Cate Kennedy - The World Beneath

12th December - 17th December
And now for something completely different. None of the books I had on order from the library were in so I was forced to actually go to the library and peruse the shelves, Rastrick library is a bit little so that can sometimes be a fruitless exercise but this time I did quite well. In case you are interested I am a firm believe that in the case of books the old adage "you can never judge a book by its cover" is completely wrong. I have only ever picked up books that I liked the cover of and it works pretty well for me. This time was no exception. Quick precis; 1980's Sandy and Rich are environmental campaigners and very in love. Twenty five years later they are seperated, middle aged and their only connection is their daughter Sophie. Rich decides that a good way of gettng to know Sophie is to take her on a six day hike in Tasmania (crap dad award or what, what about 6 days laying by a pool in Dubai for godsake?). The book is narrated by Rich, Sandy and Sophie and I have quite enjoyed it. The whole mid-life rut thing is a bit cliched and am not sure why I feel the need to read about it when I am living it! To be honest thinking about it more carefully to write this review has made me realise that really all three main characters are very stereotypical, Sandy with her feckless hippy lifestyle and aromatherapy oils, Rich failed photo-journalist with a penchant for young women and a pony tail (big neon sign saying "sad loser" on his head) and Sophie anorexic goth, product of a broken home - see where I am going with this, the characters are exactly the type of characters you would pick as metaphors for people of their age and gender having some kind of a crisis, hope this is making sense?! Whilst its not my usual nerve tingling thriller type read I am desperate to get to the end to find out how everyone's story turns out which is pretty much the point of a book isn't it? Amazon link here just in case you want to read a well written articulate review. Just checked - there aren't any phew!