Five Star Review in Good Reading Magazine September 2011

The descriptions of flight are written in language so assured and masterly that it’s easy to suspend disbelief and be taken on the journey into the clouds with the flyers…

…compelling in every way, When We Have Wings is an outstanding debut. Five stars RG (Recommended for Reading Groups) – Maryanne Hyde

Good Reading Magazine September 2011

An extract from the review: “The descriptions of flight are written in language so assured and masterly that it’s easy to suspend disbelief and be taken on the journey into the clouds with the flyers, experiencing terror and exhilaration with equal force. But it is also a story with a very human and grounded element at its core…. The journey of parenthood…can be as terrifying and exhilarating as flight.

Part fantasy, part crime novel and compelling in every way, When We Have Wings is an outstanding debut.”

 

Five stars RG (Recommended for Reading Groups) – Maryanne Hyde

 

You can read the full review in the September 2011 issue of Good Reading Magazine.

i read therefore i am – Larissa’s book journal

When We Have Wings is the story of Peri’s determination to obtain her lifelong dream of flight. A dream she gave everything to achieve, only to realise too late just what she really gave up for it. With amazingly vivid imagery and a cast of characters you can’t help but care for, this absorbing story will have you dreaming of flight while simultaneously questioning the ethics, morals and evolutionary repercussion of such a dream turned reality. Peri is an extraordinary girl, although you won’t know just why until you have experienced her story.”

In a word: Flight

Re-read it: yes

Recommend: yes

Star rating: four out of five

The Book Nerd Club

…a brilliant and original story that is perfectly realised.

There are a lot of different threads and all of them are managed well and given enough space to be explored properly….

One of the things I thought was particularly well achieved was the description of the science of creating fliers. I think writers need to go one of two ways when it comes to the science part of the fiction – either explain it fully and comprehensively or leave it totally alone. The reader is given the information through Zeke’s visit to the doctor in charge of his son’s impending surgery, and it is explained in detail. For me, it totally worked and seemed completely realistic and not at all impossible.

But the very best part of the book is the description of flight. I really can’t stress enough how real it feels, I could see everything Peri sees, feel everything she feels, I was so up with Peri soaring through the air. And I learned a lot – I had no idea air is so complicated! It is really worth picking up a copy for this reading experience alone.

The Reading Room by Brigita Ozolins – Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery

Brigita Ozolins

22 July – 16 October 2011
Art Gallery 4

“My father’s ever-expanding library was a constant source of inspiration; the universe itself seemed contained within those books.”

-Brigita Ozolins


The Reading Room is an exhibition about the wonderful world of books and reading.

The gallery is transformed into a warm den of carpets, plush furniture and reading lamps.

Lining the room are literally thousands of books, arranged in great piles, and across the red walls a mysterious code appears.

Watch and listen to people – famous and ordinary – read excerpts from their favourite books. 
Go to The Reading Room website and upload your own recorded readings to contribute to the art work.

I was fascinated to hear about this exhibition from some friends: “Dear Claire

Charles and I are in Hobart and there is a wonderful installation at the Tas Museum called “The reading room” by Brigita Ozolins, an artist from melb.

It is a huge room with armchairs and reading lights and literally 1000’s of book line the walls.
One whole wall is a screen showing people reading from their favourite book.  Across the bottom is the name of the reader and the book they are reading / author.

She was filming people reading from their favourite book for a video piece today as part of this exhibition.  So we ducked home and picked up your book, which Charles had brought with him, and went back to do a reading.
This was filmed by Charles standing to the side, but it will give you an idea.

So there you have it, your book has already made it onto A big screen!
J”

Review in the Sunday Herald Sun 31 July

Our Pick for Your Book Club: Uplifting Flight of Fantasy.

Claire Corbett lifts us into the stratosphere then brings us back to reality when we remember that unlike Peri, our heroine, we cannot fly.

This magical story combines fantasy and detective genres to tell of a brave new world where high-flyers are humans genetically modified to grow wings…

Readers can approach this on a superficial level, but on a deeper scale it will provoke debate about a society divided by those who have wings and those who do not….

A thought-provoking flight of fantasy.

 

 

A Review in The Weekend Australian 30 July

“Corbett’s prose has the clarity, luminosity and beauty of a well-cut diamond, especially when she describes dreamlike aerial visions. When We Have Wings is a confident and challenging debut; this flight of fancy deserves to soar. “- Thuy On