Reviewed by Gerard Healy A 16 year-old girl named Skye moves to New York and enrolls, with her twin brother Red, at an elite private school. While she navigates the difficult world of wealthy classmates, we are told of the strange disappearance of three other new girls in the recent past. Red gains entry

Reviewed by E.B. Heath An old Chinese adage counsels that ‘A picture paints a thousand words’ … well, whoever in the Middle Kingdom came up with that had not the opportunity to read Driving into the Sun.   What is going on in this novel would require an image the length of the Bayeux Tapestry, and

Reviewed by Wendy Lipke Esther Campion’s second novel The House of Second Chances includes some of the characters who dominated the storyline in her first novel Leaving Ocean Road although the author states that this second book is not designed to be a sequel. The House of Second Chances is set predominantly in Ireland, a

Reviewed by Wendy Lipke The Change Makers by Shaun Carney contains words of wisdom from twenty-five of Australia’s successful leaders in their field. They are quite diverse, thirteen are women and twelve men. They are heads of various organisations ranging from sport to education and charity ventures. There is a detective Chief Inspector, Chief executive

Reviewed by E. B. Heath Griffith Review 63: writing country – a compilation of essays, memoir, reportage, fiction, poem, and a photo essay of eight images – presents differing perspectives on the connection between people and place. The contributors are writing from a range of disciplines: science, politics, history, a lived experience, or fictionalised accounts.

Reviewed by Clare Brook Penguin Random House have initiated a series for young readers, seven years and upward, profiling the extraordinary lives of people famous for their outstanding leadership and ability.   This is a refreshing counterpoint to the cult of celebrity that surrounds children today. So far the lives of Stephen Hawking, (reviewed on this

    Reviewed by Antonella Townsend Personally, I think Charles Dickens would be chuffed to read how his 1837 novel, Oliver Twist, has been re-imagined by Simon Lelic in The Haven. Much has changed in the intervening years. Dickens’ long descriptions of place and the poor orphan have become a fast-paced thriller, very hard to

Reviewed by Dr Kathleen Huxley Sarah Knight, the New York Times best-selling author, who is described by The Observer as ‘The anti-guru’ describes this book as ‘the friend who instead of reassuring you that ‘everything is going to be okay’, actually shows you how to make it so’. Commenting on the title of the book