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The Inheritance of Ivorie Hammer
An enchanting tale of larger-than-life characters and a magnificent, sprawling, historical epic that tips its hat to magical realism, this unique and delightful literary novel brings to life a family saga in the most elegant and restrained fashion. A murder mystery and comedy of manners that is never what it seems, it weaves together a Dickensian sense of mystery with a township at social war with itself. This playful and imaginative narrative announces the arrival of a dynamic new Australian writing talent.
336 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2012
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Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
January 8, 2013
A historical novel with a murder mystery at its heart, set in a fictitious and richly imagined country town in the 1800s; there was much to enjoy about this quirky, original novel.
In its evocation of the time period the voice was perfect - moral, precise, restrained - but it also had a seam of tongue-in-cheek humour running through it that gave it a contemporary zing.
The characters too were beautifully drawn - complex, diverse and invested with foibles and back stories that made them wholly believable.
The mystery, culminating in a courtroom drama, was sufficiently tricky to keep me guessing until the end.
And yet, despite all these things, I never felt completely consumed by this book. I could put it down for days at a time without even thinking about it - I just never fully engaged.
I'm not sure if this is perhaps because there were too many characters and it was hard to get to know Ivorie enough to be really rooting for her. or if the language, much as I enjoyed it, had a distancing effect. I can't put my finger on what it was, but there was definitely some element missing for me in this novel.
Having said this, I think Preston is an exciting new voice in Australian fiction and I'll be interested to see what she writes next.
*This review is my first for the Australian Women Writers Challenge 2013
In its evocation of the time period the voice was perfect - moral, precise, restrained - but it also had a seam of tongue-in-cheek humour running through it that gave it a contemporary zing.
The characters too were beautifully drawn - complex, diverse and invested with foibles and back stories that made them wholly believable.
The mystery, culminating in a courtroom drama, was sufficiently tricky to keep me guessing until the end.
And yet, despite all these things, I never felt completely consumed by this book. I could put it down for days at a time without even thinking about it - I just never fully engaged.
I'm not sure if this is perhaps because there were too many characters and it was hard to get to know Ivorie enough to be really rooting for her. or if the language, much as I enjoyed it, had a distancing effect. I can't put my finger on what it was, but there was definitely some element missing for me in this novel.
Having said this, I think Preston is an exciting new voice in Australian fiction and I'll be interested to see what she writes next.
*This review is my first for the Australian Women Writers Challenge 2013
January 5, 2013
The inhabitants of Canyon start off as circus people. In a land not quite in time, not quite in place, they are eventually pushed from their town by wild winds, dust storms and out-of-control fires. In caravans and on horseback, they traverse the mountains, settling as refugees, as outsiders, on the fringes of a new town called Pitch.
Read my full review: http://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/b...
Read my full review: http://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/b...
August 18, 2014
So wonderful, clever and witty. The characters were written with empathy and a delicate touch and there was many a moment where I laughed out loud (much to the amusement of fellow travellers). Highly recommend.
September 13, 2018
Whimsical, quirky and well-written with a memorable cast of characters.
January 21, 2013
The Inheritance of Ivorie Hammer is a difficult book - and one that feels rather too long.
The basic premise is interesting: a circus and a brothel in a remote rural town (Canyon); the circus owners are brothers but diametric opposites. There is a scandal, the circus closes and the owners disappear.
The narrative then switches to forty years later in the neighbouring town (Pitch) which can only be reached by a perilous five day journey through the mountains. We meet various levels of council officialdom, a midwife/healer, a publican and a strange woman with no history called Ivorie Hammer. A strange recluse is found in a Pitch burns down and some of the residents relocate to Canyon. At this point, what had been hard to follow becomes utterly incomprehensible. The characters all seem to have dual roles - the ones in Canyon and the ones in Pitch.
There are what seem to be deliberate discontinuities or ambiguities in the text. We take it on trust that the narrative is set in Australia, although the appearance of baobab trees is incongruous. The time period seems fluid - variously very early pioneer days and early 20th Century. There may be explanations but it all serves to distract and break the narrative flow.
At times, the story is compelling and beautifully written. There is a strong and obvious authorial voice - although the point of view lurches wildly from scene to scene. Parts of the novel are really very funny and there is an overall feel of vaudeville, of circus. There are mysteries, tricks, intrigue and exotic dancing. But despite some of the parts being very good, the overall narrative never coheres and the result is an overly long book that doesn't go anywhere.
It's a pity. This is a brave attempt to do something different with Australian literature - to take it away from first fleeters, dusty farmsteads and dysfunctional childhoods. But it hasn't quite come off.
The basic premise is interesting: a circus and a brothel in a remote rural town (Canyon); the circus owners are brothers but diametric opposites. There is a scandal, the circus closes and the owners disappear.
The narrative then switches to forty years later in the neighbouring town (Pitch) which can only be reached by a perilous five day journey through the mountains. We meet various levels of council officialdom, a midwife/healer, a publican and a strange woman with no history called Ivorie Hammer. A strange recluse is found in a Pitch burns down and some of the residents relocate to Canyon. At this point, what had been hard to follow becomes utterly incomprehensible. The characters all seem to have dual roles - the ones in Canyon and the ones in Pitch.
