Bones to Ashes

I've finished Bones to Ashes by Kathy Reichs and found it very disappointing - boring even. Forensic investigator, Tempe Brennan, seems obsessed with finding out what happened to a childhood friend, Evangeline, who suddenly "disappeared". This friend has a sister Obeline. Now that everyone is "grown up" Brennan is given a skeleton to examine and possibly identify and she starts to imagine it might be Evangeline. Brennan's "boyfriend" policeman, Ryan, has a number of disappearances and murders of young girls which all seem to be connected. Brennan's sister, Harry, comes on the scene and together they find Obeline, who tells them Evangeline was murdered many years previously. In the end, the truth is unconvered, but who really cares!! 2/5

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson was such a fantastic book!! The story builds slowly, about an old man, Henrik Vanger, from the corporate world who wants to know, before he dies, what happened to his beloved niece, Harriet, who disappeared in mysterious circumstances 35 years earlier. Vanger hires disgraced investigative journalist, Mikael Blomkvist, who recently lost a libel case brought by billionaire financier Wennerstrom. Blomkvist is still determined to expose Wennerstrom but is forced to "lay low" for a while so uses this time to investigate Harriet Vanger's disappearance. Some time into the investigation, computer hacker Lisbeth Salander, is brought in to help and the clues unfold with totally unexpected results. This is a brilliant story, well written - so the author's untimely death is a blow to readers. This book is the first of a trilogy which was written before his death so we at least have two more books to look forward to. 5/5.

The Forgotten Children

I was quite disturbed by The Forgotten Children - Fairbridge Farm School and Its Betrayal of Australia's Child Migrants by David Hill as I found it hard to comprehend that children, and some were very young, could be treated so poorly. The farm school was established in 1938 and continued into the 1970s with its aim to bring impoverished British children out to a better life in Australia. Not all were orphans, and some parents were persuaded to hand over guardianship of their children to this scheme "for their own good". However, the reality was far removed from the way the scheme was presented. Children as young as four were brought to this harsh environment where hard work on the farm took priority over emotional needs. They lived in barracks, ate from metal plates, did not wear shoes, suffered severe punishments, worked long days and had minimal education. The aim was to make the boys "farmers" and the girls "farmers' wives" but they mainly became labourers and servants after the leaving the farm school and found it difficult to adjust socially and emotionally on the "outside". David Hill and his two brothers came out in the 1950s but they were fortunate because their mother came out later and they were reunited. David did not experience much of the suffering that others did so his story is not typical. He researched the archives of the instigators of the scheme and other records to give the reader a complete picture of this blot on our history. It is well written and researched and uses oral history to tell the story of many of the individuals who went through Fairbridge. An enlightening read that makes you wonder how this escaped the notice of fair-minded people at the time. 4 1/2/5.

March Book Club

We had a lovely meeting at Vee's place last night and she gave us a delicious supper - the cherry cake was wonderful! Sandy is gearing up (bought a lovely new dress) for her daughter's wedding in April in the Cook Islands - how romantic!! Leonie may be off to Asia to fulfil a dream. Marilyn has a very busy month ahead with travel and her Mum's 90th birthday!! Marilyn may be off to Brazil after all, so an exciting time for her. Sadly, Di was not well enough to come last night - we hope she will be well soon. Liz is enjoying retirement as well as some relieving work - much less pressure. We all read some great books and Vee bought some great news ones including The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo which received a great review on the weekend.