Nightingale

Image credit: Amazon

So, I have recently joined a real book club - as in I am soon to attend a meeting with a bunch of people I have never met in which we discuss a book that I would probably have never picked up and read under my own power. I have just closed the cover of said book and figure, what better to why to try and decipher what I think about it than writing my own review? The book: Nightingale by Laura Elvery, a debut novel.

Mayfair 1910: Aged and frail at the age of 90, Florence Nightingale is no longer of sound mind. After a celebrated career as a nurse, writer, statistician and female pioneer, she now lives as a recluse: bed bound and constantly haunted by memories of lovely and tragic times from her past. One night she is visited by a young man named Silas Bradley who claims that they have met before, during the Crimean War. The encounter forces Florence to recall a most trying time, traumatic even, as well as try to remember a strange and ambitious nurse named Jean Frawley.

Part historical fiction and part ghost story, Nightingale is the first novel from Australian author Laura Elvery. It’s a dramatic exploration into the final days of a great, but considerably undercelebrated historic figure that explores themes of memory, gender roles, the horrors of war, and the way in which even the most adventurous life can go in a circle.

Narratively, it’s both an easy and challenging book to read. It’s easy in that Elvery’s prose is simple and sensual, using tangible sense words to create the scenes and implant the reader right in the middle of them. I was able to bang this out in two days: through its language, it’s a book that instantly envelopes the reader and inspires the constant flipping of pages. But it’s challenging too in the narrative techniques Elvery uses to tell the current story and ones from the past. There is a fair amount of time jumping, made easier to grasp as each new section in time is pronounced in a chapter title or letterhead. We then have the different points of view in which the novel is written. We have the chapters written as the aged Miss Nightingale, contents of which are already to be taken with a grain of salt as the blurb hints that this is an unreliable narrator. Elvery is cleverly playing with this technique, making us think longer and harder about it as we know that the interactions that Florence has during these scenes may well be in her own mind, while at the same time her interior monologues might be the closest thing we get to clarity with her. We then have the chapters in the voice of Silas. These threw a spanner in the works for me, as it’s through Silas’ character that the ‘ghost story’ part of the novel comes in to play, but this is merely an idea that is hinted at and then made murky in the way that Silas is described, his interactions with other characters besides Florence, and the timeline that we are given. The middle of the book then jumps back in time and speaks in the voice of the omniscient narrator, recounting the encounters between the central triangle of Florence, Silas, and Jean.

Image credit: Faber Academy

Elvery’s sensual language works to smooth the jaggedness created by the character POV break-ups and it’s during the middle part of the book that we get to see the real and ‘historical’ part of the novel, as this is where the character of Florence Nightingale, as the world saw her, is depicted. A woman with ambition, who took the gender roles assigned to her by time and society and made them bigger, broader, heavier…sigh, only to have the men who created her workload blame her for the everything that was and became wrong with it. The Florence we see is inspiring and patient, a stoic matron.

While I don’t know if I would read this book again, I was certainly entertained and challenged by it. It’s transportive, inspiring, engaging, and thought-provoking: a brilliant debut novel.

Author: Laura Elvery, 2025

Published: University of Queensland Press (UQP), 2025

Gould's Book of Fish

Image credit: Penguin.com.au

We often think of history as that which has already happened. An event, a person, a time period that has been and gone. Of course, with humanity’s habit of chronicling and revisiting history through the artistic means of art, film, and literature, history is certainly something that is gone but not forgotten. Made up of great and memorable characters, daring and disastrous adventures, lessons, mistakes, triumph and regret, history is a self-replenishing wellspring of inspiration for the artist.

This is certainly the case with the most recent book that I have just closed the cover on: Gould’s Book of Fish by Richard Flanagan.

