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hel_lynn's review against another edition
3.0
I mostly enjoyed this first book by Ariella van Luyn. It's always good to know where the events take place, and living in Townsville, I can imagine the streets and the distances and even some of the buildings. It felt raw and untamed, kind of how I imagine the area to be at the time. The main character seems a little disconnected emotionally, and I was unsure whether this was because the character wasn't developed fully, or if this was intentional as a product of the characters upbringing and experiences. a pretty good read, and I would read another by this author.
maree_k's review
5.0
It did take me a little while to get into this debut novel by Ariella Van Luyn. Despite the subjects covered - sex work, drug use, gambling and violence in 1920s Queensland- it is a gentle book, yet its power simmers below the surface and before long, it hooked me in.
Van Luyn has chosen to focus her well-researched historical novel on a part of life either ignored or sensationalised: that of an ordinary young woman who chooses to be a sex worker. The life of Lizzie O'Dea is a difficult one. She loses her mother at a young age, she then marries young, and she and her new husband face financial troubles, at one point almost starving. But it's not a story told with an eye on pitying Lizzie, neither does it romanticise her life.
Treading Air follows the hardships and joys of Lizzie's life without judgment, and this is one of the novel's key strengths. It gives a voice to women who have been silenced and brushed aside by history. The more I read the more I grew to understand Lizzie and empathise with her situation, and the choices - good and bad - that she makes.
The writing is crisp yet gently draws the reader into the story. It does not set out to shock or embellish, and this makes it compelling reading. A fine first novel, highly recommended to those who have an interest in women's lives and the choices their gender forces upon them.
Van Luyn has chosen to focus her well-researched historical novel on a part of life either ignored or sensationalised: that of an ordinary young woman who chooses to be a sex worker. The life of Lizzie O'Dea is a difficult one. She loses her mother at a young age, she then marries young, and she and her new husband face financial troubles, at one point almost starving. But it's not a story told with an eye on pitying Lizzie, neither does it romanticise her life.
Treading Air follows the hardships and joys of Lizzie's life without judgment, and this is one of the novel's key strengths. It gives a voice to women who have been silenced and brushed aside by history. The more I read the more I grew to understand Lizzie and empathise with her situation, and the choices - good and bad - that she makes.
The writing is crisp yet gently draws the reader into the story. It does not set out to shock or embellish, and this makes it compelling reading. A fine first novel, highly recommended to those who have an interest in women's lives and the choices their gender forces upon them.
kali's review
5.0
Prostitutes with venereal disease were incarcerated in the Brisbane Lock Hospital up until the end of World War II, though in later years these efforts were more concerned with controlling the prostitution trade than with public health. Treading Air opens with the main character, Lizzie O’Dea, on the ward of the Brisbane Lock Hospital in 1945, though it isn’t clear if she is incarcerated for being contagious or on account of her profession. It doesn't matter.
It is Lizzie’s second time in the lock hospital and she is a much hardened woman than when she began her prostitution career in Townsville in 1923. The reader learns in the opening scene that Lizzie’s husband Joe is about to get out of gaol after twenty years and that she is expected to be reunited with him. This narrative frames the story that begins in 1922 of when she first met Joe, their move to Townsville and the circumstances under which she first enters prostitution. By her own admission, Lizzie is “not usually the kind of girl nice things happen to.” There were few roles for women in the 1920s, often polarised into nice girls and bad. Similarly, there were few occupations a woman could aspire to. Joe loses his job after a workplace accident and Lizzie needs to earn income. Given the choice of domestic drudgery for a couple of pounds a week or one night of work selling her body to earn the same amount, Lizzie opts for the latter. Finding the work enjoyable, she is determined to be a ‘queen’ earning enough money to buy their own house.
Read more here: https://kalinapier.wordpress.com/2016/03/09/treading-air-book-review/
My copy courtesy of netgalley
It is Lizzie’s second time in the lock hospital and she is a much hardened woman than when she began her prostitution career in Townsville in 1923. The reader learns in the opening scene that Lizzie’s husband Joe is about to get out of gaol after twenty years and that she is expected to be reunited with him. This narrative frames the story that begins in 1922 of when she first met Joe, their move to Townsville and the circumstances under which she first enters prostitution. By her own admission, Lizzie is “not usually the kind of girl nice things happen to.” There were few roles for women in the 1920s, often polarised into nice girls and bad. Similarly, there were few occupations a woman could aspire to. Joe loses his job after a workplace accident and Lizzie needs to earn income. Given the choice of domestic drudgery for a couple of pounds a week or one night of work selling her body to earn the same amount, Lizzie opts for the latter. Finding the work enjoyable, she is determined to be a ‘queen’ earning enough money to buy their own house.
