Reviewed by Ian Lipke Maggie Byrd lives a life that many thirty-year-olds might envy. She works with fossils and gems at the Natural History Museum in London. The story is made up of several clearly defined sections. Most noteworthy among these is called Replacement, which is linked to a stage of opalization where “what was
Reviewed by Rod McLary In a recent interview [The Australian Weekend Magazine 29-30 August 2026], Sebastian Barry spoke about ‘the extreme whiteness of his country [Ireland] and his sadness at how racist it has become’. His sadness about Ireland’s racism goes directly to his latest novel The Newer World which is written in the first
Reviewed by Wendy Lipke Zoe Copeland is a single mum who has had a very dysfunctional upbringing, in and out of foster homes because of her addict mother. She is trying desperately to ensure her own daughter, Florence, has a more stable upbringing. When her landlord wants to increase the rent on their one-bedroom flat
Reviewed by Ian Lipke Adam Ouston’s novel Mine is a remarkable work of contemporary Australian fiction. It is “remarkable” not only because of its literary presentation with its unusual sentence construction but because of the tight control the author maintains over the writing. Ouston does this by balancing formal constraint with thematic depth. He achieves
Reviewed by Wendy Lipke The Frock Shop is the eighth novel by Australian writer, Sophie Green. It is another human-interest story of women of various ages, who are linked by a common interest. All her stories have characters who are returning to Australia or moving to another area where they find a supportive group of
Reviewed by Ian Lipke The major character in Sally Piper’s novel is by no means leading a glamorous life. The book explains the journey Tina Lamb has been forced to undertake, one in which she navigates a path from a brutal mid-life divorce to near homelessness. From the depths of despair, she achieves a renewed
Reviewed by Wendy Lipke Léonie Kelsall’s latest book is the tenth novel in the Settlers Bridge series. I have read many of the books in this series so was pleased to become reacquainted with some people I had come across before. Each book in the linked series is a standalone and can be read in
Reviewed by Patricia Simms-Reeve Please note that this review contains some spoilers. Success in the Capitalist world of high finance brings dilemmas for the two chief characters in Jessy Wu’s superb first novel. Jake Sullivan and Nadia Kuan meet at University in Sydney, when they work as investigative reporters for the student newspaper, Rostra. Both
Reviewed by Jim Posner Krank Fuss is a novella by the Australian born playwright Andrew Upton. Now resident in the UK, Upton has crafted a thought-provoking allegory in the mode of George Orwell’s Animal Farm, where the story is told through the voices of animals living on a farm. This particular farm is situated in Germany in
Reviewed by Rod McLary Although the title would suggest that the character Rat Daniels is the focus of this coming-of-age novel, that is not the case. The main protagonist is Jimmy Quinn who narrates this thoroughly enthralling novel. But Rat – whose real name is Damien Daniels – is at the centre of the narrative
Reviewed by Ian Hamilton It may be that there are more periods of history when this book would have been banned than periods of history when this book would be published. Think back to the test cases of the twentieth century, perhaps most famously that of D. H. Lawrence’s Lady Chatterley’s Lover. Although published in
Reviewed by Rod McLary According to the Urban Dictionary, ‘tight lines’ is a good luck wish between fishermen – meaning that if your lines are tight, you are catching lots of fish. And Tight Lines is the title of this coming-of-age novel by Allee Richards and tells the stories of Luke, Josh and Matty who
Reviewed by Rod McLary Grunge literature – or simply grunge lit – is a genre of Australian literature which looks at the lives of young people in disadvantaged circumstances and often deeply involved in alcohol or drug abuse. The characters live on the social and cultural margins of their city. The term was created after
Reviewed by Wendy Lipke Simply Beside Herself is the first novel by Judith Katherine who has always been fascinated by the narratives around role and how it can either broaden or narrow our worlds. Often people get caught up in doing the right thing, and what others expect by not making a fuss. This is
Reviewed by Ian Hamilton This novel-memoir has smatterings of cultural references but the one that comes to mind, but not mentioned, is Frost’s poet “The Road Not Taken” because our protagonist’s story centres on his choices deliberate and choices fateful. I don’t think Frost ever wrote the complementary poem “The Road Taken” but the two