More importantly there's the relationships between them, between Elsie and her children, between Lucy and the other members of her family, and between Elsie and Lucy - a relationship that is essentially psychic, to do with memories of place, and which might be less convincing were Hay's writing not so calm and direct.īut the main character in the book is Brisbane - actually, two Brisbanes, 50 years apart, culturally different in so many ways, yet both sticky, subtropical, and prone to flooding.Įlsie lives through the flood of 1974 Lucy the flood of 2010–11. There's Elsie Gormley, 89 years old and recently moved to an aged-care home, and Lucy, her husband and young son, who have bought Elsie's house of 60 years.

Some of her subjects are characters, of course.

A Hundred Small Lessons by Ashley Hayīecause Ashley Hay's writing is so simple and precise, at first you fail to notice how powerful it is.Ī bit like George Orwell's ideal of writing as a pane of glass - something you don't see, but see through - Hay's prose reveals her subjects with remarkable clarity.

Patricia Karvelas is the presenter of RN Drive and one half of the podcast The Party Room.

Her reworked and reimagined version is just as relentless and gripping. Haynes describes the Oedipus myth as 'a relentless piece of storytelling'. She breathes new life into the Greek myths, taking the Oedipus story and rewriting it as a novel - a contentious move that may push the buttons of purists, but is delivered effortlessly. Haynes takes us to Thebes in the Bronze Age, but has found a way to make the story both contemporary as well as keeping it true to its classic form. In alternate chapters, Haynes tells the parallel stories of the women living in a palace full of mystique and danger. This is a blatantly feminist retelling, focused on the women characters. It's also told through Ismene, one of the daughters of Jocasta, who is given very few lines in the original tale.

The story is told through the voice of Jocasta, the mother of Oedipus, who is just 15 when she is forced to marry the King of Thebes.

List of best books to read 2017