I write quite a bit about the dangers of the Australian bush, but there’s a reason we all continue to live in it. That reason is love. I keep rediscovering that reason in the writing of Jennifer Scoullar, a horse-mad Aussie who lives on a property right smack dab in the middle of the bush.
You want to get a feel for what rural Australia, and Australians, are like? Read The Memory Tree. This is the review I left on Amazon:
‘
Penny and Matt are married and united in their desire to help save Tasmanian Devils from the terrible cancer that’s decimating their populations in Tasmania. But they both have insecurities, especially Matt whose relationship with his Father has been fiery for years. So when Penny decides to learn the finer points of taxidermy from Matt’s father, she decides to keep it a secret. Just to keep the peace.
And then Matt accidentally kills an animal on the way home one night, a very special animal. For reasons that become apparent as the story unfolds, he can’t tell Penny, and guilt starts to drive a wedge between them. When American geneticist, Sarah, arrives to map the genome of the Devils, the tense situation between husband and wife becomes a whole lot worse.
One of my favourite lines in the entire book is this: ‘Matt froze, but apparently Sarah’s vision wasn’t based on movement.” To me, that line encapsulates Scoullar’s writing perfectly: understated, funny, sharp, intensely vivid. [For those few readers who have never seen Jurassic Park, the deadly T-Rex tracks its victims by movement]
And yet, while Sarah turns out to be a bit of a man-eater when it comes to her love-life, she is utterly dedicated to her work and not a two dimensional villain. In fact, there is not a single character in the entire story that’s two dimensional. Even those with just a walk on part seem to move in 3D, and that capacity to make characters come alive extends to every creature in the book, including the ones with fur and feathers.
The thing that kept me reading long past the point where I should have stopped, however, was the question mark that hung over the story. How could Matt extricate himself from the whopping big hole he’d dug? How could he save the animals he loved without totally betraying Penny and his own integrity? How could a marriage survive so many secrets and lies?
I was prepared for the ending to go either way, so long as there was a resolution that felt /real/. I was not disappointed.
For my money, The Memory Tree is simply the best thing Jennifer Scoullar has ever written, and I hope she continues to write love stories about the bush and the living creatures that inhabit it, no matter how many legs they have.
Very highly recommended.‘
cheers
Meeks
November 18th, 2019 at 1:24 am
An intriguing review, Andrea. This sounds like a worthwhile story with the addition of giving readers a glimpse of the Australian bush (a place I hope to visit someday). Thanks for the recommendation.
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November 18th, 2019 at 10:00 am
I hope you do! Visit that is. And I’m glad I intrigued you just a little. π
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November 16th, 2019 at 11:50 am
It’s a harsh land to love but those who do, fall deeply and completely. π
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November 17th, 2019 at 8:16 am
Yes. I was only a toddler when we arrived in Australia, and it was definitely love. Still is. π
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November 18th, 2019 at 4:04 pm
S’funny how that goes isn’t it? I was 2 when my parents (and I π ) arrived in OZ from England, so I never knew anything else, but for as long as I can remember, and probably before, I always felt like the Northern Hemisphere was ‘home’. π
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November 18th, 2019 at 8:41 pm
So where’s the home of your heart now? Canada?
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November 19th, 2019 at 12:29 pm
Maybe, probably … but I truly won’t be sure until I get back to England. π … the good news is that Canada is a helluva lot closer than Australia.
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November 19th, 2019 at 8:28 pm
True. I didn’t actually /feel/ Australian until I went to Europe for a year when I was 20. I discovered that as lovely as some parts of Europe were, I missed…an odd quality of the light in Oz, and the sense of boundless horizons.
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November 20th, 2019 at 8:24 am
Yep, Oz and Canada – both very big countries with small populations.
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November 20th, 2019 at 9:27 am
lol – remarkably similar in other ways too, I think.
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November 16th, 2019 at 9:03 am
Thanks so much for this thoughtful review!
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November 16th, 2019 at 11:30 am
My pleasure, Jen. π
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November 15th, 2019 at 5:49 pm
Sounds like an interesting read. And thanks for the footnote, as I am among the few who never saw Jurassic Park!
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November 16th, 2019 at 11:41 am
Ooooooh…..really? Not even with the kids?
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November 18th, 2019 at 3:48 am
If memory serves, it was one they watched with their Dad! π
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November 18th, 2019 at 9:59 am
Ah hah… π
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November 15th, 2019 at 11:19 am
Great review… giving enough detail to intrigue without giving the story away. On my list.
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November 15th, 2019 at 3:31 pm
Excellent. Once you can de-stress for a while, I think it’ll help you relax.
I know nothing terrible has happened, but is the danger still high?
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November 15th, 2019 at 3:40 pm
No immediate danger. Watch and Act on Kian side. The other Carrai East side was scaled back to Advice level, then almost immediately escalated to Emergency… it’s the damn wind. Still a waiting game. I always complain I have no time to read novels but now I’m too distracted to do anything else much.
Jennifer Scoullar’s series all sound good.
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November 16th, 2019 at 11:47 am
Ugh, I just can’t imagine how you’re coping with that constant stress and not knowing. Remember to rest as much as possible now in case you need to go super adrenaline spike later.
And yes, Jen’s writing is very good. She’s always loved the bush, despite having been evacuated more than once. She’s the real deal.
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November 16th, 2019 at 12:52 pm
No news is good news… both fires currently Watch and Act and RFS working on containment, therefore smoky, so taking it easy is the only sensible course of action atm.
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November 17th, 2019 at 8:15 am
I’m glad about the ‘take it easy’ part. -hugs-
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November 17th, 2019 at 8:50 am
Good news Meeks. We’re back to Advice level… we can unpack the ute π
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November 17th, 2019 at 9:40 am
Oh thank god!!!!! -dance- I’m so happy. Sending you a virtual bottle of champers and a huge choc mousse cake to celebrate. Give yourselves a hug from me and the Offspring. π
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November 15th, 2019 at 11:10 am
Fabulous review! Adding this one to my TBR. π
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November 15th, 2019 at 3:32 pm
Thanks, Bette. π
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November 15th, 2019 at 8:49 am
As long as the number of legs isn’t 8.
Hugs
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November 15th, 2019 at 10:14 am
lol – in total agreement, David!
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