I’ve read a few books by Sue Parritt and I am never disappointed. I’m happy to say, that has continued with A Question of Country. This was a fascinating story of Anna and Joseph, and their lives journeying from London to Austrailia and making their new home work for them.

This is such a well-written novel. Sue Parritt creates characters you can really grow to love. I felt connected to them and watching their struggles and accomplishments was satisfying to me.

The story itself is paced superbly. Not once was I bored as we followed along. I felt the emotions and really enjoyed the story.

I definitely recommend giving A Question of Country a try. A beautifully compelling novel.

4/5?

*I received a free copy of this book from Rachel’s Random Resources in exchange for an honest review on the blog tour. All opinions are my own and unbiased.*1 Claire467 12

A Question of Country follows Anna Fletcher as she and her husband Joseph move to Australia from England in 1970. It follows her life in this new country as they find a house, jobs and make friends. It explores the highs and lows of their relationship as a newly married couple, following their lives into the 1990s.

This book is quite slow-paced and it feels you are reading a memoir. The story is told in third person from Anna's point of view, but is very straight-forward in tone. Anna makes lots of observations throughout the book about the different mannerisms of Australians and strange houses on stalks. After reading Sue's bio, I wonder how much of the story reflects her own life and experiences.

There are lots of different themes throughout the book. Anna struggles with motherhood, receiving a lot of pressure from her husband, family and friends to have a child. However, Anna is not a 'natural mother' and struggles with being at home. I think many women will be able to relate to this. She also struggles to find her sense of self throughout the book — she takes up writing poetry and, later, writing fiction to help process her thoughts and feelings. When she starts to see this as a potential career, others find it hard to take it seriously. Her husband makes it clear he would several children and it causes a lot of conflict between them both. But I really admired Anna not letting others pressure her into something she knew she didn't want.

Anna also struggles at times with the emigration to Australia. At the start, Anna and Joseph decide to move for an adventure and a change of pace. The couple are sponsored by one of Joseph's ex work colleagues who has recently moved — but they have no other friends or connections. They both have to find work and build their lives again from scratch. Anna finds it particularly difficult to be away from her mother while pregnant, as she has no one to turn to for advice. This really made me sympathetic towards Anna — it must have been incredibly hard when the main form of communication over long distance was by letter in the 1970s. (The Fletchers don't have a landline, and international calls are incredibly expensive.)

Anna is very passionate about women's rights and this is discussed throughout the book. She sees the world with a feminist view, outraged by racism and sexism. As well as conflicts around motherhood and her career, Anna also believes in the right to access abortion and writes a book about a lesbian couple (quite controversial in the 1980s!).

Overall, this is a character-led, slower paced novel that you can really get lost in. It gives a fantastic insight into what life was in Australia in the 1970s.ebooks gift Dale Lambert9 1 follower

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