REVIEWS

NOVELS

LATEST REVIEW

REVIEW 3 by writer Maureen T Lane

Broome Enigma is an engaging tale that takes the reader on a vacation to the exotic destination of Broome in the North-West coast of Australia. Here we meet Jodie and Tiffany – two Aussie girls looking for fun and adventure as they visit the local tourist attractions and wallow in the natural beauty of Broome. For anyone who has been to Broome this book ignites memories and for those yet to experience the far north of Australia’s coastline, it is a rare treat as the descriptive text makes the environment come alive.

Bathed in tropical sunshine, the girls set their sights on the enigmatic and very handsome, Joe and that is where the story takes a turn from romance to exciting mystery novel. Tiffany and Jodie eventually part company as Jodie seeks to unravel the secret behind Joe’s mysterious past.

Here the story explodes into an exciting ride through the desert to the streets of Perth in Western Australia as the young couple unravel the past and thereby create a future for themselves.

Set in a time before current technology, this is a homage to the romance of the 60s mingled with the excitement of the ‘who done it’ mysteries of the 40s and 50s.  It is a hybrid of tourist information and romance novel combined with an intriguingly good mystery that keeps the reader guessing until all is finally revealed.

Meryl Brown Tobin has skilfully entwined the three genres into a rattling good read.  Highly recommended.

REVIEW 2 by Lauraine McDonald

Meryl Brown Tobin's 'Broome Enigma' is an intriguing read, set in the year 1986 but richly infused with historical facts from the World Wars. Tobin cleverly interlaces these historical insights with a contemporary narrative, creating a vivid portrayal of Broome and its neighboring towns. This blend of past and present adds a unique depth to the story, making it more than just a typical historical novel. The budding romance between Jodie and Joe adds an emotional layer to the story, enhancing the overall experience. Tobin's ability to combine a detailed historical background with a modern-day love story results in a compelling and thought-provoking novel. It’s a perfect mix of romance and historical tidbits making it an ideal read for those interested in a multifaceted story. I’d definitely give 'Broome Enigma' five stars for its engaging approach to blending different genres and eras. 

REVIEW 1 by Chrissie Michaels

Broome Enigma, published by The Wild Rose Press Inc. NY, USA 2023

Genre – Romantic suspense

Broome Enigma, a new novel by author Meryl Brown Tobin is centred in two locations during 1986––the outback cosmopolitan Broome and Perth in Western Australia.

The characters come to life both romantically and suspensefully, reflecting the mores of the time period. This is a romantic, demure, love story with a twist, fused by some flirtatious steam, well-suited to the genre.

The author calibrates romance with suspense throughout the storyline, ensuring  neither eclipses the other.

For me, the suspense aspects of the plot pulled me in completely. They are a compelling read, with clues revealed to the reader along the way, so much so I read the novel over a few hours one Saturday afternoon. I didn’t want to put it down. It’s a leisurely read, while at the same time providing tension and turning points that entice a reader to read on. There is one action-packed event after another. This is what you expect in a gripping, suspenseful plotline.

I was constantly asking, ‘Are the characters really who they say they are?’

The author skilfully builds the momentum, then interweaves and increases the tension in layers. We zig-zag through the obstacles that hold the main characters back, while hoping upon hope that they can problem solve all the explosive plot bursts that come their way.

The prose is well-crafted, pacing bang on. Even the minor characters have important parts to play in the story.  In 1986, old and new attitudes mixed in a changing world. The author deftly considers these nuances in society, in diversity and in the role of women.

In Broome Enigma the plot comes full circle for a seamless and satisfying read. Of course, true to the conventions of the genre there are clues for us to find, where we can tell ourselves, ‘Yes, I was right!’  Finally, there is a little added triumph at the end to make us smile.

