The Wattle Island Book Club

Author: Sandie Docker

Publisher: Penguin Books Australia

Genre: General Fiction, Modern & Contemporary Fiction,

Year of Release: 2021
Release Date 31^st August 2021

Rating 🌟🌟🌟🌟

RPP $32.99

TW Terminal Illness, Racism

Synopsis

COURAGE

In 1950, teenager Anne flees Wattle Island for the big city, where she learns that establishing the life, she’s always dreamed of isn’t as easy as she thought. When a secret she’s been keeping is discovered, she has no choice but to retreat home and live a quiet life. But when tragedy strikes, establishing the Wattle Island book club is the only thing that offers her solace.

PASSION

Spirited librarian Grace has been writing bucket lists since she was a child, and is ticking off as many challenges as she can now that life has handed her a hefty dose of perspective. Heading to Wattle Island on one of her adventures, she is determined to uncover a long-held mystery surrounding the town’s historic book club, unlocking a buried truth that has been trapped between the dusty pages of secrecy for years.

HOPE

All too aware of how fragile life is, Anne and Grace must come together to help the residents of Wattle Island find the bravery to move beyond the trauma that tore the book club apart. Budding relationships offer new hope, along with a library project for the town’s future – but it will take more than a few lively literary debates to break the silence and heal the past.

Welcome to the Wattle Island Book Club, where new chapters begin and end, and not everyone is telling the full story.

Review

1950, Wattle Island, Sydney Australia, Anne then a bright young teenager longs to establish a life for herself in the big smoke leaving the seclusion of Wattle Island behind her; after doing well in her schooling and finding a steady job in the post office Anne is given the opportunity to finally leave the island behind her.

It doesn’t take long for Anne to adjust to life away from the island, she has a secure job she’s excelling in and making a solid friend base she can count on, not something Anne had when she lived on Wattle Island. One night on her way home from work a friend from Anne’s past appears, Anne is delighted to see them but knows not everyone will feel the same.

 Having burned her bridges on the mainland Anne knows the only option for her is to return to Wattle Island even though the Island may be secluded it is not exempt from life’s tragedies, Anne must now redirect her life’s course whilst trying to put one foot in front of the other.

Anne forms The Wattle Island Book Club with other members of the community, Anne finally finds the solace she desperately needed amongst pages of the books she loves.

Grace is a bibliophile and librarian and a force of nature who has a bucket list or two and she’s making sure she is completing as many challenges as she can; Grace knows better than anyone life isn’t a guarantee, rather a gift that must be grabbed onto with both hands.

 Anne a senior resident from Wattle Island calls her to help re-start the Wattle Island Book Club and Grace jumps at the chance to re-launch the book club. However, the closer she gets to the Bookclub and its members the faster they all seem to run and hide from the newcomer and her questions, can Grace bring books and life back to the Wattle Island Community or will the Island stay frozen in the past forever?

If you’ve been reading my blog for a while, you’ll know I am a big fan of Australian Author Sandie Docker The Kookaburra Creek Café  and The Cottage at Rosella Cove are standouts; when I heard her new title was on the way I needed no convincing to add this to my collection. As always Sandie has crafted a world any reader can relate to with characters you will fully embrace and care about long after the book is back upon the bookshelf.

It Didn’t take me long to form a connection to Grace, I loved her approach to life. Anne although likable didn’t fully appeal to this reader until later in the book. I found the minor characters in this book relatable, and they were a great addition to this read.

This book was the first book I finished in 2022 what a fantastic way to start the reading year off. I find myself wondering what happened to The Wattle Island community members I can’t help but think that if any of Sandie’s novels were to get a sequel or Novella this could be that title. 

The wattle Island Book Club is a book that I didn’t want to end, and I needed to saver every minute within these pages, so I happily took my time. Thanks to Sandie’s skilled writing and events within the book it can be devoured if the mood should strike another reader. The Cross-cultural relationship used to tell parts of this story made for a delightful detail. 

Whenever I pick up a title from this Author, I never know the direction the plot will take but that is the honesty of life, no one knows what’s going to happen; Sandie has always been truly skilled in this detail whilst also being truly respectful. I’m happy just to immerse myself in another one of Sandie’s books, even if she makes you want to eat your feelings at times.

The Wattle Island Book Club is a book that touches on some of life’s darkest moments.

 I highly recommend to Mature readers of the Modern & Contemporary fiction genre.   

Once I come to the end of this book, I was left feeling warmth and joy and happiness with a touch of sadness, another triumph for Sandie Docker.