Charlie Smithers: Adventures Downunder (The Charlie Smithers Collection Book 3) - a review by Diana Milne

Flashman never experienced anything like this, not even remotely!

Whether it’s because of his gift of the ‘sight,’ inherited from his dour old Hebridean mum, or simply a sorely battered noggin (a result of his master’s appalling aim)the Australias hold one of Charlie Smithers’ most intriguing adventures to date.
Pirates, great white sharks, mermaids, scorching deserts, cannibals and a small army of sadistic bushrangers are only part of the story. A mysterious gunslinging sheila with emerald green eyes, and a shocking vocabulary, is another adventure all on its own.

And throughout the tale there is the innocuous message from a ghost from Charlie’s past: “You must learn to forgive…”

Charlie Smithers, or should I say C W Lovatt? has done it again, bringing us the best adventure yet in the series about this remarkable and lovable character. Following a raid by pirates and a serious wound from the ever helpful, but sadly unskilled marksman, Lord Brampton, Smithers finds himself washed up and stranded in a place that he later knows to be Australia. The story follows his rescue and travels with a foul mouthed and enigmatic woman, who he comes to respect and love, and is held together by a tune that haunts him throughout the narrative.

Written in a friendly first person, the book grabs hold of its readers and lures them from page to page, tugging at the edges of the consciousness whilst one is not reading, urging one to go back. Lovatt’s skilled narrative and exceptional story telling ensure that no reader gets away without this book becoming a part of themselves. It is, to me, a mark of true genius, when a character becomes so important that the reader becomes slightly infatuated with them, and this is true of Charlie. I cared, and cared deeply, what happened to him.

The amount of research that the author has accomplished to ensure every facet of this story is accurate is phenomenal, ranging from the flora and fauna of the Antipodes, through Waler horses, to folk history, Aboriginal people and traditions and that most elusive of Australian native phenomenon, ‘Dream Time’.

Smithers is his usual very British, stiff upper lip self, where fair play rules, right is right and wrong is everything else. His sense of indignity when confronted by someone who did not play by the unwritten British rule book, is so funny, and yet not too out of the ordinary for a certain type of Englishman – (think Jacob Rees-Mogg or Boris Johnson!) :

“Well, something had to be done, and no error. This was really too bad, but there was nothing else for it. My defiant glare transformed into an indignant frown. 

Gasping, I managed to wheeze, “Hold on,” spluttering out a mouthful of the ocean, “this ain’t cricket!” 

When this failed to stop him, or indeed, slow him down one iota, my indignation became quite severe, let me tell you, and I declared, “You, sir, are not a gentleman!” 

No doubt your surprise is as great as mine, upon finding that this also produced no effect, and I could see that things were looking pretty grim. 

“But dammit, you’re British!” I cried. 

Then, with a final gasp, I took what little air that I could swallow into my poor starving lungs, and sank beneath the waves. I could hear his enraged fists pummelling the spot ...” 

In this adventure, Smithers, whether as a result of a greater maturity or as a result of a severe bang on the head, begins to experience the gift of ‘sight’, inherited from his mother, which has been touched on in previous works, but never thoroughly examined. In this place, where real time and dream time go hand in hand, he finds a perfect avenue to get to know this other side of his psyche and a lot of the book is about the metaphysical, within the context of Charlie’s own exploration and experience of the theme. This is a brave undertaking for any author and CW Lovatt accomplishes this with exceptional understanding and tact and manages to explain paranormal events in a way that the lay person can understand and which would also be recognisable to a practitioner.

Dream Time is an anomaly in the space time continuum that is experienced by Aboriginal people and it is a subject that I have tried to understand in greater depth since the 1970s. Although this quote comes from the previous book in the series, it more than sums up Charlie’s tentative grasping at the subject: "There was more to our existence than met the eye. Whether it was through some sort of deity, or something else, there was a force at work beyond our capabilities of reckoning, and it defied reason."