There are idiosyncrasies in the American layout and The Wild Rose Press Inc house style, quite different in some parts to those with an Australian editor’s eye. We experience this a little in the book’s cover art, in the manner the characters are dressed quite formally for the beach. I would have liked to see our flagship Aussie beach dress of tees and shorts and thongs. This is a minor interpretive glitch in the cover art of little consequence as the book cover is enticing, the colour palette very Broome. Throughout the story the author successfully conveys the Aussie feel in dress, language and mannerisms, as well as tantalising us with Broome hot spots.  All in all, the book art and general layout on the page is easy to the eye and invites the reader into the story; that is what matters.

 Who will enjoy this novel: A general adult readership of romance suspense novels. There is an especial drawcard for those who wish a leisurely holiday read, or for any incoming tourists, particularly those holidaying in Western Australia.  I foresee this novel stacked on the for sale shelves at airports worldwide.

Broome Enigma is published worldwide by The Wild Rose Press Inc NY, USA, 2023.

Available in print and e book from 40 websites online, incl. Amazon, Booktopia, Barnes & Noble and some bookstores.

Reviewer: Chrissie Michaels ©2023

POETRY

1. Review Walk in the Forest, by Meryl Brown Tobin

Reviewed by Christine Edwards

on Walk in the Forest, by Meryl Brown Tobin – Aussie Reviews, 31.12.2004

Walk in the Forest is the first solo collection of poems by Meryl Brown Tobin. It brings together poetry that has been anthologised in a diverse range of magazines, broadsheets and journals; some have won awards, others broadcast on radio.

Many poems give voice to the poet’s concerns about world peace and justice. She ensures the reader’s discomfort by questioning morality and the condoning of conflict through silence. Tobin’s message is powerfully evoked through keen irony in ‘Tripping the New Millenium’, where following the ‘Killing, killing, killing’ on a global scale comes the question: ‘How about a trip around Australia?’. Western apathy to the plight of human suffering is evident in ‘East Timor’. ‘Rag Dolls’ is a simple but haunting epiphany of the Kurd slaughters. Tobin always comments with deep compassion about contemporary conflicts, highlighting the permanent scars of war where there are no victors.

Her work equally reflects on the importance of everyday relationships, of achieving personal harmony and a fulfilling existence. Hence sections under ‘People’ and ‘Reflection’ evoke the beauty and gentleness of humanity: ‘I drink riches / from others’ thoughts / pour what I have to share / Open to the world’. Inspiring words from ‘Cup’.

In her concern for the environment, Tobin’s poetry brings to mind the phrase ‘Take only photographs, leave only footprints’. She teases readers with the mysteries of Big Cats and Thylacines (‘Sestina: Striped Mystery’) and impresses on us the need to be responsible caretakers of nature: ‘We return as hordes surge in / a babble in a multitude of tongues / St. Kilda Beach transposed / … / Katatjuta’s sunset approaches/’.

Perhaps her three-lined poem ‘Principle of Life’ best sums up the beauty and thoughtfulness, and ultimately uplifting sentiments of this collection: ‘With love and truth your guides / leading through good and evil / take on the world’.

A 120 page A5 paperback with a full-colour laminated cover, Walk in the Forest is available from Readings and selected bookstores and newsagents for RRP $17.50 or direct from the publisher, Ningan Publishing, c/- P0, Grantville, 3984 (P&H incl in price).

Reviewed by Melbourne writer, Christine Edwards, writer of children’s novel is On Board the Boussole (My Story Series, Scholastic Press, 2002).

2. Walk in the Forest by Meryl Brown Tobin

 Under title 'Rhyme with Nature’, reviewed by Eileen Marshall in ‘Fifties Lifestyle’ SA and Victorian editions, Summer 2004-5.

I am fairly new to writing poetry, so I took a poetry course, brimful with enthusiasm to learn, despite my advanced years. A bright young thing beside me looked at me thoughtfully, as though she had a moment of true insight, and said “You’ve had life experience, you’ll get there quicker.’ Her tone of voice and her look implied I had an unfair advantage. Later, someone else said to an older man, “You’ve got something to say!” I thought, but didn’t say, “Why else would he want to write?" I’m not denigrating the young, just pointing out how much of an advantage we oldies really have if we’d only appreciate it and make people see it.  

