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The Paper House
The Paper House | Anna Spargo-Ryan
33 posts | 5 read | 42 to read
And then I was pregnant, and we realised we had no space for a baby. We looked at all kinds of houses: big, new ones with columns and render; little cottages with beaten weatherboard; a yellow brick monstrosity with a paved yard where there should have been grass. But we were drawn to the rolling water. And our heart stayed behind when we left. Heather and Dave have found the perfect place to raise their first child. The house has character, but it's the garden that really makes it: red-faced impatiens, pockmarked gums, six upright pittosporums to keep the neighbours out. It's a jungle. A hiding place. A refuge. And then, without warning, that life is over. Heartbreaking, fearless, and ablaze with a coruscating beauty all its own, The Paper House tells the story of a woman sinking into the depths of grief, and the desperate efforts of her loved ones to bring her up for air. A sharp-eyed, bittersweet depiction of the love between parents and children, and the havoc that love can wreak. "Gorgeously written and genuinely assured, The Paper House is a moving and viscerally real portrait of family bonds pushed to their limits - and the fragility and resilience at the heart of a struggle with grief, loss and mental illness. Anna Spargo-Ryan is a rising star." Jo Case, author of Boomer and Me: A memoir of motherhood, and Asperger's
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Hooked_on_books
The Paper House | Anna Spargo-Ryan
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Pickpick

This novel is an exquisite meditation on grief and mental illness. It is dark and sometimes difficult to read as a result, but so beautifully written. I highly recommend it, but don‘t read it if you‘re pregnant—wait until later. Her publishers need to get her some foreign distribution rights post-haste!

Hooked_on_books @Cinfhen It‘s good! Heavy indeed, but beautifully written. I hope you can track it down! 6y
Cinfhen Thanks so much for letting me know...I‘m checking BookDepository right now, even though I‘m on a #bookbuyingban #forreal 6y
Cinfhen It comes up as unavailable on BookDepository ~ I‘ll check back in a few weeks & on Amazon too😀 6y
Hooked_on_books @Cinfhen You‘re welcome! And good luck with that ban—I can never make them stick. 😬 6y
TheSloanRanger So glad you liked it (if like is even the right word IDK it's so tortuously beautiful!) She's just released a new one called The Gulf. Highly recommended 👌 (and picked up this copy from Booktopia, though they might be Aussie only @Cinfhen!) 6y
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Hooked_on_books
The Paper House | Anna Spargo-Ryan
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“Across the road an old woman bent like a paperclip over a line of upright roses. She wore gardening gloves in pink floral that matched her secateurs, and her hair was wrapped into a grey bun, as though thrown there by the wind.”

I am loving the language in this book. (FYI secateurs = one-handed pruning sheers)

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Hooked_on_books
The Paper House | Anna Spargo-Ryan
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I received this from @TheSloanRanger for #SecretSantaGoesPostal last year, so it‘s about time I got to it! I missed the signups this year because of my trip with no WiFi (which was blissful), so hopefully everyone enjoys their shopping and receiving.

Cinfhen Such a pretty cover, have not heard of this book before! 6y
Hooked_on_books @Cinfhen It‘s Australian. I know you‘re in Israel and I don‘t know if it‘s available there, but it doesn‘t look like it‘s being sold in the US. Which just makes it more special for me. ☺️ 6y
Cinfhen I'm going to look for it on BookDepository and I'll be waiting to read your review! The blurb sounds very heavy! 6y
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Hooked_on_books
The Paper House | Anna Spargo-Ryan
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Thank you so, so much to @picklebacksandpaperbacks for my #SecretSantaGoesPostal book and bookmarks! The book looks very interesting and I love the authentic Aussie nature of this gift! If you told me I'd be opening a secret Santa gift from Australia this time last year, I never would have believed you. @BookishMarginalia you have truly outdone yourself setting this all up. You should have a permasmile today!

LeahBergen 😍😍 7y
TheCanuckReader I'm gonna get in on this next year! Looks fun! 7y
RanaElizabeth That's a gorgeous book cover! 7y
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drokka @TheCanuckReader I believe there will be one for the Summer Solstice. @BookishMarginalia posted earlier to check around April; hopefully you will be able make that one 😊 7y
TheSloanRanger I am so excited for you read it 😍👌 7y
I-read-and-eat That books looks beautiful! Hope the content is just a beautiful 😍😍 7y
Hooked_on_books @picklebacksandpaperbacks I think I'm going to swap it into my Litsy AtoZ stack as my S author. I was stalking your feed--did you not get your gift? Postal service issues or something else? 7y
TheSloanRanger It was delivered to the wrong address 😔 Australia Post are investigating but I'm not holding my breath - it's not the first time they've messed up like that! 7y
Hooked_on_books @picklebacksandpaperbacks Oh no! Maybe you should march over to them and let them know what happened. If they are decent people, they'll give you your package back. I'm so sorry that happened to you. 😢 7y
TheSloanRanger I've got an investigation ongoing with Australia Post so hopefully they'll get it back. They've done that before so fingers crossed! 7y
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shawnmooney
The Paper House | Anna Spargo-Ryan
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Pickpick

An astonishing Australian debut. When a young woman has a miscarriage, it triggers childhood memories of her absent, mentally ill mother. Despite imperfect, loving support, the protagonist goes to some very dark places. Moving, with both light and heavy moments, it's ultimately a hopeful tale. The occasionally uneven prose is dotted with, to paraphrase Bohumil Hrabal, many sentences so luscious I wanted to pop them in my mouth and suck on them.

