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beth_sterling_abela's review against another edition
4.0
The “love” Noah has for Uncle Nip bothered me to no end throughout the book. I thought it was very irresponsible to paint sexual abuse of a minor as a consensual relationship. However the writing is superb and draws you in and the family drama was worth struggling through my discomfort
judyrigby's review against another edition
4.0
If you can get past the very colloquial and broad Aussie voice in the opening pages, this is an absorbing read. Mears explores some tough subject matters, but paced in such a way that you want to keep reading. I really liked this book and commend it to you as a great Australian story, one that I knew nothing about as a 'city-girl.'
jillx27's review against another edition
3.0
I enjoyed this book. I would call the style flat - not a lot of exciting or travel. The story of a family living in rural Australia in the 1920s. A bit like Patrick White's Tree of Man but not as long and of course White is a great writer. This is what I would call writing about real lives. Life was difficult in those days and that is what you get. People facing challenges and dealing with them as best they can. I am not sure the very end was needed. It could have finished without looking forward at what was in store for the people left in the story. I would have liked to be left hanging.
poogi's review
challenging
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.0
Great writing with interesting characters. Lost points for the ending which was rather abrupt and unsatisfying.
tasmanian_bibliophile's review against another edition
4.0
‘To look into the eye of a horse is to see a reflection of yourself that you might’ve forgotten.’
On an autumn afternoon in 1926 Cecil Childs and his 14 year old daughter Noah set up camp beside the river on a property called ‘One Tree’. They are drovers – driving pigs, destined to become bacon in Sydney. Cecil Childs hurries off to town, anxious to drink with his mates. Noah, who wasn’t really aware that she was pregnant, gives birth to a premature baby in the company of the pigs. The father of this baby, Noah’s Uncle Nipper, is dead.
A few days later, Rowley Nancarrow, an Australian champion showjumper and the only son of the farmers of ‘One Tree’ watches a slight girl on a big bay gelding taking the jumps at the local show. Roley, as he is universally known, watches her and admires her courage. Roley goes looking for Noah, and gives her a strange small object - like a piece of shrivelled bread, for luck. This object, called foal’s bread, is sometimes present when a foal is born and is often regarded as bringing luck.
And so begins the story of Noah and Roley’s life together during the cruellest decades in the 20th century. The small country district of New South Wales in which they live has elements, still, of pioneering life. Annual shows with serious equestrian events are the highlight of the year, and Roley and Noah dream of success. Living with Roley’s family at ‘One Tree’ has its challenges: Roley’s mother Minna had high hopes for her son, and her dreams did not include a girl with obvious ‘dark’ blood possessed of drunken aunties and a mindless father.
‘The luckiness and unluckiness of any life.’
Unfortunately, life becomes complicated for Roley and Noah. Any luck that Roley may have had seems to leave him, and Noah struggles with some demons of her own. The novel is written in a vernacular that captures the lives and times of the characters. Sometimes, this seems contrived and doesn’t work – but not in this novel. I’ve heard echoes of this same vernacular in the third quarter of last century, but not since.
This novel traverses some difficult issues: Noah’s sexual abuse by her Uncle Nipper (whom she mostly loves, for he showed her kindness) reverberates throughout her life; Roley’s illness takes away his (and their) dreams. Lainey, we learn, has found a place in the world. Ms Mears manages, in fewer than 360 pages, to observe the handicaps of gender and health and the impacts of love, luck and race in a small geographic space near an edge of Australian society during the first half of the 20th century.
The novel ends with a 21st century Coda. Roley and Noah are long dead, and their daughter Lainey (herself now elderly) returns briefly to the district. Accompanying Lainey, and mindful of the time that has elapsed, distance enables us to experience a different dimension to Roley and Noah’s story.
I found this novel intensely moving: the writing is superb and the characters are brilliantly realised.
Jennifer Cameron-Smith
On an autumn afternoon in 1926 Cecil Childs and his 14 year old daughter Noah set up camp beside the river on a property called ‘One Tree’. They are drovers – driving pigs, destined to become bacon in Sydney. Cecil Childs hurries off to town, anxious to drink with his mates. Noah, who wasn’t really aware that she was pregnant, gives birth to a premature baby in the company of the pigs. The father of this baby, Noah’s Uncle Nipper, is dead.
A few days later, Rowley Nancarrow, an Australian champion showjumper and the only son of the farmers of ‘One Tree’ watches a slight girl on a big bay gelding taking the jumps at the local show. Roley, as he is universally known, watches her and admires her courage. Roley goes looking for Noah, and gives her a strange small object - like a piece of shrivelled bread, for luck. This object, called foal’s bread, is sometimes present when a foal is born and is often regarded as bringing luck.
