Category Archives: Book vs Film

Bookish (and not so bookish) Thoughts

Posted by Kate W in Book vs Film, Stuff and Nonsense and tagged with , , , , , , ,

gin-tour-melbourne-gin-co

01. BEST weekend. Started with ten hours of gin on Saturday – a friend and I went on tour to the Melbourne Gin Company with the Gin Queen. We’re now BFFs with Caroline (the Gin Queen) – you know your people when you meet them – and obviously there will be more gin tours in my future. Continue reading →

The Women In Black by Madeleine St. John

Posted by Kate W in Book vs Film, Fiction and tagged with , , , , , , , ,

the-women-in-black-madeleine-st-john

I don’t usually write reviews for re-reads because they must be ace books* if I’m taking the time to re-read them, right? But there’s been a few exceptions along the way and The Women In Black by Madeleine St. John is one.

I’d forgotten just how charming this story is when I picked it up last Friday. My hasty re-read (it is a very short book) was prompted by my theatre engagement that evening – Melbourne Theatre Company’s production of Ladies in Black.

Set in a department store in Sydney called Goode’s in the late 1950s, the story traces the lives of four women working in the Ladies’ Frock Department.

“Goode’s stayed ahead of the competition by means of a terrific dedication to the modes.”
Continue reading →

Book vs. Film: The Dressmaker

Posted by Kate W in Book vs Film and tagged with , , ,

the-dressmaker-book-vs-film

Film.

  • It played up the spaghetti-Western element of the book perfectly*.
  • Hemsworth.
  • Costumes. Brilliant.
  • The landscape (but I am partial to the Wimmera** district).
  • Winslet nails the accent.

*Director Jocelyn Moorhouse described the film as “Clint Eastwood’s Unforgiven with a sewing machine.”
**Ham’s novel was set in the fictional town of Winyerp, which was based on the Victorian town of Murtoa.