In Jacqui's CD Player ...

Just started listening to ... The Cattleman's Daughter by Rachel Treasure
Born on the rugged Dargo High Plains and raised by her cattleman father, Emily Flanaghan has lost her way in life.  Locked in an unhappy marriage in the suburbs, Emily misses the high country with a fierce ache. To make matters worse, her heritage is under threat. A government bill to evict the mountain cattlemen is about to be passed, and the Flanaghans could be banned from the mountains their family has looked after for generations.

When a terrible accident brings Emily to the brink of death, she realises she must return to the high country to seek a way forward in life; healing herself, her daughters and her land. Along the way, she finds herself falling in love with a man who works for the government - the traditional opposition of the cattlemen - new Parks ranger Luke Bradshaw. But just as she sees that the land and Luke are the keys to regaining her life, Emily faces losing them both in the greatest challenge of all.

Set in the beautiful snow gum country of the Victorian Alps, the Cattleman's Daughter is a haunting and unforgettable tale of love, self-discovery and forgiveness from one of Australia's best-loved authors.

Just finished listening to ... People of the Book by Geraldine Brooks
Synopsis: From the Pulitzer Prize winning author of March, the journey of a rare illuminated manuscript through centuries of exile and war.

In 1996, Hanna Heath, an Australian rare-book expert, is offered the job of a lifetime: analysis and conservation of the famed Sarajevo Haggadah, which has been rescued from Serb shelling during the Bosnian war. Priceless and beautiful, the book is one of the earliest Jewish volumes ever to be illuminated with images. When Hanna, a caustic loner with a passion for her work, discovers a series of tiny artefacts in its ancient binding an insect wing fragment, wine stains, salt crystals, a white hair she begins to unlock the book's mysteries. The reader is ushered into an exquisitely detailed and atmospheric past, tracing the book's journey from its salvation back to its creation.

In Bosnia during World War II, a Muslim risks his life to protect it from the Nazis. In the hedonistic salons of fin-de-siècle Vienna, the book becomes a pawn in the struggle against the city's rising anti-Semitism. In inquisition-era Venice, a Catholic priest saves it from burning. In Barcelona in 1492, the scribe who wrote the text sees his family destroyed by the agonies of enforced exile. And in Seville in 1480, the reason for the Haggadah's extraordinary illuminations is finally disclosed. Hanna's investigation unexpectedly plunges her into the intrigues of fine art forgers and ultra-nationalist fanatics. Her experiences will test her belief in herself and the man she has come to love.

Inspired by a true story, People of the Book is at once a novel of sweeping historical grandeur and intimate emotional intensity, an ambitious, electrifying work by an acclaimed and beloved author.

Jacqui's Review: The historical elements of this book were vivid and intricately constructed ... a wealth of insight for a historical novice like myself.  I truly enjoy a good historical drama, such a good way to absorb history without the 'yawn' factor.  Centred around a strong female character which was an added bonus, I can sum up my overall impression in one word ... fascinating!   3 out of 5.

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