Read more here: https://kalinapier.wordpress.com/2016/03/09/treading-air-book-review/
My copy courtesy of netgalley
knowledgelost's review
2.0
There is a certain sense of glee to be had when you read a novel set in a familiar location. That moment when you recognise a street or the author accurately describes a location; that feeling is comforting and is what drove me through Ariella van Luyn’s debut novel Treading Air. The story takes place in two locations, in Townsville and Brisbane during the 1920s and 1940s, following the life of Lizze O’Dea. From an attraction and eventual marriage to battle scared Joe, to the new life in an unfamiliar town, Treading Air is a cinematic portrayal of independence, love and sex.
I often felt like there was something very familiar with the plot of Treading Air; a sense that I have read this novel before. Which I had, it was from French author Joseph Kessel, and the novel that was turned into the surrealist classic film of the same name, Belle de Jour. I could not unsee the similarities, a lonely housewife discovering her sexuality as a sex worker. There are more similarities to be explored but I do not want to give away anything.
Once I discovered this connection, I had a hard time really enjoying Treading Air, to the point where I considered abandoning the book once or twice. I merely kept going due to the fact that this was the selection for book club and I wanted to give it as much attention as possible. Treading Air is based on a real woman, the author found some information about her while looking through historical archives and thought that the story was too good not to write. They say truth is stranger than fiction, yet it was fiction where I found this story previously.
In the end I ended with two major issues with this novel. Firstly I think there could have been some interesting insights into the motivation and mindset of a sex worker that could have been explored. I feel that because the novel was written in third person we were never really in the mind of Lizzie and there could have been value to be had there. Secondly one piece of advice I hear about writing it ‘show don’t tell’ which is not always true (there are some great authors that tell rather than show) but in the case of this debut by Ariella van Luyn, it would have made for a better novel.
Do not get me wrong, this is not a bad book and I am curious to see what Ariella van Luyn does next. I personally felt it lacked some of the key components that I am interested in, especially in a novel about sex workers. Rather than pick Treading Air apart any further, I would simply say I was disappointed. I know others have enjoyed this novel but it just was not for me. If the synopsis does interest you, do not be afraid to give it a go.
This review originally appeared on my blog; http://www.knowledgelost.org/book-reviews/genre/historical-fiction/treading-air-ariella-van-luyn/
I often felt like there was something very familiar with the plot of Treading Air; a sense that I have read this novel before. Which I had, it was from French author Joseph Kessel, and the novel that was turned into the surrealist classic film of the same name, Belle de Jour. I could not unsee the similarities, a lonely housewife discovering her sexuality as a sex worker. There are more similarities to be explored but I do not want to give away anything.
Once I discovered this connection, I had a hard time really enjoying Treading Air, to the point where I considered abandoning the book once or twice. I merely kept going due to the fact that this was the selection for book club and I wanted to give it as much attention as possible. Treading Air is based on a real woman, the author found some information about her while looking through historical archives and thought that the story was too good not to write. They say truth is stranger than fiction, yet it was fiction where I found this story previously.
In the end I ended with two major issues with this novel. Firstly I think there could have been some interesting insights into the motivation and mindset of a sex worker that could have been explored. I feel that because the novel was written in third person we were never really in the mind of Lizzie and there could have been value to be had there. Secondly one piece of advice I hear about writing it ‘show don’t tell’ which is not always true (there are some great authors that tell rather than show) but in the case of this debut by Ariella van Luyn, it would have made for a better novel.
Do not get me wrong, this is not a bad book and I am curious to see what Ariella van Luyn does next. I personally felt it lacked some of the key components that I am interested in, especially in a novel about sex workers. Rather than pick Treading Air apart any further, I would simply say I was disappointed. I know others have enjoyed this novel but it just was not for me. If the synopsis does interest you, do not be afraid to give it a go.
This review originally appeared on my blog; http://www.knowledgelost.org/book-reviews/genre/historical-fiction/treading-air-ariella-van-luyn/
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