20:07
Karly Lane
I was sent this link to a beautiful review of Morgan's Law by Monique Mulligan. Check out some of her other reviews- http://www.writenotereviews.com/m-o.html What a great site.
Thank You Monique- you're beautiful review made me cry! In case the link disappears- here's the review below.
Morgan’s LawAuthor: Karly Lane
Arena RRP $29.99
Review: Monique Mulligan
“It tends to shock children to realise their mothers are also women, even though they’ve given up their name to become plain old Mum.” (Carmel Morgan in Morgan’s Law).
As I get older I am learning more about my mother as a woman, a girl, a dreamer, a sister and a daughter, rather than just “Mum” (or Sausage, as she is affectionately known). A similar discovery is what surprises London-based career woman Sarah Murphy when she makes a quick trip to Negellan, a small farming community in Queensland to scatter her beloved Gran’s ashes.
For Sarah, a break from her London life is just what she needs, even if Negellan is an unlikely place for a high-flying executive to unwind. She is visiting the town simply to follow through on her grandmother’s last, albeit mysterious, wish – to have her ashes scattered under the Wishing Tree. What she doesn’t count on is that her actions will cause trouble in more ways than one.
It doesn’t take long for her enquiries about her grandmother to cause disquiet in the town, particularly within the powerful Morgan family. Nor does it take long for an attraction to develop between Sarah and local farmer, Adam. And strangely, the girl from the city soon finds herself drawn to the battling community that for some reason is connected to her grandmother. Sarah is soon faced with a number of choices, but will she make the right ones?
There’s more than meets the eye in Morgan’s Law. Author Karly Lane skilfully interweaves a young woman’s hopes and dreams, the search for family roots and self-discovery with romance and mystery in an embattled rural setting. The setting adds depth because it allows issues facing such communities to be given a voice - suicide, depression, hardship are all under the surface, but very real. The community becomes more than just a place or a setting; it is alive and evolving, adding to the story's believability.
On the surface this appears to be a story about a young woman who is prompted to ask herself a big question in life: What do I want out of life? The journey to self-awareness was not one Sarah intended to make, but she finds herself along for the ride nonetheless. I liked Sarah. She’s the right mix of feisty and kind, and I wanted everything to work out for her. She has been affected by her touchy relationship with her mother, but as Sarah finds out more about her grandmother, the reader is left with a sense that Sarah’s discoveries will benefit this relationship.
On another level, Morgan’s Law is not just about Sarah’s hopes and dreams, but those of her gran, and to a lesser extent, other minor characters such as Tash and Ruth. Not to mention the hopes of an entire community which, rapidly fading, are soon buoyed by new ideas.
As a love interest for Sarah, Adam’s quiet strength hit the spot and I enjoyed vicariously observing their growing romance. Their story sweetly overlaps with a long-ago romance, effectively bringing closure to the past. Initially Sarah is unwilling to label the situation as more than ‘lust’, but the reader knows that it’s a front; with everything she thought she knew about her gran suddenly changing, as well as unwanted questions intruding her thoughts about her life’s direction, she needs some way to maintain control.
Once I started reading, I found Morgan’s Law hard to set aside. Much more than a rural romance, the combination of compelling plot, suspense and great writing held my interest through to the end; my only gripe was with the final chapter, which seemed a bit rushed and not entirely realistic in the way it played out. That said, and without wanting to spoil things, the plot outcome was all good, so this is forgivable; all’s well that ends well. This was my first Lane novel and it won’t be my last.
Morgan’s Law is available from good bookstores and Allen & Unwin
Arena RRP $29.99
Review: Monique Mulligan
“It tends to shock children to realise their mothers are also women, even though they’ve given up their name to become plain old Mum.” (Carmel Morgan in Morgan’s Law).
As I get older I am learning more about my mother as a woman, a girl, a dreamer, a sister and a daughter, rather than just “Mum” (or Sausage, as she is affectionately known). A similar discovery is what surprises London-based career woman Sarah Murphy when she makes a quick trip to Negellan, a small farming community in Queensland to scatter her beloved Gran’s ashes.
For Sarah, a break from her London life is just what she needs, even if Negellan is an unlikely place for a high-flying executive to unwind. She is visiting the town simply to follow through on her grandmother’s last, albeit mysterious, wish – to have her ashes scattered under the Wishing Tree. What she doesn’t count on is that her actions will cause trouble in more ways than one.
It doesn’t take long for her enquiries about her grandmother to cause disquiet in the town, particularly within the powerful Morgan family. Nor does it take long for an attraction to develop between Sarah and local farmer, Adam. And strangely, the girl from the city soon finds herself drawn to the battling community that for some reason is connected to her grandmother. Sarah is soon faced with a number of choices, but will she make the right ones?
There’s more than meets the eye in Morgan’s Law. Author Karly Lane skilfully interweaves a young woman’s hopes and dreams, the search for family roots and self-discovery with romance and mystery in an embattled rural setting. The setting adds depth because it allows issues facing such communities to be given a voice - suicide, depression, hardship are all under the surface, but very real. The community becomes more than just a place or a setting; it is alive and evolving, adding to the story's believability.
On the surface this appears to be a story about a young woman who is prompted to ask herself a big question in life: What do I want out of life? The journey to self-awareness was not one Sarah intended to make, but she finds herself along for the ride nonetheless. I liked Sarah. She’s the right mix of feisty and kind, and I wanted everything to work out for her. She has been affected by her touchy relationship with her mother, but as Sarah finds out more about her grandmother, the reader is left with a sense that Sarah’s discoveries will benefit this relationship.
On another level, Morgan’s Law is not just about Sarah’s hopes and dreams, but those of her gran, and to a lesser extent, other minor characters such as Tash and Ruth. Not to mention the hopes of an entire community which, rapidly fading, are soon buoyed by new ideas.
As a love interest for Sarah, Adam’s quiet strength hit the spot and I enjoyed vicariously observing their growing romance. Their story sweetly overlaps with a long-ago romance, effectively bringing closure to the past. Initially Sarah is unwilling to label the situation as more than ‘lust’, but the reader knows that it’s a front; with everything she thought she knew about her gran suddenly changing, as well as unwanted questions intruding her thoughts about her life’s direction, she needs some way to maintain control.
Once I started reading, I found Morgan’s Law hard to set aside. Much more than a rural romance, the combination of compelling plot, suspense and great writing held my interest through to the end; my only gripe was with the final chapter, which seemed a bit rushed and not entirely realistic in the way it played out. That said, and without wanting to spoil things, the plot outcome was all good, so this is forgivable; all’s well that ends well. This was my first Lane novel and it won’t be my last.
Morgan’s Law is available from good bookstores and Allen & Unwin
1 comments:
I just found this! Thank you Karly X
Just in case you're wondering, Each Day a Gift is my blog.
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