Reviewed by Rama Gaind.
By Lily Malone, Mira, $9.99.
Lily Malone admits that some real-life events prove as catalysts for stories she’s written. Water Under the Bridge is one of them.
She got the idea sitting on the deck of her home on Boxing Day 2015. There was a ruckus in the bush nearby and all of a sudden a sweet little bird landed on the ground near a trampoline.
Malone has said: ‘the only one not scared by all the bouncing on the trampoline was the bird. He was obviously used to noise and young children, and he was more comfortable with little humans than those nasty other pecking things with wings. So my hubby, who knows a thing or two about picking up birds, approached the little guy with big eyes and coo-ing sounds. Before I could blink the bird was on my hubby’s finger, then shoulder, making no signs he wanted to leave anytime soon’.
After a notice to find the owners was put on Facebook, it turned out he belonged to a local family who was missing him dreadfully. Happing ending.
This story has the heroine, Ella Davenport, finding an escaped cockateil. As it happens, Jake Honeychurch, the handsome man who owns ‘Percy’, is the hero.
Ella avoids swimming pools because a bad decision ruined her chance of Olympic gold. In her new career selling property she chooses a town far from the water and devoid of swimming pools. She’s still learning the real estate trade, but is determined and persistent.
Against all his wishes, Jake is forced to sell his nanna’s house, and lists it with the rookie. By asking too much, it’ll be difficult to sell. Absorbing interaction unfolds.
The first in a three-book series, Malone is a West Australian author who writes captivating modern narrative with in-depth characterisation and attention to detail.
