Reviewed by Ian Lipke When an author begins a book with a very provocative statement as this writer does with Whisky Valley, s/he needs to be clear that her book is a companion piece, and that the second will continue with the same level of charge as the first. Sauers’s first novel, called Echo Lake,
Reviewed by Ian Hamilton One imagines that the work of historians has at least two dimensions: the first dimension being to understand past events, including their causality (if that can be determined or surmised) and significance. The second dimension is to examine how that past has influenced – even shaped – our present world and
Reviewed by Wendy Lipke Set in the north island of New Zealand, Jennifer Trevelyan’s novel, A Beautiful Family, with the accompanying words ‘The summer that changed everything’, is all about relationships within the family unit and the outside ones that impact on it. What made this book unusual for me was that the story is
Reviewed by Wendy Lipke This hard covered 290 x 230 mm 44-page book has been created by Eleri Harris, award winning cartoonist, journalist, editor and feminist and history tour guide. Her non-fictional comics have found their way across the world. Created as a children’s book, it highlights issues such as inclusivity, equality and accessibility. To
Reviewed by Wendy Lipke Earth Speak is the first book by Sean McCann who lives on Noongar lands in Perth. He is a small business owner, a rope access technician and a rigger. This book is illustrated by Gamilaroi woman, Jade Goodwin. With her commitment to showcasing a range of perspectives through her illustrations, she
Reviewed by Wendy Lipke In children’s picture books like this, often the pictures take centre stage with the text stating what the illustrations show. I don’t believe that is the situation in Sofie Laguna’s publication, The Last Egg. The water-coloured illustrations by Jess Racklyeft are beautifully presented and support the story rather than dominate it.
Reviewed by Wendy Lipke Rachel Morton is the author of the book with a most unusual title, The Sun Was Electric Light. This is her first novel, and it won the 2024 Victorian Premier’s Literary Award for an Unpublished Manuscript. It was also the winner of the 2025 UQP Quentin Bryce Award. This latest award
Reviewed by Rod McLary Juliet [Romeo and Juliet] famously asked ‘what’s in a name?’ and answered herself by saying ‘a rose by any other name would smell as sweet’. But the premise of Florence Knapp’s debut novel is that a person’s name will shape the direction of his/her life and this is subsequently explored through
Reviewed by Richard Tutin Black Inc’s latest title in the “Shortest History” series heads for France and its fascinating story. Colin Jones, who has authored several titles on different aspects of French history, has been given the brief to bring this survey to life while at the same time keeping it within the framework as
Reviewed by E.B. Heath A book must be an ice axe to break the sea frozen inside us. Kafka Rodney Hall is energizing to read. Initially, Vortex requires focus. The narrative is fragmented depicting a plethora of characters that pivot from one to another throughout the novel, each with their own plot thread. Unconventionally, chapters
Reviewed by Ian Lipke Detective Sergeant Stilwell has been bounced off the county homicide squad and rusticized to Catalina Island, a district as infested as the rest of the Los Angeles police precinct. Here, the exclusive Black Marlin Club won’t admit even the long-serving Avalon Mayor Doug Allen to full membership. Yet in the community,
Reviewed by Wendy Lipke As the cover suggests this story is about sailing, but it is not just about that. It is also about family history and the tensions between two families who have been in a particular area for generations. With the main characters pre-teens, this story is also about friendships and jealousies. Nell,
Reviewed by Ian Lipke Sea Change is an excellent example of an imagination at its most vivid. Here the author envisages the devastation likely to be inflicted on an island community called the Kapiti Coast. A dramatic rupture in an Alpine region triggers a tsunami that, in a series of waves of varying strength, is
Reviewed by Ian Lipke It was Gillian Wills who first made the comment that “Musicians are artists that paint in sound.” She went on to make the point that despite the wide acceptance of this judgment, music is played across the country in acoustically inept buildings and rooms. Ms Wills would know what she is
Reviewed by Ian Lipke Jo Harkin’s hero is depicted at the beginning of the story as a small boy living on a farm where his greatest menace is the village’s devil goat. All is normal behaviour for John Gollan until his life is upended; he is not John Gollan but the son of the long-deceased