Books for little (and big) people
Watch Book Trailers for my latest releases
Here’s some snaps I have taken along the way
Some happy snaps over my 30-year career as a writer. The journey is the real reward, not the destination!
A sample of reviews over the years…
“This year’s winner (The Happiness Jar) is a compelling story about awakening and renewal. Written in a beautiful and direct style, its journey of transformation takes us from the Australian city, to remote country, to the crowded streets of India. Its characters are wonderfully and vividly drawn: raw and never sentimental. Through their experiences, Samantha Tidy prompts us to reexamine our understandings of grief, legacy, honesty and family. The Happiness Jar is a powerfully constructed and at times surprising work: a thread that runs back and forth in time between different cultures, places and points-of-view. Above all, it is a satisfying, original and engaging novel with a unique perspective, and a worthy winner in 2014.”
“So far I have four favourite books this year.....Delicious, The Light Between Oceans, And the Mountains Echoed and The Language of Flowers....however The Happiness Jar is now my number one “recommend”......read it....the story, the characters and the message are unforgettable....thx Samantha”
“When fiction and non-fiction come together in perfect harmony, something magical happens... With poignant and pared back text, much of the story is told through the beautiful illustrations that are filled to the brim with the most amazing details of the time.
This is definitely a book to take your time with. There is so much to look at, so much to discuss. And at the heart of it is a true story about a grand vision for a city and what it took to see it turned into reality. Schools and classrooms will love this story. It’s entertaining and interesting, and it will teach kids about a remarkable period in Australian history.
But it’s also a book for homes. It’s a lovely tale to read with your kids, to show them that big dreams can come true, and the evidence is one of Australia’s most iconic structures.
Beautifully written and illustrated, this is a special picture book about a very special bridge.”
“A fantastic book for home libraries, wherever you live.”
“Samantha Tidy is a writer of deep sensitivity, always engaged in finding ways to bring us together and celebrate our goodness as human beings. Her previous works speak loudly of this and Our Bush Capital shows us, the residents of Canberra, in a human light. We crave to be seen as community, not as an adjunct of federal parliament, and this book surely and deftly does this.”
“Samantha Tidy and Fiona Burrows take the creation of a national icon, the Sydney Harbour Bridge, and strip it back to a streamlined, succinct story of a need, an idea in 1890, and ultimately, in 1932, a reality....The story is one of hopes, dreams, stamina, and celebration, but is told in concise statements... A subtle nonverbal sub-story (reminiscent of Jeannie Baker’s Belonging and Window).”
“This is one of the best Australian novels related to what Tidy calls the “war nobody would talk about.” Tidy does a marvelous job creating and bringing alive the alien world of Australia for this American reader. Her prose is so evocative I could feel the ever-present flies crawling on my eyes and ears as I read the book. I highly recommend this book to those who know little or nothing of Australia’s contribution to what we imprecisely call the American War in Vietnam.”