Reviewed by Wendy Lipke When I first read the title of this book I wondered if it would be like an Australian version of the 1993 movie, Sleepless in Seattle, with Meg Ryan and Tom Hanks. This book by Australian writer, Susan Duncan, is nothing like that story. Susan Duncan has had tragedy to face
Reviewed by Wendy Lipke Alice Hoffman is an American novelist and young-adult and children’s writer, best known for her 1995 novel Practical Magic, which was adapted for a 1998 film of the same name. Many of her works fall into the genre of magic realism and contain elements of magic, irony, and non-standard romances and
Reviewed by Gerard Healy This is a delightful work by Hannah Dolby, peopled with strong central characters, interesting minor ones and a great sense of humour. Violet Harrison is the very appealing main character in this engaging yarn set in sea-side Hastings, England in 1896. When Violet instigates a search for her missing mother Lily,
Reviewed by Rod McLary The Visitors is a re-imagining of that fateful day in January 1788 when the eleven ships of the First Fleet entered what we now know as Sydney Cove. The events of the day are described from the perspective of a group of seven Elders, each representing one of the First Nation
Reviewed by Wendy Lipke Before beginning to read this third novel by Australian writer Kate Mildenhall, I needed to remind myself what The Hummingbird Effect was. The computer told me that the hummingbird effect demonstrates that an event in one field can trigger completely unexpected outcomes in wholly different domains. This connectivity cannot be predicted
Reviewed by Patricia Simms-Reeve Roseghetto is a poignant and powerful reminder that it is possible to escape the confines of a deprived childhood and, through the portal of books, find an alternative, happier life. In Kirsty Jagger’s first book, this is superbly shown in the main character of Shayla. She is the innocent victim of
Reviewed by Wendy Lipke Sophie Green is an Australian writer who compiles heart-warming stories about everyday people, usually women and highlights some of the thoughts they harbour which are rarely aired. ‘In a world where so many women’s lives are always on display – as they move from parents’ homes to marital homes, always serving,
Reviewed by Patricia Simms-Reeve “Human Life is like a sunbeam passing through a crack”. Exceptional people achieve much in that fraction of time and one is surely Lady Tan, Tan Yunxian, a pioneer in women’s medicine, who employed her knowledge and skills in fifteenth century China. In her book about this brilliant woman, Lisa See
Reviewed by Rod McLary Dreaming in French is a beautifully written and realised novel – and ultimately a very emotionally moving one. Set in two time periods twenty-six years apart, the novel explores the relationships between three people – Saskia, Simone and Félix. The current time period is narrated by Saskia in the first person;
Reviewed by Rod McLary Immaculate by Anna McGahan won the 2023 The Australian/Vogel’s Award for Young Writers. Anna is the niece of one of Australia’s favourite authors – Andrew McGahan who died in 2019 – who had previously won this award for his first novel Praise published in 1991. While Anna may share a name
Reviewed by Patricia Simms-Reeve In the colourful bustling London of the first decade of the nineteenth century, Augusta and her twin Julia are constrained by the society’s strict rules as to the marriage eligibility of ladies aged forty- two. Julia is unfortunately a widow. Her husband, Robert, died in a hunting accident. She is in
Reviewed by Wendy Lipke Léonie Kelsall is becoming known for her rural romance novels all set around a small country town in South Australia known as Settlers Bridge. Although the books she has written so far in this setting are not a series, the author says that several of the characters do pop up in
Reviewed by Wendy Lipke Inside the novel Lowbridge, by Australian writer Lucy Campbell, I found a four-page A4 copy of a Mounthaven Chronicle which features articles about missing local schoolgirl Tess Dawes. Dated Wednesday February 11, 1987, it also included the report on an interview with the author of this book, Lucy Campbell. As part
Reviewed by Rod McLary Set across two specific time periods [November 1936 and July-August 1945] in Paris and Berlin, this tight and tense thriller chronicles the efforts of Auguste Duchene to locate a Gestapo war criminal SS-Oberführer Volker Sprenger. Duchene is persuaded, by veiled threats of harm to his wife Sabine, into undertaking the search
Reviewed by Rod McLary Eta Draconis was the winner of the 2022 Dorothy Hewitt Award for an Unpublished Manuscript – an excellent reason to read this rather dystopian novel set in south-west Western Australia. It is indeed a fine read. As well as being the book’s intriguing title, Eta Draconis is a star in the