Stella Project discussion

Hi gang,

Here is our discussion post for one of our October reads - Anchor Point

I will pop back in a couple of days with an official post, but in the mean time maybe those of you who have read this one can share some non-spoiler thoughts?

Happy reading,
Em & Ely

I didn't get to this one this month but did read her new one, The Glad Shout, which is short-listed for The Reading Prize.
It's a book I'm still thinking about weeks later.

Anchor Point is our read for the new month! October! So the exciting news is you have a whole month to get to it ☺️

Emily wrote: "Anchor Point is our read for the new month! October! So the exciting news is you have a whole month to get to it ☺️"
LOL, thanks Emily, just as well you said. I was getting ahead of myself with the threads. Hopefully, I can borrow it from the library and join in :D

OK OFFICIAL LAUNCH COMMENT!

Anchor Point written by the wonderful Alice Robinson was long listed for the 2016 prize and is Alice's debut novel. Her previous works can be found in Kill Your Darlings and The Lifted Brow magazines. Alice is a Victorian writer, living in Gippsland. Her second novel, The Glad Shout was published this year, and I for one am excited to see if it will be long listed for next year's prize.

When her mother disappears into the bush, ten-year-old Laura makes an impulsive decision that will haunt her for decades. Despite her anger and grief, she sets about running the house, taking care of her younger sister, and helping her father clear their wild acreage to carve out a farm.

I have no prompt questions for you guys for this one, because I haven't read the book yet and the publisher doesn't have any book club questions pre-written for me to cheat from! But I did find this amazing interview with Alice about the book, if anyone is keen to read it.

https://www.pottspointbookshopblog.co...

The only discussion point I have ahead of time is for those who have also read The Glad Shout, how does this earlier work compare? Can you see growth in Alice's writing in this second novel?

Can't wait to hear what you all think!

Happy reading,
Em & Ely

WOW! 50 pages in, and my goodness. All the feels. Its quite similar to Hope Farm, I see a lot of ties between Laura and Silver. Anyone else feel the same way?

Ohhh, yes to Hope Farm parallels. Found a review that referenced Hope Farm's Silver with Briony in Atonement - which is interesting cos she definitely came to mind for me with Laura - a decision made in childhood, and the difficulty around responsibility and blame, and intent and informed action... And Joseph is my Ian in this one - the character I would love to hear more about!

I enjoyed this novel more than I thought I was going to. Alice writes landscape so convincingly and also character. Heartbreaking at times. Quite the emotional read. I’m now looking forward to reading The Glad Shout.