Review: The Inaugural Meeting of the Fairvale Ladies Book Club by Sophie Green #HelenReviews

The Inaugural Meeting of the Fairvale Ladies Book Club by Sophie Green
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I thoroughly enjoyed this book from start to finish. This is a beautifully written story about five woman who come together in the outback for a book club. Sybil Baxter is the matriarch of Fairvale Station. She came here as a young bride many years ago and is very happy with her husband Joe. They have two sons and a daughter-in-law, of course, life is never perfect but is what you make of it. Sybil worries about her young English daughter-in-law, Kate and hence, the book club is formed never thinking how much it would help all five of them.

Sybil invites her best friend, Rita, who is living in Alice Springs working with the flying Doctors, daughter-in-law, Kate and also Della, a young woman from Texas working on the neighbouring station Ghost River, and Sallyanne, a young mother from the town of Katherine to join her in being the first members of the book club. This starts strong friendships between all five and they discuss more than books over their three years. Of course, they cannot meet as often as they would like because of the weather. There is no travelling in the wet season.

I loved getting to know these woman and the people that are in their lives and the strength that they show through some very tough times. The outback can be a hard place to live and these women rock it. There are men in their lives that work hard and show their love and there are some men that just don’t. I felt like I was there with these ladies as they discussed the books. Their first book is one that I loved and read in one sitting, and had me smiling, but above all, I loved how they helped each other through thick and thin.

This book is set between 1978 and 1981. I married in 1977 so there were a lot of familiar events and incidents that I knew about and Ms Green made me feel close to the characters even though I have never visited the outback. It is a place I would love to go to. The book club was a fabulous idea. I am sure that even though the stations have lots of workers the woman could often feel lonely.

I don’t want to give too much away just that this is a fabulous read with a cast of amazing characters that I highly recommend. It is moving and shows so much emotion. There were tears and smiles. There is joy and yes, there is heartache but that is to be expected in life and Ms Green has done it so well. There is an ending that will leave you smiling seeing characters get their HEA and leave you with hope for others. I loved this one. Thank you, it is one that will stay with me for a long time to come.

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