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Hello, it's Francis Keyland and welcome to Hear This on Vision Australia Radio. This is the Vision Australia Library and Information Services program where we talk about books in the Vision Australia library collection. I've got a really interesting array of book samples and a little bit of information about the authors on today's show, so I do hope you enjoy. Our first book today is called Before the Coffee Gets Cold. It's by a Japanese author, Toshi Kazu Kawaguchi. Down an alleyway in the heart of Tokyo. There is an underground cafe that's been serving carefully brewed coffee for over a hundred years. Legend says that this coffee shop offers its customers the chance to travel travel back in time. The rules, however, are not simple. You must sit in one particular seat at one particular time of day. You can't venture outside the cafe, nor can you change the present. And most importantly, you have only the time it takes to drink a cup of hot coffee or risk getting stuck forever. Let's hear a sample of Before the Coffee Gets Cold by Toshi Kazu Kawaguchi. It's narrated by Erina Lee.
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Oh gosh, is that the time? Sorry, I have to go. The man mumbled evasively as he stood up and reached for his bag. Hai, the woman said. She glared with uncertainty. She hadn't heard him say it was over, but he had called her his girlfriend of three years to come out for a serious conversation. And now he had suddenly announced he was going to work in America. He was to leave immediately in a few hours. Even without hearing those words. She knew now that the serious conversation was about breaking up. She knew now it was a mistake to have thought, to have hoped that the serious conversation might have included. Will you marry me, for example? What? The man responded dryly. He didn't make eye contact with her. Don't I deserve an explanation? She asked. The woman spoke using an integrative tone. The man particularly disliked. They were in a windowless basement cafe. The lighting was provided by just six shaded lamps hanging from the ceiling, and a single wall lamp near the entrance. A permanent sepia hue stained the cafe interior. Without a clock, there was no way to tell night and day.
And that was before the coffee gets cold. By Toshi Kazu Kawaguchi. Ah, the first name is spelled Toshi. Kazuo. Toshi. Kazu. The surname Kawaguchi is Kawaguchi. Kawaguchi. And that book goes for seven hours nearly. It comes under the categories the library is categorized at, under literature and fiction, but also science fiction and fantasy. In the novel, there are four visitors, each of whom is hoping to make use of this cafe's time traveling offer. The author was born in Osaka, Japan in 1971, and this book started out as a play and was published as a play in 2010 or performed as a play, and was adapted into this novel in 2015. It has four out of five stars on Amazon.com. Reviews. Um and 93% of Google users liked this book, and the genre it falls into has also been described as magic realism and time travel fiction. The story has been called beautiful and moving, and explores the age old question what would you change if you could travel back in time?
The next couple of books take us to mystery crime, um, psychological fiction. The first one is The Housemaid by Frieda McFadden. Welcome to the family, Nina Winchester says as I shake her elegant, manicured hand. I smile politely, gazing around the marble hallway. Working here is my last chance to start fresh. I can pretend to be whoever I like, but I'll soon learn that the Winchester's secrets are far more dangerous than my own. Every day I clean the Winchester's beautiful house, top to bottom. I collect their daughter from school, and I cook a delicious meal for the whole family before heading up to eat alone in my tiny room on the top floor. I try to ignore how Nina makes a mess just to watch me clean it up, how she tells strange lies about her own daughter, and how her husband Andrew seems more broken every day. But as I look into Andrew's handsome brown eyes so full of pain, it's hard not to imagine what it would be like to live Nina's life. The walk in closet, the fancy car, the perfect husband. I only try on one of Nina's pristine white dresses once just to see what it's like, but she soon finds out. And by the time I realize my attic bedroom door only locks from the outside, it's far too late. But I reassure myself the Winchesters don't know who I really am. Let's hear a sample of the House made by Frieda McFadden. It's narrated by Lauren Altman.
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Tell me about yourself, Millie. Nina Winchester leans forward on her caramel colored leather sofa. Her legs crossed, reveal just the slightest hint of her knees peeking out under her silky white skirt. I don't know much about labels, but it's obvious everything Nina Winchester is wearing is painfully expensive. Her cream blouse makes me long to reach out to feel the material, even though a move like that would mean I'd have no chance of getting hired. To be fair, I have no chance of getting hired anyway. Well, I begin choosing my words carefully, even after all the rejections. I still try. I grew up in Brooklyn. I've had a lot of jobs doing housework for people, as you can see from my resume. My carefully doctored resume. And I love children. And also I glance around the room looking for a doggy chew toy or a cat litter box. I love pets as well. The online ad for the housekeeper job. Didn't mention pets, but better to be safe. Who doesn't appreciate an animal lover? Brooklyn. Mrs. Winchester beams at me. I grew up in Brooklyn, too. We're practically neighbors. We are. I confirm, even though nothing could be further from the truth, there are plenty of coveted neighborhoods in Brooklyn where you'll fork over an arm and a leg for a tiny townhouse. That's not where I grew up.
