The Australia Stories (Hardcover)
July 20, 2009 by Aussie
Filed under Outback Guide Reviews
From Publishers Weekly
Pierce uses a family’s intriguing history to produce a thoughtful, evocative portrait of Australia in this compelling first novel consisting of a collection of semi-autobiographical interlocking short stories. The narrator is a young American named Sam Browne, who returns to Australia, his mother’s homeland, where he spent a year of his youth. His mysterious grandmother died alone in the Blue Mountains; years later, Sam’s mother is to repeat her own mother’s h (more…)
This is a wonderful book, a strange, startling combination of human warmth, passion, local color, wisdom and humor. There is, of course, the Australian setting, new (at least to me) and filled with color and beauty, but it is the people one will remember best, the Uncle, the wives, the mother and grandmother, but mostly the narrator, who guides us through it all and reveals himself as troubled but caring, warm and distant simultaneously, funny and perceptive, and mostly wise without being insufferable. This a really good book, a rare accomplishment.
Todd James Pierce’s novel The Australia Stories opens your heart to not one, but two continent’s worth of yearning and sadness. This is a book that is as patient and vivid as a bushwalk. Pierce’s characters leave the page and enter your world, then invite you back to their world with them. Pierce masters the story, and then steps from behind the storytelling veil in the final section to create a dramatic tension, as well as increased intimacy. A beautiful story unfolds, even as it aches to read it, word after perfect word.
5.0 out of 5 stars
Timeless and Influential
I read this wonderful book when it was first released, but something–summmer weather, I thought–made me pick it up again.
5.0 out of 5 stars
fabulous read
I picked this up because a friend told me about it. Took me about two evenings to read. Fabulous story. Stunningly written. Seriously, each paragraph was dazzling.
3.0 out of 5 stars
(3.5)Family memories of a mysterious continent
The mythology of Australia is central to this novel. Both Sam Browne’s grandmother and mother have vanished into the wilds of the Blue Mountains of New South Wales, his…
5.0 out of 5 stars
In Search of Lost Time
This five-star debut uber-novel, a sequence of short stories, takes the reader across oceans of time to Sydney and the Blue Mountains of New South Wales.
5.0 out of 5 stars
A beautiful and engaging book
“The Australia Stories” is a beautifully written, captivating novel. Pierce’s amazingly clean, crisp writing creates wonderful images that transport the reader to the…
5.0 out of 5 stars
Exploring the roots of love
Pierce, whose short stories have appeared in numerous literary journals, shapes his first novel as a series of interlocking stories, each exploring different forms of love and…
5.0 out of 5 stars
Marvelous Writing/Great Story-Telling
THE AUSTRALIA STORIES is a wonderful book. I bought it for my wife because she’s Australian and knows a great deal about her country, and then when she was through I read it and…