Author: Elizabeth Gilbert Publisher: Allen & Unwin Format: Paperback
I enjoyed Elizabeth Gilbert’s last book, Eat, Pray, Love. It was an interesting – even inspirational – story told in an engaging voice. It spoke specifically to women about the search for self many of us undergo in our thirties. But I wouldn’t say it rocked my world the way it rocked the world of millions of others – possibly because I’m not a passionate traveller. I ‘like’ travelling but I don’t quite have Gilbert’s wanderlust.
But her second installment, Committed, is about marriage. Ah, now there’s a subject I’m almost pathologically interested in.
The story goes like this. At the end of Eat, Pray, Love Gilbert, as the title suggests, falls in love. Felipe, the object of her desires, is a Brazilian born, Australian citizen living in Bali. Both scarred by previous divorces, Elizabeth and Felipe vow never to remarry. Kindred spirits in this regard they set about co-habiting in a way which suits both their lifestyles.
Illustrator: Richard Cowdrey Publisher: HarperCollins
Format: Hardcover
Cassie is off to school but her partner in crime, Marley the dog, is not allowed to follow. Shut up in the backyard when Cassie goes to school, Marley soon digs his way out to join his best friend on her new adventure. Marley finds all sorts of interesting things to enjoy at school and creates havoc along the way. The story is set in America so school is slightly different to what we might expect, but the underlying theme of love and friendship is universal.
Let me say upfront that I was a contributor to this, at times, heartbreaking look at pregnancy loss. But stories of loss, such as my own and those of the many other brave contributors, are stories we have to tell. By telling them we hope that other parents who experience similar tragedies will also ‘survive’. Journalist Zoë Taylor wrote Pregnancy Loss: Surviving Miscarriage and Stillbirth after suffering a number of miscarriages herself. Feeling unable to talk about her losses, Zoë discovered that there were many other women living with similar grief and silence. She saw the need for an honest book about the topic.
Part resource and part personal stories, this is an accessible and moving book. Capturing the range of emotions felt by parents who have lost babies - from profound sadness and despair through to recovery and hope - it also contains comprehensive research into factors behind pregnancy loss. In Australia, stillbirths outnumber SIDS deaths by ten to one, and most of us will be touched, directly or indirectly, by pregnancy loss. So, while a happy ending is the intrinsic goal of pregnancy, the fact that such an ending is never guaranteed means that a frank and informative resource such as this is vital.
Sunny Days has a copy of Pregnancy Loss to give away. Click here to enter.
Illustrator: Patrick Spaziante Publisher: Simon and Schuster
Format: Hardcover
Fans of Olivia will enjoy the little pig’s first outing on the stage. The large format of the board book enables Olivia to be seen in all her on-screen glory, and all the characters from the tv show are included. While grudgingly playing the lowly role of Cow Number Two, Olivia learns about being part of a team and making the most of what you’ve got. The book reads just like an episode of the cartoon, with the standard feel-good ending as a matter of course.
