Last year, I was mesmerised by Kate Belle’s The Yearning, which has one of the most fitting endings to a book that I’ve ever read. Naturally, I was ecstatic when a copy of her new novel, Being Jade, landed on the doorstep. It didn’t take for me to get stuck into this book, which is mesmerising. Once you’ve started it, you’ll find it very difficult to stop reading.

The book opens in an unusual fashion, in the first person of Banjo, who is dead. Why is he dead? What happened? You’ll just have to wait as Banjo has a story to tell first. The story of him and Jade, the love of his life since her was a young boy. Jade’s always been the only woman for him, but Jade won’t be tied solely to Banjo. She loves him, but she needs her freedom. On occasions, she takes lovers. What do these men mean to Jade and how do they define her relationship with Banjo? It’s something that Banjo found very difficult to deal with in life; will he get his peace in death? His daughter Lissy is determined to find Jade’s lovers after Jade becomes unwell, much to the disgust of her sister Cassy. Surely there’s nothing to understand here…it’s just Jade’s way to be provocative, deliberately ruffling the feathers of all around her…

Being Jade is a fascinating character study. Jade is somewhat of an enigma initially, but as I read more of her background and the deep love she has for Banjo and her children, I felt I could relate to her more. I don’t think she’s a character that one person could ever get to know fully – she has far too many layers and too many aspects of her personality for just one person to see, but I felt I could accept what she had done with her life because it was her nature. Jade raises a lot of questions with how sexuality and how women’s sexuality is perceived – why is a women with lovers a slut, and a man a stud? Why is a nude male art and a nude woman pornography? Why do we accept these divides between the sexes? I felt that Jade was a feminist in the way she pushed boundaries of sexuality and women’s roles, but I don’t think she’d appreciate me calling her that! Jade is Jade, a true individual, who appreciates the beauty in everyone and is explicitly kind across race, loss and love.

Her children, Lissy and Cassy are opposites. Each has the characteristics of Banjo and Jade, combined in the way that produces fireworks. Cassy, like Jade, is stubborn, but can’t see the numerous viewpoints that make up a person. Lissy has Jade’s kindness on display, but lacks her daring. Her children reflect just what an amazing character Jade is. The emotional journeys as the three women collide and ultimately love without the stabilising influence of Banjo is palpable. Banjo was the common factor that loved and helped these different women get along – he’s a truly good man, who is accepting but strong.

Kudos must also go to Christabella Designs, who produced that beautiful cover. The colours of the title are divine – a honey beige versus a true jade tint. Jade herself also looks just as I pictured her and I love the strength of her purple eye shadow against the red lips. This is powerful makeup, but Jade doesn’t need this – she’s a new powerful character in fiction.

If you like Tim Winton, I strongly suggest you read Being Jade. Kate Belle captures a similar essence of setting, depth of feeling and in creating complex characters that remain beside you long after the story is finished.

Thank you to Simon and Schuster for the copy of this book.

http://samstillreading.wordpress.com ( )

After twenty-five years of marriage, Banjo Murphy finally walks out on his wife, Jade, unable to forgive her for what seems to be yet another betrayal. Hours later his broken body is discovered by the side of the road, the victim of a hit and run, and his family is shattered by the unexpected loss. As Jade withdraws into silence, seeking solace in chemical oblivion, his youngest daughter, Melissa, seeks answers to the mystery surrounding her father's death...and the truth about his life.

"Who was the Jade these lovers knew? What did her mother need to live beyond the confines of their family? What did she gain from all those other men? How much had her father known? Why had he stayed and what made him leave the night he died?"

With death, Banjo is finally in possession of the perspective that eluded him in life. Drifting in the ether he comes to understand his wife's behaviour and to forgive her the failings that tortured him during their marriage.

"I realise now it was as difficult for Jade to be who she was as it was for the rest of us to live with her"

But for his youngest daughter, Melissa, there is too much unsaid and unknown. With Jade refusing to talk, Lissy tries to find answers in her mother's sketchbook which chronicles the affairs Jade indulged in over the course of her parents marriage.

I have conflicting feelings about Jade that are never fully resolved. I admire the way in which she is unapologetically true to her self, to her own needs and desires, regardless of the judgement of others. Yet Jade's demand for freedom comes at a steep emotional cost to those that love her best, namely Banjo and their daughters.

In exposing a woman who defies what is expected of her, Being Jade raises provocative questions about how authentic we truly are in our relationships with others, and with ourselves. The author challenges the notion of unconditional love, exploring the ways in which we narrow the definition to suit our own purposes, and how this family comes to understand and accept love isn't as simple and everyone wants it to be.

A searing portrait of the complexities of love, intimacy and truth Being Jade is an eloquent and powerful piece of storytelling from author Kate Belle. ( )