Freya and James Archer live the high life in a luxury home in Sydney's poshest suburb, with money, matching Jags, two beautiful teenage kids ... and they couldn't be more despondent. James wakes weeping each morning, dreading the pressures of a long and grueling work day ahead, and Freya is struggling with her foundering real estate career. Global recession is biting in Australia, and the Archers are afraid. In a desperate bid for happiness and security they shed the fragile trappings of success and cruise over into the slow lane to take an unmapped turn-off on a country road and live off the land in a remote old farmhouse on the peaceful southern island of Tasmania. But is this an end to their old misery or the beginning of an even greater one?
Black Cow
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More About the Author
Magdalena Ball runs The Compulsive Reader. She is the author of the poetry books Repulsion Thrust and Quark Soup, the novels Black Cow and Sleep Before Evening, a nonfiction book The Art of Assessment, and, in collaboration with Carolyn Howard-Johnson, Deeper Into the Pond, Blooming Red, Cherished Pulse, She Wore Emerald Then, and Imagining the Future. She also runs a radio show, The Compulsive Reader Talks. Find out more about Magdalena at http://www.magdalenaball.com
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
10 of 10 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
The Archers are ensnared in the golden chains of their affluent life style: designer clothes, an expensive home, luxury cars, private schools for the children; and it's killing them.
Black Cow is a beautiful story of changing gears in midlife. On the surface, James and Freya have everything. But their world has turned upside down. The recession has hit both their industries, James , the CEO, has to lay people off. Freda can't sell expensive houses. Finally, health concerns, their failing marriage and out of control children force then to reevaluate what constitutes happiness.
Ball presents a sensitive picture of a family struggling to stay together and find fulfillment. The characters are well drawn and believable, the kind of people you know. They could be your family. This beautifully crafted story explores the question of whether changing your life can bring the happiness you seek. You can change where you are, but you can't change who you are, or can you? Can you get back to being the person you once were?
I highly recommend this book. It presents a modern dilemma in very readable terms that will allow you to look at how one family solves their problem. It could change your life.
Black Cow is a beautiful story of changing gears in midlife. On the surface, James and Freya have everything. But their world has turned upside down. The recession has hit both their industries, James , the CEO, has to lay people off. Freda can't sell expensive houses. Finally, health concerns, their failing marriage and out of control children force then to reevaluate what constitutes happiness.
Ball presents a sensitive picture of a family struggling to stay together and find fulfillment. The characters are well drawn and believable, the kind of people you know. They could be your family. This beautifully crafted story explores the question of whether changing your life can bring the happiness you seek. You can change where you are, but you can't change who you are, or can you? Can you get back to being the person you once were?
I highly recommend this book. It presents a modern dilemma in very readable terms that will allow you to look at how one family solves their problem. It could change your life.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Magdalena Ball has set a new standard, maybe initiated a new genre. Her Black Cow isn't for the Beat Generation; it's for this millennium's fast-track generation. This is Magdalena Ball's second effort after her mesmerizing first novel Sleep Before Evening and it does not disappoint. Black Cow captures the mind-freezing pace of this digital age before coming up with the most hopeful ending possible. Ball is a new voice and the literary world needs a new one in these days when so called mid-list authors are nearly a thing of the past.
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The reviewer is a multi award-winning novelist and poet and was named Woman of the Year in Arts and Entertainment by members of the California Legislature
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The reviewer is a multi award-winning novelist and poet and was named Woman of the Year in Arts and Entertainment by members of the California Legislature
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Most people don't simply wake up one morning and realize that they've veered away from their ideals and set themselves squarely in the middle of the path leading back to them. In reality such an awakening is gradual, fueled by series of seemingly disconnected incidents; and the road back, if one can even get there, is more like a game of Giant Steps than a straight trajectory. BLACK COW examines the possibility of lifestyle change through the actions of the Archer family. Fast-paced, gorgeously-written and stunningly perceptive, BLACK COW is not only a great read; it is a timely and important one.
Most Recent Customer Reviews
3.0 out of 5 stars
mid life crisisand the choice for a life changer
not really my kind of book, its a mid life crisis where as loose everything buy living above your means or let everything go to find a happiness you have not known 2 of the... Read more
Published 29 days ago by April Reynolds
2.0 out of 5 stars
No sympathy for the characters - struggling with the story
I just can't feel any sympathy for the characters at all. I am only half way through the book and really struggling to finish it. Read more
Published 4 months ago by CLP
1.0 out of 5 stars
nothing to catch and hold plus profanity
There was absolutely nothing in the first chapter to even hold my attention.........nothing but complaints about how bad life is. Spoiled rude kids. Read more
Published 4 months ago by ev
1.0 out of 5 stars
Nasty Characters,Profanity-Filled Crap!
Couldn't finish,disliked every character except the mom. Snotty,unlikeable,teens, lowlife,immoral adults,plus I don't read profanity-filled trash! Read more
Published 4 months ago by Christine H.
5.0 out of 5 stars
Could have been written about me
If you're tortured by being on the corporate ladder, and the only choice seems to be between slowly killing yourself or falling into dizzying depths, then this book is for... Read more
Published 4 months ago by Dr. Robert Rich
3.0 out of 5 stars
Hmmmmm
This book tried very hard to make me stop reading but the story held my interest. There were a lot of typos, formatting issues and missing letters in words. Read more
Published 4 months ago by Ginny Martin
5.0 out of 5 stars
When Success Breeds Excess
"Life is what happens to you," wrote John Lennon, "while you're busy making other plans." For James and Freya, the lead characters in Magdalena Ball's new book, "Black Cow," their... Read more
Published 5 months ago by Christina Hamlett
5.0 out of 5 stars
Tree change
Will a tree change make any difference to a family living full of stress?
Will a tree change to a sustainable life be any less stressful? Read more
Will a tree change to a sustainable life be any less stressful? Read more
Published 5 months ago by writer2050
5.0 out of 5 stars
A compelling read
In this cunningly crafted novel Magdalena Ball takes us to the heart of a family floundering on the brink of self destruction. Read more
Published 6 months ago by cobaltangel
4.0 out of 5 stars
worth a look
I was sent this book by the author.
The title, Black Cow, is intriguing but as you read, you understand why. Read more
The title, Black Cow, is intriguing but as you read, you understand why. Read more
Published 8 months ago by Julie Elizabeth Powell
