A Book Review.
I’d already begun reading by the time I learnt Jewel of the North was the last title in the Flinders Ranges trilogy. Having deemed it too late to turn back, I continued on as I was already hooked on the characters and eager to learn more about them. The story’s timeline began in July 1894 and made minimal reference to the historical events prior to this time.
Reading this novel brought back many memories of having grown up during a drought in central west N.S.W. Although this story is primarily set with the characters ‘living on the land’ whilst I was a ‘townie’, I could still resonate with common drought occurrences such as major dust storms, long hot dry days, lowered water levels in dams/rivers and longing for drought breaking rains.
Whilst reading Jewel in the North I found that I was internally talking at and to the characters, I’ve never noticed myself do this before, so as a first, I wrote down these thoughts and nestled them in the edges of the paragraphs. Once I started doing this, I found I became extremely opinionated and from there an immense like/dislike division of characters occurred. My favourite character would be Laura, although she was the youngest Wiltshire, I didn’t hold this against her. As she aged, she became a true Cinderella and found her Prince Charming, unfortunately this line of the story ended in an unexpected way which had me tearing up, but it was one of those happiness from sadness moments and served the overall story line well.
My immense dislike for the Wiltshire men intensified throughout the course of the novel, but when they received their ‘just desserts’ at the end, I couldn’t help but cheer out loud with a triumphant ‘sucked in, that’s what you get.’ Childish? perhaps, necessary? Absolutely!
When I met Georgina and witnessed the oft occurring clashes between Charles and William, I wondered whether she may in fact be the ‘jewel’, however, I am still unsure. The ‘jewel’ may have as easily been referring to the single diamond found by William’s father, Joseph, before this title. Georgina, although fancied by wealthier man, Charles, she remained true to her morals and chose true love above social status.
There were many historical issues raised throughout the story and at times felt like history class, entirely
beneficial in order to understand the flow of the story and beautifully reflects the depth of research that Stringer would have conducted for the novel. At times I found myself backtracking to check the date of the chapter, the inconsistent passing of time had me a little confuddled, but this was my oversight, I’d forget to read it before starting the chapter. My suggestion would be – DON’T FORGET TO READ THE DATE (insert forehead slap emoji here) the timeline was of great importance to understand the events and why they occurred at that point in time.
I am eager to read more of Tricia Stringer novels and perhaps start with the other two books from this series, Dust on the Horizon and Heart of the Country.
Comentários