A Month of Sundays- Liz Byrski

A Month of Sundays – Liz Byrski

Liz Byrski has written a beautiful novel about the joy and
comfort reading a good book can bring to us all.
For over ten years, Ros, Adele, Judy and Simone have been in an online book club, but they have never met face to face. Until now…
Determined to enjoy her imminent retirement, Adele invites her fellow bibliophiles to help her house-sit in the Blue Mountains. It’s a tantalising opportunity to spend a month walking in the fresh air, napping by the fire and, of course, reading and talking about books.
But these aren’t just any books: each member has been asked to choose a book which will teach the others more about her. And with each woman facing a crossroads in her life, it turns out there’s a lot for them to learn, not just about their fellow book-clubbers, but also about themselves.

“Byrski…is by turns turbulent and tender. Her characters are portrayed as…warm, funny flawed heroes grappling with the cards destiny has dealt them.” – West Australian

“…reflective, warm and wise…” – Weekly Times

“Liz Byrski has a guaranteed cheer squad for her novels which champion…women taking charge of their
life and growing old creatively.” – Daily Telegraph

My Review of A Month of Sundays

(5 / 5)

I must admit that when I first started this book, I was afraid that I might not like it. The blurb felt a little bit old for me, and there wasn’t too much appeal about a group of older women discussing books that they have read. But oh how wrong I was! This was one of the most delightful, yet deep and thoughtful books that I have read in a very long time. One of those rare ones that actually make you stop and evaluate how you are feeling about your life, and leave you with warm fuzzy feelings throughout, and a bit of emptiness after finishing the last page, and realising it is over.

Four retiring-aged women, Adele, Ros, Judy and Simone have been in an online book club for years. They enjoy the weekly Skype catch up’s, but have never met each other face to face. When Adele agrees to house sit in the Blue Mountains, she invites them all to join her for a whole month. She gets all of them to choose one book that will help the others get to know them, and to bring three copies. Each Sunday they will discuss the book, and enjoy the sights and relaxation of the Blue Mountains in the meantime. Excited and nervous about finally meeting each other in person, the four of them make their way from different parts of the country, to the cottage in the Blue Mountains.

From the beginning I realised there was going to be something magical about this book. From the moment they met each other in the house I struggled to put this book down. The writing is absolutely wonderful. The atmosphere in the cottage is so comforting, I could almost feel it through the pages. I was so at ease with the characters that Byrski created that they felt like old friends.

I absolutely loved the concept of how they chose a book a week and related it back to their life. It worked wonderfully. The tone and relevance of the discussions that the characters had about each book flowed flawlessly and at times I was quite taken back by the depth of the conversations and somehow the writing made me reflect on my own life in relevance to what they were talking about.

It had some delightfully funny laugh-out-loud moments, and also some more sombre ones.

I’m not going to talk about the books that they chose because part of the magic of this story was the anticipation of what the book was, the reveal was almost like a climactic event to each character, it would totally spoil it to look them up first. I found myself so excited to see what book each woman chose, and even though I hadn’t read most of them I could still relate to their discussions about it. And then I was surprised that I had actually read the last book, and could relate even more to what they were talking about because I had experienced similar feelings as I had read it.

What a fabulous story, for the young and young-at-heart alike!

Would I recommend A Month of Sundays?

Absolutely! There was something wonderful about the writing. I am very interested to give her other books a try.

Many thanks to Pan Macmillan Australia for a copy of A Month of Sundays to review!

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Liz Byrski is the author of nine novels and a number of non-fiction books. She has worked as a freelance journalist, a broadcaster with ABC Radio and an advisor to a minister in the Western Australian Government. Liz has a PhD in writing from Curtin University, where she is the Director of the China Australia Writing Centre.