Just So Stories

Random Reviews and Ramblings from Redcliffe

  • Normal Women Making History for 900 years – Philippa Gregory

    Illustrations by Alexis Snell Red Shed March 2025ISBN: 9780008725075 I am quite familiar with Philippa Gregory’s writing. Those books I have read are marvellous examples of historical fiction with such elegant blending of fact and fiction. But the title of this intrigued me as soon as I saw it. I had, in fact, no idea…

  • 11 Ruby Road: 1900 – Charlotte Barkla

    Walker Books Australia March 2024 ISBN13:9781760657949 Australia RRP:$16.99 New Zealand RRP:$18.99 Big shout out to my Queensland colleagues especially for this wonderful new middle-grade historical novel set right in our own South Brisbane. In my experience, novels for this age bracket in this genre and in our own locale are rare, so this one fully…

  • When Grandma Burnt her Bra – Samantha Tidy and Aśka

    Exisle Publishing/EK Books September 2023 ISBN: 9781922539465 $24.99 The 60s revolution was certainly an eye-opener for many, and some of us are old enough to remember it (to which my groaning knees will attest!). That being so, this was terrifically good fun to read as a feisty Grandma, still with a finely-tuned social conscience, recounts her…

  • Ming & Flo Fight for the Future: (The Girls Who Changed the World #1) – Jackie French

    Harper Collins March 2022 A brand new series from Jackie French is always cause for great excitement, and this one is going to be a corker, given this fabulous start! We have all been awed by Jackie’s wealth of historical novels and her indomitable female characters over the years. Now younger readers have the opportunity…