#Novella nr 2: NovNov – AusReadingMonth 2021

- Author: Nigel Featherstone
- Title: I’m Ready Now (pg 156)
- Genre: novella
- Published: 2012
- Monthly plan
- #AusReadingMonth2021 @Bronasbooks
- #NovNov @746Books
- @bookishbeck
Quick Scan:
- Chapters 1-12
- Introduction characters and backstories
- …marriages, childhood, deaths, abandonment.
- Chapters 13-16
- The tension rises to a boiling point: Gordon (son),
- Mother and Levi (Gordon’s lover) are all about to make
- a life changing decisions but it
- …is unclear to the reader what that will be!
- Conflict: should mother just listen to her son’s plans
- …or try to stop him from making a grave mistake?
- Chapters 17 – 23
- The story reaches the climax
- ….during Gordon’s 30th birthday dinner celebration.
- Chapters 24 – 32
- The resolution…each character embarks on their own paths.
- ..and perhaps those paths will cross each other in the future
- ….at least Nigel Featherstone ends the book on an optimistic note!
- Conclusion:
- Ending:…feels like the sound of a bell ringing.
- #Bravo !!! Nigel!
- Strong point: Structure – Alternating narrator:
- ch 1 Son (Gordon) and ch 2 Mother (Lynne)…etc
- Strong point: Thoughts and inner dialogue
- 70% of the book is inner dialogue that
- raises the emotional level in every scene!
- It reveals the truth, the darkness, hopes and dreams
- …that are often lost in direct dialogue.
- Mother (Lynne) is worried about her son
- …but cannot let him notice her concern.
- Son (Gordon) feels his heart is torn in half.
- ..one part for his lover (Levi) the other part
- for his determination to continue with
- …the “Year of Living Ridiculously”.
Major theme: loss, abandonment
- In chapter 9 we hear Mother say words that left me puzzled.
- Gordon: “Is there anything you need while I’m up the street?
- Mother: “No, just make sure you come home.”
- Gordon “…of course I’ll come home…”
- Mother: “Than that’s all I need.”
- As you read Nigel Featherstone adds layers
- with backstories about the characters and their lives.
- Only then does this short dialogue between mother and son make sense.
Characters:
- Gordon (Donian, nickname) 29 yr, born 23 October 1981
- Levi Greenguard (Jewish social worker, Gordon’s lover)
- Mother (Lynne)
- Eddie (stepfather) – recently deceased
- Margie Ardmore (friend of Mother…feels like an aunt for Gordon)
- Patric Finn (…just mentioned as mother’s first love)
- Minnie and Lenah ( Gordon’s step-sisters)
- Ailis Kildare (Lynne’s mother, from Ireland, died in Hobart 62 yr)
- Father – (name?) died 6 months later
- Shanie Doyle – G’s childhood friend …followed him from Hobart to Sydney
- Delia Canola – Shanie’s fiancée
Best Quote: chapter 19
- “I think birthplace is a matter of DNA.
- You can try running from it….
- ….but it’s always in you, mapping you out.”
Locations:
- Mother takes a flight from Hobart, Tasmania to…
- Sydney – Gelbe, NSW (inner-city suburb) – Gordon’s appartment
- Convict-era cottage on 11 Union Street (polished doorknob) (backstory)
- Point Puer (place where Patric Finn made a film)
- Battery Point…where Shanie used to live
- Battery Point House – owned by mother Lynne
- Gleeson House (1839) (..the family home Hampton Road, Hobart)
- …is about to be sold at an auction…so Mother is visiting her son Gordon.
- Sydney apartment (Eddie’s place at Manly on the Corso)
Title: “I’m Ready Now”
- Ch 27 – quote … to bookend the story:
- Mother: “There’s a future in abandonment, so it seems.
- I’m ready for it.”
- Ch 30 – quote … as Levi leaves he says to Gordon:
- “marriage is not out of the question”..in the future.
- Levi calls for a taxi and says “Yes, I’m ready now”.
5 Comments
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I really must get onto the Nigel Featherstone band wagon. He sounds like an interesting writer. I was talking to some publishers and authors this week that popped into the shop to sign copies of their books, and Nigel’s name popped up in the conversation. It’s a sign – I’m ready now too!
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I’d start out with the novella “Fall on Me” ( review…on this blog) I read it last year for #AusReadingMonth2020…just to see if you like his writing style.
I moved on to “I’m Ready Now”…and plan to read “Bodies of Men” that was shortlisted ACT Book of the Year 2020. He has a way of bringing into words an adult love between men…that is very good. His books really do “ring like a bell!”
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I saw this come through Nancy and then got distracted. Nigel had a three-novella deal a few years ago, and I read all three. I’m so glad you liked this. I loved the idea of the “year of living ridiculously”, and I thought he got the tensions in the relationships well.
It’s great to see it being read on the other side of the world. How did you come across it?
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Sue, last year I was looking for a novella and found the wonderful book “Fall On Me (2011) and loved it! My review is on this blog dd. 14 November 2020. I decided this year to keep reading Nigel…and am going to start “Bodies of Men” soon. I love Nigel’s style, insights and his approach to life (people’s relationships). He is a great writer who deserves more attention!
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He is, Nancy, and he has another coming out next year I believe. I’m sure you’ll like Bodies of men.
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