El Dorado by Dorothy Porter

El Dorado (2007) was the final verse novel written by Dorothy Porter before her death in 2008.

It's another dark crime story with a psychological twist, but unlike Monkey Mask, her earliest work, this one is set in Melbourne.
We follow Detective Inspector Bill Buchanan in his attempt to solve a spate of child killings. He calls in his childhood friend Cath (now a successful Hollywood mover & shaker) to help with some of the more curious details of the murders.

The writing is crisp, clean & evocative. But I have to admit it wasn't as gritty, lucid or as passionate as Monkey Mask.
MM got under my skin in major way. It moved me, it captured my attention and took me along for the ride, big time.

I enjoyed El Dorado but it didn't sweep me up and carry me away like I was expecting... or hoping.... but maybe my expectations were impossibly high.

You could also say that El Dorado was more polished - a mature story compared to the raw, soul-searing newness of Monkey Mask. It was still full of wonderful imagery as only a verse novel can achieve (that continues to linger days after I finished reading it). Porter also had lots of interesting commentary about the aging process & the impact of childhood memories.

Falling in love also gets a look-in as Cath describes that crazy feeling...

my heart is falling
into her beautiful face

my heart is tearing open
its presents
in a giddying storm
of Christmas beetles' wings.

As well as love of Sydney...(you can take the girl out of Sydney but not Sydney out of the girl...)

And his Sydney had always
loved him lavishly back.

The arching surrender
of her scorching blue skies,
the silky shiver
of her rolling-him-over
surf.

Her beautiful smell.
The Harbour on a hot midnight
oozing ferry diesel and oily green water
while glowing Luna Park
sprawled and clutched
like a drunk date.

Oh Sydney.

The ending felt a little rushed with a whoosh of smoke and mirrors, but sometimes tying everything up in a pretty bow isn't the thing to do.

This post is part of the Australian Women's Writers Challenge & also part of the Birthday Reading Challange as Dorothy Porter's birthday is today, the 26th March 1954. Happy Birthday Dot!

The Head of the Saint by Socorro Acioli

Well!

The treasures you find lurking at the bottom of your TBR pile!

To clarify, I have several TBR piles.

My Australian & International fiction & non-fiction are hidden discretely behind the mirror in my bedroom (this pile is the biggest. Did I say biggest? I mean out of control!)
My classic TBR's are shelved on the bookshelf already (they are definite keepers to be read and reread over my lifetime.)
My kids and YA TBR pile is on my computer desk (with another box hidden under the table!)

The Head of the Saint was on the bottom of the pile on my desk.

But is it teen/YA fiction?

I know that publishers like to market books by genre and who will read it. But The Head of the Saint is going to be one of those books that defies any kind of pigeon-holing.
Perhaps like Jasper Jones and The Book Thief and even To Kill a Mockingbird, this is one of those stories that fits everywhere and nowhere all at once.

It is very embedded in its setting - Brazilian - hot, poor, chaotic - full of priests, saints and mysterious events.

It follows the basic tenets of a coming-of-age story - a young boy orphaned when his mother dies, leaving him with an address with which to find his father.

There's a road trip full of hunger, despair and hardship.

There's some gorgeous writing that survives the translation process:

"she took Mariinha in with a hug that was silent but filled with all the words the girl needed to hear."

"The tune unlocked something in Samuel's chect, a drawer full of ancient dreams."

It's also a love story about family, friendship, belonging, truth and lies.

Stunning lino cuts by Alexis Snell adorn the beginning of each chapter and the cover.

It also boasts an author who was personally selected by Gabriel Garcia Marquez during the 2006 'How to tell a Story' workshop in Cuba for the synopsis of this story. An author who won Brazil's Jabuti Prize - a prestigious prize for children's literature.
An author who I thought was a man until the last few chapters (when I flipped ahead to read the author and translator bio's at the back).

I would recommend this book to anyone of any age who loves a well told, well written story that makes your heart sing. I, personally, couldn't put it down.

The Head of the Saint fulfills one of my birthday month RC books for February.
Socorro was born on the 24th February, 1975 in Forteleza, Ceará, Brazil.

Butterfly by Sonya Hartnett

I've just realised that I've had a butterfly theme going on with my reading this week.

First Euphoria with the butterflies across the cover (see review below), then Butterfly by Hartnett and now, this weekend, I've been browsing through the launch issue of Womankind magazine...with its gorgeous cover of Simone de Beauvoir made from butterflies.

Metamorphosis and fleeting glimpses of life have been the common themes in all three.

In Butterfly we see young 14 yr old Plum Coyle flutter around, trying to find where she belongs and discover her power.

Set in the late 70's, this world is instantly recognisable to me. I get the pop culture references and staright away I'm back there...a not quite 14 yr old too tall, too sensitive and trying not to care.

I wasn't really in the mood for a coming of age story when I picked this one up; and I usually prefer Hartnett's more fable like stories; so I approached it a little reluctantly.

But the thing about Hartnett is that she has a sly and subtle way of getting under my skin.

Even when I'm feeling resisitant or distracted, a few pages into her world & I'm hooked - just like that!

And I soon feel the need to finish her story in one greedy gulp.

Hartnett's stories do not contain a lot of action. The drama is internal and psychological in nature. It's the every day pains and heart aches and vulnerabilities that Harnett explores so well.

Plum's awkwardness and insecurities open up a vein to one's own teenage angst. It's uncomfortable reading...tinged with a sense of relief that one is finally past all that.

Except for Maureen that is. The lonely stay-at-home neighbour who has reached the supposed security of adult life, only to realise it's not all she had hope for.

As Maureen helps Plum to find her wings, she sees her own dreams and hopes flutter away.

However like all Hartnett's stories, there is a hint of something more mysterious. This is not just a real-life suburban story. There is a suggestion of something supernatural; magical moments appear to hover just out of reach.
And an ambigious ending hints at dangerous, even violent possibilities (if anyone would like to discuss the ending please attach a spoiler alert in your comment and do so! I would love to dissect what happened.)

Butterfly was shortlisted for the 2010 Miles Franklin Award which I confess I find a little curious.
As much as I enjoyed it & love Hartnett's writing, Butterfly doesn't fit the usual Miles Franklin mold.

Butterfly fulfills one of my birthday month RC books for February.
Sonya was born 23rd february, 1968 in Boxhill, Melbourne.