Review: WEEKENDS WITH THE SUNSHINE GARDENING SOCIETY, Sophie Green

• 
  this edition supplied by my local library
  
• published by Hachette Australia 2023
• ISBN 978-0-7336-4942-4
• 426 pages

Synopsis (Publisher)

A warm, uplifting story of female friendship, community and new beginnings from the beloved Sophie Green, the Top Ten bestselling author of The Shelly Bay Ladies Swimming Circle and The Bellbird River Country Choir.

Noosa Heads, 1987: Newly divorced Cynthia has returned to her home town from Los Angeles to reconnect with her 19-year-old daughter, who is pregnant and determined not to listen to her mother's advice. Cynthia's former best friend, Lorraine, has been stuck mowing lawns as part of a business she shares with her husband - his dream, not hers. When Cynthia convinces Lorraine to join the local Sunshine Gardening Society, they meet young widow Elizabeth, and rootless, heartbroken Kathy.

The four women soon discover the society is much more than an opportunity to chat about flowers. Rather, it offers them the chance to lend a helping hand to people whose lives need a bit of care and attention right along with their gardens.

Between pulling up weeds and planting natives, the women learn from each other that some roots go deep, and others shallow; that seeds can lie dormant for a long time before they spring to life, and that careful tending is the key to lives and friendships that reach their full potential. 

My Take

Let me point out first of all that this is not my usual fare of crime fiction.

I find that I can almost categorise Sophie Green's books as "comfort reads", realistic plots, focussed on life in Australian suburbs, women helping women cope with living quite ordinary lives, facing quite ordinary problems.

Mostly the characters in these books are verging on elderly and leading the sort of lives I see around me. The author seems to be able to focus on the nub of problems and suggest feel-good solutions.

My Rating: 4.5

I've also read

4.4, THE INAUGURAL MEETING OF THE FAIRVALE LADIES BOOK CLUB
4.6, THE SHELLY BAY LADIES SWIMMING CIRCLE

Review: THE SHELLY BAY LADIES SWIMMING CIRCLE, Sophie Green

• this edition published by Hachette Australia 2019
• ISBN 9-780733-641169
• 427 pages
• source: my local library

Synopsis (publisher)

The author of treasured Australian bestseller THE INAUGURAL MEETING OF THE FAIRVALE LADIES BOOK CLUB returns with a novel perfect for your book club

It's 1982 in Australia. THE MAN FROM SNOWY RIVER is a box office hit and Paul Hogan is on the TV.

In a seaside suburb, housewife Theresa takes up swimming. She wants to get fit; she also wants a few precious minutes to herself. So at sunrise each day she strikes out past the waves.

From the same beach, the widowed Marie swims. With her husband gone, bathing is the one constant in her new life.

After finding herself in a desperate situation, 25-year-old Leanne only has herself to rely on. She became a nurse to help others, even as she resists help herself.

Elaine has recently moved from England. Far from home and without her adult sons, her closest friend is a gin bottle.

In the waters of Shelly Bay, these four women find each other. They will survive bluebottle stings and heartbreak; they will laugh so hard they swallow water, and they will plunge their tears into the ocean's salt. They will find solace and companionship, and learn that love takes many forms.

Most of all, they will cherish their friendship, each and every day.

My take

Occasionally I branch out into something that is not crime fiction.

Four very different Australian women find friendship through swimming each morning at a local beach. Through their friendship they find the strength to confront their demons and battle their problems. Over a period of two years their friendship strengthens and their lives all change.

A delightful read.
If you are thinking of it for your book club, the author has provided a list of questions for discussion in the final pages.

My rating: 4.6

I've also enjoyed
4.4, THE INAUGURAL MEETING OF THE FAIRVALE LADIES BOOK CLUB

Review: THE INAUGURAL MEETING OF THE FAIRVALE LADIES BOOK CLUB, Sophie Green

• this edition published by Hatchette Australia, 2017
• ISBN 978-0-7336-3656-1
• 425 pages
• source: my local library

Synopsis (publisher)

Books bring them together - but friendship will transform all of their lives. Five very different women come together in this Top Ten bestseller, set in the Northern Territory of the 1970s, by an exceptional new Australian author

LONGLISTED FOR THE INDIE BOOK AWARD FOR DEBUT FICTION 2018

In 1978 the Northern Territory has begun to self-govern. Cyclone Tracy is a recent memory and telephones not yet a fixture on the cattle stations dominating the rugged outback. Life is hard and people are isolated. But they find ways to connect.

Sybil is the matriarch of Fairvale Station, run by her husband, Joe. Their eldest son, Lachlan, was Joe's designated successor but he has left the Territory - for good. It is up to their second son, Ben, to take his brother's place. But that doesn't stop Sybil grieving the absence of her child.
With her oldest friend, Rita, now living in Alice Springs and working for the Royal Flying Doctor Service, and Ben's English wife, Kate, finding it difficult to adjust to life at Fairvale, Sybil comes up with a way to give them all companionship and purpose: they all love to read, and she forms a book club.
Mother-of-three Sallyanne is invited to join them. Sallyanne dreams of a life far removed from the dusty town of Katherine where she lives with her difficult husband, Mick.
Completing the group is Della, who left Texas for Australia looking for adventure and work on the land.
If you loved THE GUERNSEY LITERARY AND POTATO PEEL PIE SOCIETY, THE LITTLE COFFEE SHOP OF KABUL and THE THORN BIRDS you will devour this story of five different women united by one need: to overcome the vast distances of Australia's Top End with friendship, tears, laughter, books and love.

My Take

N.B. Not crime fiction! I'm not sure how you categorise this one - romance, Australian life, remote Australia.

Somebody recommended it to me as it is to do with a book group, and I belong to 3. It covers the lives of 5 book group participants over four calendar years 1978-1981, A range of quite traumatic things happen to these women over that time, but their book group binds them together in friendship and support.

It raises some interesting issues: dealing with living in remote Australia, inter racial relations, family bonds, domestic violence, women's support groups, moving on after trauma and so on. The characters are well drawn and really lived for me. The demands and effects of outback life are well depicted.

The book group reads a number of books that you might be familiar with and the author gives reasons why she chose them: THE THORN BIRDS, LOVE IN A COLD CLIMATE, PICNIC AT HANGING ROCK, THE FAR PAVILIONS, THE HARP IN THE SOUTH, MY BRILLIANT CAREER, and A WOMAN OF SUBSTANCE. In the final pages of the book she provides some discussion questions relating to issues and incidents in the book.

Worth considering.

My rating: 4.4

About the author:
Sophie Green is an author and publisher who lives in Sydney. She has written several fiction and non-fiction books, some under other names. In her spare time she writes about country music on her blog, Jolene. She fell in love with the Northern Territory the first time she visited and subsequent visits inspired the story in THE INAUGURAL MEETING OF THE FAIRVALE LADIES BOOK CLUB, a Top Ten bestseller.