Image of cover of book Sidelines by Karen Viggers, reviewed by Mary Garden in the Newtown Review of Books.

KAREN VIGGERS Sidelines. Reviewed by Mary Garden

by NRB | 22 May 2025 | Fiction | 1 Comment

Karen Viggers’ fifth novel centres on a junior soccer team, but the ambitions and rivalries of the parents are the real story. Although I’m not a footy fan, I bought Sidelines at last year’s Port Fairy Writer’s Festival after hearing Karen Viggers speak passionately...

Image of cover of book Vaccine Nation by Raina MacIntyre, reviewed by Braham Dabscheck in the Newtown Review of Books.

RAINA MACINTYRE Vaccine Nation. Reviewed by Braham Dabscheck

by NRB | 20 May 2025 | Non-fiction | 0 Comments

Professor Raina MacIntyre was a prominent voice during Covid. Now she fears the backlash against vaccination will have devastating effects. We dodged a bullet – or did we? The panic created by Covid-19 has (apparently) gone away. Somehow or other policy-makers...

Image of cover of book Miss Caroline Bingley Private Detective by Kelly Gardiner and Sharmini Kumar, reviewed by Michael Jongen in the Newtown Review of Books.

KELLY GARDINER and SHARMINI KUMAR Miss Caroline Bingley Private Detective. Reviewed by Michael Jongen

by NRB | 15 May 2025 | Crime Scene, Fiction | 0 Comments

Gardiner and Kumar give Caroline Bingley a larger and more exciting role than she ever had in Pride and Prejudice. Caroline Bingley's unpopularity in Pride and Prejudice stems largely from her behaviour and motivations, which clash with the values celebrated in the...

Image of cover of book Miles Franklin Undercover by Kerrie Davies, reviewed by Ann Skea in the Newtown Review of Books.

KERRIE DAVIES Miles Franklin Undercover. Reviewed by Ann Skea

by NRB | 13 May 2025 | Non-fiction | 0 Comments

Author Kerrie Davies explores Miles Franklin's life in the decades after the success of My Brilliant Career. A book is written in solitude and in a crowd, at night, in the early morning, on weekends, and in thoughts and in dreams. So writes Kerrie Davies in her...

Image of cover of book Intermezzo by Sally Rooney, reviewed by Jessica Stewart in the Newtown Review of Books.

SALLY ROONEY Intermezzo. Reviewed by Jessica Stewart

by NRB | 8 May 2025 | Fiction | 0 Comments

Irish writer Sally Rooney is known for her succession of bestselling literary novels. Intermezzo is her best yet. In her first novel, Conversations with Friends, a young woman, Frances, enters into an obsessive affair with an older man, a jaded, not overly successful...