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And that was a sample of the gripping the House made by Frieda McFadden. And that book goes for nine hours and 46 minutes. Frida is spelled Frida. Frida. McFadden is McFadden [spells the name]. And that book also comes under literature. In fiction and also mystery and thrillers in the library category categories. And there's also part two, The Housemaids Secret and Never Lie by Frieda McFerrin one by one. Oh, there's actually quite a lot of by hers now that I'm looking in the in the collection. Well that's good. So there's about seven books by her. All of them are mystery psychological fiction, thrillers. Frida McFadden, um, is an American author and practicing physician specializing in brain injury. And she's from New York. Uh. The housemaid is a 2022 book published and was an international bestseller, and a movie adaptation of the book is about to be, um, started. The Housemaids Secret won the 2023 International Thriller Writers Awards and also the 2023 Goodreads Choice Award. There's a website here called crime by the book. Crime by the book. Com and they say if a popcorn thriller spin on psycho sounds up your alley, reader and McFadden's books will not disappoint.
The next book has a similar title. It is The Housemate, and it's by Australia's Sarah Bailey. Dubbed the housemate homicide, it's a mystery that has baffled Australians for almost a decade. Melbourne based journalist Olive Groves worked on the story as a junior reporter and became obsessed by the case. Now, nine years later, the missing housemate turns up dead on a remote property. Oliver's once again assigned to the story, this time reluctantly paired with precocious millennial podcaster Cooper New. As Ollie and Cooper unearth new facts about the three housemates, a dark web of secrets is uncovered. The revelations catapult Olive back to the death of the first housemate, forcing her to confront past traumas and insecurities that have risen to the surface again. What really happened between the three housemates that night will always relentless search for the murderer. Put her new family in danger and cut her suspicion that the truth lies closer to home, threaten her happiness and even her sanity. Let's hear a sample of The Housemate by Sarah Bailey. It's narrated by Felicity Jude...
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The Scream is sharp and close. Ollie is dreaming a complicated narrative that is partly about a story she is working on, partly about hiding in her childhood bedroom. She can't summon a word she needs for the article. She's terrified she will just blurted out when it comes to her, but she doesn't want to be found. Please don't let him find me, she begs, clutching her sister as the scream reaches her ears and dismantles the dream. The scene twists and blurs into a messy whirlpool, then disappears. She blinks, confused as her gaze settles on the dark bedroom. It's hot, her singlet and underpants sticking to her skin, and her long hair is damp with sweat. Dean has left the heater on again, her heart thrums and her fingers go to her wrist. The old childhood routine so ingrained it's become instinct. She counts to the beat of her pulse. One. Two. Three. Four. It's okay. Just breathe. She presses her fingers more firmly into her flesh. Feels calmer. One. Two. Three. Four. Shadows jostle across the white walls. It's still windy outside. She scans the closed wardrobe doors, the distinctive shape of the Eames chair near the window. The silhouette of the lamp in the corner. Dane's breathing is steady and even his mouth slightly open. One muscular arm hugs his stomach. The other reaches toward the bedhead.
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That was the housemate by Sarah Bailey. Sarah is S-A-R-A-H. SRH Bailey is [spells the name]. That book goes for 12 hours and 40 minutes, and it comes under Australiana literature and fiction and mystery and thriller categories in the library. There are other books by Sarah Bailey in the in the collection, including, um, the Gemma Woodstock books. There's three in that series. There is, um, starts off with The Dark Lake. That's the Gemma Woodstock series, part one. Part two is Into the Night. Uh, part three is where the dead go and the housemate is a standalone novel. This book was published in mid 2021, in The Canberra Times, and this is a review by Karen Hardy from October 2021. The reviews headline says Sarah Bailey's The Housemate is complicated and that's a good thing.
The housemate is currently being developed for television as well, and there is a new, uh, Gemma Woodstock book. A fourth book called Body of Lies, which is due to be released in 2024. Sarah lives in Melbourne with her partner, three children and a cat, and she's also a managing director and an advertising agency. And I'm just reading here from Sarah Bailey, author, Sarah Bailey, author. Um, and just a reminder, if you if you do enjoy an author's work, go to their websites if you can. Uh, like this is Sarah Bailey, author. Com and there's always a way to contact them and just send them through a little review or, um, or send them through a comment about how much you enjoyed their books and, uh, they always appreciate it, because sometimes a lot of authors feel like they're just writing into a void. Um, and the sales, you know, that's great. But also just that personal contact, that personal, um, impact that their books have had are always very much appreciated. And that goes for non-fiction as well, which is our next book. It is Elizabeth McArthur A life at the edge of the world, and this is by Michelle Scott Tucker.