         Meryl Brown Tobin, is an accomplished poet and has just published her first solo collection titled A walk in the forest. She has certainly lived, living has fuelled her writing, and she definitely has things to say. Her collection is crammed with poems that reflect a rich and varied experience of life. It is reader friendly poetry, clever but not academic, she aims to be understandable, not always the goal these days when some feel that to be obscure is to be profound.

         Born in Victoria, where she still lives, Meryl has been writing since primary school; her list of publications is as long as your arm. Thousands of her puzzles, hundreds of articles and poems, scores of short stories and some cartoons and comic strips have appeared in more than 100 magazines and newspapers in Australia and overseas, including America, India, Japan, Malaysia, New Zealand, the Philippines, Singapore and the U.K. She has also had stories and poems broadcast on the ABC and other radio stations.

         Meryl started writing poetry in the 1990s when she was a schoolteacher and was teaching her pupils about a particular poetic form; she thought it would be fun to write one herself. Which she did, and became a keen writer of poetry as well as a lover of it. Recently, she was made President of the Society of Women Writers Victoria.

         A gentle unassuming woman with a likeable down to earth Aussieness about her, talking to her almost makes you see the bush and smell the eucalypts. She lives with her husband Hartley in regional Victoria, where they moved from the outer suburbs of Melbourne about 20 years ago. They built a house on acreage and over the past ten years established a small flower farm, where her husband grows mainly Australian Natives such as banksias and dryandras, and South African flowers like proteas. She told me much of the inspiration for her poems comes from wildlife that come to her property, the nature reserve opposite, the mudflats and shore in front of her property.

         Being a poet and writer is one part of her life, the larger part is being a daughter, mother, grandmother, wife, and human being who is in love with life and people. She has three adult children and six grandchildren. She is a people oriented. person and I’m sure her liking for people is reciprocated, she has real warmth. Meryl’s poetry ranges over people, nature, world events and philosophical reflections that most of us are party to as we grow older and more thoughtful. For instance, many of us when we age see the mirror as an enemy, finding it hard to accept the less than youth-perfect reflection. At times, I must admit, I myself want to heave a brick at it. Her attitude towards growing old is more positive. In a poem titled Mirror, Mirror she speaks to the mirror seeing ‘all the crinkles’ but also her mother, father, sister, daughter who ‘All look back and smile at me’. Recently, she lost her beloved and very elderly mother, who was surrounded by her family and farewelled with love.

         Meryl’s poems reflect the universality she sees in all people, whatever their age, sex, ethnicity. In Chorusline, a cleaning lady at a Uni rest room shows a student a picture of herself as a dancer at the Tivoli, hoofing her way along a stage. When the student looks into the cleaner’s eyes, she sees the girl still in the woman - ‘the dancer dancing by’. In another, Puppyfat, the observer sees a teenager seemingly growing out of her clothes; she looks again and sees the girl is pregnant with ‘a small babe pushing for room’ ‘child with child….one innocent carrying another’.

         In Night Run, a woman is running along a beach in her imagination, running from him she loves who is lying beside her - ‘she needs space to rid herself of tension so she can sleep…. “I love you,”’ he says, she turns to him. This poem shows how many of us feel two conflicting forces, the need to be solitary and the need to express love.

         Meryl tells stories, paints pictures, describes emotions, in short, simple-seeming poems and you definitely get something out of the first reading, but I found myself rereading them. I could sense there was so much more - deeper implications than I got on the first reading. They are not facile; she often says things more profoundly than some do in a complex poem or a long erudite essay. For instance, in three lines titled On a mountain she expresses her love and awe of nature ‘Climbing a mountain…..in magnificent vistas…I saw Nature’s God.’

         Of course, from the title of the book, A walk in the forest, it is easy to guess she is a nature lover and bush walker. In the poem of that title, she walks through a rain forest amongst trees, huge elk horns, ferns, birds, lizards and an echidna. She transmits the awesomeness she felt on her walk, that here ‘is the source of all life.’ Another poem Sestina: striped mystery is quite eerie, as people express hope that the Thylacine is not extinct, watching for signs –‘a brown striped behind…..peculiar scent in the bush…proof will be seen of the extinct thylacine.’

