koori – Aussie Reviews

I’m telling you now: I’m never having another boyfriend – EVER!’

Libby is over men. Every time she’s been serious with one, they’ve cheated and hurt her. Now she’s on a man-fast, and happy to keep it that way. After all, she has plenty of good stuff in her life – a great job that she loves, three wonderful tiddas, and two cats for company at home. She doesn’t need a man. But when she gets the travel bug, Libby finds herself in Paris, surrounded by men and by lovers. Will her resolve falter?

Paris Dreaming is the second in Anita Heiss’ ‘Dreaming’ series featuring strong Koori characters each on a quest for personal fulfilment which includes, but is by no means limited to, romance. Set initially in Canberra, then in Paris, the story follows Libby’s adventures as she travels to Paris to represent the National Aboriginal Gallery at an exhibition in the Musee du Quai Branly. In Paris Libby hones her fashion skills, makes new friends and explores exciting career possibilities, whilst also protecting herself from again having her heart broken.

Libby is an endearing narrator, sharing her story as a first person narrator. The book is Heiss’s special blend of Koori chit-lick, with strong female Aboriginal characters, and the exploration of serious issues such as racial tolerance and cultural sensitivity alongside romance, fashion and fun.

Paris Dreaming is fun and intelligence in equal measure.

Paris Dreaming, by Anita Heiss
Random House, 2011
ISBN 9781741668933

This book can be purchased from good bookstores, or online from Fishpond.

As I drove towards Adam’s house I felt nauseous at the thought of the conversation we had to have, but I was still looking forward to seeing him. I ‘d missed him. But, as I walked to his front door and put my keys in my bag I felt the newspaper and immediately became angry again. When he opened the door I said firmly, ‘We need to talk.’
’It’s never a good thing when a woman says that.’ Adam pulled me close and kissed me heard on the mouth, his tongue teasing mine before I had a chance to pull away and remember all the things I had to say. The heartburn jealousy was momentarily gone.

Lauren has been hurt by her sport star boyfriend Adam one time too many, so when she’s offered the chance for a year in New York, she knows she should take it to make a clean break. And what an opportunity she’s being offered. A curator at the National Aboriginal Gallery in Canberra, she has been selected for a fellowship at the Smithsonian. But Lauren isn’t so sure that she wants to leave her friends, her family, her lifestyle, or oven Adam, to take up the fellowship.

Soon, however, she finds herself in Manhattan, discovering that men in New York know how to date and how to look after women. But will any of these men be able to mend her broken heart and replace Adam?

Manhattan Dreaming is chick lit at its best – with a feisty main character who is a successful career woman with a need to love and be loved and a mix of potential suitors ranging from the loveable to the plain annoying. The mix of settings – including Canberra and Goulbourn, with the main action taking place in New York – is also absorbing, with the reader able to see the big apple through the eyes of an Australia visiting for the first time.

Great stuff.

Manhattan Dreaming, by Anita Heiss
Bantam, 2010

This book can be purchased online from Fishpond. Buying through this link supports Aussiereviews.