In 1788, a young gentlewoman, raised in the vicarage of an English village, married a handsome, haughty and penniless army officer. In any Austen novel that would be the end of the story. But for the real life woman who became an Australian farming entrepreneur, it was just the beginning. John MacArthur took credit for establishing the Australian wool industry and would feature on the $2 note. But it was practical. Elizabeth, who managed their holdings while dealing with the results of John's manias, duels, quarrels, court cases and military coup long absences, overseas grandiose construction projects and finally his descent into certified insanity. Michelle Scott Tucker shines a light on an often overlooked aspect of Australia's history in this fascinating story of remarkable woman. Let's hear a sample of, uh, Elizabeth McArthur, Michelle by Michelle Scott Tucker. It's narrated by Victoria.
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Haole convict ship Scarborough was no place for a gentleman's daughter. Elizabeth MacArthur was cold, pregnant and bone weary. The Southern Ocean pummeled the ship with storm after storm, and her soldier husband and infant son were both grievously ill, Elizabeth prayed. Somewhere on that roaring sea. Exhausted by her nursing duties and constantly pitched and tumbled. Elizabeth was, quote, thrown into premature labor and delivered of a little girl who lived about for an hour in quote. There was no one on Scarborough to help. No other women were on board, and the ship's surgeon was unlikely to have been sober, let alone skilled. We only know of the nameless baby's existence from a single line. In a letter Elizabeth wrote to her mother many months later. There is no record of a shipboard funeral. No record of where the small bundle wrapped in weighted canvas was delivered to the sea. And no record of Elizabeth's grief. All we have. All Elizabeth had. Is that single tragic are. Weeks later, on the final days of June 1790, Scarborough and her second fleet sister ship Neptune limped into Port Jackson. Within the immense harbour, dense grey green scrub grew down to the water's edge, interrupted by rocky headlands, reedy swamps and some bright sandy crescents. Thin columns of smoke flagged the presence of local inhabitants discomforting early, close in the newcomers eyes to the settlement at Sydney Cove.
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And that was Elizabeth McArthur by Michelle Scott Tucker. Michelle is spelled Miceli, Michael Scott is Colt s Colt and Tucker Tucker. Tucker. And that book goes for 11.5 hours. This was published in 2019, and it was shortlisted for the Seahorse Australian Book Prize in 2019, and also the Business Literature Prize for 2018. Michelle Scott Tucker owns and operates a management consulting company and lives on a small farm in regional Victoria with her husband and children, and this was her first book, The Australian said in a review. Tucker's great achievement is to have scraped back the familiar historical material to uncover a fresh and compelling portrait of Elizabeth MacArthur in her own words and the words of those who knew her. The next book, and I'll just give a bit of a warning, is the title can be quite confronting, and it is about preparing for the end of life, but it is hugely popular at the moment. This book and the series that is on SBS, it's called The Gentle Art of Swedish Death Cleaning, and it's by Marguerita Magnusson.
A charming approach to putting your life in order so your loved ones won't have to. There's a word for it in Swedish dos gardening, literally death cleaning. Swedish born Marguerita Magnusson is, in her words, aged between 80 and 100. When her husband died, she had to downsize her home. The experienced forced her to recognise the power of death, cleaning and the concerns that must be addressed in order to do it with thought and care done well. The approach not only makes things easier for your loved ones later on, it allows you to revisit the lifetime of memories accumulated with your things, from clothes and books to stuff you just can't get rid of, stuff that only matters to you. The gentle Art of Swedish Death Cleaning offers indispensable advice on questions you will inevitably face when sorting through a lifetime of objects. How do you deal with your secrets? Tackle photographs and letters. Avoid heirs fighting over your belongings after you are gone. This charming, practical book, based on personal experience and anecdotes, will guide you in making the process uplifting rather than overwhelming. It focuses on the importance of living even through death. Cleaning up. Let's hear a sample of the Gentle Art of Swedish Death Cleaning by Marguerita magnusson. It's narrated by Juliet Stevenson.
