I’ve never read a book by Robin Jones Gunn before, and I didn’t know what a SISTERCHICK was, either. It’s a copyrighted term meaning a friend who loves you like a sister and tells you things you need to hear. Sounds like the kind of friend we all need. I was very pleased to make the acquaintance with the author and the term—“SISTERCHICKS Down Under!” was a fun read.
We start the book by meeting Kathleen and Tony. Tony works for a movie studio and has been asked to go to New Zealand for three months for his current project. He’s so excited to go—he’ll be working in the area where “Lord of the Rings” was filmed and it will be good for his career, in addition to just being a whole lot of fun. Kathleen is going to go with him. The studio has arranged an apartment for them at a rate they can afford, and she’s all set to get moved in and start housekeeping. When this apartment turns out to be little more than a room in the back of a stranger’s property, with hardly enough room for a bed (which is covered by a horrible bedspread) Kathleen is disappointed. She’s ready to pack it up and head home, but Tony’s in seventh heaven and she doesn’t want to go home without him.
Drowning her sorrows in pop culture magazines, Kathleen realizes that she needs to get out of the ‘house’ more, if only to get more pop culture magazines to drown in. She makes her way down to the corner to a little place called The Chocolate Fish, and it’s there that her life begins to change.
Jill is also from the States and has lived in New Zealand for some time. She’s not ready to share her full story with Kathleen yet, but they strike up an instant friendship, and before Kathleen knows it, she’s been renamed Kathy and she and Jill have plans to go on a trip and see the country, and to fly over to Australia. Kathy can hardly believe the change in her attitude since knowing Jill, and when her husband suggests that they stay a little longer, she’s up for the challenge.
This book is like a travelogue set to fiction. I felt like I was there, seeing the sights and appreciating the best of New Zealand and Australia while I followed along with Jill and Kathy. This delightful story is one I’d highly recommend for a good read or just to learn more about the terrain and beauty of the land down under.
(This book was published in 2005 by Multnomah.)
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