This book stretches Charlie as a character and stretches the CW Lovatt as an author, to new levels of greatness and storytelling, weaving a magic spell around Smithers and Mattie as they dance to their music of time, that maybe, just maybe, only they can hear. Charlie probably will never get better from the loss of his wife Loiyan, but he has become better at it and is now able to confidently move on and face his life in all its dimensions. 

With his exceptional use of words, Lovatt paints pictures of the mysterious and beautiful land that is Australia, getting under the skin of the country to its very soul and carrying the reader along in his wake. Whilst on the subject of the author's exceptional use of words, the book contains my favourite quote of all time:
"I bowed my head, wondering yet again, how something so pitifully shallow as my body, could endure something so deep as my grief, and yet live?" Every time I read this I not only relate to it, but get tears in my eyes. 

And in an after word, the author posits a possible explanation for the lilting music that Charlie hears throughout the adventure tying the story together very cleverly, combining fact, folklore and fiction, a skill at which Lovatt excels.

And did Charlie learn to forgive? Read the book and find out! You won’t be disappointed.

About the author:

Image of the author in Australia researching 'Downunder'.
(The image is shared with permission from absolutely no one, having been blatantly stolen by Diana from the author's Face Book page.)

CW Lovatt is the award winning author of the best selling Charlie Smithers Collection, the short story anthology, “And Then It Rained,” and the critically acclaimed “Josiah Stubb: The Siege of Louisbourg.” His latest release,“Interim,” is the second book of the Josiah Stubb trilogy.  
You may read his blog here at Story River
and do read even more about him in this wonderful interview 
Diana talks to CW Lovatt.

© Diana Milne September 2017

Robert Reviews: TimeStorm

TimeStorm

by Steve Harrison

Reviewed by Robert Southworth

Author Steve Harrison has so kindly offered a FREE PAPERBACK COPY of TimeStorm to one lucky reader. Please see below for your chance to win!
Drawing July 30, 2015

This drawing has been held and a winner announced at Facebook.

Please see new reviews for more chances!

We have a giveaway with every review!

TimeStorm is a recipient of
the Highly Commended
category in the Fellowship
of Australian Writers (FAW)
National Literary Awards,
Jim Hamilton Award

TimeStorm begins briefly in the modern day and centres upon a sixteen-year-old boy called William. Then, quite abruptly and with no small skill on behalf of the author, it throws you back a few centuries to 1796, aboard a ship in the Tasman Sea. As the novel moves forward, weather-beaten sailors and hardened convicts alike are transported into the future. To use author Steve Harrison's own words:

TimeStorm is a thrilling epic adventure story of revenge, survival and honour set in a strange new world of unfamiliar technology and equally unfathomable social norms. In the literary footsteps of Hornblower comes Lieutenant Christopher 'Kit' Blaney, an old-fashioned hero, a man of honour, duty and principle, dragged into the 21st century… literally.

Firstly, I would like to mention that TimeStorm is not in any way the type of novel I would usually read. I was so far out of my comfort zone it was like looking for my arm chair from the moon. That said, I believe it is important as both reader and author to experience tales of all types as they give us new perspective in what we can demand from books, and also spur on creative thinking in our own works.  So with a mixture of trepidation and excitement I began. Any fears that I may have had were soon dispelled with the first few pages. The author shows great skill in presenting a picture of modern life, the humdrum existence of a young man with too much time on his hands. As a reader you just begin to settle into the pace of young William’s life and suddenly you are picked up and thrown bodily onto the creaking timbers of a convict ship over two hundred years in the past.

The book moves at a fine pace, keeping you turning the pages with a sense of anticipation. This is helped along the way not only with an intriguing storyline but also the well-developed characters. It is true that some have been sculptured more than others, but all are believable and add to the novel's integrity. I can’t think of one character who is mere window dressing. It’s at this point I must mention Blaney, an officer aboard the ship. I loved this character, and in the blurb he is described as a heroic figure similar to the likes of Hornblower. I could not agree more; heroic and honourable are cut from the same cloth as C. S. Forester’s most notable hero and Cornwell’s Sharpe.

