“Outside, the lawn was thick with frost that crackled underfoot, and the breeze, swishing through the treetops, sounded like distant traffic. On the far side of the dark valley, the plateau was rimmed with gold overlaid with mauve. Above this arched the pale and cloudless sky.”

Bellevue is the seventh novel by best-selling Australian author, Alison Booth. Clare Barclay has nothing but happy memories of Bellevue, so when Aunt Hilda leaves the Blue Mountains property to her in her will, she doesn’t hesitate to quit her teaching position in Leichhardt and move to Numbulla. It will need a lot of work, but that doesn’t discourage her.

Widowed some seventeen years, and with her daughter in Europe, friends and family express concern that she will be alone and a bit isolated but, initially, Clare welcomes the peace and quiet. Then, soon after the (slimy) local real estate agent encourages her to sell Bellevue, couching his offer within veiled threats, a campaign of subtle harassment begins.

At first, it has Clare second-guessing herself (is it her imagination?) but when she learns of a development proposal that will destroy the pristine beauty of the area, things begin to look more sinister: noises, vandalism, and then something much more serious.

“Suddenly she felt very tired… she’d wanted a peaceful life like Hilda’s, that’s why she’d taken on Bellevue. She’d wanted small-town life and small-town community, not strife and stress and worry.” Certainly, several of her neighbours seem to share her views and values, but it takes a while for her to realise just who can be trusted, and it’s not who she had always believed: “It was as if, after years of being partially sighted, she’d put on a pair of prescription glasses and was seeing him as he really was.”

She plans to fight the development for all she’s worth, and she’s not the only one: the local branch of the Conservation Society enlists her help. Clare has some experience as an activist, and her speech-writing will come in handy, especially when the developers start to play dirty.

Booth’s characters have depth and appeal, and Clare’s concerns will certainly strike a chord with readers of a certain vintage, while earnest young Joe is a true delight. This is a bit of a slow-burn story that, nonetheless, has a good dose of intrigue and a few red herrings to keep it interesting.

With her gorgeous descriptive prose, Booth easily evokes her setting, the Blue Mountains of NSW; Popular culture references and the absence of modern technology firmly cement the era in the early 1970’s; and the theme of individuals uniting to fight insensitive development is a universal and timeless one. Once again, excellent Australian historical fiction.
This unbiased review is from a copy provided by RedDoor Publishing.