Reddit Reddit: Walking on Trampolines

Reddit Reddit

Walking on Trampolines by Frances Whiting

Available for $22.50 via Booktopia

Published by Pan McMillan Australia

From the publisher: ’Tallulah de Longland,’ she said slowly, letting all the Ls in my name loll about lazily in her mouth before passing judgement. ‘That,’ she announced, ‘is a seriously glamorgeous name.’

From the day Annabelle Andrews sashays into her classroom, Tallulah ‘Lulu’ de Longland is bewitched by Annabelle, by her family, and their sprawling, crumbling house tumbling down to the river.

Their unlikely friendship intensifies through a secret language where they share confidences about their unusual mothers, first loves and growing up in the small, coastal town of Juniper Bay. Their lives become as entwined as Annabelle’s initials engraved beneath the de Longland kitchen table.

But the euphoria of youth rarely lasts and the implosion that destroys their friendship leaves lasting scars and a legacy of self-doubt that haunts Lulu into adulthood.

Years later, Lulu is presented with a choice: remain the perpetual good girl who misses out, or finally step out from the shadows and do something extraordinary. And possibly unforgiveable”.

“Glamorgeous”? Well how about Absopletely, Amazible, or Conniptionary? These are just some of the words Tallulah (Lulu) and Annabelle use in their own personal language, in this first novel by a very talented writer. What delicious words they create!

I’ve enjoyed Frances Whiting’s columns and was prepared to enjoy her novel; I was not disappointed. Here is a book with many themes all of them well developed and all of which meld together beautifully. I love both sets of parents, Rose and Harry (Lulu) and Frank and Anna (Annabelle); both couples are very different and as written are unique and so very likeable.

Lulu’s boss Duncan, aka “Platinum tonsils” is wonderful character and I had many a giggle reading about his exploits. Under the bluster, he is a perceptive and lovable person, a statement his 4 ex wives would endorse. He reminded me of a favourite former employer.

There are a number of love stories in the pages of Walking on Trampolines and there scope is wide; temporary, permanent, young, mature and platonic.

From columnist to novelist is a seemingly huge step, but Frances Whiting has easily crossed the line. I thoroughly enjoyed her first novel and eagerly await her second.

How good are our Australian women authors? Without naming names (and omitting someone who should be included), we can read with pride a plethora of new Australian women writers. They have taken up the challenge inherited from the women who lead the way and are creating a new inheritance for future generations.

We’ve reviewed and recommended quite a few in Reddit Reddit and via the Starts at Sixty Book Club and there are many more to be found. October and November are the months for new releases, over all genres, in time for Christmas.  Please support Australian authors, male and female; their books rank among the best you will find anywhere in the world. If your reading preference is for excellent biographies, chic lit, young adult, humour, crime, thrillers, adult fiction, history, childrens’ books, etc etc, Australian writers can, and do, write it all. AND they write it very well! Frances Whiting is one of these authors.

Reddit rating – 

About the Authors

Frances Whiting is Queensland’s favourite and best-known female columnist. For over a decade, her weekly column in the Sunday Mail has engaged her readers in the highs, lows and unique absurdities of life. She is also Associate Editor of the Sunday Mail and Senior Feature writer for Q Weekend in the Courier-Mail.

Married with two children, when she gets the time Frances plays the guitar (badly) and surfs (also badly). She has published two collections of her columns, Oh To Be A Marching Girl, and That’s A Home Run, Tiger! Walking on Trampolines is Frances’s first novel.