Rotting away in a flooded cell in the penal colony on Sarah Island, William Buelow Gould – forger, liar, murderer, and artist – chronicles his new life in Australia. Brought as a convict to suffer and slave, his modicum of artistic talent provides him the hope of avoiding life in a chain gang: he is commissioned to illustrate a book of fish. Thus begins the final days of silly Billy Gould who discovers beauty, love, and mirth anew as well as the dark side of ambition and the true horror of irony.

Richard Flanagan is a celebrated Australian author, and rightly so. This is the first book of his that I have read and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Crisp and lyrical prose that is both poetic and ‘artistic’ and horrendously crass and filthy – much like the stories it describes- fills the pages of Gould’s Book of Fish, creating a fictitious historical account of Tasmania in 1826 that at times feels a little For Whom the Bell Tolls and at others The Master and Margarita.

Told in the most part from the perspective of Billy Gould, the book recounts a particularly horrific and disgusting part of Australia’s history while at the same time inserting some ridiculous characters and stories that bring a level of hilarity and oddness to the landscape. Amidst the madness of the Surgeon who speaks to severed heads, the Commandant who dreams of building Europe on the untameable landscape of Van Diemen’s Land, and Castlereagh the pig who is the Devil incarnate, William Gould experiences the miracles of a change in perspectives, a change in life goals, and a change in physical form.

Image credit: Penguin Books Aus

I found this to be a beautiful and engaging read that was also rather challenging. A black comedy that also features some scenes fit for any horror film set against the terrible Australian outback, this fictional memoir is a remarkable piece of work from one of Australia’s most celebrated writers and is definitely worth the read if you are looking for something different.

Author: Richard Flanagan, 2001

Published: Picador, an imprint of Pan Macmillan Australia Pty Limited, 2001. Pictured edition published by Penguin Random House Australia, 2018

Gone With the Wind

Image credit: Goodreads

Living in a very fast-paced society that barrels hazardously forward at an alarming speed, sometimes it’s easy to forget that true epics and masterworks take time, and lots of it. I see this most in literature with modern fantasy writers, many of which believe that they can created another Lord of the Rings without putting in the literal years. 

True, ambitious, and timeless masterworks are not the creative result of a muse’s spark of inspiration and then 6 months to a year of feverish clacking away at a keyboard. They take time and they are all the more transcendental because of the love, effort, and time that has been put into them. While Lord of the Rings is the classic go-to example, another stands just as tall and magnificent: Gone With the Wind.

The story follows southern belle Scarlet O’Hara and a taunting love triangle that progressively gets complicated due to the Civil War and later the Reconstruction of the South. 

One thousand pages of romance, drama, and history, Margaret Mitchell’s only published work is a breathtaking exploration into a bygone era whilst also being an epic love story, a captivating retelling of a dramatic and significant time in American history, and a startling revelation at the swift and merciless effects of time and circumstance. 

A love-letter to her hometown of Atlanta, a scene of defiance and determination in a violently changing world, the book is the fruit of a decade of research, character building, and careful sentence crafting. It is also (in my opinion) one of the best examples of character building in existence. The fiery and determined heroine in Scarlet is one that the world did not ask for, but really needed. Scarlet’s story, in which she is both villain and victim, is truly incredible. Even though one spends the majority of the book looking forward to her getting her comeuppance. As a heroine, Scarlet is not someone to aspire to be; she’s self-confident to the point of narcissistic, stubborn to the point of complete idiocy, and quite possibly the biggest perpetrator of girl-on-girl crime ever. She’s the original Mean Girl. Having said that, her story is one that is beautiful and inspiring despite her vanity and self-interest, and the end of her arc is so satisfying because it’s a mixture of comeuppance as well as enlightenment and redemption. 

Image credit: Britannica

While it is first and foremost a love story, Gone With the Wind is also an incredible exploration into the dynamic nature of society and culture. It’s just as much a story about evolution as love, and it’s truly fascinating to see how changing governments, changing cultural attitudes, changing social ethics and class systems affect a society. The consistent wind motif that Mitchell uses to depict how easily entire world attitudes and codes of behaviour can disappear is both compelling and frightening. 