Worth mentioning is the descriptive writing around life aboard the ship. I have very limited knowledge around nautical life in the 18^th century, so it was important to me as a reader that the author created an atmosphere that ensured a sense and feeling of the craft and crew in this era. He delivers this skilfully without interrupting the story with too many mundane inner workings of a ship. Coupled with how those characters react to being torn from their native time to a world that differs from theirs in almost every way makes for a very exhilarating read. I believe that Mr. Harrison the author fused his characters together well; they interacted in a way that was true to the era and to them as individuals.  Of course the book has its serious moments but the author has managed to interject snippets of humour that helped the novel in its entirety.

Karen sighed. She had not anticipated a language barrier. ‘I suppose you must be a foreigner.’

A shadow came across the man’s face and his body stiffened. Karen shivered, sensing for the first time an element of danger in the man. He sat up straight and turned to her coldly. ‘Good Lord, no, madam,’ he said crisply, ‘I am an Englishman!’

TimeStorm is written in a format I have not encountered before, and differs from the traditional chapter numbers or headings. Instead each is labelled with a character's name and the segments alternate between them; the start of main sections also include dates.

When I have summarized books in the past I have had a reference point: a place where I thought the book would begin and take me on a journey and I would give my opinion on that journey. This book in many ways has been more remarkable as I never had a starting point, because the novel is so far removed from my usual reading material. It is like getting on a mystery bus tour, where the driver not only has no clue where they are going, but is also blindfolded. All I can say is that I felt the novel was entertaining and well written, with diverse and interesting characters. The fact that time travel is involved is neither here or there, because the skill in which the author has written about the individuals and the trials they face is of such a high quality, that it is on them the reader concentrates. If I had to give the book a rating, I would not have any qualms about placing a more than healthy four stars next to the title.

For your chance to win a FREE PAPERBACK COPY of TimeStorm, simply comment below OR at this review's Facebook thread, located here. 

About the Author:

Steve Harrison was born in Yorkshire, England, grew up in Lancashire, migrated to New Zealand and eventually settled in Sydney, Australia, where he lives with his wife and daughter. As he juggled careers in shipping, insurance, online gardening and the postal service, Steve wrote short stories, sports articles and a long running newspaper humour column. In recent years he has written a number of unproduced feature screenplays (although being unproduced was not the intention) and developed projects with film producers in the US and UK. 
 
His script, Sox, was nominated for an Australian Writers’ Guild ‘Awgie’ Award and he has written and produced three short films under his Pronunciation Fillums partnership. Prior to publication, his novel TimeStorm was Highly Commended in the Fellowship of Australian Writers (FAW) National Literary Awards, Jim Hamilton Award, in the fantasy/science fiction category, for an unpublished novel of sustained quality and distinction by an Australian author.

You can learn more about Steve Harrison and his work at his blog (which also includes the fascinating story behind TimeStorm), his super fun Facebook page and Twitter. You may also purchase TimeStorm at Amazon, Amazon UK and the Elsewhere Press TimeStorm page.

*********

Robert Southworth, a big time Aston Villa fan, is the author of Wrath of the Furies and three books of the Spartacus series, and can be found on his Amazon author page and Twitter. He is currently at work on his new Ripper series, and you can purchase his books at Amazon and Amazon UK. 

Lisl Reviews: The Life and Demise of Norman Campbell

The Life and Demise of Norman Campbell

By Norman Campbell/Compiled by Diana Jackson

25%  of proceeds from the sales of this book are donated to the local Kingston on Thames branch of Age Concern and Cancer, UK, Mr. Campbell's chosen charity

I have a great love for the ordinary, perhaps largely because so often it translates across history or events as extraordinary, rendering otherwise lesser details worthy of great note. Objects become artifacts, experiences awe, and so often people in later eras feel some link to those of times past; connections bond them despite the enormous differences of their environments that they may nevertheless both relate to so closely.

