Matilda's Last Waltz

by Tamara McKinley

Book Overview

Churinga has its secrets. Secrets surrounding the former owner, Matilda. While admitting a respect for her way with the land, Jenny's neighbours seem reluctant to talk about Matilda. Then Jenny... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0312262027
• ISBN13: 9780312262020
• Release Date: January 2000
• Publisher: St. Martin's Press
• Length: 440 Pages
• Weight: 1.35 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.4" x 5.8" x 8.5"

Customer Reviews

Armchair Traveler

Like spending a day in Oz. Had no intention of reading it in one sitting, but I simply could not put it down. What a journey. The tight, crisp writing had me eagerly turning pages. So seldom does a book come along that simply takes you away. This did it for me. I look forward to reading her next.

READ THIS BOOK!

Tamara did an absolutely amazing job of making oz come alive in this recent work. The characters are alive and so believable, the story fresh and exciting, i couldnt put it down~! Tamara has definately won a fan in me with this great book.

Australian story-telling at its best

Matilda's Last Waltz is the best book I've read for ages. The characters are so finely drawn that I feel I know them intimately, yet it is the breadth and beauty of the outback in Australia that comes alive and takes me back to my travels across this vast continent. Nowhere is it sentimental in Ms McKinley's novel, but oh so majestic and true. It's almost as if the outback is one of the characters in a plot that twists and turns and kept me awake all night wanting to read on. A masterpiece and well deserving of the astonishing sales world-wide. This book is a best seller in Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Finland, Sweden and Germany and Austria. With her new book, Jacaranda Vines coming out in 2001, I expect to see this author in the best-sellers list.

A good read

Six months have passed since her husband Peter and their two-year-old son Ben died, but Jenny still mourns her loss as if it happened yesterday. The embolism that killed Peter was swift and by itself difficult to live with, but to have it happen while he drove with Ben as a passenger leaves Jenny shattered and incapable of moving on with her life. However, the family attorney informs her that her spouse left her with an isolated sheep station in the Outback that apparently Peter desperately wanted her to own. Deciding she needs a change from her Sydney home, Jenny travels to the remote Churinga seeking solace and trying to understand why Peter bestowed such a strange inheritance upon her. Her plan is to stay for a short time in the hope of recapturing her sense of being, but instead, Jenny finds herself embracing the need to learn about the previous owner, the enigmatic but legendary Matilda. The timing of MATILDA'S LAST WALTZ is perfect with the Olympics just around the corner. However, even if it was not, a novel with this much depth to its characters is timely at any period. The story line is gripping and powerful as Jenny "observes" Matilda's world and compares her own reaction to what the former Churinga owner did. The characters including tertiary players seem so real that both Sydney and the Outback are vividly described. Anyone who relishes a strong novel of living beyond dying will fully gain pleasure with the melancholy but stalwart Tamar McKinley's fabulous tale. Harriet Klausner

MATILDA'S LAST WALTZ

Churinga is the name of the unexpected and unlikely inheritance Jennifer Sanders has received from her beloved late husband, Peter, after he and their young son die. Puzzled, but needing a reason to go on, Jenny takes the long trek from Sydney to the sheep station in New South Wales. Greeting her in the dusty, outback town is Brett Wilson, the station's manager, who is all business with the new 'boss'. To Jenny, the handsome Brett is a bit too stiff with her, but she's certain that since she won't be staying long, it won't matter. However, from the night of her arrival at Churinga, Jenny is aware of the presence of the former owner, the indomitable Matilda, whose legend is well known to all in the surrounding outback. When Jenny discovers a trunk of Matilda's old clothes and a stack of her diaries, she is determined to unearth the story of this overwhelming spirit. The publishers of this book chose to compare it to THE THORN BIRDS and, as usual, I didn't expect it to measure up. But MATILDA'S LAST WALTZ is every bit as thrilling, enthralling and lovingly written as Colleen McCullough's wonderful story. Ms. McKinley's characters are appealing and real. Matilda, the tough, persistent daughter of two mismatched parents, tears at the reader's heartstrings from the beginning. Her diaries help the grieving Jenny come to grips with her own life and open her eyes to the beauty that is Churinga. Dancing through the tale is more than a hint of romance between Jenny and the brooding Brett, who is more than a little worried about losing his job on the station that he's come to love. But it's Matilda's story seen through the eyes of Jenny that lures the reader onward. Dastardly characters are sprinkled throughout and some of the best scenes are when the reader is allowed to see how both Matilda and Jenny deal with them.MATILDA'S LAST WALTZ is one of the best written, most enjoyable books I've been privileged to review this year. There is nothing not to like about it. The characters are well drawn, even some of the lesser seen ones. The dialogue is free-flowing, never skipping a beat and the description of the outback and all of its dangers and beauty can only come from someone who truly loves it. This is a must-read book for anyone who loves a really good story that can bring tears to your eyes at the last page, as it did me. Jani Brooks Romance Communications