Reviewed by Richard Tutin What goes on behind the closed doors of a Private Members’ Club in London? Seth Alexander Thévoz throws them open to give us both a look and a history lesson. The history lesson shows how the establishment of members’ clubs in London in the late eighteenth century paved the way for
Reviewed by Rod McLary Faded Yellow by the Winter is the first novel by Melbourne writer Scott Pearce. It is the story of Vic Whelan a farmer living in Henrithvale in northern Victoria with his wife Jane and their two young children. The family lives on the farm once owned by Vic’s father and before
Reviewed by Antonella Townsend Search Your Feelings Darth Vader Children get all the best books and now recently published: Tim Harford’s The Truth Detective: How to Make Sense of a World That Doesn’t Add Up. This is a fun, fact filled, brilliantly explained book, enhanced by Ollie Mann’s illustrations in splashes of colour. The introduction
Reviewed by Wendy Lipke Time After Time is the twenty-first novel by Karly Lane to be published by Allen & Unwin. Her novels range from romantic suspense to family saga, and she is passionate about writing stories that embrace rural Australia and the vast communities within it. Most of her stories are a blending of
Reviewed by Ian Lipke This book straddles the shaky fence between crime and thriller writing. It is best described as a crime novel amply boosted by patches of quite scary writing that makes the heart skid into overdrive until the situation is resolved. Such passages combined with some very good writing make a much more
Reviewed by Wendy Lipke This internationally published author, writing under the pen name Janette Paul, has once again provided an enjoyable read for those looking for contemporary women’s fiction and romantic comedy which she writes. She is a former news and sports journalist who also writes suspense novels under the name Jaye Ford. The story,
Reviewed by Rod McLary Who doesn’t enjoy a good romance? Especially when the protagonists – at least initially – seem to dislike each other, but by the conclusion of the book or film, end up together. One only needs to think of Katherine Hepburn and Humphrey Bogart in The African Queen or Rex Harrison and
Reviewed by Ian Lipke Violet Sorrengail, who has never been completely well all her life, had planned to join Basgiath War College as a member of Scribe Quadrant, where she would have had a better than even chance of surviving her training period. However, her mother, a commanding general, has ordered her daughter to enter
Reviewed by Wendy Lipke This book covers twenty years in the remarkable life of a young woman, Prudence Wheelwright, who was born on a merino sheep station in New South Wales. The writing of the book was undertaken to help her to recover from trauma which had built up through her work as a nurse,
Reviewed by Wendy Lipke For a debut novel, Susan Paterson’s Where Light Meets Water is a delightful read. The imagery she has created with her descriptions is vivid, the information about various places around the globe is interesting and her characters are complex and endearing. For the storyline, she has created the fictional character, Thomas
Reviewed by Ian Lipke The Rush is, at long last, an outback thriller with backbone. No longer is some suburbanite translated to a property south west of Nowhere, who thinks like a city person armed with a bit of knowledge she has read in some novel located in the corner store. Rather we meet people
Reviewed by Richard Tutin It’s amazing how words and phrases are handed down as part of the folklore of various events over the years. Such is the exclamation “She’s a Beauty!” said to be uttered by Prime Minister Ben Chifley at the launch of the first Holden car in 1948. It’s not the first time
Reviewed by Wendy Lipke It would be very hard to write a book about someone whose whole life has been lived in the media. Yet this is what Robert Jobson has done. With the death of the long reigning Queen, Charles has now become the main focus of the media. Jobson is no doubt well
Reviewed by Ian Lipke It is always good to receive a book by Sue Williams. I recall Elizabeth & Elizabeth and now before my eyes is Williams’ latest, the fabulous That Bligh Girl. I must hasten to add that Williams is a tough writer. The hours she would have devoted to meticulous research must be
Reviewed by Ian Lipke Echo Lake was meant to scare its readers. It is the standard “who-dunnit” that, apart from the aim of untangling clues and deciding who caused the death of Victim X, builds an image that scares the reader as it unfolds. It is the author’s intention that readers should be left uncomfortable