Between the Pages

This book is set in a rural town called Hometown in Australia in 1968. Tom Hope is a diligent and dutiful farmer, devastated when his wife Trudy leaves him only to return with her son Peter, a child from another man. She leaves both Tom and Peter but eventually returns once more to take Peter away leaving Tom heartbroken.

Into his life comes Hannah Babel, a Jewish woman who survived Auschwitz years before, but whose husband and son did not. Hannah – effervescent, slightly manic and irresistible, opens a bookshop in Hometown – something a novelty among the occupants who have never known such a thing and don’t tend to read a lot.

Hannah and Tom fall in love, but their respective past heartbreaks are never far away. Will they be able to move on and find a way forward?

I really liked the story contained here and liked that the characters made mistakes and although as a reader I wanted happiness for both Tom and Hannah, I sometimes found myself frustrated with them (especially Hannah).

I do think there was something of a disconnect with the characters however – although I rooted for both of them, I never felt particularly connected to them; it was as if they were held at arms length by the author so that I was always on the outside looking in rather then ever feeling totally immersed in the story. That said, the flashbacks to Hannah’s life in Auschwitz and her subsequent escape did resonate more and certainly explained Hannah’s actions in the later timeline.

Overall, I liked the book and would read more by this author.