So it occurs within The Life and Demise of Norman Campbell, in which we the readers are given a firsthand glimpse into life in the earliest years of the 20^th century, on through to the end of that era and into the 21^st. Narrated by Campbell in a conversational style, the commentary seems to be directed at readers, and parenthetical laughter occasionally pops up, as it would when people are sitting together remembering.

Campbell starts with his parents’ marriage, followed by his birth in 1909, then continues on in linear fashion, through two world wars, his adventures to and in Australia, the advent of radio and television, his passion for music and perhaps surprisingly, his interest in surfing the Internet.

His words, so like the spoken words they actually are as recorded by Diana Jackson, revive for us memories of memories, perhaps stories heard from relatives about an era in which ordinary goals are reached by exhausting and extraordinary means. They then transition us with great succinctness to the present. Campbell does this with the fluidity of a born historian who in just a few sweeping words provides a glimpse of something that was and how it became something else.

Young Norman

Under the stairs was the coal cellar in those days. You could still find coal dust down there today but I’ve put a bit of carpet over it now. The coal man used to come in here with the coal on his back and that’s where he used to shoot the coal. All the dust would fly up in the hall. Schewww! You can imagine.

Most people have taken this cupboard out to give more room and maybe have a telephone or something under the stairs. I have filled in the banisters though, and put in a false ceiling because it was far too high up to paper.

Illustrated throughout, the pictures take on a new dimension of fascinating when we recall a passage from the acknowledgements:

This book, Norman’s memoirs, is also illustrated by photos and pictures from his multitude of albums and scrap books, squirreled away over more than a century.

For most people scrap books initiated 100 years prior, even if they ran for only a few seasons and indeed are exhilarating to take in, typically come from an older relative or, in some exciting instances, are discovered in attics or lofts. That these were held in reserve and collected for so long (100 years!) and by the same person, is nothing short of stunning.

Examination of the pictures reveals our own past, in people, places or items recognizable or not, and one finds their breath at times drawn in to realise the forebears of some of what we know today. This isn’t just about seeing a quaint-looking label on, say, laundry soap, though that is charming as well, but also to reflect about the conditions under which these products came to be or operated. Sunlight soap, for example, was created in 1884 using palm oils as opposed to the heretofore utilised tallow seen in depictions of early sculleries in which the maid’s hand would dip into a jar, emerging with a palm full of goop used for washing up. Sunlight was manufactured into a bar for the sake of convenience and the product came with a £1,000 guarantee.

Interestingly, such advert artifacts appear only at the start of the autobiography in close proximity to family photos. In fact, the Sunlight ad is the first image not of a family member, and subsequent clippings—one for linoleum, the next from an outraged citizen offering to pay £100 to anyone who can prove true the rumor about his consumption of horse meat—given Campbell’s age (toddler) at the time they are dated, points to a collection, perhaps of his mother, that inspired his own continuity of the habit.

Spencer and Annie Campbell

Did Annie Campbell have a sense of history that she perhaps passed on to her son, encouraging him by word or deed to preserve his present for the future? While it may seem an extravagant or extraneous question, its exploration makes other inquiries, of the Campbells as well as ourselves. How many of us today clip and retain product adverts? Do many people now see these even as worthy of retention? While the labels were mass produced in Annie Campbell’s day, now they are produced in mind-boggling numbers, awareness of which perhaps makes them truly unspecial in the eyes of many today. Annie Campbell, perhaps aware of the import of the product’s ingredient transition and maybe with a keen sense of the changes occurring in her world, might have kept them for others. “She was a bit of a clairvoyant. She used to dream of the future,” Campbell says, “and tell fortunes with the cards and tea leaves[.]” Perhaps she looked to the future and wondered what we might make of the people of her time, and wished to provide some answers. If so, she must have known there are clues sprinkled throughout her artifacts.

