Carolyn's Reviews > Amber and Alice

This book was so much fun! A road trip with two very different sisters. Amber who likes to think she's practical and organised but agrees to the trip while very drunk and immediately after making a major exhibition of herself and being fired at the work end of financial year dinner, and Sage who is a free spirited vegan, not in the least bit practical, who thinks more or less kidnapping her drunk sister and taking her on a two week road trip through the middle of Australia will be a bonding experience.

There is a lot of humour as Amber tries to cope with finding herself on a road trip with no clothes or supplies, ill-equipped for camping and without coffee or real food. Initially she does little to recommend herself to the rest of the tour group, the "tag-alongs" in their four wheel drives, or the good looking tour leader Tom. But Sage has a reason for taking Amber hostage. She wants to help her find her father, a man their mother Goldie met in Coober Pedy and moved with to Alice Springs before leaving him not long after Amber's birth. Eventually the beautiful scenery does start to work it's magic on Amber but the pull of the city and a sensible job are still strong and Amber finds she has some decisions to make about her life and future.

Jeanette Paul's characters are all delightful. Amber and Sage are poles apart as sisters, but do have a strong bond forged by an early childhood spent on road trips with their mother. Tom the handsome, enigmatic tour leader has his own secrets he is running away from. The tour group contains many recognisable tourist types - the older couple, the family of four with energetic young son and sulky teenage daughter, the snap happy photographer who has to document everything. Anyone who has done any driving in outback Australia will also recognise the many colourful Aussie characters who run the pubs, hotels and service stations in these remote areas. All in all, Ms Paul has taken us on a well written and very enjoyable journey.