As Easter approaches and the temperatures begin to cool, there’s an undeniable appeal to embracing some downtime with a good book.
In this article, we look at five different books so, whether you’re seeking thrilling adventures, thought-provoking insights, heart-warming tales, or inspiration on remodelling your home interior, these books deliver:
Retro Revival; Living with mid-century design, Andrew Weaving
Readers are invited into a world where the timeless allure of retro style thrives. With an unwavering passion for the aesthetic charm of bygone eras, Andrew Weaving embarks on a global journey, uncovering 17 remarkable homes that serve as epitomes of the Retro Revival movement.
If retro is your thing, you’ll love paging through this hardback visually stunning book. You’ll be transported into the heart of mid-century modernism, Scandinavian simplicity, and the extravagant flair of the 1970s. The author skilfully navigates through a tapestry of design influences, from the iconic furniture pieces of Charles and Ray Eames, Arne Jacobsen, and Le Corbusier, to the vibrant textiles of Lucienne Day and the innovative lighting fixtures by Isamu Noguchi.
Each page is a treasure trove of design elements, where minimalist lofts in London coexist harmoniously with the playful chic of Palm Beach in the 1960s. The juxtaposition of sophisticated glamour and pared-down elegance showcases the versatility of Retro Revival, captivating the imagination of design enthusiasts and novices alike.
This is more than just a book – it’s a celebration of nostalgia, creativity, and the timeless elegance of mid-century design – and readers will enjoy a visual feast of retro-inspired interiors and gain insights into the enduring appeal of this design ethos.
Publisher: Ryland Peters & Small RRP $59.99 Website ISBN # 9781788795777
End of Story, A J Finn
“I’ll be dead in three months. Come tell my story.”
Sebastian Trapp, a renowned mystery novelist facing his final days, extends an invitation to Nicky Hunter, an aficionado of detective fiction and his long time pen pal. In a bid to immortalise his life story, Trapp invites Nicky to his opulent San Francisco home, where she is thrust into a world populated by his beautiful second wife, Diana; his wayward nephew, Freddy; and his protective daughter, Madeleine.
Trapp is also a murder suspect and tantalises Nicky with the promise of unravelling old mysteries. Years before, Trapp’s first wife, Hope, and his son Cole disappeared and are presumed dead.
As Nicky delves into the maze that is Sebastian’s past, she grapples with the shadowy truths lurking beneath the surface, while Madeleine’s growing suspicions cast a haunting pall over their investigation. And when a grisly discovery shatters the tranquillity of the Trapp estate, Nicky and Madeleine realise that the past is not merely a distant memory, it’s a chilling spectre waiting to be unearthed.
The ending is unexpected and does raise a number of questions.
The Women, Kristin Hannah
Oh, wow! This was such a powerful, emotional book that I didn’t want to put it down.
It centres on the experience of women in Vietnam – in this instance, the military nurses who worked under fire, on bases and in field hospitals, to patch soldiers back together. Or not.
In 1966, after her adored older brother leaves for Vietnam, San Diego debutante Frances “Frankie” McGrath is inspired to enlist as an Army nurse. “Women can be heroes, too,” her brother’s friend tells her. Frankie laughs.
Dumped in-country without adequate training, Frankie has to learn the ropes very quickly. Seasoned nurses and battle-scarred male doctors propel her past internalised insecurities with no-nonsense encouragement: “Damn it, McGrath! We don’t have time for fear. You’re good enough. Do it!”
Within months, Frankie becomes an experienced trauma nurse and confronts the horrors of gut wounds and napalm with courage and compassion all the while raging against the naïve indifference of her family and friends back home. She also attracts the devotion of handsome, tormented, unexpectedly married men.
The author is a master storyteller and hooks you in and recreates the horror of Vietnam so convincingly that you feel you are right there, witnessing it all. She draws the reader right in to the combat zone with visceral details and moments of coping in spite of the horrors everywhere. Whether Frankie’s swooping above the jungle aboard a Huey helicopter being peppered by sniper fire, performing an emergency tracheotomy during a mortar attack or sipping a Fresca in the O Club afterward, the reader experiences it all.
After a year in Nam, Frankie returns home and is spat upon and treated appallingly. Her parents have told friends that Frankie has been studying overseas rather than admit she has been in Vietnam. It’s no surprise that Frankie returns to Nam for a second tour.
Finally, Frankie comes home for good but battles to settle. Everyone is against the returning Vets. She is suffering from PTSD and because America denied there were any American women in Nam, she is denied any help or assistance.
Thankfully, today, the Vietnam Women’s Memorial Foundation states that approximately 10,000 American military women were stationed in Vietnam during the war. Most were nurses.
The Silence in Her Eyes, Armando Lucas Correa
Leah’s life has been shaped by a childhood head injury, leaving her with akinetopsia, or motion blindness, for the past twenty years. Despite this challenge, she navigates her Upper Manhattan neighbourhood with precision, her white stick tapping ahead. While many assume she’s blind, Leah possesses a unique perception, heightened by her acute senses of smell and hearing.
Her world, marked by solitude and routine, is disrupted when Alice becomes her new neighbour. Sensing Alice’s distress, Leah’s curiosity leads her into the tumult of her neighbour’s life. As events unfold, Leah finds herself confronting danger within her own home, grappling with unsettling encounters that blur the line between reality and nightmare.
Through twists and turns, the story explores themes of courage, resilience, and the limits of perception.
The ending is very unexpected!
Only If You’re Lucky, Stacy Willingham
Margot, a college student, was obsessed with her former best friend, Eliza, who died tragically and is now obsessed with her current BFF, Lucy.
Lucy Sharpe is larger than life. Magnetic, addictive. Bold and dangerous. Especially for Margot, who meets Lucy at the end of their freshman year at a liberal arts college in South Carolina. Margot is the shy one, the careful one, always the sidekick and never the centre of attention. But when Lucy singles her out at the end of the year and extends an invitation to room together, Margot’s quiet existence is upended, giving way to a year filled with unexpected twists and turns.
And so Margot finds herself living in an off-campus house with three other girls, Lucy, the ringleader; Sloane, the sarcastic one; and Nicole, the nice one, the three of them opposites but also deeply intertwined. It’s a year that finds
Margot finally coming out of the shell she’s been in since the end of high school but by the middle of their sophomore year, one of the fraternity boys from the house next door is brutally murdered… and Lucy Sharpe is missing without a trace.
This is a tantalising thriller and a chilling look into female friendships – the lies we tell, loyalty, betrayal, the secrets we keep and how much we can ever know those closest to us.
