Julian Leatherdale

DEATH IN THE LADIES' GODDESS CLUB is set in post World War I Sydney, in the 1930's at a time of great social and political upheaval in Australia's past. Women are just starting to fight back against the constraints society has placed on their lives and behaviour, and the bohemian lifestyle is growing in popularity. Of course it's also the time of the notorious Razor Gangs, and the extreme violence that plagued the Kings Cross Area and inner Sydney in general. Taking full advantage of unrest and upheaval, this is a novel about shaken expectations, family secrets and society in flux.

By day Joan Linderman is a subeditor for a women's magazine, whilst she spends her nights working on a crime novel she desperately hopes will be published one day. Living in a run down boarding house in inner Sydney, Joan shares her living space with Bernice Becker, a free thinking, emboldened woman who it turns out has more odd connections than Joan originally realised. When a woman is murdered in rooms in the same building there are two surprises in store for Joan - firstly there's a suggestion of a connection between the victim and Joan's rich and influential Aunt and Uncle, as well as something closer to Bernice than just a shared address.

Leaning more heavily towards historical observations than your traditional amateur sleuth styled novel, DEATH IN THE LADIES' GODDESS CLUB is obviously well-researched and packed to the gunnels with portrayals of the time, place and sensibility of 1930's Sydney. From the suburban, restrained, doing good lifestyle of Joan's parents; to the crazy bohemian parties full of dress ups, booze, drugs, and the ever present current of political revolt in the inner suburbs, there is much here for the reader to work through. Somewhere in the middle of the novel drawing distinct lines of difference between two generations, and their place of residence, I was reminded that this sort of stark comparison has shown up a few times in my own lifetime, although I do wonder if it's disappeared in this current timeline, or I'm just too remote to witness it.

Nicely balanced between the crime fictional aspects, and a lesson in the history of societal evolution and change, there are some elegant little digs at irony bypass with one set of behaviours, committed by bohemians being depraved, whilst the elitist version is regarded as risque, even amusing. It was these little insights that I particularly enjoyed in this novel.

DEATH IN THE LADIES' GODDESS CLUB is one for fans of historical fiction, where the crime elements are part of the story, but not the entirety. Sadly, since the publication of this novel, the author, Julian Leatherdale has died. Condolences to his family, friends and associates, his loss will also be felt acutely by fans of his historical fiction work.

https://www.austcrimefiction.org/review/death-ladies-goddess-club-julian-leather...… (mere)

Robbie, der Sohn des Hotelbesitzers Adam Fox, dem das Hotel The Palace gehört, hat Geburtstag. Angie darf an der Feier nicht teilnehmen und ist daher außerordentlich wütend. Aber sie ist ja auch nur die Tochter des Gärtners. Doch passiert etwas Schreckliches. Am Endes des Tages ist ein Kind tot.
Monika hat Alzheimer und immer wieder hört man von ihr den Satz „Was geschah mit Angie, dem Mädchen, das unsere Herzen brach?“. Ihre Tochter Lisa, die Fotografin ist macht sich daran, die Familiengeschichte der Familie Fox zu ergründen. Aber was sie herausfindet, ist nicht schön. Soll die Geschichte an die Öffentlichkeit oder sollen die Geheimnisse gewahrt bleiben?
Die Familiengeschichte beginnt kurz vor dem ersten Weltkrieg und reicht bis in die Gegenwart. Wir lernen sie aus den Perspektiven von verschiedenen Familienmitgliedern kennen, die meisten sind Frauen. Besonders interessant ist es natürlich, wie Lisa mit Unterstützung von Luke, einem Historiker, in die Familiengeschichte eintaucht.
Im Mittelpunkt der Geschichte steht das Palace Hotel in den Blue Mountains. Hier regiert der Patriarch Adam Fox mit harter Hand. Das Hotel ist sein Lebenstraum und diesem Traum ordnet er alles unter. Doch es gibt Geheimnisse in der Familie, die das luxuriöse Leben nicht nur ein wenig überschatten, sondern auch dramatisch beeinflussen. Gerade Adams Tochter Monika trägt ihr ganzes Leben schwer an der Last.
Das deutsch-australische Verhältnis in der Zeit Anfang des zwanzigsten Jahrhunderts ist äußerst schwierig und wird mit all seinen Konsequenzen sehr gut beschrieben. Deutschstämmige Einwanderer in Australien merken zunehmend, dass man ihnen misstraut und dass sie unerwünscht sind. Mir waren viele diese Fakten aus der Historie nicht bekannt.
Da der Schreibstil sehr schön flüssig zu lesen ist, auch wenn die Perspektiven oft wechselten, liest sich diese Buch im Nu.
Man lernt eine Reihe von Personen kennen, die alle gut und ausgefeilt beschrieben sind. Es ist unterhaltsam und spannend zugleich, diese Familiengeschichte zu erleben, denn es gibt immer wieder unerwartete Wendungen.
Ein gelungenes Debüt.… (mere)

“...she had sat at her typewriter, happily composing a murder scene for her novel. And now here she was thrust without warning into the middle of a real one, the unspeakably gruesome death of someone she knew.”