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shawnmooney
The Paper House | Anna Spargo-Ryan
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LeahBergen You're on a disturbing roll. 😬 7y
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shawnmooney
The Paper House | Anna Spargo-Ryan
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shawnmooney
The Paper House | Anna Spargo-Ryan
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shawnmooney
The Paper House | Anna Spargo-Ryan
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shawnmooney
The Paper House | Anna Spargo-Ryan
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shawnmooney
The Paper House | Anna Spargo-Ryan
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shawnmooney
The Paper House | Anna Spargo-Ryan
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shawnmooney
The Paper House | Anna Spargo-Ryan
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bookishkai
The Paper House | Anna Spargo-Ryan
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Today's bookish mail. I'm not going to lie, this really is a case of buying a book for its beautiful cover (well, that and @shawnmooney posting about it). I read the first chapter before I even threw the packaging away, and so far it's amazing. But I'm setting it aside because heartbreak isn't my friend this time of year.

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shawnmooney
The Paper House | Anna Spargo-Ryan
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HotCocoaReads
The Paper House | Anna Spargo-Ryan
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Pickpick

Wow, this book is achingly real and honest. It's centered around a woman who's grieving a very real loss, but along with it comes unresolved parts of her childhood and dealing with a mother who suffered from mental illness and her death, which affects her own journey. The writing is beautiful and mirrors the feelings she's experiencing. The cover is absolutely beautiful and perfectly fitting as well.

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HotCocoaReads
The Paper House | Anna Spargo-Ryan
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"In the deep emptiness of night, when even the darkest of creatures had hung up their boots, I forced myself against the bed and tried not to listen. Tried not to hear the creak in the floor; the whisper in the next room; the chatter in the garden."

britt_brooke Lovely photo. 📷💕 7y
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shawnmooney
The Paper House | Anna Spargo-Ryan
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Gleefulreader Ooh - I love the graphic! Which app did you use for this? 7y
shawnmooney @Gleefulreader It's called VanillaPen. 7y
Gleefulreader Thanks! I have Vanilla Pen - I guess I hadn't noticed this background in there. It is lovely! 7y
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shawnmooney
The Paper House | Anna Spargo-Ryan
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shawnmooney
The Paper House | Anna Spargo-Ryan
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shawnmooney
The Paper House | Anna Spargo-Ryan
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shawnmooney
The Paper House | Anna Spargo-Ryan
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shawnmooney
The Paper House | Anna Spargo-Ryan
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shawnmooney
The Paper House | Anna Spargo-Ryan
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Lindy 😟 7y
Libby1 😓 7y
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shawnmooney
The Paper House | Anna Spargo-Ryan
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shawnmooney
The Paper House | Anna Spargo-Ryan
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shawnmooney
The Paper House | Anna Spargo-Ryan
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shawnmooney
The Paper House | Anna Spargo-Ryan
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Soubhiville Beautiful 7y
Suet624 Wow. 7y
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shawnmooney
The Paper House | Anna Spargo-Ryan
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shawnmooney
The Paper House | Anna Spargo-Ryan
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SusanInTiburon What a great story! Books with provenance are so much more valuable than off-the-rack ones. 8y
SusanInTiburon Also, Hachikō 💙🐕💙 8y
BookishMarginalia The cover is gorgeous! 8y
Trav That's odd -- I haven't heard of this one, and I normally peruse different websites to find the latest Australian releases. 8y
ramyasbookshelf That's such a beautiful cover! And what a treasured copy this is going to be considering the lengths you have had to go to to actually get it! 8y
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wordsread
The Paper House | Anna Spargo-Ryan
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Hearing great things about this one

shawnmooney As it's not readily available outside of Australia yet, an Australian friend is bringing a copy to me in Tokyo in a couple weeks! So excited! Is it great? 8y
wordsread @shawnmooney I'm not quite half way through, but the writing is beautiful. On what I've read so far, I'd recommend it :) 8y
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shawnmooney
The Paper House | Anna Spargo-Ryan
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Texasblues I love the cover! 8y
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awonderinglife
The Paper House | Anna Spargo-Ryan
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A new purchase