Reviewed by Wendy Lipke On reading this latest novel by Léonie Kelsall, I was once again drawn back to the small country town called Settlers Bridge located in South Australia where I found characters I have met before. For those readers who are unfamiliar with this author’s work, all the information needed for this particular
Reviewed by Ian Lipke I’m sure that a reviewer somewhere has applied the phrase “a Greek tragedy” to this beautifully written book. It is not so much the story which sweeps us away as it is the writing itself. The feeling of great competence as the writer manipulates her words and images to best tell
Reviewed by Ian Lipke Wanting to expose myself to a piece of modern literature I soon found that much has changed in the many years I have been away. I expected to find different writing styles and degrees of acceptance that differed from my own, but I did not anticipate the raw emotion and the
Reviewed by Wendy Lipke Maya Linnell is among a small group of Australian women writers who make the reader feel, when reading their books, as if they are visiting relatives in a small country town. These communities contain amazing and inspiring everyday people within them. Yet at the same time there are jealousies and the
Reviewed by Wendy Lipke When longtime arts critic for the Seattle Times, Moira Macdonald, decided to write her own novel, a popular bookstore, Read the Room, became its own small universe. At the centre of this story are three characters who would love to change their circumstances by expanding their social circle and hopefully find
Reviewed by Patricia Simms-Reeve The much loved Swedish author, Fredrik Backman’s latest novel, My Friends, has all the characteristics of his style which combines warmth, charm, and humour mingled with sadness and wisdom. It presents a powerful illustration of the value of friendship and art which takes the form of the tale of four childhood
Reviewed by Wendy Lipke As the name suggests this story is set in the world of higher education and universities. Sadie Shaw and Jonah Fisher had both embarked on careers in the field of literature. They had gone on to higher degrees and eventually taken temporary teaching jobs at universities in this field. Both had
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 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 Rod McLary Dystopian novels – and there are many of them from Brave New World to The Road to The Handmaid’s Tale – all attempt to anticipate the future and of course we have no way of telling whether they are or will be accurate. Some assume huge scientific advances, others a cataclysmic
Reviewed by Wendy Lipke Weathering the Storm is the latest book by Queensland writer Mandy Magro who has been producing books in the romance genre since 2011. She writes with authority using insights from her own previous adventures. As a passionate woman and a romantic at heart, Mandy loves writing about soul-deep love, the Australian
Reviewed by Ian Lipke Gretchen Shirm’s book, Out of the Woods, is such an accomplished piece of work that a reader is encouraged into speculation. Evidence exists to provide a solid case. We are told that the writer was a former lawyer, a conclusion we would have drawn from the tightness of the title, the
Reviewed by Wendy Lipke The Maid’s Secret is another story by Nita Pronovost, better known by her pen name Nita Prose. Her Maid series of stories includes The Mistletoe Mystery, The Mystery Guest and The Maid. Her 2022 debut novel, The Maid, won an Anthony Award (2023), Barry Award (2023), Goodreads Choice Award (2022), Macavity
Reviewed by Patricia Simms-Reeve In two of her very successful previous works, Emma Donoghue created situations in enclosed scenarios which were riveting to read. The Paris Express too is a masterful example of stories of a group of people brought together; this time for a few hours for the train journey from Granville, in Normandy,