Reviewed by Wendy Lipke Jill Mansell’s book, this could change everything is an easy to read, feel-good romance and shows how a simple, spur of the moment action can have such lasting and often devastating effects. When Essie and her friend, Scarlett, were discussing how Essie could respond to a round robin letter written by
Reviewed by Norrie Sanders The subject of The Fatalist is currently incarcerated in the Goulburn Correctional Centre. His heinous crimes make for harrowing reading, yet the story of his life provides a thought provoking counterpoint. This book joins a band of biographies of Australian murderers currently doing time – including Ivan Milat, Arthur “Neddy Smith”
Reviewed by Wendy Lipke How can siblings brought up in the same household and supposedly with the same experiences end up with such different personalities? I’m sure this is a question pondered in many families. This is certainly the premise in Sarah Haywood’s first novel, the Cactus. The story begins in August and continues through
Reviewed by Angela Marie Two Susie K books. Wanted: Two eager young readers with artistic flair and a strong sense of humour. Introducing Harper, just 8, and Olive, 5 and three quarters. Their mission. Read a Susie K book each and we’ll meet for a chat. Mission accepted! With relish!! Life of the Party! File No. # 1
Reviewed by Wendy Lipke ‘I’d changed. Something subtle inside me had shifted while I was giving the Paris pavements a good pounding. For the first time in a long while, it was just me in charge of my own destiny’ (375). Ruby Brown is in her forties and abandoned by her husband, in Carole Matthews
Reviewed by Dr Kathleen Huxley This small and highly readable book, edited by Joy Noble and David Bennett, is composed of a collection of personal anecdotes and stories of living a full life after 60. The editors themselves are 60 so have an intimate insight into the issues and are aiming ‘to live life to
Reviewed by E.B. Heath There is a singular optimism that shimmers from the page when reading a good ‘self-help’ or ‘finding your self’ genre. Mike Lewis’s When to Jump is one of those books. This book’s strength is in its honesty. Being your authentic self does not always lead to riches, a life of abundance,
Reviewed by Wendy Lipke Twenty-five year old Hazel is reading the classics, starting with ‘A’. It’s one way to pass the time when you’ve quit your job and lost your way. The Art of Persuasion is the first novel, but not the first published work, by Western Australian author, Susan Midalia. At first reading, it
Reviewed by Wendy Lipke Royal Murder is the second book in the Rebecca Keith Mysteries by Sandra Winter-Dewhirst. The first book The Popeye Murder introduces journalist Rebecca Keith, her boyfriend Detective Chief Inspector Gary Jarvie, as well as the landscape and lifestyle in and around Adelaide. Murder in the earlier book and in this one
Reviewed by Rod McLary Arguably, Sylvia Plath is better known for the manner of her death than for her poetry and her only published novel The Bell Jar. However, the novel and her posthumously published collection of poems Ariel eventually ensured that her poetic reputation achieved the ascendancy. This beautifully bound first volume of letters
Reviewed by Wendy Lipke Sandra Winter-Dewhirst has begun writing a series of novels of which The Popeye Murder is the first. It was re-released (I believe with a new cover) in conjunction with the launch of her second novel in the series A Royal Murder. A third novel, A Festival of Murders, will be published in
Reviewed by Ian Lipke This gripping story begins with a woman, who paints nightmarish visions, running in terror. She believes her pursuer to be the man who led a cult that almost destroyed her when she was a child. Rather than let him get his hands on her she throws herself from a cliff into
Reviewed by Ian Lipke This is the third in Chris Ryan’s Strike Back series and maintains the level of the other two. The plot is not much different. In this case, a washed-up middle-aged man renews a friendship with an ex-colleague for the purpose of monetary gain. He has an explosive document that purports
Reviewed by Wendy Lipke Miss Burma is a novel by Charmaine Craig and is based on the lives of the author’s mother, Louisa, and grandparents, Benny and Khin. It is a story of loyalty, infidelity, patriotism, identity, love and loss. It is the story of Burma’s history from colonization, to Japanese invasion during World War
Reviewed by Norrie Sanders How many couples can say that their breakup led to the establishment of an international institution? Zagreb art professionals Olinka Vištica and Dražen Grubišić had a four year love affair before a quiet dissolution. In the inevitable sorting of mutual property, they agreed to retain a windup fluffy toy as the