Amanda Hampson: The Olive Sisters

Amanda Hampson's first book The Olive Sisters weaves the Italian side of Australia's history into contemporary female life. Adrienne, an over-worked, marginally likeable Aussie PR woman, goes bust. With her adult daughter she slinks off to the olive grove planted by her Italian-born grandfather, Franco, a few hours out of Sydney.

Franco had said, "You don't plant olives for yourself, but for grandchildren". Now Adrienne, his only granddaughter, uses that olive branch to rebuild her self-esteem and personal values far from the boardroom, trim soy lattes and fat salary of her former life.

Although that strand of the plot works well as a study of the emptiness of corporate life, The Olive Sisters really hits its rhythm as Hampson weaves in her strong backstory of the struggles of Adrienne's Italian-born mother and sister. Brought up in the baking Australian countryside by a fiercely Italian father and a mother pining for home, the older generation had to make their own rules and live with the consequences. Unravelling their long-buried secrets has a major impact on Adrienne's life and future.

Some of Hampton's writing is a little forced but her characters are strong and believable, the emotion well expressed and the struggle of a first-generation Italian immigrant family brought into sharp focus.

Although only recently available here, The Olive Sisters is already in its second printing in Australia. I read it in two big bites then looked around for more.


* Penguin, $27
* Carroll du Chateau is a Herald writer