And so begins the story of Noah and Roley’s life together during the cruellest decades in the 20th century. The small country district of New South Wales in which they live has elements, still, of pioneering life. Annual shows with serious equestrian events are the highlight of the year, and Roley and Noah dream of success. Living with Roley’s family at ‘One Tree’ has its challenges: Roley’s mother Minna had high hopes for her son, and her dreams did not include a girl with obvious ‘dark’ blood possessed of drunken aunties and a mindless father.
‘The luckiness and unluckiness of any life.’
Unfortunately, life becomes complicated for Roley and Noah. Any luck that Roley may have had seems to leave him, and Noah struggles with some demons of her own. The novel is written in a vernacular that captures the lives and times of the characters. Sometimes, this seems contrived and doesn’t work – but not in this novel. I’ve heard echoes of this same vernacular in the third quarter of last century, but not since.
This novel traverses some difficult issues: Noah’s sexual abuse by her Uncle Nipper (whom she mostly loves, for he showed her kindness) reverberates throughout her life; Roley’s illness takes away his (and their) dreams. Lainey, we learn, has found a place in the world. Ms Mears manages, in fewer than 360 pages, to observe the handicaps of gender and health and the impacts of love, luck and race in a small geographic space near an edge of Australian society during the first half of the 20th century.
The novel ends with a 21st century Coda. Roley and Noah are long dead, and their daughter Lainey (herself now elderly) returns briefly to the district. Accompanying Lainey, and mindful of the time that has elapsed, distance enables us to experience a different dimension to Roley and Noah’s story.
I found this novel intensely moving: the writing is superb and the characters are brilliantly realised.
Jennifer Cameron-Smith
shelleyrae's review against another edition
4.0
Though wonderfully evocative and lyrical, Foal's Bread is a bleak, raw story of loss, hardship and love. In the moonlight, at the base of One Tree Hill, a fourteen year old girl watches impassively as her fate drifts down river in a butter box. Spanning several decades, from the mid 1920's to the 1950's, set in the hard country of New South Wales, this is a compelling novel that traces the life of Noah Child.
Foal's Bread is a novel that is appreciated rather than enjoyed, for the unrelenting tragedy that dogs Noah and the Nancarrows is almost unrelieved. Mears cultivates an oppressive atmosphere where joy is short lived and always edged in achingly raw heartbreak. At times I found it difficult to go on yet I also found I could not let go, challenged by the intriguing characters and fascinated by a time and place long gone.
The intimate relationships between the members of the Nancarrow family are compelling. The way in which they turn sour, love twisted by ambition, jealousy and tragedy, lasting happiness elusive. Yet I couldn't help but admire their resilience and the way in which they kept moving forward despite broken minds, bodies and dreams.
Mears also explores the burdens of family legacies and the narrow fate of those tied to the land and it's vagaries. The harsh realities of farming in the bush and the drudgery of day to day existence is detailed without sentiment or the rosy glow of nostalgia. While tightly focused on the Nancarrow family, and One Tree Hill Farm, the story encompasses the events of society, touching on the world wars and their impact on the home front.
It's easy to see why the literati were so taken by Foal's Bread which was nominated for several of Australia's literary awards this year and won quite a few. Combining powerful storytelling with a strong, original narrative firmly grounded in Australia's unique landscape, Foal's Bread is a remarkable novel.
jocelyn_sp's review against another edition
4.0
I really liked this book, without getting totally involved. Some of the language use and description is beautiful. I loved the complexity of Noah and how her thoughts about her uncle and the baby coloured her life.
emmagreenall's review
dark
emotional
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
Not sure I like the ending although I don’t know what would have been better
bristoni74's review
3.0
Telling the story of the Nancarrow family and the high-jumping horse circuit from the 1920's to just before WW2 in rural NSW. At time's I found this book hard to continue but it is beautifully written and the tragedy of Noah's life from the opening pages is so raw. I really loved her character even though she could be jealous and harsh and was an alcoholic. But I felt I understood her and felt such sorrow and empathy for her. All the characters in this novel reminded me of people I knew as my grandparents and father grew up in outback Qld so it felt really authentic. Not a page turner and a tough read but you feel as you have read something really special. 3.5/5
mandi_m's review
4.0
Luminous Australian fiction which will appeal to those who love stories that use the harsh landscape to explore the Australian condition. This story is filled with real characters and captures the love of horses and the difficulties of life on the land during the war era.