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A Room Made of Leaves
A Room Made of Leaves | Kate Grenville
17 posts | 15 read | 13 to read
The first new novel in almost ten years from award-winning, best-selling author Kate Grenville.
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LapReader
A Room Made of Leaves | Kate Grenville
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Pickpick

My favourite of Kate‘s books yet. Only my second actually. She is an Australian author. This was my school holiday read I forgot to post. I was at my sister‘s place 50 km from the nearest town, enjoying this beautiful book and some quiet time then the niece got in with me and everyone out in the garden came to the window to chat #noonecaresinthecountry Last time I visited I was sick with Influenza A so it was much nicer this time. Not freezing.

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LapReader
A Room Made of Leaves | Kate Grenville
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Pickpick

Little Free Library finds these holidays. The top book will be given to my niece.

Jeg The bottom two are great reads. 1mo
38 likes1 comment
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MommyWantsToReadHerBook
A Room Made of Leaves | Kate Grenville
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I thought I was going to return this to the library unfinished - I found the beginning of Elizabeth's marriage terribly depressing. I'm so glad I gave it one more shot! It turned out to be absolutely beautiful and comforting and challenging and I loved it. ⭐⭐⭐⭐1/2

Jeg I loved it too. 3mo
32 likes1 comment
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Teresereading
A Room Made of Leaves | Kate Grenville
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1. It‘s the same as my insta handle
2. Gardening, or tidying and declutterring
3. Audio - A Room Made of Leaves -tagged
#wondrouswednesday
@Eggs

Eggs Thanks for joining in💜💜 4mo
13 likes1 comment
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Teresereading
A Room Made of Leaves | Kate Grenville
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This was a great ‘listen‘. Australian historical fiction.
#CoverLove #day4
@Eggs @Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks

Eggs Perfect 👍🏼 4mo
16 likes1 comment
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Lov3bunny
A Room Made of Leaves | Kate Grenville
Pickpick

Transporting and beautifully written, left me with a longing to travel back to the settlers in Australia

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rachaich
A Room Made of Leaves | Kate Grenville
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Excellent book, liked the wiliness of the female narrator, and the convict characters throughout.
I must find some more by her, I've really enjoyed those I've read.

17 likes1 stack add
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rachaich
A Room Made of Leaves | Kate Grenville
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Another beautiful cover.
It was The Secret River years ago, hoping this is as good and historically factual.

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mjtwo
A Room Made of Leaves | Kate Grenville
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22 September-4 October 2020
An easy to read, fictional memoir of Elizabeth McCarthur, the wife of one of the soldiers sent to Australia and early settlers. This was lighter than I expected - The Secret River affected me greatly and I suppose I was expecting something similar. I was probably a little disappointed but this was still a good book and an interesting attempt to imagine the story of someone who at that time was mostly voiceless.

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CarolynM
A Room Made of Leaves | Kate Grenville
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I enjoyed this story of Elizabeth Macarthur & the early years of the settlement at Sydney Cove, & the establishment of Elizabeth Farm at Parramatta, more than I expected to, but it's only just a pick for me. I was surprised by how little description appears. Because I know the places referred to in their modern condition I had some framework to picture them as they must have been then, but I wonder how it would read to people who don't know them👇

CarolynM 🖕I found the Indigenous contact aspects problematic. In particular, I was unconvinced by Elizabeth's adoption of a modern attitude to dispossession at the end. While I am happy to believe she was sympathetic to Aboriginal people in a way that most of the Europeans were not, I am also sure she would have felt herself superior to the Indigenous people and perfectly entitled to their land. I do not believe she would have equated it with theft. 4y
CarolynM 🖕I read this for my IRL book group. I'm looking forward to the discussion tomorrow night. #ozfiction #BookspinBingo @TheAromaofBooks (edited) 4y
rockpools I think that‘s fair. I do think this‘ll make for a good bookclub discussion though. 4y
TheAromaofBooks Yes, there's definitely a difference between creating a character who was forward-thinking for her time and creating one who in many ways feels like a modern person inserted into a historical situation. Great review!! 4y
78 likes1 stack add4 comments
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Abailliekaras
A Room Made of Leaves | Kate Grenville
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Our new episode of Books On The Go is up - the one where I didn‘t read the book! 😱