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I am Death Cleaning or as we call it in Swedish, dust deadening. Dirt is death and staining is cleaning. In Swedish, it is a term that means removing unnecessary things and making your home nice and orderly. When you think the time is coming closer for you to leave the planet. It is so important that I have to tell you about it. Maybe I can also give you a few tips, since this is something that we will all have to face sooner or later. We really must if we want to save precious time for our loved ones after we are gone. So what is death cleaning? For me, it means going through all my belongings and deciding how to get rid of the things I do not want anymore. Just look around you. Many of your things have probably been around for so long that you do not even see or value them anymore. I think the term dust deadening is quite new, but not the act of dust deadening. It is a word that is used when you or someone else does a good, thorough cleaning and gets rid of things to make life easier and less crowded. It does not necessarily have to do with your age or death, but often does. Sometimes you just realize that you can hardly close your drawers or barely shut your cupboard door. When that happens, it is definitely time to do something, even if you are only in your 30s. You could call that kind of cleaning dust deadening to even if you may be many, many years away from dying. I think women have always death cleaned, but women's work is not often in the spotlight and should be appreciated more.
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That was the gentle art of Swedish death. Cleaning by Margarita magnusson. Margarita is spelt Margareta. Margareta magnusson is Magnusson Magnusson and I do apologize if you've had a recent, um, death in the family or someone close to you. It might just sound a bit, um, confronting. The book is quite short. It goes for two hours, 45 minutes. Juliet Stevenson Stevenson does a wonderful narration. She's, um, a fantastic British actor. This book has been made into a series. It's the basis for the wonderful, funny and moving TV series developed by Amy Poehler, and it's currently being aired on SBS. Um, and this book was originally published in 2017. And now to our last book for today. This is a book called Cahokia Jazz, and it's by Frances Spafford. In a city that never was, in an America that never was. On a snowy night at the end of winter, two detectives find a body on the roof of a skyscraper. It's 1922, and Americans are drinking in speakeasies, dancing to jazz, stepping quickly to the tempo of modern times. Let's hear a sample of Cahokia Jazz by Frances Spafford. It's narrated by Andy Ingles.
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With the building dark beneath it. The skylight on the roof of the Land trust was a pyramid of pure black. Down the smooth black of the glass. Something sticky had run black on black all the way down into the crust of soft spring snow at Barrow's feet, where it puddled in sunken loops and pools like molasses on top. A contorted mass was somehow pinned or perched, but the moon was going down on the far side of the mound, and dawn was an hour and more away. The whole scene on the roof was a clot of shadows, and the wind was full of wet flakes. Along the way at the small obstacle of a couple of cops on a roof, the snow caked Barrow's coat and got in his eyes, plastered Drummond's back where he'd turned it as a windbreak. Drummond was trying for a flame from his lighter, but even with his hat shielding the flint, every spark was instantly quenched. Joe, can you go get the Patrolmen's flashlight? Sure. Finn. Hold on. Barrow stepped carefully back towards the little hutch, holding the door to the stairs. There was already a mess underfoot, as he expected. The uniform, who'd called the men from the phone down in the lobby was waiting only a few steps down on the narrow flight, winding round the top of the elevator shaft. Just behind him was the night janitor who'd found the door unlocked.
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Originally, that was a sample of Cahokia Jazz by Francis Spofford. Francis is [spells], Spofford is [spells], and that book goes for 15.5 hours. It's another mystery and thriller. This book was published in 2023. Francis Spofford was born in 1964. He's an English author and teacher of writing. He's been longlisted for the Booker Prize, and this is his third novel. His early influences were The Hobbit, Tolkien's The Hobbit, and this is from The Guardian. And interview or sort of question and answers from the Guardian in December 2023. His favorite books growing up, the C.S. Lewis Narnia books. And he says it was the sorrow of my life at the age of ten that there wasn't one more of them to read. The book that changed him as a teenager was The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula Le Guin. The book that he comes back to is Mrs. Dalloway by Virginia Woolf. He said it was inscrutable, boring when I was 20.
Now a mesmerizing celebration of the fluidity of experience itself, he's just finished Jenney, Open Books, The End of Days, and I'm thinking of Bob, one of our regular contributors to this program. It's one of his discovered authors that we've had on the show, Jenny and Bec. And we have two other books by Frances Spafford. In the library there is Golden Hill, which was much acclaimed when it came out. And that's in Braille as well as in audio and light, perpetual, set in 1944. That's another one of his books. So, a really interesting author.
Anyway, thank you so much for joining me on here this today. And thank you to to everybody that listens to the program. Your support is invaluable as well as your feedback. So keep on suggesting things for the show. Give us your opinions of what you've enjoyed reading. You can always ring the library on 1300 654 656. That's 1300 654 656. Or you can email library at Vision Australia-dot-org, that's library-at-visionaustralia-org. Have a lovely week and we'll be back next week with more Hear This.