I would have to say that Gone With the Wind is officially one of my favourite books ever! From beginning to end, I was completely enveloped in the world and enraptured by the characters, and at no point in the thousand plus pages did I want to put it down! A true epic, a true classic!

Author: Margaret Mitchell, 1936

Published: Macmillan & Co (London)

Longevity: Winner of the Pulitzer Prize in 1937 and made into a celebrated film starring Clark Gable & Vivien Leigh 

Making History

Image credit: Book Depository

There have been many books and films regarding time-travel and time-alteration that ask the question ‘if you could stop something from happening, would you?’ I’ve spent the last week thinking about this question with Stephen Fry and his interesting exploration into the idea, Making History.

The book tells the story of young history major Michael Young who is on the verge of handing in his thesis on Hitler’s early life, which he is convinced that it will set him up for life. On the morning of the due date, his path crosses with that of Leo Zuckerman, an ageing physicist who is obsessed with history’s darkest period. The two begin a friendship formed on the mutual fascination with this period in history and, through a series of ideas and social connections, come up with a way to rewrite the past.

I have been thoroughly enjoying Fry’s retellings of the ancient Greek myths, so after Mythos this book was alluring for obvious reasons. Fry’s fascination with history, mingled with his crisp and intelligent prose is a match made in heaven. Though, I have to admit that I found this book a little tricky to get into. Being an original work of fiction, Fry plays around with genre and timbre in Making History, which sometimes makes it confusing as to what type of book it is.

Image credit: AXSChat

Of course, the central appeal is the exploration of the question ‘what would have happened if Hitler hadn’t been born?’ (for the answer, you’ll have to read the book). A fascinating story of love, identity, and semi science fiction ensues.

Where the reading experience can get a little bit frustrating/confusing is in the various chapters that tell the parallel story of what’s happening in the past (which also reflects the contents of Michael’s thesis). There’s a lot of jumping back and forth through time and it does take some time to get used to. The characters themselves are pretty ‘meh’ and lacklustre, but Fry’s humour, twinkling tone of voice, and original ideas make Making History quite a fascinating read.

Making History was written by Stephen Fry in 1996 and first published in Great Britain by Hutchinson and published in paperback the following year by Arrow Books.

The Kite Runner

Image credit: Bloomsbury Publishing

It’s always wonderful to read a book that you become so immersed in and captured by that you know, within thirty pages, that you’ve got another title to add to your ‘favourite books of all time’ list. My latest addition: The Kite Runner.

The books tells the story of Amir, a twelve year old Afghani boy living a privileged life and enjoying his childhood in the company of his best friend Hassan. Amir has his sights set on winning the local kite-flying tournament and loyal Hassan promises to help him. But that same afternoon something terrible happens to Hassan that shatters both their lives. After the Russians invade Amir and his father flee to America to start new lives, but years later Amir is contacted by an old friend and must travel back to an unrecognisable Afghanistan under Taliban rule where he has one shot at ‘being good again’.

One of the most traumatic and heartbreaking novels that I’ve read, The Kite Runner is a story that is so close to the bone for so many people that it could almost be autobiographical. Indeed, Hosseini’s prose and intimacies with the settings and characters, as well as his use of the first person register, makes you feel as though you are reading someone’s real-life and traumatic story, which is what gives the book its immense power to wrench at the heartstrings.

Simple narration, frighteningly recognisable scenarios, modern history, powerful imagery, and genuine, down-to-earth characters suffering from Herculean ethical conflicts fill the pages with intrigue, despair, drama, and hope; it would be a cliché to compare the reading experience to that of a rollercoaster, but that truly is the most apt description.

Image credit: bog-ide

The Kite Runner is one of the most incredible and immersive books that I’ve come across and sits in an exclusive genre where fictional characters become so real that their stories are autobiographies. The compelling themes of trauma, guilt, identity, and redemption are, to borrow an image from the book, the glass tar that keeps us airborne; sailing along, dipping with the drama, and ascending again when a happy ending is in sight.

