Bellevue by Alison Booth

 

Bellevue by Alison Booth.

Published 16th March 2023 by Red Door.

From the cover of the book:

New South Wales, 1972. 

Following the death of her beloved Aunt Hilda, widow Clare Barclay inherits Bellevue, an historic property in the Blue Mountains township of Numbulla, Australia. 

Giving up her teaching job to move to the mountains, Clare plans to restore the house to its original glory. She also hopes to track down a box of missing documents that may shed light on why husband Jack secretly second-mortgaged their former home.

Clare makes friends with the locals, including a young boy, Joe, and soon hears of plans to redevelop Numbulla and to exploit the land bordering the protected wilderness area. As she joins the protest against the rezoning, it’s clear someone doesn’t want her there and they’ll do anything to stop her…

Written from Clare’s and Joe’s perspectives, Bellevue highlights cross-generational bonds that grow between them as they struggle, individually and together, towards an acceptance of the losses each has sustained.

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New South Wales, 1972. Clare Barclay is surprised when her beloved Aunt Hilda bequeaths her run down property to her in her will, rather than leaving it to her husband's brother. Clare can never forget the kindness Hilda showed to her in the dark days following her husband's death, and Bellevue holds fond memories for her. She decides to give up her job as a Sydney teacher and travel to the quiet Blue Mountains township of Nambulla to renovate the property to its former glory. She hopes to also track down any paperwork that may shed light on the reason why her husband died.

Bellevue is in a dilapidated state and Clare has a big job on her hands, but she feels in her bones that this is where she belongs. She begins to lay down roots in the township, making friends among the small community, and taking a young, motherless boy called Joe under her wing. Unfortunately, her peace is shattered when she learns of plans to redevelop Nambulla and build on the beautiful, unspoiled wilderness near her home. Clare begins to receive threatening messages encouraging her to sell to the developers, and when she staunchly refuses to budge, sinister things begin to happen to her and her property. But, Clare is made of sterner stuff than it may appear...

Bellevue is a many layered, multi-generational story that highlights the history of the fight to protect the environment and conserve areas important to Australia's Aboriginal peoples against greedy developers in the 1970s.

Told from the points of view of Clare and young Joe, it is set in a small wilderness community that is under threat. Booth deftly weaves several strands to this story, combining family drama, mystery, thriller, romance, and coming of age tale. The characters are beautifully drawn, spanning a cross-section of this close-knit community, and Booth uses them to explore a myriad of themes around betrayal and corruption that echo through all parts of the story. 

Clare comes to Nambulla searching for answers about the mystery of her husband's death, and to find a way to move on from the pain she still feels over his untimely loss. Joe is reeling from the early death of his mother, unable to connect with his widowed father, and is used to hiding his hopes and dreams for fear of riducule. There is such poignancy in the reflections of both Clare and Joe, and their budding friendship is enchanting. I loved how Clare especially grows in confidence over the course of the story, developing insight that has eluded her for much of her life, which finally allows her to lay her ghosts to rest. The gradual development in both of their characters cleverly drives different parts of the story, and the things you see through their eyes misdirect as well as inform. It is not always easy to tell who is friend or who is foe, resulting in well contrived tension and a big injection of menace that keeps you very much on the edge of your seat. 

This is a story of unity, and it shines with Booth's love of the heritage and beauty she feels for her homeland. It took me right through the emotional range, with plenty to evoke outrage and anger, as well as sentiment and joy - and all the threads tie up neatly in an uplifting ending that has you punching the air with glee! I consumed this novel in one sitting, and was sorry to say goodbye to the little community of Nambulla.

Bellevue is available to buy now in paperback, ebook and audio formats.

Thank you to Red Door for sending me a copy of the book in return for an honest review, and to Helen Richardson PR for inviting me to be part of this blog tour.

About the author:

Alison Booth is an award-winning writer who grew up in Sydney, and lived for some years in the UK. 

She holds a PhD from the London School of Economics and is Emeritus Professor at the Australian National University. Bellevue is her seventh novel.