Reviews with content warning for Domestic abuse - Women & Children

Reviews tagging 'Domestic abuse'

Women & Children by Tony Birch

9 reviews

kcouncil's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful sad medium-paced

4.25

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nanirump's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

I was immediately drawn to the characters, the time and place and the story. I felt like I was inside the world and the characters were so rich and believable.

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thunderhead's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful reflective tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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kcampbell0507's review against another edition

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emotional reflective sad slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

4.0

Told mostly from the perspective of 11 year old Joe, this is a snippet of life during the summer holidays in Melbourne in the mid-60s. It is about family relationships, and family stories.

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stanro's review

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challenging emotional hopeful reflective sad tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

I’m a fan of Tony Birch, whose Women & Children was published late in 2023. Here, he writes of people living in suburban Melbourne in what seems to be the pre-decimal currency sixties. They are not proudly or ostentatiously Aboriginal, but we readers learn it very early. It is a recurring deep background aspect that does not feature.

The Clooneys are a Catholic family of mother Marion, 12-year-old daughter Ruby and our main character, 11-year-old Joe. Marion’s father Charlie and sister Oonagh (spelling?) are also prominent.

The book opens with a description of the school the two children attend, a Catholic school run by nuns who are all named Mary <and insert second name>. It is a place of rules and punishments. Joe is often harshly punished. And the Church representatives are, with the exception of the church caretaker, cruel and uncaring.

This is a book about familial love and the family’s experiences, several of which are very unpleasant and centred on domestic violence. There is a slowly turning inevitability about it that still manages to go slightly elsewhere than expected. It is gently and compellingly told. Birch is such a good writer and the narrator, Tamala Shelton, is as excellent as she was in my recently-read Too Much Lip by Melissa Lucashenko.

#areadersjourney

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serendipitysbooks's review

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dark emotional reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.25

Women & Children is set in a working class suburb of Melbourne in 1965. Our protagonist Joe Cluny is eleven years old and lives with his mother Marion and older sister Ruby. He has a very close relationship with his grandfather, a newly retired street sweeper whom he calls Char. His aunt Oona also plays a significant role in the story. Joe is an utter delight - slightly naive (something which will be challenged by the events in this story), sweet, thoughtful and intelligent - but at different times each member of the family along with Char’s friend Ranji claimed a piece of my heart, albeit for different reasons. The characterisation was wonderful and I loved the family dynamics, the way they loved each other and had each other’s backs - even if they frustrated or irritated by each other. The friendship between Char and Ranji was another high point; not only was it between older males but they were of different faiths, yet clearly respected each other and found many commonalities. This book highlighted some important issues including the physical and emotional abuse meted out in the Catholic school system, and the terrible toll of domestic abuse, especially when police were corrupt and neither they nor society at large treated the issues seriously. The ending was fast paced and full of hand to mouth, perched on the edge of your seat with muscles clenched tension. Yet it wasn’t artificial; rather it felt fitting for the story with all the different threads coming together in a very satisfying way.

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