Truly, this is one of the most compelling, moving, and beautiful books that I have ever read and while some of the events are horrifying and confronting, the overall experience reading The Kite Runner has been one of the best. I’ve never wanted to have a book constantly in my hands more than I did with this one! You must read it!

The Kite Runner is the first novel written by Khaled Hosseini. It was first published in 2003 by Riverhead Books and has since sold over two million copies and been adapted into a film starring Khalid Abdalla.

The World's Greatest Hollywood Scandals

Image credit: Amazon UK

Just as we have our little guilty pleasure with movies, we have guilty pleasure with books too. For some it might be schlocky fantasies or paranormal teen romances, for me it’s gossipy non-fiction about scandals in Hollywood. Perhaps one of the most juicy books in this genre is Kenneth Anger’s Hollywood Babylon that beautifully depicts the Jekyll and Hyde faces of Tinseltown: glamorous and charming on the top, drunken and sex-crazed underneath.

The World’s Greatest Hollywood Scandals by John Marriott and Robin Cross is a book that walks down the Hollywood Babylon path, but sadly does not deliver such a scoop. A dry collection of recounts of famous scandals from Marilyn Monroe’s suicide to the Hollywood ‘Blacklist’ that ruined so many careers this book contains juicy subject matter, but is a prime example of what happens when you just let the content speak for itself. Despite having a few witticisms and quips that give a voice to the narrator the book lacks any fresh or interesting tone and very quickly becomes a dry and boring collection of stories that could have fared better at the hands of some of the tabloid journalists that feature as characters.

While there is definitely time, research, and emotional investment within the pages, the segregated structure of chapters –some of which tell different stories while others confuse you by being follow-ons from the previous one- is done in a way that doesn’t grant the reader immersion into the text: not even a cheap voyeuristic peep over the fence.

At the end of it all I was left disappointed by having the promise of an engaging, juicy gossip fest turned into a dry and unimaginative lecture of regurgitated content.

The World’s Greatest Hollywood Scandals was written by John Marriott and Robin Cross and published by Octopus Books in 1989.

Ten Days That Shook the World

Written by John Reed, the man whose life inspired the movie Reds, this is a classic modern history book, ideal for anyone who, like me, had a passion for the Russian Revolution when studying it in Modern History. 

Historical journalist, John Reed was actually in Russia when the Revolution of the Bolsheviks took place in 1917. In the pages of this book, he describes the phases of the revolution as he personally saw them happen. 

This will probably be a shorter review given the fact that I read this book about five years ago, when I was studying the Russian Revolution in high school and discovered that my Dad actually had this book in his library. I remember, at that time, it took me quite a while to get through it because, although the subject matter was really interesting to me, I found the overall read rather dry and difficult to persevere through. I suppose that’s the case with most history books, you need to completely in love with the subject about which you’re reading or else you’ll put the book down and never get back onto finishing it. In the case of Ten Days That Shook the World, it really does read like a history book. Although the events are interesting, the entire thing is merely over 200 pages of facts with the occasional personal anecdote of the writer thrown in, in the hopes that it might bring some sort of breath of fresh air to the dry and almost spiritless pages of the book. 

All this probably will sound bias because, I’m going to be completely honest here, I’m writing from memory. I did start re-reading the book after finishing Hollywood Babylon II, but I just found that I really could not bring myself to the read the book a second time. After finishing it the first time, I’ve always said to people “if I can make my way through John Reed’s Ten Days That Shook the World, then I can read anything.” And that’s really how I still feel on the matter. I appreciate the work that Reed did and I recognise that this piece is a work of historical significance, my Modern History teacher always used to drop its name during lessons, but ultimately I could not bring myself to read it a second time. Once was quite enough. 

Filled with politics, violence, action, historical figures, plenty of drama, and personal experiences, Ten Days That Shook the World is a fine read for those who find the subject matter really interesting, but ultimately I do feel that it’s a book you only need to read once. That’s not to say that I didn’t like it though. 

