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ahd5's review
challenging
emotional
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
bookslut's review
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
jessicams's review
emotional
hopeful
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
5.0
angelad's review
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
3.0
antonsk's review against another edition
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
tamiam's review
hopeful
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
bianca89279's review
4.0
3.5
This short novel was in many ways similar to the Labyrinth, Lohrey's Miles Franklin award winner, as it has at its centre a woman no longer young and whose life has been uprooted. In this case, Zoe's husband of many years died suddenly.
After his death, she buys an abandoned church in a small town and takes on converting it into a home. It's not an easy task, there are limitations, especially considering the tight finances. She gets a job as a receptionist at the local hospital. Slowly, she meets neighbours and other local people.
This is a short novel that has relatively low stakes. I had this sense of distance and disconnection when listening to this, at least when it came to Nicole Nabut's narration, Zoe never lost her temper, never got annoyed or irritated with anything or anyone, she just observed without reacting. It must be nice.
This was quite atmospheric, the landscape and descriptions of the small town were enticing. If you're after an exciting plot, this is not that type of novel.
This short novel was in many ways similar to the Labyrinth, Lohrey's Miles Franklin award winner, as it has at its centre a woman no longer young and whose life has been uprooted. In this case, Zoe's husband of many years died suddenly.
After his death, she buys an abandoned church in a small town and takes on converting it into a home. It's not an easy task, there are limitations, especially considering the tight finances. She gets a job as a receptionist at the local hospital. Slowly, she meets neighbours and other local people.
This is a short novel that has relatively low stakes. I had this sense of distance and disconnection when listening to this, at least when it came to Nicole Nabut's narration, Zoe never lost her temper, never got annoyed or irritated with anything or anyone, she just observed without reacting. It must be nice.
This was quite atmospheric, the landscape and descriptions of the small town were enticing. If you're after an exciting plot, this is not that type of novel.
nina_reads_books's review
3.0
Amanda Lohrey is an Australian writer who won the Miles Franklin Award in 2021 for her novel The Labyrinth. I didn’t get on very well with that book but I was definitely willing to give Lohrey’s writing another try. I enjoyed The Conversion a lot more than The Labyrinth but I did feel like it lost its way a little bit and what initially was engaging kind of fell away towards the end.
In The Conversion, Zoe and Nick are empty nesters who start looking into possible property renovations to tackle. Nick favours the purchase of an old church in the country but the pair can’t quite agree. It’s not until after Nick’s death that Zoe jumps on the church and decides to uproot her life and tackle the renovation herself. But how can she tackle this structurally difficult property? Should she retain the vertical space and the stained glass windows?
Zoe moves but finds she struggles to make decisions about the property. Soon not only does all the work haunt her but a "ghost" from her recent past does too. Zoe tackles this all on her own as she settles into a life in a new town. Her comfort zone is pushed further when a local teacher steamrolls her into having the local high school students perform their end of year production in the church.
I enjoyed the setup of this book and initially its writing. It was quiet and tackled issues of grief, finding one’s place and what it takes to make a home. Zoe was a very relatable character. However the story just really petered out and I found the quietness just kept coming with no real plot highlight to hang onto. I found the pivot to the high school production and the teacher’s sudden disappearance afterwards a bit perplexing too. The concept of conversion is threaded through the book in a number of ways but I just didn’t feel it all came together in a cohesive way at the end.
A bit of a shame as I definitely enjoyed the start of the novel.
Thank you to @text_publishing for my #gifted copy.
In The Conversion, Zoe and Nick are empty nesters who start looking into possible property renovations to tackle. Nick favours the purchase of an old church in the country but the pair can’t quite agree. It’s not until after Nick’s death that Zoe jumps on the church and decides to uproot her life and tackle the renovation herself. But how can she tackle this structurally difficult property? Should she retain the vertical space and the stained glass windows?
Zoe moves but finds she struggles to make decisions about the property. Soon not only does all the work haunt her but a "ghost" from her recent past does too. Zoe tackles this all on her own as she settles into a life in a new town. Her comfort zone is pushed further when a local teacher steamrolls her into having the local high school students perform their end of year production in the church.
I enjoyed the setup of this book and initially its writing. It was quiet and tackled issues of grief, finding one’s place and what it takes to make a home. Zoe was a very relatable character. However the story just really petered out and I found the quietness just kept coming with no real plot highlight to hang onto. I found the pivot to the high school production and the teacher’s sudden disappearance afterwards a bit perplexing too. The concept of conversion is threaded through the book in a number of ways but I just didn’t feel it all came together in a cohesive way at the end.
A bit of a shame as I definitely enjoyed the start of the novel.
Thank you to @text_publishing for my #gifted copy.
alananewport's review
3.0
When Zoe loses her husband, she follows through on one of his last enthusiasms: to buy and convert an old church in the country. After buying the church they'd looked at together, she leaves the city and moves to the coal mining and vineyard town, which is gripped by drought.
The novel offered so many opportunities but was a lack lustre read for me. I debated 2 or 3 stars, but the 3 represents an appreciation of the excellent rendering of the small town and environment. As I was reading I could feel the texture of the dried grass around the church and stand in the dappled light of the church windows.
However, the voice is so dispassionate that I was unengaged in Zoe's welfare. The fire sweeping the valley didn't feel threatening to Zoe or the town. The neighbour, McAlister, is established early on as a odd type, and yet this line goes nowhere. The focus on the cost and options of replacing stained glass windows is given more focus than more interesting elements of this new life. The mystery of Nick's patient is routinely resolved at the end.
There are also some odd notes; why is Zoe so unpleasant the first time the young patient of Nick's shows up at their city home? There's no implied nuance that she suspects anything is amiss, so why the antipathy?
When she secures a job at the hospital in the new town, the reader should feel engaged and relieved that her money pressures will be eased and yet its brushed over.' Nor do we have any sense of her feelings about dismissing the city life she has abandoned (other than a newfound appreciation of small terrace gardens on one subsequent visit). Is there something so subtle in the relationship with the local teacher that I missed it? Why does Zoe feel aggrieved with her at the end?
It feels as though nothing is at stake in this novel. Is the author's intent to engage us with the relationship between place and psychology? These ruminations are mildly interesting, but don't have the heft to carry the story.
The novel offered so many opportunities but was a lack lustre read for me. I debated 2 or 3 stars, but the 3 represents an appreciation of the excellent rendering of the small town and environment. As I was reading I could feel the texture of the dried grass around the church and stand in the dappled light of the church windows.
However, the voice is so dispassionate that I was unengaged in Zoe's welfare. The fire sweeping the valley didn't feel threatening to Zoe or the town. The neighbour, McAlister, is established early on as a odd type, and yet this line goes nowhere. The focus on the cost and options of replacing stained glass windows is given more focus than more interesting elements of this new life. The mystery of Nick's patient is routinely resolved at the end.
There are also some odd notes; why is Zoe so unpleasant the first time the young patient of Nick's shows up at their city home? There's no implied nuance that she suspects anything is amiss, so why the antipathy?
When she secures a job at the hospital in the new town, the reader should feel engaged and relieved that her money pressures will be eased and yet its brushed over.' Nor do we have any sense of her feelings about dismissing the city life she has abandoned (other than a newfound appreciation of small terrace gardens on one subsequent visit). Is there something so subtle in the relationship with the local teacher that I missed it? Why does Zoe feel aggrieved with her at the end?
It feels as though nothing is at stake in this novel. Is the author's intent to engage us with the relationship between place and psychology? These ruminations are mildly interesting, but don't have the heft to carry the story.
any_bethany's review
hopeful
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5