Tuesday, April 5, 2011

"At Home With the Templetons" by Monica McInerny : Book Review

Forethought:

The first time I saw this book for sale I was finished my shift at a local department store and was browsing the shelves whilst waiting for my mother to come and get me. That was about a year ago. So, why haven't I read this book up until now? Firstly, the book was over 500 pages long, the print reasonable small and the height and width of the book were quite large, so my first impressions were "This book is a tomb" (or I may have said brick? but, I'm guessing you get the picture) so yeah, I was fairly intimidated. I had never read something so thick before. 

Secondly, I thought this book was going to be extremely time consuming. Not only was I worried about not being able to finish the book, ever, but i was worried about how long it was going to take me to read such a large book on the large scale of things here. I mean I was trying to meet a reading goal here, And I didn't think I would be able to read enough books, especially if one of them was this big. 

Last of all the book was expensive. Everywhere i looked (online and in stores)     I could not manage to find a copy of the book for a reasonable price. When I saw it on clearance for $19 (which is still expensive) I thought "this is my last chance to buy it ( in my crappy home town)  so I may a swell get it"

THE REVIEW:

Australian author Monica McInereny's "At Home With The Templetons" is everything it appears to be and so much more.  Filled with it's fair share of surprises and cliches the book follows the lives of two families and how their relationships with each other shape the paths that their lives take.Secrets are revealed and created as the large Templeton family and small Donnovan family pass through and by each others lives both metophorically and geographically. 

At the begining we are introduced to Gracie Templeton as she returns to Melbourne for some kind of reunion. We are then introduced to her again  in the next chapter as Gracie Templeton the little girl who lives in Templeton Hall, A famous landmark which has been  inherited by her family on her fathers side. The other people who live in Castlemaine such as neighbour Nina Donnovan become jealous quickly and while she attempts to shut the hall out of her life forever it keeps finding a way back into her mind.

Excitable and enjoyable “At home with the Templetons” leaves the reader with a pleasant feeling that only comes from learning secrets. The kind of feeling that you get after sitting down for a long cup of tea with a kind elderly lady while she tells you her life story and even though some of it seems like it’s made up, you revel in it because you appreciate the creative effort. The author’s brilliant writing is not overly descriptive, but is written with just the right words so that you can identify the settings and the feelings in the text without being bulked down by unnecessary imagery.   

This book is family drama that will have you learning that old rule about assumptions and that some people will never change. I recommend this to anyone that enjoys a feel good book or midday movie. Overall i gave it 5/5 stars.


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