Reddit Reddit: Two beautiful books by Susan Duncan
Today, in Reddit Reddit we review two entertaining books by Susan Duncan, both of which come well recommended…
The Briny Cafe, Susan Duncan
The Briny Café is the first novel in what I sincerely hope will become a series for author Susan Duncan; there is already a sequel Gone Fishing which I have separately reviewed for Starts at Sixty Bookies. These novels can be read and enjoyed alone, but I read them in order, for me this increased the enjoyment.
The Briny Café is located in the fictional Cooks Basin, but Susan Duncan reveals in notes that whilst this is a work of fiction, it owes a good deal to the beautiful offshore islands of Pittwater, New South Wales.
In the early 1990s, friends lived on one of these offshore islands and in many ways theirs was an idyllic lifestyle, working in the city then returning to peace and quiet each night. A tinnie was not an optional extra but a necessity as their home was infrequently serviced by a public ferry, or “on demand” by efficient, but expensive, water taxi.
Not in Pittwater, but in the Hawkesbury River Basin (also in NSW) there was a little ferry post where an unpretentious café served the most wonderful fish and chips. Between them, these memories had me feeling at home in the physical setting of the novel. Even if you have never been to Pittwater, however, Susan paints a clear picture of the environment and the characters that inhabit it.
When we first meet The Briny Café it serves questionable coffee, even more questionable “eats” in less than salubrious surroundings; not that many people notice these shortcomings, the view is just too beautiful. It changes hands and Ettie, the new owner cleans it up, changes the menu and to the surprise of the locals takes in a new resident, Kate as her partner. Is Kate a stayer or just a blow-in? I’m not going to tell you, nor am I telling how the Briny changes hands; no spoilers here!
But the novel is not only about the building; it is about the people who choose to live in the Cook Basin. These people value their surroundings but more they value each other; they take care of each other. Don’t come here peddling your drugs, we can make your life very uncomfortable. If you get caught in a storm, know that the Misses Skettle are watching through their binoculars and will either get Sam, the bargeman, or the Water Police to come to your rescue – it’s that type of place.
Again, I have really enjoyed The Briny Café, by Susan Duncan and have no hesitation in recommending you another good read.
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Gone Fishing, Susan Duncan
Published by Random House Australia, 1 October 2013
I’m having so much fun reading new releases at present due in no small part to my latest read from Random House Australia, Gone Fishing by Susan Duncan.
This is only Susan’s second novel, although she won the 2007 Nielsen BookData Booksellers Choice Award for her memoir, Salvation Creek. If her name seems familiar however it’s because she is a former editor of The Australian Women’s Weekly and New Idea.
It’s probably Susan’s background which lends such a chatty, easy-reading style to Gone Fishing but this is no fluff and kerfuffle story; it embodies deep themes of conservation, “we the people” pitting ourselves against big business/government, and the power of the media, good and bad.
The novel is played out against the beautiful background of the offshore islands in the New South Wales area of Pittwater. Despite the islanders taking on the fight of their lives, “makin’ history”, the people are never obscured by the story. Using the Briny Café as the central meeting place for islanders we get to know Ettie, Marcus, Jimmy, Sam, Kate the Misses Skettle and so many more characters who inhabit the fictional islands.
Interwoven with the fictional characters is Jack Munday, a name and personality very familiar to “Starts at Sixty” readers, who gave permission to the author to “fictionalise” one of his many conservation battles. In her disclaimer at the end of the book, Susan sets the fiction firmly into reality and introduces us to the real persons, location and events included in the novel, including her late husband, represented by journalist Paul Delaney. There are also recipes for Ettie’s meals served in The Briny Café.
Thoroughly recommend this novel, its predecessor The Briny Café and look forward to more from Susan Duncan.
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About the Author
Susan Duncan enjoyed a 25-year career spanning radio, newspaper and magazine journalism, including editing two of Australia’s top selling women’s magazines, The Australian Women’s Weekly and New Idea. She now lives in her own patch of offshore paradise, Pittwater, with her second husband, Bob, in the beautiful home built for poet Dorothea Mackellar in 1925.
Susan’s bestselling memoir, Salvation Creek won the 2007 Nielsen BookData Booksellers Choice Award and was shortlisted for the prestigious Dobbie Award, part of the Nita B Kibble awards for women writers. Its sequel, The House at Salvation Creek, was also a huge bestseller.
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