Reviewed by Gail McDonald The Lessons is the second novel by John Purcell with his debut novel The Girl on the Page being acclaimed as a best seller. John Purcell is an Australian author whose novels also include The Secret Lives of Emma. He is also the Director of Books at Booktopia and Angus &
Reviewed by Patricia Simms-Reeve “Wild places attract wild people” – a mantra which sits perfectly with the six characters of The Bay. Zenna, who learned to love surfing in Cornwall, flies out to Sydney to be with her friend, Mikki, who is due to marry easy-going Australian, Jack. He meets her and drives her to
Reviewed by Ian Lipke I have been privileged to receive a copy of Edward Mendelson, The Complete Works of W.H. Auden (Princeton University Press, 2022), upon which this review is built. The two-volume set is a magnificent work that captures more than adequately the oeuvre of a major twentieth century poet, playwright and musician. Its
Reviewed by Gail McDonald The author, Lucinda Riley, authored this book in 2006 but it was not published until after her death in 2021, by her son Harry Whittaker. Lucinda wrote the successful series of books called the Seven Sisters based on the story of adopted sisters inspired by the mythology of famous star clusters.
Reviewed by Wendy Lipke In 2018, author Lauren Chater received a research grant to travel to the Netherlands for her latest book, The Winter Dress. This book was inspired by a 17th century gown retrieved, in reasonably good condition, from a wreck off the Dutch coast near the island of Texel in 2014. Lauren Chater
Reviewed by Ian Lipke If there is any writer who knows how to show the warts on the legal profession, it would be John Grisham. A household word in conveying yarns about clever legal practitioners, Grisham has, of recent years, told stories called A Time for Mercy, The Reckoning and Sooley. Each of these placed
Reviewed by Ian Lipke If ever a writer had a fertile and creative mind that writer would have to be Nora Roberts. Since as recent as 2014 this writer has investigated scenarios of considerable difference. In 2014 she entertained us with a house-sitter who enjoys looking after the homes of the glamorous while their owners
Reviewed by Patricia Simms-Reeve So many superlatives have been attached to Chloe Hooper’s work and her latest titled Bedtime Story is no exception, having already attracted many accolades. In it, she considers, in range and depth, the problem she faced in preparing her two sons, the elder particularly, for the imminent death of their father, Don. Chloe
Reviewed by Clare Brook In her latest novel, The Candy House, Jennifer Egan explores ways in which the internet and social media has, and might, change us and our experience of life, both individually and socially. The Candy House provides readers with many perspectives from the point of view of a large cast of characters,
Reviewed by Richard Tutin The rediscovery of diaries of Bishop Mathew Hale for the period 1858-1868 in 2015 prompted the holding of a forum in Perth in 2018. The forum, through the lens of the diaries, focused on the period of Hale’s service and ministry as Bishop of Perth which at that time was a
Reviewed by Richard Tutin India, with its long history and diverse cultural and religious life, has been an enduring source of fascination and wonder for people over many centuries. John Zubrzycki has taken up the challenge of encapsulating this history into a book of less than three hundred pages. Many authors and academics would blanch
Reviewed by Patricia Simms-Reeve From the comical antics of the Rock Hopper penguin to the stately Emperor, penguins almost universally enthrall. They are probably the most loved of all birds. This affection manifests itself in the hugely successful movie, “Happy Feet”, the mountains of merchandise featuring their signature black and white, and the publishing empire
Reviewed by Gerard Healy This is a great crime novel by Matthew Spencer set in contemporary Sydney. While already investigating two separate brutal murders of young women around the Gladesville area, police are informed that another young woman’s body has been found in the grounds of an elite private boarding school. While there are some
Reviewed by Ian Lipke Having read so many detective stories that had their origin in the USA, I was not keen to comment on this one. What gained my interest was the report of the author’s tragic ending and the gumption her children had displayed in seeing the book through to publication. The fact that
Reviewed by Ian Lipke This is a debut novel that shows much promise. Not only do the characters help the story develop but they make a further contribution in their adding to the setting, while at the same time the setting is enriching them. The story maintains interest if it does not exactly leap into