plays well against the situation that J.B. finds herself in.

Overall, this is a novel that hides many of its secrets from the blurb, but it is well worth reading to find them out.

Thank you Hachette for the copy of this novel. My review is honest.

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The Other Side of the World attracted me for several reasons. One, the cover – to me it yells, ‘AUSTRALIA’ (the whole down under thing). Two, I love stories about fish out of water and three, the hype pre-release was intense in a ‘this is wonderful’ kind of way. So I sat down on a Sunday night to read this and had it finished Monday night. Not only is it an intense story with beautiful prose, it’s a page turner. It’s not too often you see that combination but The Other Side of show more the World has it in spades.

Once you start reading the book, it feels like it is pulling you into its world until you are sitting in the story. It envelopes you and was always somewhere on my mind as I was reading it. This book has an all-consuming power that will make you part of it, yet it’s quite a simple story. We meet main character Charlotte as she’s walking through the woods to the little cottage she shares with her husband and child. She’s just found out she’s pregnant again and it’s not a happy feeling. Life is hard with a child, an all-consuming drudgery in a cold land. What options are there for Charlotte? Not much in 1960s England until a brochure through the letterbox suggests Australia might be a sunny alternative. Henry, who grew up in India and has fond memories of it, seizes on the opportunity to relocate. Charlotte gives in and plans are set in motion to move to Perth, Western Australia.

Unfortunately for Charlotte, arrival in Perth is not easy. It’s the middle of summer and everything is bright and too intense. (I am the firm – albeit biased – believer that Perth has the brightest, clearest light in the world and I adored how Stephanie Bishop captured that feeling of intense light as the family arrived in Fremantle). It’s hot, there are bugs everywhere and life is the same round of drudgery. Everything starts brilliantly for Henry until the effects of the White Australia policy start making some snide comments. Perth is not the utopia either of the couple thought, but their relationship begins to break down as they lead increasingly separate lives. Charlotte wants to go back to England, but Henry does not want to pay the fare, so she is reduced to desperate measures…

The Other Side of the World is incredibly atmospheric. I could feel the sense of claustrophobia and damp that permeated Charlotte’s life in England. Perth was much more anonymous – there’s hardly any reference that identifies it as Perth. The mentions of the university near the river and the river itself lack detail – perhaps because Charlotte didn’t want to search for it herself. While as a West Aussie, I was a little annoyed initially, I changed my mind for several reasons. One, because Perth wasn’t more than a big country town in the 1960s that didn’t really have many unique features. Two, because the anonymity and open spaces is what got to Charlotte – she’s even more lost here than at home. Henry’s time in India too felt damp, clingy and humid as he waits for his mother to die. All the settings are distinct in how they feel to the characters, which is then passed on to the reader.

As for the characters – both Charlotte and Henry have sides that are distinctly unlikeable. They’re not people who are warm and engaging but standoffish and reluctant to ‘get involved’. To use an Aussie turn of phrase, I wouldn’t invite them over for a barbeque! They are both responsible for the upheaval in their lives. I found it difficult to like Charlotte because she stubbornly refused to even attempt to adapt to life in Perth (hometown pride may get in the way here) but there were times I felt sorry for her. I didn’t always understand her actions, but I felt a grudging admiration for her ability to obtain what she thought she wanted. Did she achieve it? Well, that’s up to the reader to decide.

The prose of The Other Side of the World is absolutely beautiful. It’s lyrical and evocative in the images and feelings it raises. Where is home? What is home? As the characters struggle to answer these questions, you’ll be carried along as part of the story. I would not be surprised to see The Other Side of the World in a number of prize shortlists over the next year.

Thank you to Hachette Australia for the eARC. My review is honest.

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For some bizarre reason, the library has put one of its 'crime genre' stickers on it, a symbol of a pistol. (I'm a bit baffled by the cover art too.)

In Book One, we meet Lucie a.k.a. J B Blackwood en route to collect a major literary prize. She's on a cruise ship with her auteur-husband Patrick, trying to revive their May-September marriage which is a bit rocky lately as her career blooms and his is fading. She's been sworn to secrecy by her publisher Ada, so Patrick doesn't know about the show more prize because, says Ada, he is a total gossip, and because he loves you so much. The plan is that she will fly on to New York for the awards ceremony at the end of the cruise.

And that's what she does, when the cruise comes to a premature end for her because Patrick is washed overboard in a ferocious storm. And then she does the publicity events at bookshops and on TV.

Yes.

That is not what a grieving widow is supposed to do.

The narration is brilliant. Are we reading the confused, distraught, occasionally drunken muddle of events from someone in shock? Or are we reading the words of a woman who mines her own life for her next novel? Or, is the whole thing a smokescreen designed to hide the truth of what happened on that night — from the authorities and from those whose love and respect she wants to keep?

To read the rest of my review please visit https://anzlitlovers.com/2024/05/11/the-anniversary-2023-by-stephanie-bishop/ show less