Grab The Paperbark Shoe Crafted By Goldie Goldbloom Accessible As Paperback

book review was published in the Noosa Today paperJune,

Gin Toads life has been shaped by escape, From hateful parents to asylum from asylum to sheep farmers wife, Gin has traded the possibility of a life with her music for untidy children, fetid foot smells and an uncultured husband who reads the dictionary in the dunny.


Friendless and isolated, shes lost all hope untilItalian prisoners of war begin work at their farm, Before long their presence becomes another kind of escape for Gin, They may be prisoners from Europe but they speak her language of music and art and beauty,
Now Gin sees the ultimate escape for herself: to flee to Italy with the prisoner Antonio, "
A MUST READ!

I groped for words to describe "Toads Museum of Freaks and Wonders, " Astounding. Original. Funny. Breathtaking. Engrossing. This was the best I could come up with: Goldie Goldblooms novel is simply the freshest most absorbing debut Ive read in years,

Gin Toads life in the Australian outback is a mere existence, Years earlier, Mr. Toads proposal of marriage offered her only possible escape from the mental hospital in Perth where she had been confined by her family, Dwelling on her husbands subsistence farm, shunned by the locals both for her albinism and her bourgeois sophistication, she has long realized her mistake, having merely traded one prison for another.
Abandoning her passion for the piano and any hope for a fulfilling life, she steels herself raising her and Toads two surviving children, even as she mourns for, and is haunted by, the one that died.


The novel opens in, Gins bleak emotional quarantine is breached when the Australian government sends two Italian POWs to serve the Toads as farm labor, Antonio, banished from the family he loves, sets his sights on Gin, even as she, never having known what it is to be truly desired, finds herself overwhelmed by passion for this dark, brooding, fellow exile.
Likewise, the other POW John evokes in her husband thoughts long repressed,

If this sounds like the setup for a vanilla romance novel, rest assured that this isnt that book, Goldblooms clarity of language, her dark humor, as well as her gift for plot and character, take this book someplace else entirely, That this is her debut novel, makes it all the more extraordinary, Gins acid soaked narrative voice possesses a revealing intimacy, taking us along as she is pulled like a rag doll between despair and hope, Her malapropistic husband Toad, stout, diminutive, and a proud collector of womens corsets, stands out as the sort of finely crafted character that will dwell in readers minds for a long, long time.
And this is plainly Goldblooms gift: characters so beautifully written and a setting so vivid, that one never feels the shadow of a hovering authorial presence no, I found myself wholly absorbed in her story, a place and people superbly rendered and perfectly captivating.
As with the best fiction, the writer of this work turns invisible, adding to the magic of the reading experience,

In short, "Toads Museum of Freaks and Wonders" is the sort of book you will find yourself buying for friends, telling everyone you meet that they have to read, wanting desperately to talk about, a book in the vein of debuts like "Life of Pi" and "A Fraction of the Whole.
" Yes, it is that extraordinary, Its a tough world thats inhabited by Gin Boyle Toad an albino, a classical pianist, an unloved woman whose life has been reduced to freak show status with the indelicate stares, the gossip, the pointing.
Although she was raised in Perths wealthy environs and showed early and sustained musical talent, she is abused and ultimately institutionalized by her cruel and loathsome stepfather.


Her unlikely rescuer is Agrippas Toad, a dwarfish and crudely mannered farmer who happens to hear her play piano and immediately marries her.
By doing so, he attempts to stave off the rumors about behavior that is deemed aberrant in his smallminded farm community, It is the “strangeness” of these two that binds them together, Gin Boyle reflects, “It wasnt happiness, It wasnt love. But it had been tolerable, so long as there was nothing else, ”

Into these unfulfilled lives come two Italian prisoners of war Antonio and John part of a wave of,Italian prisoners of war who were sent to work on isolated Australian farms betweenand.
The very pregnant and unloved Gin forms a dangerous affinity for Antonio, a shoemaker by trade, who

gives her the attention and compassion that is missing from her marriage.
In the meantime, Toad is more intrigued by John, for reasons that eventually become evident,

