Beware of Pity by Stefan Zweig

May I recommend a book which has recently come back into print - Beware of Pity by Stefan Zweig. It is a brilliant evocation of the dying days of the Austro-Hungarian Empire as seen through the eyes of a young officer who, through an embarrassing incident, becomes more and more embroiled in a love affair which is bound to end disastrously.

The book is very cleverly structured so that plot emanates from character, and personal, national and international events interweave in an unpredictable but entirely believable way, leading to a truly shocking but inevitable denouement. It is a real page-turner despite being a translation. It is now in paperback, and should be on everyone's booklist.

Reviewed by: Bette Phillips

My Brilliant Career by Miles Franklin

I am a member of a book club and this is why I read this novel. I saw the movie in the '80's and enjoyed it. The book is rather different and has a less "professional" voice which makes it both more frustrating, more convincing, and less charming.

The story concerns an adolescent woman born into some comfort and with middle class aspirations whose family falls onto hard times. She views her life through, what is to a 21st century reader, an immediately recognisable teenager's eyes. So the book is carried along on waves of semi-hysterical euphoria and profound despair.

She experiences first love and handles it appallingly, misreading everything. But she has a very sophisticated intellect and a clear understanding of class and of her (lowly) position as an Australian outback woman at the end of the 19th century. One cannot help but admire her fierce principles and her mistakes are in the most a result of these beliefs. For example, she appreciates the prison that marriage creates for women and rightly resists it even in the face of a proposal from a wealthy man who respects her independence.

It is a truly unique authorial voice and the heroine, completely convincing, warts and all. I commend it to you!

Reviewed by: Joanna De Guia