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Crimson Dawn (2014)

by Fleur McDonald(Favorite Author)

3.94 of 5 Votes: 5

ISBN

1743315317 (ISBN13: 9781743315316)

languge

English

genre

Romance

publisher

Allen & Unwin

review 1: This is the first Fleur McDonald book I have read and I really enjoyed it. I found it an easy and interesting read and Fleur paints beautiful pictures with her words that makes you feel you are right there at Nambina with the characters. I liked the main character of Laura and her passion and love for the land was portrayed beautifully. Although I enjoyed the storyline with its twists and turns, and at times, compelling tension, there were some issues. I felt the pacing was staggered. It began well and flowed nicely but then seemed to falter in the middle becoming slow and almost cumbersome. It isn't until 300 pages in where Laura is served the documents from the solicitor something we know from the blurb. From here the story moved at lightening pace with startling revelat... moreions and interesting twists. The story was certainly interesting with intricate subplots which were very cleverly woven throughout. I do though at times felt they took away from the main storyline.There is no doubt Fleur is a creative and talented author and I look forward to reading more from her.
review 2: Fleur McDonald's fifth novel to combine her love of rural Australia and her farming experience with drama and romance, Crimson Dawn is an engaging story of betrayal, resilience, and family secrets. Reeling from betrayal and tragedy, Laura Murphy throws herself into the management of Nambina, the family sheep station which now belongs to her. Eight years later, Laura is proud of what she has achieved including developing prize winning Merino rams and setting up a successful farm school that teaches young women the basics of managing a property but then things slowly begin to wrong, one of her rams is poisoned, she suspects one of her students is doing drugs and then her neighbour, and former best friend, announces she has a claim on Nambina, and threatens to take away everything she loves.There are several tangled plot lines in this story which ultimately reveal unexpected connections, including Meghan's claim on Nambina, the identity of Laura's mother, a drug and sex party ring and most significantly, the parallel narrative within the novel which tells the story of a young boy, who left his abusive home in the 1930's, as he grows into a man. McDonald does well to draw these and other minor threads together in a manner that is plausible, though not entirely probable.The story did feel a little disjointed to me, especially to begin with, as the contemporary chapters move quite quickly from 2000 to 2001 to 2003 before finally settling in 2008, while the parallel historical timeline makes similar leaps. I personally would have preferred for the contemporary story to have been grounded in a single time period.Laura is a likeable heroine, her own hard work and determination has seen her build a successful property and business and she is satisfied with the life she has created for herself. But she has been unable to move on from the shocking betrayal of Meghan and Josh, once her best friend and fiance respectively, and has become emotionally closed off from all but family. When Nambina is threatened, McDonald gently guides Laura into the realisation that she doesn't have to face this latest betrayal alone and introduces Tim, the local vet with whom Laura forms a tentative, and ultimately lovely relationship. While I do think the storyline was just a bit too ambitious and the flow of the narrative suffered as a result, I did enjoy Crimson Dawn. Laura is a protagonist I can admire and I always appreciate the authentic details McDonald provides about everyday life on rural properties. less

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