Review: A MONTH OF SUNDAYS, Liz Byrski

• this edition published by Pan Macmillan Australia 2018
• ISBN 978-1-74353-494-6
• 343 pages
• source: my local library

Synopsis (author website)

For over ten years, Ros, Adele, Judy and Simone have been in an online book club, but they have never met face to face. Until now…

Determined to enjoy her imminent retirement, Adele invites her fellow bibliophiles to help her house-sit in the Blue Mountains. It’s a tantalising opportunity to spend a month walking in the fresh air, napping by the fire and, of course, reading and talking about books.

But these aren’t just any books: each member has been asked to choose a book which will teach the others more about her. And with each woman facing a crossroads in her life, it turns out there’s a lot for them to learn, not just about their fellow book-clubbers, but also about themselves.

A Month of Sundays reminds us of the joy, the comfort and the occasional challenge we can find in the pages of a book.

My take

Please note: another book that isn't crime fiction!
And one that I really enjoyed.

Each of the women in the online book group is facing some sort of crisis. Three of them are retired, but they all jump at the chance to meet up and discuss books after over 10 years online. They have met before only through Skype and so they don't really know each other.

I loved the way we got to learn about each of these women as well as share in their book discussions.
Their discussions, by the way, were very different to what happens at the books clubs I attend, where we take a rather cursory look at the book and then move quickly on.

For those who'd like to explore this book further the author has kindly provided starting points on her website.

This book came highly recommended and I certainly intend to read another by Liz Byrski.

My rating: 4.5

About the author
Liz Byrski is a writer and broadcaster with more than 50 years experience in the British and Australian media. She is the author of thirteen non-fiction books and ten novels, and her work has been published in national and international newspapers and magazines.

In the nineties Liz was a broadcaster and executive producer with ABC Radio in Perth and later an advisor to a minister in the Western Australian State Government; she has a PhD on the subject of feminist popular fiction, and is an Associate Professor in the Faculty of Humanities at Curtin University.

Liz was born in London and spent most of her childhood in Sussex. As an only child she spent a lot of time alone, much of it buried in books. She began her working life at 16, as a secretary, and later moved into journalism working as a reporter on a local newspaper, until she took up freelance writing when her children were born.

Liz emigrated to Australia with her family in 1981 and worked as a freelance journalist/writer in Perth writing for a variety of publications including The Australian, New Idea, Homes and Living, Cosmopolitan, the Australian Financial Review, The Woman Writer, and The West Australian.  For several years she was a broadcaster with ABC Radio 720 6WF, where she was best known for hosting The Grapevine program with Peter Holland.

Liz lives between Perth and Fremantle and in addition to enjoying the company of family and friends, she spends most of her free time reading, writing and walking.   She has two adult sons and twin grandsons.