         Fergie, ‘a marmalade feline’, is a gentle satire in a few lines ‘being married …to a frequently-absent tar ….no bowl of milk’. Davina takes on GOLIATH is less gentle, a satire of macho man and Davina with a slingshot.

         Meryl writes Haiku but in a form created by Helen Annand also of Victoria. They are the traditional three lines but 2 distinctly separate images linked by a third, ‘stand alone image’. I personally find this a delightful variant on the traditional haiku. For example ‘Seals jump for fish…. Crowds clap …Footballers leap for ball.’ Or ‘Parrot imposing hierarchy…. Noisy egotist … Bully in the playground.’

         This poet has that precious thing, that ‘unfair advantage’ - rich life experience plus keen perception, and she has developed the skill to express it. In this collection there are many things that will strike a chord with most of us young and old, and you will find yourself reading it more than once for the insights it brings. I know, I did.

Reviewed by Eileen Marshall, poet

Review 1: short comments

The New Norm

'Changing Landscape' is a chapbook of 24 environmental poems, published by literary publisher Ginninderra Press.

Inspired by her many walks on the beach and in bush, many of the poems reflect Meryl Brown Tobin's great love of the natural environment.  Some poems relate to seascapes, landscapes, sightings of waterbirds and woodland birds and other fauna.

Of the chapbook, author and poet Chrissie Michaels wrote, “I could just picture all the observational and deeply sensory moments you captured, so beautifully described."

Another reader, Jill Sutton wrote,” In the first [poem], ‘Call of the Beach’, I love the stillness of the beach. I can see what you describe in each poem. Your descriptions are uncluttered. You see something and prune it down. It’s like a meditation for me. I just love it.”

Reader, Valwyn Beggs wrote: “Enchanting!  Such vivid imagery and lyrical writing.  I feel there in the scene depicted with their many nuances expressed so colourfully and economically.  A delight to read especially aloud.”

Michele Tobin wrote: “I was looking for one [poem]that I might have chosen as a favourite but found too many competing for that honour.”

The title and theme poem 'Changing Landscape' is depicted on the cover with the photo of a cow grazing in a paddock with new houses creeping towards it. The scene in a small rural area is a microcosm for the macrocosm, Earth. Free XpresSion Editor, Peter Pike commented, “Just a simple picture with profound consequences.”

Five poems are devoted to the tragedy of Victoria's Black Saturday, 7 February, 2009. True life stories pay tribute to the heroism and the kindness of some people involved. 

Nenia Tavrou, leader of The Society of Women Writers Victoria Perennial Poets workshop, wrote: “‘Churchill under fire’ resonated with me as I identified with the ‘serpents of fire’, ‘eyes glistening’––memories of my time in Mallacoota with Red Cross, along with all the first hand stories I heard.

I love the way you put a number of Black Saturday 2009 poems together because that gives it poignant meaning, rather than just an isolated poem. For once the media and camera crew have left, things don’t just magically return to ‘normal’. That’s when the real work begins. It takes a whole community to work together. Homes, sheds, fences all need to be rebuilt and that takes time, money. Sometimes IDs need to be reissued. There is deep emotional anguish that needs to be worked through.

Thank you for sharing this changing landscape that speaks so clearly of the need to preserve what we have while we still have it."

Marie Ormandy wrote: “What a great job you are doing for Conservation of the Westernport area.

I love the poems that it has inspired, and reflected that your descendants will have that collection which tells so much about you.

A beautiful legacy.”

Meryl Brown Tobin’s message comes through her poems. If we don't work with Nature in a sustainable way, the last two poems demonstrate where we are heading.  As stated on the Dedication Page, 'For your children's great-grandchildren to see animals in the wild, act now.'