Gin Boyle aching from the death of her oldest daughter, Joan, also an albinoscarred from years of feeling like a freakembarrassed that her life has become circumvented in an ugly small town with a small husband who has an obsession with ladys corsets.
. . feels the stirring of love under Antonios appreciative gazes and through his words, But is it real and can it last

There are some very real strengths in Goldie Goldblooms debut book, The prose often soars to lyricism and the description of the landscape is positively breathtaking, In fact, the harsh and unforgiving Australian outback becomes a character in its own right, and the occasional foray of violence the hunting of the rabbits, the capricious weather, the lopping off of sheeps tales is a fine metaphor for the wartime world.
In addition, the book presents some meaningful and compelling themes: what “home” really means, the subtle violence of displacement, and how so many of us are prisoners, either literally or metaphorically, either behind bars or within our own skin.


Is it a perfect book Well, no, Goldie Goldbloom sometimes doesnt trust her reader quite enough and drums home certain messages: You are a stone fortress, not a person, When you opened your gates, it was not to surrender to me, but to capture me, ” Or, in response to why Gin didnt lock up her Italian captives, “Theyre men, Not animals. ” The buildup relating to Joan ends up being undeveloped and here and there, theres some melodrama,

But even with those fault lines, this is still an imaginative and stunningly original debut, with characters that will remain seared into your memory.
Her mesmerizing tale demands to be read and to be appreciated, The book was originally called “Toads Museum of Freaks and Wonders” and has been retitled for its U, S. publication



I really struggled with this book, The time period, and the circumstances of the main character left me incredibly concerned, but also wondering what on earth could change, and then everything did.
The plot did grab, in parts, but the emotions, motives and rationale of the main characters seemed to turn on a ten cent coin, There wasn't really a climax, or if I'm honest, a resolution, the book just ended, I will certainly think on some lessons from this book, but I did not enjoy it, I did not review this at the time of reading, Big mistake! This was a very unusual novel for me, I remember quietly thinking about the ending for a long time, An absolutely mismatched marriage, unrealised love in extremely hard times in Australia circa, Very confronting reading but I remember being in awe of this author's writing, Another Aussie gem of a book again recommended by my dad, This really is a very good read, all characters strange and heartbreakingly unique, and a very interesting topic, I had never read of the Italian POW's who ended up working very hard on Australian farms, I recommend picking up this book if you're up for a challenge, Well, the cover is so great, I figured the insides must be pretty good too, I mean, that's my favourite shade of blue AND my grandparent's veranda furniture, so what's not to like And the big plus for me was the size of the type.
I can read it without my glasses on, I hear that the editor, Georgia, is the most lovely person too, and that the author thinks she's gorgeous, Thinks Georgia is gorgeous, not herself, A stunning book. I loved this and gave copies to all my friends, Fabulous book, incredible writing. Lyrical, heartbreaking, and historically educational, Gorgeous.

Read it. Soon. THE PAPERBARK SHOE by Goldie Goldbloom is a unique historical fiction set in's Australia, This this author's debut novel, The characters are complex but opaque, Toad,a farmer seeks out and marries Gin, an albino classical pianist, They are bullied by the townspeople, Gin. Tragedy strikes them. Toad and Gin are plagued with misunderstandings,an unhappy marriage with few if not rare words of kindness to each other, They have four children one of which dies at four years of age, When two Italian POW's are sent to the Toad farm to work as laborers they get close to Toad and Gin,
Their relationship will lead to disaster, The title Paperbark refers to the paperbark gum tree for which one of the prisoners uses to make shoes, Gin and one of the prisoners have a sexual relationship, This is a complex story that is touching and at the some times full of tragedy, If you enjoy a complex story full of World War II drama,infidelities,complex emotion,misunderstandings,misfortune,and the entanglement of four adults than is a story for you.
To me the writing is intense,full of difficult and complex emotions,but than war and what happens is also, It is a little draw out with details but overall a good read, It is a little strange but it will hold your attention, It is a heart wrenching love story,its hardships,choices,and consequence, This book was received for the purpose of review from the publisher and details can be found at Picador,a trademark of St, Martin's Press and My Book Addiction s
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