In addition to this glimpse into perspective, we see notation for images in a font resembling handwriting, much like people did when they pasted photos into the black pages of the old-time albums. When we see, then, the placement of some images at angles, rather than always straight and flush with the same sides of the pages, it brings the realization that the entire autobiography is itself the album. Campbell has not only invited us into his world, but also his time, and over the course of his lifetime has gone to great lengths to ensure we get an extended view. The chapters being headed by the years and a title facilitate the album presentation as it allows readers to peruse from beginning to end or to flip through, much the same way we flip through an album, skipping, going backwards for a second look, comparing the people within at the end to how they appeared—or what they did—at the start.

Compiled by Diana Jackson following Campbell’s death, the inclusion of an occasional address to Jackson herself does not take away from this album being meant for others to share in, and in fact shows a greater depth to Campbell’s invitation for us to participate in his life’s experiences, for indeed he must have realized the connection between readers and himself simply by knowing even portions of what he knew, such as television: Most have seen it, and he reaches out to add to our awareness of the space it occupies in our lives. When television is developed in 1953, and Campbell witnesses on one the wedding of Princess Elizabeth (current Queen Elizabeth II) he sees himself as a pioneer, and later contemplates a purchase.

I thought about it and since I was spending so much in the Kinema and so much in the Elite and so much in the Empire, I thought that all of it could go to pay for the television instead and then we didn’t have to go out.

We’d have all our entertainment indoors; magic. But that was the worst thing that could ever happen. All our social life went. I’ve never been out to the pictures since. The other thing is that everyone is scruffy these days. No one ever dresses up anymore. And then many of the picture houses were turned into Bingo halls when television took over.

As it turns out, Campbell’s wary observations were very keen indeed, for like the labels that are nowadays cast off as ordinary and of little importance for the eyes of the future, activities that once were central functions in people’s lives also transitioned into the ordinary. The processes that got people to those events--saving money, planning for, dressing up—were eliminated as something that once was magical sunk into the insignificant.

In this sense Campbell’s compilation might also serve as a cautionary tale as well as a memorabilia that enables us to cherish our own forebears. In displaying to us the charm of the ordinary, he also discreetly advises us—in his way of saying much with so few words—of the danger of the reverse, of becoming nonchalant in the face of the remarkable. It is here we see that he, too, might have been “a bit of a clairvoyant,” drawing from his mother more than he—at least on the surface—lets on, and presents to us this brilliant autobiography that could be read on a number of levels.

This amazing man continues his story, with clarity and dignity even explaining the pattern of his days with carers, not just for physical assistance but also to help him bear the loneliness around him. At 102 years of age, those from his generation are gone, he is widowed and, living in the home he grew up in, is surrounded by their memories. He finds joy in the Internet and reaches out to his extended family who live, literally, all over the globe. His story is written in a simple manner, but it is by no means simplistic and, as mentioned earlier, he presents it to us with many layers to peel back and discover that beneath it all is great complexity, which is, as Campbell himself might say, “as simple as that!”

To the end, Campbell displays that bright spark, a telling humor that makes us want to dig deeper to understand what else it is he knows, what is he trying to tell us, or even just share with us. Diana Jackson:

I saw Norman in hospital three days before he passed away and he said[,] ‘I’ve got it Diana! The name of my book. The Life and Demise of Norman Campbell!’

‘You can’t call it that,’ I spluttered. ‘You’re still with us.’

Indeed he is.

Norman at 102 years of age
He passed away just two months later

Editor's note: This post has been edited to reflect a correction re: the charity, which has been specified. A link to Diana Jackson's blog has also been added.

(All images from The Life and Demise of Norman Campbell.)

Thank you to Mr. Norman Campbell, for sharing your remarkable life with us!

For more from Diana Jackson, see her blog, where you can also read more about Norman Campbell. 

To purchase this fantastic book, please go to Amazon or Amazon UK.