Restorer, The
by Sala, Michael
- Used
- Good
- Paperback
- Condition
- Good/Not Applicable
- ISBN 10
- 1925355020
- ISBN 13
- 9781925355024
- Seller
-
Buttaba, New South Wales, Australia
Payment Methods Accepted
About This Item
Melbourne, VIC, Australia: The Text Publishing Company, 2017. Book. Good. Large Softcover. Reprint. 8vo - over 7¾" - 9¾" tall. Large softcover, reprint, 480gms, 342 pages. A beautifully written novel about growing up, starting again - and how the riptide of personal history can pull us further and further from safety, no matter how hard we fight. Book is in good condition with mild general wear and tear and moderate page discolouration/spotting throughout, otherwise no other pre-loved markings..
Reviews
On Mar 4 2017, CloggieDownunder said:
"Some nights sleep wouldn't come to her at all. A wakefulness bloomed in her, so intense it was as if something made of needles was trying to claw its way out. She'd watch the dawn spread over the street"
The Restorer is the second novel by Dutch-born Australian author, Michael Sala. When Maryanne arrives with her children at the house in East Newcastle that her estranged husband has bought, it is with hope that they can restore their relationship to its earlier, more stable state. The house is a dump, but Roy is confident he will have it fully liveable or saleable within a year.
Not everyone shares his enthusiasm for the move. Fourteen-year-old Freya is resentful of being torn away from Sydney, her friends and her nan; eight-year-old Daniel is still acting too vague and dreamy, too sheltered by Maryanne, for Roy's liking. As the months go by and Roy's behaviour regresses, Maryanne's certainty about her decision to give it another chance begins to erode.
Sala tells his story using two main narrators: Maryanne provides the perspective of a woman trying to balance a relationship with the man she loves and the imperative to protect her children from harm; Freya gives the point of view of an adolescent growing up in a family filled with hidden tensions, with a background of which she is more aware than anyone realises; next-door neighbour Richard's short but prescient narrative bookends these two.
Sala's beautiful descriptive prose effortlessly captures his setting: Newcastle locals will easily recognise their city. His mention of significant events anchors his tale firmly in the year 1989. His descriptions of weather are especially evocative: "…the weather had turned on its head the way it did on the coast, everything – the warmth, the calm, the clarity – thrown away, rain coming over at unpredictable moments, on again, off again, pummelling its fists against the windows and the roof, then fragments of blue stumbling across the sky, a sudden burst of intolerable sun, before the clouds locked back into place again and it was all humidity, and waiting, just waiting, for something to break"
His characters are multi-faceted and realistically flawed; their dialogue is natural and their behaviour quite believable, although Maryanne gives Freya more freedom than many mothers would a fourteen-year-old. Sala touches on many topical issues, as well as some that are timeless: feelings of inadequacy, lack of trust, domestic violence, teens hormones and upheaval, suicide, drugs, alcohol, mental cruelty, and anger management all feature. This is a powerful, moving read.
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Details
- Bookseller
- Reading Habit (AU)
- Bookseller's Inventory #
- AUSFIC1534
- Title
- Restorer, The
- Author
- Sala, Michael
- Format/Binding
- Paperback
- Book Condition
- Used - Good
- Jacket Condition
- Not Applicable
- Edition
- Reprint
- ISBN 10
- 1925355020
- ISBN 13
- 9781925355024
- Publisher
- The Text Publishing Company
- Place of Publication
- Melbourne, VIC, Australia
- Date Published
- 2017
- Size
- 8vo - over 7¾" - 9&f
- Keywords
- Australian Fiction, General Fiction, Literary Fiction, Michael Sala, Newcastle
- Bookseller catalogs
- General Fiction; Australian Fiction;
Terms of Sale
Reading Habit
30 day return guarantee, with full refund including shipping costs for up to 30 days after delivery if an item arrives misdescribed or damaged.
About the Seller
Reading Habit
Biblio member since 2009
Buttaba, New South Wales
About Reading Habit
Dealers in quality secondhand books, operating online and at local markets. We offer recycled book titles at up to 70% off original retail prices. We have over 30,000 books in stock.
Glossary
Some terminology that may be used in this description includes:
- Reprint
- Any printing of a book which follows the original edition. By definition, a reprint is not a first edition.