By day, Joan Linderman is a subeditor for a leading womens magazine, while at night she works on a crime novel she hopes to one day have published. But when her downstairs neighbour is discovered with her throat slashed, the line between fiction and fact becomes blurred, and Joan finds herself caught up in a tale of murder, blackmail, violence, and betrayal.

“Crime's not a woman's business, Joanie. It's not some bloody game.”

The murdered woman, a prostitute, is more acquaintance than friend, so Joan is shocked when she finds a note that suggests a connection between Ellie and her rich, estranged uncle and aunt, former Major now lawyer, Gordon Fielding-Jones, and his wife Olympia. Leatherdale provides a complex mystery as Joan’s amateur investigation into the link takes surprising twists and turns through the stratum of society.

“It was a frightening, chaotic time for those who lived in the cross and its environs, but Joan felt an indescribable thrill to be living on the edge of this vortex of violence.”

What I particularly enjoyed about the novel was Leatherdale’s depiction of the social and political schism in Australia during the 1930’s. In the post World War I period, as the Great Depression steadily widened the gap between the haves and have nots, Sydney was the epicentre of unrest as the New Guard railed against Lang’s progressive government, the communist party tried to rally the masses against the upper class, razor gangs ruled the streets, and the bohemian community expressed its disdain for it all. The author brilliantly captures the divisions and overlap of these groups from the double agents amongst the political parties, to the criminal supply of drugs to the upper classes. The ceremonies of the Ladies Bacchus (aka Goddess) Club, are an elitist version of the uninhibited bohemian parties, without any recognition of the irony. The author also touches on issues such as the struggle of injured returned soldiers from the Great War, womens rights, and the marvel that was the construction of the Sydney Harbour Bridge.

“For now she was heartily sick of this world of men’s making, of so much cruelty and suffering.”

An engaging historical mystery with a noir-ish feel, I enjoyed Death in the Ladies Goddess Club by Julian Leatherdale… (mere)

Set in the Blue Mountains of New South Wales Palace of Tears is a generational saga of family, passion, secrets and vengeance from debut author Julian Leatherdale.

The shifting third person narrative unfolds from the perspective of several characters, Angie and her mother Freya; Adam's wives, Adelina and Laura; Laura's daughter, Monika; and in the present day, Lisa, Monika's daughter. Only briefly do we hear from Adam Fox, the owner of the Palace and the man who connects these three generations of women.

Lisa's interest in the past is triggered when, during a visit with her ailing mother, Monika laments the mysterious fate of Angie, the 'girl who broke Adam Fox's heart'. The name is unfamiliar to Lisa and curious she decides to investigate, contacting Palace historian Luke Davis. Over the course of the novel, Leatherdale unravels a family history marred by untimely death, adultery, betrayal, heartbreak and revenge. What became of Angie remains a mystery til the very end with a surprising twist.

Leatherdale firmly grounds his fictional characters in time and place. Adam Fox's Palace is modeled on the Hydro Majestic Hotel, opened in 1904 in the tiny township of Medlow Bath in the upper Blue Mountains and he ably describes the opulence of the hotel and the magnificence of the setting. The author also references several relevant historical events of the first half of the twentieth century from the wartime internment camps, to the deadly influenza outbreak that swept New South Wales, to Arthur Conan Doyle's Antipodean tour, enriching the story with intriguing detail.

The tale is well structured, despite shifting between multiple perspectives and time periods. The story is well paced, with plenty of twists and turns in the plot to maintain interest. Descriptions, particularly of the setting are vivid, and

Melding history and fiction, Palace of Tears is an entertaining novel and an impressive debut from Julian Leatherdale.

"Nothing was achieved without risk and cost. The allure of the mountains had taught Adam that lesson.... The mountains offered up vistas of inspiration, horizons of wonder where the mind dared to leap and the imagination to soar. It enriched the spirit, breathed hope back in to the wounded heart. Yet there was always that reminder of the fall: vertigo's strange seduction that dragged you down the bright waterfall into the shadow of the valley below. Mortality, failure, despair - all these must be acknowledged. Adam realised, over time, that his beloved mountains expressed the inner drama of his own soul."… (mere)