This is a book to take your time over, to pause constantly and consider the questions Rawson asks. Just when I began to think I might understand nature/conservation/humans/animals, I back-flipped. And I did it again and again as I turned the pages of this thoughtful creative book. The final sentence of the back cover blurb […]
This award winning novel did not disappoint. Sally Diamond is an incredibly original character cleaved from a fine writerly mind. Literary page turners in the crime genre are like rare diamonds, amidst the huge worldwide rubble. Highly recommend Strange Sally Diamond, and I’ll be seeking out other titles by Liz Nugent. How can you resist […]
Sidelines features football (soccer) at its core, but the essence of the novel translates easily to all sports and, indeed, to life in general, particularly life as a teenager or as a parent of a teenager. I expect it will be a popular read in schools, where it may spark debate about winning and its associated […]
True to the blurb, Stone Yard Devotional is ‘meditative and deeply moving’. Absolutely. The novel explores complex relationships, using an austere but well-defined landscape. The author has a gentle touch, luring the reader into stillness and contemplation. Definitely a standout. A blurb outtake: “Can a person be truly good? What is forgiveness? Is loss of hope […]
I’ve been looking forward to Lucy Treloar’s latest novel, after swooning over her award-winning Wolfe Island. I am delighted to say I’m not disappointed. There’s an exquisite tenderness to the way the author handles complex characters, revealing their stories through the prism of time with precision and economy. From the blurb: When someone is taken […]
Kate Mildenhall’s latest took my breath away. I will likely re-read it straight away as I retrace the fine connective threads the story is shaped by. Publishers Simon and Schuster have bravely backed their author, and Mildenhall has oh-so delivered. From the publisher’s website: An epic, kaleidoscopic story of four women connected across time and […]
I am a few chapters in and enjoying this novel very much. As a lover of ekphrasis and art crossover, I find the cover spectacularly apt. I wanted to share some excerpts but there’s so much fodder, I might wait until the end. In September 1883, the South Australian town of Fairly huddles under strange, […]
So many visibly homeless people especially, it seems to me, in Montreal and Ottawa. As I vacillate between avoiding, trying to help, and almost collapsing in despair, I am confronted with Jesse Thistle’s incredible memoir and, whilst I still have no answers, I feel uplifted that – at least sometimes – one truly can rise […]
I had the pleasure of meeting Canadian author and Poet Laureate George Elliott Clarke this year and chatted to him about the skeletons in his family’s closet that led to the writing of this novel based on the deeds of his ancestral cousins. It packs a real punch: variously gruesome, funny, sensuous, and brave. […]
I had the pleasure of following Nathan Hobby’s progress on this biography via his blog and I was lucky enough to tune in to the online launch, hosted by Lisa Hill of ANZ Litlovers. It is indeed a literary feast. From the Blurb: This biography of a literary giant traces Prichard’s journey from the genteel […]