Hollywood Babylon II

A follow on to Hollywood Babylon and written again by Kenneth Anger, Hollywood Babylon II has more scandals, more drama, more drugs, and more deaths. 

The basic structure of the book is pretty much identical to that of the first one, with photos and movie posters accompanying the juicy, scandalous stories. However, I found that I did not enjoy Hollywood Babylon II as much as I did the first one. 

For quite a few of the scandals, particularly for those of suicides and drug addiction, the tone of the book is a somewhat monotonous and dry one that makes you feel like your reading a history book for school or something. 

Having said that though, it was refreshing when Anger got heated up about certain scandals, in which case the writing took on a more rant-like and personal tone. I guess, what I’m trying to say (very inarticulately) is that the tone of the book jumped around a fair bit and I found that a little disconcerting. One moment, you’re enjoying a hot-headed, personal rant from the author in which he actually uses the world “I”, and then the next minute, the reading has become so factual and dry that you’re seriously considering putting the book down. I found that I really needed to push myself to read the entire thing. 

It’s much bigger than the first book and there is a lot more to read, both in terms of text and individual stories. Sometimes, it felt that Anger was really battling with what he wanted to focus more and what deserved less attention. Like the first one, there are a fair few chapters that are totally devoted to the sad life or career of one celebrity or scandal, but what was most different about this book was that Anger added an entire chapter that was made up of little individual articles covering numerous celebrities’ self-inflicted deaths. Don’t get me wrong, death sells, and a fair few of the stories were both really sad and really interesting, but it really did feel as though Anger wrote that chapter, purely to get all the names he wanted to drop in the book. Some stories only receive one or two lines of adulation. 

Aside from the apparent change in the general tone of the book, Hollywood Babylon II was a good read that you can power through in no time.  

Hollywood Babylon

Written by former child actor Kenneth Anger, who grew up to be a leading filmmaker, Hollywood Babylon is a deliciously juicy read that is just packed to the brim with gossip and celebrities, stars of the Golden Age of cinema. Filled with stars, deaths, drugs, sex, glamour, and gore, it’s an incredible work that you simply cannot put down! 

From the very beginning, the lives of Hollywood stars have been glamorous, but also gory. Hollywood Babylon delves into the deep, dark, and best kept secrets of Hollywood. From political movements that crushed careers, to suspected murders and foul play, to sex scandals and marital dramas, to lavish and dramatic celebrity suicides. Hollywood Babylon has it all, and is the everyday gossiper’s most spectacular dream. This, right here, is what is missing in today’s society. 

What Hollywood Babylon is, is a gossip magazine that is actually a book. If we modernised it with scandals from well-known celebrities from modern society and placed it in front of a teenager, they would be completely hooked and, in the process, discover what a joy reading a book can be! Kenneth Anger had everything right! 

It occurred to me, whilst reading this book, that the private lives and “scandals” of modern society are almost nothing compared to what went on behind Hollywood’s closed doors in the Twenties all through to the Sixties. Sure we hear about stars beating up their wives or having it off with loads of other women, but some of the shit that went as far back as the Twenties was just awful! Take what Fatty Arbuckle did to that poor Virginia Rappe; he pretty much got her drunk and then raped her. As if that wasn’t bad enough, she died from injuries sustained through the act. It’s awful! And then there was all that Communist fear and political movements that completely shattered the careers of such talented artists. Reading stuff like this really opens your eyes to the world and what kind of stuff happens out there. Not only that, but you learn things about people you love that you were happier not knowing: Take the two years of Hell that Charlie Chaplin suffered when he was married to Lolita. 

Filled with delicious scandals, written with biting attitude, and armed with black and white photographs of the stars and the events entailed, Hollywood Babylon is a fantastic read filled with sex, drugs, politics, stars, murder, rape, and every other form of scandalous pleasure. It’s also a wonderfully easy read, no joke, you can through this book in a day.  