27 likes1 stack add
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rockpools
A Room Made of Leaves | Kate Grenville
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Elizabeth, Mrs John Macarthur, travels from her home on the Devon/Cornwall border to Sydney, Australia, in 1790, one of the first soldiers‘ wives to do so. This is the story of a strong, canny woman finding a way to make her own space, in a world that offers her limited choices and in a marriage not of love, but of grudging appreciation.

rockpools A fictionalised memoir, based on the letters of the real Elizabeth Macarthur, I enjoyed this a lot and could happily have spent more time discovering her new world.

Thanks to #Netgalley for the ARC - this book came out in the UK last week.
Another tick on my #bookspinbingo (but still no bingo) and one for #NetGalleyReadathon Also #BBRC #GrowUp #Inspiredbyatruestoryorrealperson
4y
LibrarianRyan 😁👍🏻❤️ 4y
squirrelbrain Yay! A book finished! 😁👍 4y
See All 7 Comments
TheAromaofBooks Yay!! Great review!! 4y
TrishB 👍🏻 great review 4y
LeahBergen This sounds good! 4y
CarolynM My next read for my IRL book group. 4y
58 likes7 comments
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Jeg
A Room Made of Leaves | Kate Grenville
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. Beautifully crafted. A fictional account of the life of Elizabeth MacArthur . I so wanted it to be true. 😊.
My reading has slowed up of late and this was easy to pick up and put down. A gentle story . I loved it.
#2020joybooks
@MrsMalaprop

rockpools I‘m enjoying this too. 4y
CarolynM This is my next read for my IRL book group. I'm not a fan of Kate Grenville, but your review makes me more hopeful of liking it🙂 4y
Jeg @CarolynM I didn‘t enjoy secret river and I think this all I‘ve read before this one. 4y
CarolynM I didn't finish Secret River I disliked it so much, and same goes for this one 4y
Jeg @CarolynM I read Secret River for book club so I had to finish it. 🙃. Just remembered I also read her book , nonfiction, The Case Against Fragrance. I found that informative. I‘ve got her book about her mum in my TBR pile. We shall see about that one. 4y
18 likes1 stack add5 comments
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rockpools
A Room Made of Leaves | Kate Grenville
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I‘m making my way much-too-slowly through this ARC.

I have such admiration for Elizabeth Macarthur! This is her fictionalised memoir, but she was real, travelling from Devon to New South Wales in 1790, the first soldier‘s wife to arrive in Sydney. She‘s written with such a strong sense of self, a determination to get through, and patience while she finds her own agency. I‘m not sure if I like her, but am SO loving the book! #NetGalleyReviewathon

rockpools In this week‘s recurring theme, I like the US cover better. Also, what else should I have read by Kate Grenville? Thanks! 4y
55 likes1 stack add1 comment
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Cathy_J
A Room Made of Leaves | Kate Grenville
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I really enjoyed this book. It felt a bit like Jane Austen with talk of social standing, favourable marriages and finances :-P It depicts the life of the real historical figure Elizabeth Macarthur. It was interesting to see Colonial Australia through her eyes. ⭐⭐⭐.5 stars.

75 likes2 stack adds
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Jeg
A Room Made of Leaves | Kate Grenville
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Birthday book and game haul. Looking forward to reading tagged book. @MrsMalaprop

LeeRHarry Happy birthday 🥳 4y
CarolynM Happy birthday 🎂🎈🎉 4y
Rissreads I‘m very late but Happy birthday! 💙 4y
12 likes3 comments
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keepingupwiththepenguins
A Room Made of Leaves | Kate Grenville
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This book is an imagined memoir of Elizabeth Macarthur (1766-1850), wife of wool baron John Macarthur, whom history has all but erased. Grenville dedicates it “to all those whose stories have been silenced”, and it speaks to those gaps in the archive. It reads like True History Of The Kelly Gang meets Jane Austen - absorbing and intriguing. An extended review available here: https://keepingupwiththepenguins.com/new-releases/ #Australian #HistFic

44 likes2 stack adds