Black Cow

Magdalena ball has penned a novel based on a modern family&rsquo

Magdalena ball has penned a novel based on a modern family’s journey. Freya and James along with their teenage children, Cameron and Dylan, find themselves in a whirlpool of stress. Freya is struggling in her role as a real estate agent. She wishes that life could be less stressful but is reluctant to trade life’s luxuries for peace of mind.

Her husband James is a workaholic who never lets up on himself. James is the CEO of the firm he has devoted his life to. His day is a never ending round of meetings and decisions. At home he can’t turn his adrenalin rush off and seeks solace in alcohol instead of Freya.
Fourteen year old Cameron thinks her parents are living on another planet. She isolates herself from the family and seeks solace in self-abuse. Moody, picky with her food and thinking no one understands her, presents herself to the world as a gothic Joan of Arc.

Dylan is in his sixteenth year and in love with his guitar. The instrument is almost a physical part of him. He takes it everywhere with him and even plays it in the school corridors, as well as carrying out other misdemeanors.

Financial burdens of a mortgage, private school expenses, car repayments and the kids’ appetites for the latest electronic gadgets never go away. Freya and James feel like they are drowning in the suburban competition to keep one step ahead of liquidity. Heaped upon the monetary strains are the social issues each member of the family faces. They are all succumbing to the tempest that is modern life and none of them are happy.

Freya toys with the idea of moving to Tasmania as a way of starting a new and less stressful life. After a short holiday on the apple isle James takes a radical step. He purchases a farm without any consultation with other family members.

His decision sparks off a chain of events that has dire consequences for all family members. They discover that there is another life in a world outside of Sydney. One that on the surface may seem simplistic and stress free, but underneath it can only be what they are prepared to make of it.

The author uses a simple writing style to weave a tale based on the complexities of modern living. She takes the reader on a journey many will recognize themselves taking part in. Black Cow shows how the darker side of human nature can be cured with love and understanding.

I found the story held my interest from beginning to end. The plight of the characters in a majority of the scenes was relevant to what has happened so far in my own life. I am sure most readers of this book will feel the same way.

Black Cow is a book that I highly recommend that lovers of a tale well told read.