Silver Wattle

This was really on the border of what I generally read. Some crimes in it, but not really crime fiction, more romance, and family saga.
While the setting was historical, I felt that historical detail didn't play a great part. Perhaps I mean that in a political sense. I was never sure what was happening in the "outside" world, how much time was passing. I think I am right in saying that the time frame does not get beyond the 1920s. At the end of that decade "talkies" became dominant in the film industry here and in America, and signalled the end of the cheap silent film.
The social picture of Australia is carefully created and the characters are engaging and well drawn.

But just not really my sort of book: not enough mystery, not enough show more tension, and too much romance. show less

Two sisters fled their home in Prague when a sinister murder of their mother and a plot against them was revealed. They found welcoming arms in their estranged uncle in Sydney Australia. Adela and Klara are intelligent and talented girls. They are also kind, generous and courageous. The book explores the relationships across cultures and the social scene of the time (mainly the movies).

Belinda Alexandra shows in this book & White Gardenia of the love she has for Australia, especially it's flora & fauna. Her care in the vivid descriptions of nature in both books has definitely put in my mind that I should care more for my home. I'm not a nature person (city chic all the way) but I do care for the world and she has impressed in me how show more beautiful the world / nature was just a century ago and how much we have lost now. However, I am just not fully convinced to be a complete vegetarian yet (my husband would definitely protest on that front). show less

An interesting view of the post 1st world war time in Australia, with silent movies and the white Australia policy in action threaded through the story.

I listened to this book on CD.

It's just after WWI in Prague, Adela is 17 and Klara is 12 when their mother dies suddenly. They quickly discover that she was murdered by their stepfather and soon he is after them as well so he can have their fortune. Their Aunt Josephine, who is their guardian sends them to live with her brother Otta and his family in Australia.

Adela becomes a movie director in the silent movie era and with the help of her husband Freddie is successful. Tradegy strikes a few times and their lives change.

It was a pretty good story but I didn't enjoy it as much as the earlier books I read by Belinda Alexandra "Wild Lavender" and "White Gardenia"

Los lazos entre hermanas son tan fuertes que lo que les sucede puede correr el riesgo de repetirse generación tras generación.
¿Qué hacer si lo que les pasa a tus hijas te recuerda a tu propia historia y a la de tu hermana?
¿Y si esa historia está rodeada de misterio, muerte y un amor imposible?