It is a terrific book, but Sabiha's heart's desire alienated me - I couldn't empathise. ( )

A beautiful gentle story of love and heartache, and keeping on, and staying together. This is the first novel of Alex Miller I have read, and I am keen to discover more of his writings. ( )

Shortly after Ken (an author) meets John, John gets to chatting about his history: the time he spent in Paris (Ken and John now live in Australia), how he met his wife, Sabiha (an immigrant from Tunisia), and their life running a cafe before coming (returning, in John's case) to Australia. There is a small side-story with Ken and his daughter, as well.

I started off liking it, and it still ended ok, but I downgraded my rating slightly because I ended up not really liking any of the characters. I really disliked Sabiha more than anyone else, but I really didn't much like anyone, except maybe Ken. I have a hard time liking a book when I don't like the characters. It's not a fast-paced book. ( )

My first foray into the works of Alex Miller and I think I'll be back for more. I really liked the chapters which were set in the narrator's current life, in which he lived in Melbourne with his adult daughter. I also found significant insights in the sub-plot set in France in which the roles of men, women, mothers and fathers are delineated. I didn't relate so well to the Tunisian cultural references ( )

It seems I have found a 'new' author. I know this guy has been around, and writing for more than 30 years, but I had honestly never heard of him until recently. I'm so glad I did though. This guy can write.

http://wp.me/p1zSnI-4P ( )