'Changing Landscape' is available from Meryl Brown Tobin, h-mtobin@bigpond.com, for $6 a copy, $6.20 with P&H, and from Ginninderra Press, Our books (ginninderrapress.com.au) for $6 plus P&H.

Review 2

POETRY REVIEW by CHRISSIE MICHAELS*

on CHANGING LANDSCAPE by MERYL BROWN TOBIN

‘Pastoral Love Stories to Nature’

Meryl Brown Tobin’s latest poetry chapbook Changing Landscape, published by Ginninderra Press in its Picaro Poets series highlights the author’s enduring love of the Bass Coast landscape.

As well it reflects her long time commitment to Victoria’s Bass Coast area as an ecological advocate.

Opening the poetry selection is ‘Call of the Beach’, which begins with the elemental ‘She walks along the beach … It calls to her each morning’. The reader meanders alongside, enjoying the poet’s visualisation of a protagonist who delves into the organic, caringly interacts with the joys of nature surrounding her and keenly observes their wonder in all their sensory detail. These poems are pastoral love stories to nature.

However, there is an abrupt switch at ‘Changing Landscape’, this poem being the publication’s title, signifying that environmental impact and sustainability are central themes to this collection and must not be ignored. A ‘forest of tiled roofs erupts’ and ‘the ‘Rumpelstiltskinian* price to be paid’ become triggers that raise alarm in the reader’s mind.

The forces of nature are unleashed: cataclysmic bushfires where residents ‘watch serpents of fire/slither then roar/along nearby hills’; smoke haze in city, where ‘Melbourne skyscrapers stand sightless’. There are places of country we recognise, places close to the heart. The human experience is one of fear and loss, but mainly of heroics and stoicism.

Meryl Brown Tobin’s passion for the natural world and environmental advocacy imbue this collection. In Changing Landscape she not only writes from inside this world, but asks us from an ethical and ecological perspective to focus on how we too live in the world. The closing poems are a call to us–to ‘demand action, not just stand by’.

'Changing Landscape', a 28 page half A5 size soft-covered booklet, is available from Meryl Brown Tobin, h-mtobin@bigpond.com; Ginninderra Press, Our books (ginninderrapress.com.au); and the Grantville Newsagency. RRP is $6.

*Chrissie Michaels is an author and poet.  Details: https://www.chrissiemichaels.com.au/.

CHILDREN'S PICTURE STORYBOOKS

Review by Sally Murphy of LEFTY, Aussie Reviews, 26.9.2022

PUZZLES 

Book Review by Nenia Tavrou of

Puzzle Australia by Meryl Brown Tobin

Puzzle Australia by Society of Women Writers Victoria member, Meryl Brown Tobin, is an informative, educational and interactive tool that can be used in a variety of settings.

Aimed at Upper Primary and Lower Secondary level, it is suitable for adults as well as its subjects are of interest to all age groups.

While this book can be enjoyed by anyone, it can be used in various environments. Puzzles include: wordsearches, wordgrids, crosswords featuring Australian dates, all with answers at the back. The topics covered within the puzzles are educational and unique to Australia – topics such as the 31 islands of the Great Barrier Reef, topics related to early settlement of non-indigenous Australians, Australian wildlife, dinosaurs, The First Australians and much more.

This makes Puzzle Australia useful in the teacher’s classroom as a teaching tool. There are additional games at the end of each puzzle for those who work a little faster than others. This enables the teacher to keep the entire class occupied, interested and working together.

Puzzle Australia is well set out, it has large print and is easy to navigate with its Contents page. It has clear guidelines on how to use the book and gives permission to photocopy for the class of the purchaser of the book only.

If you are looking for an innovative, enjoyable teaching tool, or simply enjoy doing puzzles then Puzzle Australia is for you.

The A4 paperback of 48 reproducible blackline masters, which might be used as a teacher’s aid, or as a puzzle book for children and adults from middle primary age to any age upwards, is available from the publisher Five Senses Education, Five Senses Education - Five Senses Education, RRP $24.95 plus P&H.