Book Synopsis:
Australia 1945. Until now Kate Dowd has led a sheltered life on her family’s sprawling sheep station but, with her father’s health in decline, the management of the farm is increasingly falling to her.
Kate is rising to the challenge when the arrival of two Italian POW labourers disrupts everything – especially when Kate finds herself drawn to the enigmatic Luca Canali.
Then she receives devastating news. The farm is near bankrupt and the bank is set to repossess. Given just eight weeks to pay the debt, Kate is now in a race to save everything she holds dear.
The Woolgrower’s Companion is available in ebook and hardback now. You can purchase a copy of both here.
My Review:
I’m on a roll for reading fantastic historical fiction and The Woolgrower’s Companion was no exception! It’s a fabulous read, full of history detail, heartbreak, endurance and love.
I loved the beautiful descriptions of Australia, in particular the wonderful sunsets. The author so vividly described the rugged landscape that I felt I could feel the heat on my face and the dust in my mouth. It was fascinating to learn more about Australian history during the war and to discover they also had rationing and had a shortage of workers due to men away fighting. I’ve always thought they were largely uneffected like America so it was interesting to learn otherwise.
My favourite character was Kate. I thought she was so strong and determined trying to keep the farm going and keep everything together. She obviously loves her father and her home which is very touching to see. When she falls in love I was so happy for her as I felt she deserved it after everything she’d been through.
The love affair was wonderful to read about as it felt so real. It was so tender and sweet which was even more touching when contrasted against such a rugged harsh landscape. It was a great to see Kate let her hair down a bit and get a break from the stress of her life. I was on tenderhooks throughout the book wondering what would happen and hoping for a happy ending.
The Woolgrower’s Companion is a fairly easy read which I mean as a compliment. Joy’s writing just draws you into the story and makes you care about the characters you meet there. I wanted to keep reading to find out more about them and to discover what would happen to them. I was quite sad to finish the book and leave them behind but I understand that the author is currently working on a sequel so I’ll look forward to reading that!
Huge thanks to Sian Devine and Vintage books for inviting me onto the blog tour and for my copy of this book. If you like beautifully written, heartbreaking historical fiction with a wonderful romance at its centre you’ll love this book!
About The Author:
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About me? I grew up in a small town in the bush in Queensland, Australia. I spent my time with my head in a book, or outdoors – climbing trees, playing in dry creek beds, or fishing for yabbies in the railway dam under the big sky. Some of my favourite memories were visiting my grandmother’s sheep farm in rural New South Wales where my father had grown up. She was a fifth generation grazier, a lover of history, and a great and gentle teller of stories. My childhood gave me two passions: a love of the Australian landscape and a fascination with words and stories.
I left the bush at 13 when I went to boarding school in Brisbane. I stayed on there to study law and literature at the University of Queensland. After, my work as a lawyer took me first to Sydney and then all over the world, to London, Hong Kong, Singapore, Tokyo and New York. But I always carried in my head a strong sense of my childhood: the people, the history, the light and the landscape. Those images have never left me and they would eventually become The Woolgrower’s Companion. It’s a story I’ve felt I had to tell.
I currently live in London with my husband and our two young children. But I miss the Australian sky.
Follow The Blog Tour:
If you liked the sound of this book from my review please follow the blog tour and find out what these other fabulous bloggers are saying.
Over The Rainbow Blog 
I like the sound of this. Living in such a vast and often isolated place fascinates me.
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