Thank you to Sid Harta Publishers for this book in exchange for an honest review.

Synopsis:

A marriage with little or chance of success – where boredom, disappointment and depression lead to suicidal contentions by both. The throw of the dice not only involved becoming social outcasts or ‘butterflies in sandstorms’ in the isolated mining city of Broken Hill, but the arrival of a baby boy further complicated the relationship.
The story explored the Australian opal, jewellery and finance industry as it weaves through a plot where racism prevails when the two entirely different culture clash. Set during World War II, the story explores the struggle for survival. But with a sense of rare courage and part-fate in the abrasive cave-day existence of the outback opal fields of NSW, South Australia and Queensland, the couple journey to retain Australian credibility when they find out that there are others who have experienced worse than themselves.

Review:

There is always someone special about reading Australia based books written by Australians. And trust me, you can always tell. The authenticity, in the descriptions, the way the characters speak and in their mannerisms. Nothing can match it.

Butterflies in Sand Storms is based around two characters Ross and Nell and their life together and the challengers that they faces. Ross courted Nell and from the moment of their wedding they had a rough and cruel start to life, whether it came naturally or they placed themselves in an unfortunate situation.

While reading about Nell and Ross, I kept thinking about how my great grandparents and their parents would have experienced life this way, especially growing up in the harsh country of Australia, because the outback is nothing but hard work, sweat and tears. Bakarich is a powerful writer and it comes across in the images that he leaves you with. You can imagine the heartache and strain living in the outback at the harsh time. You can imagine the physical and mental strain that it has on the characters. It was as though you were right there with them.

Though Bakarich is very descriptive of his surrounds and the setting of Australia in that time, I found that the description of characters lacked. I needed to know a little bit more of what our characters looked like, generally and in the situations they are in. I need to bond and relate to the characters but unfortunately it didn’t happen. For example, there is a scene of domestic abuse where Ross comes home and finds his wife with another man and though this scene would be rough for most readers, I thought it could have done with a fair amount of detail. The redness of Nell’s body when he struck her and a bit more description to how she looked after being dragged outside. I would image her face, red from the abuse, anger and embarrassment, I would imagine her hair messy and her body covered in marks from the broken glass but the description left little to the imagination character wise. I felt as though this would have truly added to the story, not just for the scene of abuse but generally throughout the book.

Overall Butterflies in Sand Storms took a while to get into and meet our main characters, the opening was focused on the surroundings and what Australia was facing at the time. I thought this was brilliant especially for readers that are not from Australia and have no idea what our outback truly looks like or looked like at that time. It’s almost historical in the way that Bakarich described the Australia and I loved it. The story line was wonderful though I would like to see more description when it comes to the characters. Bakarich, I will be looking out for your other works.

Rating 4/5

ISBN: 9781925230120

Publisher: Sid Harta Publishers