#6 Degrees of Separation from Trust to Tears, Champagne, and Laughter

This meme is hosted by Kate from Books are my Favourite and Best, and this month starts with Trust by Hernan Diaz. As soon as I knew this was the starting point, I read the book curious to see where it would lead me.

I chose a metafiction connection, which enabled me to link with Gould’s Book of Fish by Richard Flanagan. A terrific book, set in Tasmania during its time as a penal colony.

And once in Tasmania, I chose to dwell for a while, moving from Macquarie Harbour in the 19^th century to kanamaluka/the Tamar estuary in the 20^th century and linked with Limberlost by Robbie Arnott. This was one of my favourite books of 2022, and I recommend it highly.

I could stay in Tasmania, but I chose to drift down kanamaluka/the Tamar estuary to Bass Strait and then make my way to Sydney.

The Coast by Eleanor Limprecht was my next stop, a lazaret at Little Bay in the early 20^th century. A sad novel, heartbreaking at times but also filled with courage and love.

Courage takes me inland, to the town of Batlow in the Snowy Mountains. The town was considered undefendable from the bushfires raging on 2 January 2020. In Undefendable: The Story of a Town Under Fire edited by Sulari Gentill and Sarah Kynaston, you will find a collection of memories by those directly affected, by those who fought to save Batlow and those who evacuated.

Memories of bushfires took me to Canberra, in 2003. On Saturday 18 January 2003, four people lost their lives and 500 homes were destroyed when out-of-control bushfires combined and descended on Canberra’s south-western suburbs. In Tears, Laughter, and Champagne by Karen Downing, nine women recount their fifteen-year journey from the day the fires changed their lives. These are the Singed Sisters. As devastating bushfires become part of life for so many communities around Australia this book serves as a reminder of the enduring nature of friendship, good food and great champagne in tough times.

From Trust to Tears, Champagne and Laughter, from metafiction to memoir.