Reviews of Finding Jasper

Kim Forrester: ‘Every so often I read a book that akes me homesick because it captures the sights and sounds of Australia so very eloquently that you can practically smell the aroma of eucalyptus wafting off the page and feel the harsh summer sun beating down on you. Lynne Leonhardt's wonderfully self-assured debut novel Finding Jasper is one of those books.' Read on

Walter Mason:  ‘Finding Jasper is a glorious piece of Australiana, and a fascinating and unique look at Western Australia in the 40s and 50s.' Read on

Belinda Castles: 'In this novel, in which war, exile and the rhythms and heartache of life on the land are felt through the lives of three women, Leonhardt’s descriptions are revelatory, necessary and often beautiful.' Read on  

Karenlee Thompson: ‘Perhaps because of my love of short fiction, I sometimes feel that first-time novelists can’t resist the urge to tell too much; to be too earnest in their quest to have a reader understand, to be unable to trust some of the background to reader imagination.  Lynne Leonhardt has resisted admirably and Finding Jasper shows none of the insecurities of many debut novels.' Read on

Vicki Sly: ‘With deft brushstrokes, Leonhardt paints the harsh beauty of the Australian bush that through the eyes on a newly arrived English bride is far from the romance of home.’ Read on  

Elizabeth Lleude:  ‘Music haunts Finding Jasper, by turns sad, angry, evocative, challenging and hip.' Read on

Bron Sibree: Writing for “The West Australian” (20 Nov 2012) Bron Sibree describes the novel as "beguiling…at one level a moving exploration of the legacy of loss and war across three generations of women. At another, it’s a poignant and unusual coming-of-age story. An intricate plait of love and family, grief and loss, history and its secrets, that is shaped around an absent character. For the Jasper of the title, a missing World War II pilot, is from the outset an absence, a hollow ache in the lives of his family." Summing up her acclaim of the novel, Sibree says it is a “remarkably accomplished debut. Leonhardt’s finely-honed prose, her luminous imagery and canny perceptions evoke a gentler, lost WA world with such subtlety and power that Finding Jasper looks set to become a local favourite, a ‘must read’”.

William Yeoman: ‘Lynne Leonhardt's luminous debut novel evokes a bygone Western Australia with the hard clarity and emotional deftness of Tim Winton, while weaving together themes of childhood, family, love and loss as bittersweetly as central character Gin's beloved Schumann did in his piano music.’  

Brenda Walker: ‘Finding Jasper offers the reader a wonderful experience of the fine grain of a time that has passed: the tensions and passions of lives which have had their direction changed by war and the loss or restitution of love.’   

Amanda Curtin: ‘I first read Lynne Leonhardt’s wonderful novel Finding Jasper some years ago, when it existed as a stack of A4 pages and had a different title. At the time, Lynne and I were both PhD candidates at Edith Cowan University, Perth.' Read on 

Natasha Lester: "Good Wives and Missing Husbands".    Read on

Booklog for Charlotte: What a wonderful treat this book was for me, a book set in Australia from 1945 to the mid-60s. My era, if not my location.  In the section about the 1960s, the author mentions shorty pajamas which brought back my memories of the pajama parties of my youth. Read on 

Louise Allan: Finding Jasper is Lynne Leonhardt's first novel and the first novel-length book published by Margaret River Press. The story centre around Gin (Virginia), the youngest of the three generations of Partridge family women whose stories are portrayed - Gin's mother, Valerie; her aunt, Attie (Adeline); and her grandmother, Audrey. Read on

Radisha Murphy: Lynne Leonhardt's debut novel takes us to a gentler and a more violent time in our history - a paradox that is managed in this novel with grace and clarity. Read on 

 


Readers’ & Booksellers’ Comments about Finding Jasper

Peta, Barefoot Bookshop: 'Finished reading it today. A really lovely book and one that got better and better as it went along. I really enjoyed it and will enjoy selling it very much. ' 26 Oct 2012

Kaye Davies, Head of Humanities at Canning College: ‘I loved this book! The descriptions of life in the south-west and in Perth were gently and evocatively created. The story and the characters were totally engaging. While the historical information was obviously carefully researched I never felt that the 'facts' overwhelmed the story line. This book was a joy to read and I highly recommend it.’ 17 Jan 2013

Jasmine Porter: ‘I finished reading Finding Jasper this morning and did enjoy the book. There is one aspect however that I found distracting. the Farm mentioned was obviously around the Donnybrook / Kirup area, but having the 'composite' south western town I found it disturbed the flow of the story for me. Why is it Australian authors don't name towns, even if fictitious? If the story was based in the UK or the US, the town / village would have been name and described, the characters would have had an anchor point. The vagueness of where they live in the country, turns to firmness once the story moves to Perth. With bearing, the characters and story move well without hindrance and very engaging. Still a highly recommended read. 29 Jan 2012

Bookcaffe: Local author Lynne Leonhardt’s stunning first novel has met with fantastic reviews since its publication, and well and truly deserves to be at the top of anyone’s ‘To-Read’ wishlist. (featured in Bestsellers Feb 2012)