Book Review: How The West Was One by Karyn Howie & Sue O’Brien:

The Book:

How the West was One is a heart-warming collection of memoirs about growing up in the western suburbs of Melbourne during the 1950s, '60s and '70s. These stories celebrate the nurturing of a much-loved Melbourne community and will appeal to anyone who has an interest in the post-war years of multicultural Australia.

The Authors:

Stories by: Josephine Cafagna, Lina Canea, Mark Ferrie, Kevin Harrington, Tony Leonard, Michael Leunig, Wendy Stapleton, Ted Whitten junior. Colleen Hunter, Pat Wilson (The Bop Girl) Mike & Dave Kerrin, Sherryl Enright, Dr. Steve Gration, Lucia Nardo, Peter Haffenden, Mark Ryan, Russell Joy, Mike Fitzgerald and Enza Gandolfo, . Etc.

The Editors: Karyn Howie: She spent her first six years exploring Essex Street in Footscray before her family moved to Altona. For most of her career she taught English and Literature in schools around the Western suburbs, Geelong and the Bellarine Peninsular. Karyn remains a staunch advocate for Public Education. She and her family live in Barwon Heads. Sue O’Brien: Sue & Karyn meet in secondary school. She combined her two careers of professional singing and teaching music in Western Suburbs Schools over many years. She does this now through her Music School business currently operating in numerous Melbourne Schools. She & her family live in Moonee Ponds. Sue was born in Yarraville and spent her first 25 years in the West. Ref. Good Reads

Industry Reviews:

Dec 22, 2017 Meg Dunley rated it= liked it.

A good read to gain some insight into life in the west of Melbourne in the post-war days.

A must-read if you are from the west! – Goodreads Australia

Our review:

I totally agree with Goodreads review statement about this book and so did most of our Book Club members who grew up in the post-WW11 western suburbs of Melbourne. This wasn’t surprising to me but what was surprising was the positive comments of some of our members who didn’t grow up in Melbourne’s west, Victoria or even Australia. One member who came to this country with her husband and young family for her husband’s work and has only lived in the West since retiring, said she thoroughly enjoyed reading the various writers accounts of life in the West and she feels she understands the history of the communities better now. Another Book Club member who has, until recently, lived interstate all of her life, agreed that it gave her understanding and some history about life in Western Melbourne. A couple of other Book Club members attempted to read it and gave up as it didn’t interest them. The overall reaction and enjoyment for many of us was the telling and discussions of our own recollections and experiences, some with similarities or not, that were initiated by the stories in this book. Readers of this book don’t have to have grown up in the Western suburbs of Melbourne to find an experience that they could relate to. I would highly recommend this book. It is an easy book to read.