Washington Babylon

Written by Shelley Ross, Washington Babylon is a juicy and engrossing read filled with sex, crimes, scandals, and media furor. I haven’t been so interested in a history book since Court of the Red Tsar. 

Washington Babylon looks at scandals committed in American political history from 1702 through to the 1980s. These scandals aren’t just focused on personal incidents and unforgivable sexual conduct; the book looks at all crimes committed, both political and personal, during the presidencies of George Washington, Alexander Hamilton, Thomas Jefferson, The Adams Family, Andrew Jackson, Martin Van Buren, John Tyler, James Buchanan, Abraham Lincoln, Ulysses S. Grant, Rutherford B. Hayes, James A. Garfield, Grover Cleveland, Woodrow Wilson, Warren G. Harding, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Harry S. Truman, Dwight D. Eisenhower, John F. Kennedy, Lyndon Baines Johnson, J. Edgar Hoover, Richard M. Nixon, Gerald R. Ford, Jimmy Carter, and Ronald Reagan as well as scandals that took place in Colonial America, The 1988 Presidential Campaign, and the Gilded Age. It’s all delightfully juicy, but at the same time, educational. 

Bob Geldof said that “this is the world’s sexiest history book” and, although I’m not inclined to agree about the “sexy” part, the book is a remarkable work that is both educational and entertaining. From the very first cross-dressing scandal of Colonial America to the mass financial discretions and scandals of the 1980s, the entire book is one big slab of political gossip. 

It’s remarkably easy to become engrossed in and read, I finished it within a week. It may be because of the content or it could be the way that it’s written, but it does not really read as a history book. There is nothing dry or lecture-like about it at all, just good old-fashioned intrigue and gossip complete with pictures and copies of infamous documents that had hoped to never see the light of day. 

Filled with sex, corruption, racism, financial blunders, and plenty of scandals, Washington Babylon is a fantastic read that it both engrossing and educational. I simply could not put it down.  

Public Enemies

Written by Bryan Burrough and now made into a major film starring Johnny Depp, this piece of non-fiction would appeal to all those who love a bit of modern history. 

In 1933 a crime wave blazed across America. Bank robbers, gunslingers, cash-snatchers and murderers dash through the US, becoming legends in the process. Among these were the homicidal Baby Face Nelson, outlaws Bonnie and Clyde, the cranky hillbilly Ma Barker, and the suave gentleman criminal John Dillinger. This book tells the stories of all these infamous criminals and more as well as their nemesis J. Edgar Hoover, the War on Crime, and various law enforcers and FBI agents who made names for themselves by catching and bringing the criminals to justice. 

I think the only real reason I bought this book was because it was about a subject that I find fascinating and it had Johnny Depp on the cover, looking very suave and gentlemanly as John Dillinger. 

I usually would prefer the piece of fiction and fantasy, but this book opened my eyes to how interesting history can be. Admittedly the book can get a little dry in some areas, as any non-fiction historical recount can get, but on the whole it was an enthralling and wonderfully detailed piece of work. 

The subject matter is instantly intriguing and the way the book is structured is brilliant as it uses information gained from secret files and police documents as well as eyewitness accounts, making the book more enthralling and easier to believe because it makes you read it like an interesting news article and not some exaggerated or dramatised novel that is based on true events. 

There is no real issue of bias, the way the book is written causes the reader to rally both for and against both the good guys and the bad guys. The stories also get quite personal and it’s really nice to read about how some of these homicidal criminals and robbers had lighter sides. It’s quite romantic as you read about how they meet and treat their girlfriends and partners as well as their own families. It almost heightens the legends of these men and women as you come to realise that they were just like you and I. All these normal people became infamous criminals because they had fallen on hard times and acted in desperation. This book really simplifies the method of the criminal mind. 

Both an educational and enthralling read, Public Enemies is a wonderful work of non-fiction, one that I would be happy to read again.