There are what seem to be deliberate discontinuities or ambiguities in the text. We take it on trust that the narrative is set in Australia, although the appearance of baobab trees is incongruous. The time period seems fluid - variously very early pioneer days and early 20th Century. There may be explanations but it all serves to distract and break the narrative flow.
At times, the story is compelling and beautifully written. There is a strong and obvious authorial voice - although the point of view lurches wildly from scene to scene. Parts of the novel are really very funny and there is an overall feel of vaudeville, of circus. There are mysteries, tricks, intrigue and exotic dancing. But despite some of the parts being very good, the overall narrative never coheres and the result is an overly long book that doesn't go anywhere.
It's a pity. This is a brave attempt to do something different with Australian literature - to take it away from first fleeters, dusty farmsteads and dysfunctional childhoods. But it hasn't quite come off.
January 20, 2016
The Inheritance of Ivorie Hammer is seriously good fun. It took me a little while to get into it, but from about page 50 onwards I couldn’t put it down.
Consciously modelled on the great Victorian novelists Dickens, Thackeray and Fielding, The Inheritance of Ivorie Hammer is a lively mystery with a social heart. Ivorie Hammer, you see, is a lady of some pretensions, handicapped by not knowing her social origins. Her inheritance might not be what she thinks it is …
The story begins high on a mountaintop in a place called Canyon where brothers Arcadia and Otto Cirque arrive with their travelling circus Saturnalia. Sensing a business opportunity, the Madam of nearby Pitch sends some of her – a-hem – ‘girls’ up the mountain, where business indeed turns out to be brisk.
One might think such girls would know better, but one of them loses her heart to the flamboyant but heartless Arcadia, and it is Otto, the (literally) silent one, who has to pick up the pieces. Quite how this happens is the heart of a mystery that involves assorted deaths, disappearances, scandals, contortions and contrivances to rival anything you’ll find in Dickens, and yes, there is a stellar cast of unforgettable characters as well.
To read the rest of my review please visit http://anzlitlovers.com/2012/11/24/th...
Consciously modelled on the great Victorian novelists Dickens, Thackeray and Fielding, The Inheritance of Ivorie Hammer is a lively mystery with a social heart. Ivorie Hammer, you see, is a lady of some pretensions, handicapped by not knowing her social origins. Her inheritance might not be what she thinks it is …
The story begins high on a mountaintop in a place called Canyon where brothers Arcadia and Otto Cirque arrive with their travelling circus Saturnalia. Sensing a business opportunity, the Madam of nearby Pitch sends some of her – a-hem – ‘girls’ up the mountain, where business indeed turns out to be brisk.
One might think such girls would know better, but one of them loses her heart to the flamboyant but heartless Arcadia, and it is Otto, the (literally) silent one, who has to pick up the pieces. Quite how this happens is the heart of a mystery that involves assorted deaths, disappearances, scandals, contortions and contrivances to rival anything you’ll find in Dickens, and yes, there is a stellar cast of unforgettable characters as well.
To read the rest of my review please visit http://anzlitlovers.com/2012/11/24/th...
January 6, 2014
Not typical, but not unusual. The "mystery" of the book is predictable, but I don't think the reader is meant to be kept in suspense -- the characters are. There are certainly enough of them! It was difficult to keep track, at times, especially when some would disappear for chapters at a time. Many of the characters are tongue-in-cheek, quirky, and the narration allows for a fly-on-the-wall, removed, omnipresence which is, at times, explicitly invoked. All in all entertaining, but not profound.
March 24, 2014
This is a very enjoyable mystery story, set in a gothic frontier world. The characters are well drawn, especially the main character, Ivorie Hammer, who is a strong, pregnant woman with a mysterious past. The Inheritance of Ivorie Hammer is beautifully written. Unlike many well-written books, however, this is not a boring literary novel, it’s an engrossing tale. The reading level is probably a little higher than most mystery novels, and I would recommend this book for adults and confident young readers.
December 2, 2015
Overall I liked the book: the characters were unique and larger-than-life but still mostly believable.I got really engaged with the characters and their story in the prologue then was a little disappointed when it ended and the story skipped ahead 40 years. There were a few things about the writing that bothered me, which prevented me rating it higher: the changing tenses, the attempts to give the narrator a witty personality and the narrator's inconsistency in referring to itself ('I', 'we' or 'one', variously). These issues pulled me out of the story.
March 6, 2013
This book tells a tale of two cities in a fictitious country in 18--. The writer is incredibly descriptive, sometimes it hinders the flow of the book, but it also provides rich characters and images in your mind. I did enjoy this, but it didn't "blow me away". Certainly quite different in its writing style, the story was enjoyable if not entirely original.
January 12, 2016
The writing is very effusive. Its a well told and engaging story, but there is really no point to it. The story just ends with a whimper.
September 13, 2013
Highly recommended. Reminiscent of Dickens, this is a rollicking read!
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews