reviews
Love on a Faultline
ReviewS
"Cecile writes lucidly and succinctly, and her making sense of the material in terms of Jung and others is interesting and intriguing.
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Because she writes so intelligently and tries so valiantly to make sense rather than condemn, it is easy to sympathise with both protagonists and imagine oneself with the same dilemmas ...
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She tells a good story in the sense that the reader is always wondering what is coming next."
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Dr Peter Wigg, Psychiatrist
Letter of thanks
"Dear Cecile,
Truthfully, I finished this gorgeous book the day it landed in my hands, from the second I began I could not stop. The messages conveyed, paired with simple flow, was genuinely divine.
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The best way to summarise what I personally have acquired is that I feel understood (which, as a young woman,
is something I not often get to say)
rather than feeling silenced by experiences that are seemingly too complex to discuss and be comprehended by those surrounding me - relationships can feel isolating. It’s as though something previously silenced has been gifted… words, a story.
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I thank you so deeply for sharing this story, it is one I will treasure for many many years but also one I hope can be shared with more. The wisdom you’ve passed is a true gift, one that I would like to share with those close to me and beyond; to enable them to delve into the same issues as I have.
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It would be a great privilege to have you as a guest speaker; I will be back in contact with you regarding this!
Thank you.
Kind regards,"
D
Aged 19
recommendation
"I’ve finished Love on a Faultline and absolutely loved it. So beautifully written, and such an important topic.
I can think of several friends who I know would benefit from reading this.
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Hope the editing for Dilemmas of a Middle-aged Madonna is coming along well! If it’s anything like Love on Faultline it’s going to be amazing."
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H
Aged 30
"Love on a Faultline takes you under the skin and into those intimate places where a woman's vulnerability lies. It shows how her fragile sense of self-worth makes her a 'sitting duck' for a dominating man and how she eventually struggles to free herself. A manual for reflection and a testimony to resilience."
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Magz Morgan, Author Motherlands.
child magical
"Cecile Ravell’s story is a memoir of a childhood in
transit, from Brooklyn, New York, to Malta, then
Melbourne, Australia.
Ravell brings to life an intimate tale of an immigrant
girl growing up in Australia in the 1960s.
The story follows this feisty child from moments of
triumph to moments of indignation, as she becomes
aware of her position as an outsider in a society that
values fair-haired children, and as a girl who plays
second fiddle to a family culture that reveres boys.
A good read – piquant and thought-provoking."
Magz Morgan, Author Motherlands
Dilemmas
OF A MIDDLE-AGED MADONNA
"Traversing the world, from Far North Queensland to Nova Scotia, Canada to New York City, Jessica tries to work out the cards life has dealt her. A uniquely visual story that sees the main character experience many journeys: physically, emotionally, and metaphorically. Will she overcome the dilemmas in her life?
It’s a hard story to put down."
Denise Kuchmar, Journalist.
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DILEMMAS of a MIDDLE-AGED MADONNA
By Cecile Ravell (2022) Warrior Woman Press
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Book review Meredith Fuller OAM
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Cecile Ravell, a creative memoir author and poet, writes non-fiction and fiction and has a talent for infusing travel writing within her books. Passionate about travel, she brings countries and venues alive. She also scatters some Italian throughout the story. Novellas include ‘Love on a Faultline’ and ‘Child Magical’. Her characters are an amalgam of people throughout her life.
Outline
‘Spurned by the love of her life, Jessica contemplates walking into the ocean and drowning. A chance meeting leads to a sequence of events which turn her life around. This story lurches from pathos to comedy to romance, as our female protagonist navigates the challenges that life hurls at her’
The book takes us from Far North Queensland to Nova Scotia, Canada, and New York City.
Having also visited the Frick Museum, I found her information and history about Henry Clay Frick fascinating, similarly for the Met and Times Square.
This isn’t a genre I would normally read (fiction & romance) as I tend to read non fiction and biographies. Jessica is disengaging from a ‘bad boy’ partner and meets several new men who treat her well. Will she jump out of a disappointing relationship into something that may promise fulfillment? I found this a raunchy read – maybe too raunchy for me!
Some of her metaphors were appealing in their visceral imagery. For example, she talks about how her new lover’s fervour lifted the cold shroud of her former partner’s enveloping.
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