Suffragettes Cooking Purple Hearts (4 in 1 review) in Books 2016

All four of the books mentioned below were read this month.

The Suffragettes (57 pages in length) was published by Penguin this year, and is book number 94 in the Little Black Book series. The contents are from newspapers, posters and the like from 1867 to 1928. I picked this up around the time of the Federal Election here in Australia, and just wanted to read something on voting rights. Interesting, quick little read.

The Color Purple by Alice Walker (262 pages) and The Heart is a Lonely Hunter by Carson McCullers (359 pages) are both rereads. The Color Purple is the story of Celie, a young African American living in poverty between the wars. She’s betrayed in the worst possible way by her father, trapped in an abusive marriage, and she finds herself separated from her sister - the only one who really understands her. A meeting with her husband’s mistress sets off a chain of events that allows Celie to finally find her voice. I loved this…so well written, and one of those books that gets better every time it’s read. Such an important read, too.

The Heart is a Lonely Hunter is about a deaf mute, John Singer, in the American South during the 1930s. John finds himself becoming the confidant of four very different individuals - a drunk, an African American doctor, a café owner in a loveless marriage, and a teenage dreamer. I wasn’t quite in the mood for this book, due to tiredness and general ill health, but that’s another entry. Still, a very sad, lonely ending.

The last book I want to briefly review is Does Cooking Matter? by Rebecca Huntley. This is a short book, at 65 pages. Huntley discusses whether - in an age of 15 minute meals, restaurants and MasterChef - proper cooking as a family has a place in Australian society nowadays. Engaging and warm writing. Certainly worth reading.

Books Read This Year: 58. Total Pages Read So Far This Year: 14680