The Path Through the Coojong Trees by Australian author Leonie Kelsall is a work of fiction in the interpersonal drama, romance, and slice-of-life genres.
The storyline is told in two timeframes alternating throughout the novel between “then” and “now”. Nineteen-year-old Natasha Wilson is in her final year of high school. Her life and home situation have not been easy; her mum would disappear for days on end after half-price pub nights and reappear when the Centrelink cheque ran out. As well as caring for her father, she also worked two jobs to help with the rent.
Once her high school years are completed, Natasha is determined to leave her hometown of Borganville to study teaching at a university in Sydney. Her childhood and hearing loss were not going to hold her back, as she was determined to make a life for herself.
When a new student starts at her school from Türkiye, Nat is designated to show Tarik around. Seen as outsiders, they form a close bond and become inseparable until Tarik leaves Borganville. Nat is heartbroken, wondering how she could possibly go on, especially when she finds out she is pregnant.
Ten years later, Natasha and her daughter Zehra move to Settlers Bridge, a small country town in South Australia. She landed a teaching position at the local primary school, along with a quaint cottage to live nestled on the banks of the Murray River.
The townsfolk are welcoming and embrace them into their fold. When Hamish McKenzie, the local mechanic, crosses her path, an attraction grows. Is she ready to move on from the past and trust love again?
This is one of the finest stories I have read in the author’s complete work. It is an absolute wonder, tender, hypnotic, and deeply moving. It is pleasing to see her take a risk and try something off the beaten track from the set format of books from this genre, highlighting cultural differences and racism in Australia, from our traditional custodians of the land to Islamophobia.
Kelsall has a way with narration that homes in on little details and gives you the aura of a whole person. The characters are real, and it will be a sheer delight for any reader to navigate the hidden depths of their hearts and their powerful emotions.
Natasha’s determination, passion, and spiritedness had me cheering her on. Her personal struggles made for a compelling read. The chemistry between her and Hamish is evident throughout, with twists and turns to keep you wanting more. The supporting characters, all equally well-developed, fall into place naturally with their own personalities.
The depiction of an Australian small-town life and the landscape are brought into vivid clarity, providing the reader with a real sense of place, you feel like you are right there with the characters, and confirming that Kelsall writes what she knows.
As with every Leonie Kelsall book, The Path Through the Coojong Trees will be your best friend through to the end. The novel touches on many topics, including poverty, alcoholism, childhood trauma, young pregnancy, and cultural differences. Although this was balanced with charm, courage, and hope, it made for a heartwarming but occasionally heartbreaking read.
I recommend this book to anyone who loves a small-town rural romance with a happy ending.
A selection of our Beauty and Lace Club members are reading The Path Through the Coojong Trees by Leonie Kelsall. You can read their comments below, or add your own review.
My love of books started at a very young age. My mum has always been a reader and encouraged me to read, buying me endless book from classic fairy tales advancing to the world of Enid Blyton, CS Lewis, Louisa May Alcott, Kathryn Kenny, Carolyn Keene, Francine Pascal. In my adult years the list of authors is endless and every room in my house is filled with books.
One of my favourite novels is Narnia which has always has a special place in my heart. I was diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes in 1978 and when I was given this book to read it let me escape to another world where I felt like I was in the book with all the characters, it wasfun and exciting to escape from reality and eased the ups and downs of the disease at such a young age.
In books nothing is impossible and there is endless potential and hundreds of places to explore or being taken to places that are only made up from the authors’ great minds, the past and future to navigate, characters lives you step into taking you on an emotional rollercoaster ride or being scared out of your wits. I can experience things that I can’t in real life because they’re not possible or real. It challenges my perspective and mindset expanding my worldview.
I find joy, comfort and peace with books, many people may not get it, but I know bookworms like me truly understand. Reading makes my heart happy.
I have read quite a few of Leonie Kelsall’s Books and always enjoy heading back to Settlers Bridge where I feel that I am part of the town so I was of course very excited to receive my copy of “The Path Through The Coojong Trees” and even more excited to see that words from one of my past reviews of Leonie’s book “The River Gum Cottage” were on display at the beginning of the book. Those words stand true for all of Leonies books….
