The Tassie Book Club- Feb 2024

by Hobart Magazine

The Woman Booker Prize Club is a local Hobart book club. Here they share their thoughts on books by Tasmanian authors, set in Tasmania, or about Tassie topics.

This month we shift into a slower pace of life, joining strong female characters, Lacey and Lucy, as they reassess their lives and connections to place and community in rural Tasmania.

One novel is a more traditional and c omforting small-town romance, while the other explores themes of animal intelligence, conservation, and our embodied human selves.

Home to Echidna Lane by Eva Scott (HarperCollins, August 2023)

Review by Melanie Ross

Lacey Clark has just been spectacularly betrayed on live television by her seemingly perfect husband. Hurriedly evacuating her perfect Sydney life with her two young sons in tow, she makes a dash for her home town of Whitton, to stay with her parents while attempting to make sense of her marriage.

Unbeknownst to Lacey, her new neighbour Shane – a widower walnut farmer – was her biggest fan when they were in high school together. As the pair develop a fledgling friendship (alongside their sweet children), might they find more than just friendship with each other? Or will each of their past hurts prevent a happy ending?

Scott wrote this book while living full-time in Tasmania, and it certainly shows. While the little town of Whitton is a fictional backdrop for our characters’ romance, there are many specific details of life in Tasmania, including Czegs’ Cafe in Richmond, and the best spot for viewing an Aurora Australis!

This book won’t win any accolades for breaking new ground in the romance genre, but it’s a charming rural story of finding love even after life has dealt you a bad hand.

With a really lovely cast of supporting characters, a bucolic Tasmanian backdrop, and a heartfelt message about family and community, this book might be perfect reading if you’re not quite ready to let the lazy days of your summer holiday fade away.

The Octopus and I by Erin Hortle (Allen & Unwin, April 2020)

Review by Megan Tighe

Erin Hortle’s debut novel from 2020 is one of my favourite books set in Tasmania, ever. It’s also the perfect read for late summer and early autumn. As we settle into the year and the seasons change, it’s a good time to spend some reflective hours in or near the ocean.

The Octopus and I is based around Eaglehawk Neck, and I found it an accurate, honest and loving reflection of the landscape and the community.

Our main character is Lucy; living with her ‘hippy’ abalone diver boyfriend Jem, and recovering from major surgery.

Navigating her new body, Lucy develops a deep fascination with octopuses, and finds herself drawn to the friendship of a local woman and her son. Lucy has to realise what it means to be herself, and what she might be better off without.

We see the world not just through Lucy’s eyes, but also from an octopus’ point of view. I recently gifted the book to a friend in the Northern Territory who has never been to Tasmania, and she loved it almost as much as I do! She said it had “some of the best animal-perspective sections of writing I’ve ever read, particularly from a creature with such a different sensory system to our own.”

I’m confident you will enjoy it too.

Book Chatter: The Stella Day Out is a mini literary festival that celebrates and promotes the outstanding contributions of women and non-binary writers to Australian literature. Hobartians rejoice: we’re getting the second ever ‘Day Out’ at the Hedberg on the afternoon of 16 February. And the best thing? It’s free!

Keen to chat books with us? Find us on Instagram @thewomanbookerprizeclub or email thewbpc@gmail.com.

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Extras

Hobart Happenings

by Stephanie Williams

OFF SEASON: Bits And Pieces

Not many people have a garden named after them but one of the founders of modern organic gardening in Tasmania, David, can enjoy the spoils of the David Stephen Neighbourhood Garden (formerly Kickstart CG) in New Town.

Hobart Happenings

Hobart Happenings in March 2024

Hobart Happenings

Hobart Happenings in February 2024

Stay up to date with everything happening at the Hobart Magazine.

Even though Tasmania is known for its mild summers, it doesn’t take much to get sunburnt. Tasmania experiences extreme ultraviolet (UV) levels, but contrary to popular belief this isn’t due to the hole in the ozone layer, which is actually south of the continent.While higher UV levels often occur at the same time as higher temperatures, the two are not linked. Instead, UV levels are determined by the angle of the sun in the sky: the higher the sun, the higher the UV. In December and January, the position of the sun over Tasmania gives the state a UV index of 11 or more on most days, which is classified as “extreme” on the UV index. Tasmania’s lack of humidity and generally clear skies contribute to the stinging feeling of the sun. UV can reflect off buildings and water, making it possible to get a higher dose of UV from these reflected rays, even in the shade.

Having just spent a year in Antarctica, Dr Meg is ready to get back to her patients and passion projects in Hobart.

Setting up shop during a pandemic was a risky move, but if the crowd at Dāna Eating House (Dāna) on a Friday night is anything to go by, it’s one that’s paid off. With tables of diners chatting and laughing over drinks, the music and conversation buzzes off the monstera-leaf-green walls. Low-hanging rattan lights and worn wooden floorboards give the newly opened South-East Asian fusion venue in Hobart’s CBD a relaxed vibe.

These women have been suiting up Tasmania’s front-line workers for more than 30 years.

A simple cave provided the perfect hideout for one of Tasmania’s most brutal bushrangers – and you can easily walk to it from Fern Tree. Sarah Aitken went in search of the story of Rocky Whelan.

Thank you to Luke Brokensha for mobilising his friends and local residents recently to host two rubbish clean ups along the Hobart Rivulet after heavy rains.

The warm weather returns...hello summer.

Need a laugh? Check out @theinspiredunemployed feed on Instagram.

Moto Vecchia Cafe in Bellerive and Czegs Cafe in Richmond have joined the Clarence City Council dementia program, creating dementia-friendly spaces for all patrons.

It’s hard to believe it’s not standard practice to have a working phone in every aged care room - shared phones make private conversations impossible and increase the risk of spreading COVID-19.

Tacks on the tracks. Mountain bikers beware of tacks being left on certain tracks on the mountain.

Just when you think your cousins are alright. NZ Opposition Leader Judith Collins took aim at Tassie during her recent (unsuccessful) campaign, calling us Australia’s “poor cousin.” She also seems worried about us nabbing tech businesses, “It’s a lovely part of the world but do you necessarily want to go there with your high- tech business? Possibly not,” she said. We beg to differ!