“Leonie Kelsall has a way of writing that makes you feel as if you are a part of the town, and that the characters are people you know and care about… a delight to read”
This latest book is a dual timeline book that brings Natasha to Settlers bridge with her 9 year old daughter. Natasha has taken the new teacher placement at the local school and she embraces the opportunity to start a life in a town where no one knows her and hopefully no one will judge her or her daughter in the way she felt her family had been judged as she grew up. Natasha has for all these years protected her daughter and her own heart. A heart that she gave with true love but was then handed back to her in pieces.
Sometimes when we least expect it our past catches up with us and there is nothing that we can do about that and that is exactly what Natasha learns.
If you have not read any of the previous books its ok to start here as each one works wonderfully as a stand alone but you will be dragged in and want to read the many other books as you will fall in love with the town of Settlers Bridge and the people that call it home. You have been warned.
Thanks Beauty and Lace for the opportunity to read Leonie Kelsall’s The Path Through the Coojong Trees – once again we find our characters back in Settler’s Bridge. I love how Leonie’s stories are stand alone but we keep catching up with past characters and the way this story has a time line running thru it.
Natasha is in her last year of school and from the wrong side of the tracks in her small country town and has a plan to escape to Uni and better her lifestyle when she meets new boy in town Tarik who is Turkish and having his own problems fitting in. They are young and fall in love but the path to true love is not without it’s obstacles – fast forward 10 years and Natasha and her daughter have settled in Settler’s Bridge and a new family arrive to open a Turkish restaurant – what are the chances – but yes it is Tarik
I loved this story and didn’t want it to end
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Leonie Kelsall is one of my favourite and go to authors so it was an absolute delight to read The Path Through the Coojong Trees.
We are introduced to single mother Natasha who has arrived in Settlers Bridge with her 9-year-old daughter Zehra. I really enjoyed the “Now” and “Then” switches in the story – it allowed for insight into Tash’s past (falling in love with Tarik who is Turkish), her dreams of escaping and getting into university, escaping the clutches and struggles of poverty, and the how and why she came to be where she is now. She tries to convince herself she is open to a second chance of love but when a new restaurant opens, she discovers Tarik is back. This is truly one of those books you don’t want to end but at the same time you can’t bring yourself to put down – repeating to yourself – just one more page.
Thanks to Beauty and Lace and Allen & Unwin for my copy of The Path Through the Coojong Trees
The Path through the Coojong Trees is Leonie Kelsalls latest book, set in Settlers Bridge the story focuses on Natasha who has just moved with her young daughter to start teaching at the school.
The story spends a lot of time in the past, when Natasha was 19, determined to break free from her childhood of poverty, the discrimination she faced from being ‘different’ to everyone else and her race she is studying hard to achieve her dreams, until she is blindsided by love.
Jumping back to present time she strikes up a friendship with local mechanic Hamish, could it lead to something more than friends?
I enjoyed reading this book, it was a bit different in it spend more time in the past than the present. Some tough subjects were explored, they weren’t spelt out though and made you think a lot.
The descriptions of the river and environment are so real you feel like your there experiencing it to.
I was kept guessing as to how it was going to end, which kept me reading, eager to find out more. It’s hard to say too much more without giving the story away! Another great read by Leonie, thank you Allen & Unwin and Beauty and Lace for the copy to read.
The Path Through the Coojong Trees by Leonie Kelsall is the story of Natasha who has a hard start to life with less than ideal parents and being deaf herself. She can’t wait to escape her tiny town and go to college, until Tarik joins her high school class. There are many issues of race, religion, family, class, poverty and Natasha’s deafness to deal with, but they make it work for a while until communication lets them down. Through all this Natasha becomes pregnant and moves away to tackle University. The story moves back and forth from the past to the present with Natasha and her daughter just moving to a town on the Murray River and dealing with all the changes and emotions this brings up. Natasha is now a teacher and more capable of dealing with the changes in her life making new friends and considering a relationship. That is until something big happens and she has to try and face it head on feel like she is running forever.
The writing was great and I could really picture Natasha’s childhood and youth with all the struggles and hardships. The descriptive writing had me sensing all she went through very well. There were a lot of issues to think about so it felt heavier than a normal romance book. This felt like real life with both light and dark woven throughout the book. Another outstanding journey from Leonie Kelsall.