by NRB | 25 Sep 2024 | Non-fiction |
Researcher Lynne Kelly explains the groundbreaking discovery of the gene that enables humans to store knowledge – and create art. What makes us human? The question is philosophic, but increasingly the answer concerns DNA. We share 98.7 per cent of our genetic matter...
by NRB | 24 Sep 2024 | Fiction, SFF |
Not just astronauts and science experiments: Larry Buttrose’s stories imagine what it would be like if we had to live on Mars. One of the most memorable opening lines in fiction is Ford Maddox Ford’s ‘This is the saddest story I have ever heard.’ The Good Soldier is...
by NRB | 19 Sep 2024 | Fiction |
Set in the ancient world, Ferdia Lennon’s debut novel features the plays of Euripides, prisoners of war, and an unlikely production of Medea. Syracuse 412 BC So Gelon says to me, ‘Let’s go down and feed the Athenians. The weather’s perfect for feeding Athenians.’ When...
by NRB | 17 Sep 2024 | Fiction |
Comedian Steph Tisdell’s first novel tackles serious issues in this story of growing up in a First Nations family. Set in Brisbane, The Skin I’m In opens with Layla, the youngest daughter of a First Nations mother and a white father, getting ready for her last year of...
by NRB | 12 Sep 2024 | Fiction |
Malcolm Knox’s new novel satirises the brutal madness of the Soviet Union, focussing on Stalin’s notorious head of secret police, Beria. In the business of producing fiction, the novelist can never keep up with authoritarian political leaders. Such leaders offer an...
by NRB | 10 Sep 2024 | Crime Scene, Fiction |
In Claire Sutherland’s debut crime novel, a body is found on an isolated track on the Wimmera Plains, where Mount Arapiles towers over all. Anybody who has ever spent any time in the Wimmera around Gariwerd (the Grampians) in Victoria will know how striking the...
by NRB | 5 Sep 2024 | Fiction |
László Krasznahorkai’s latest novel encompasses physics, the music of JS Bach, and an obsessive correspondence with the German chancellor. László Krasznahorkai enthusiasts won’t be surprised he’s written a 430-page novel comprising a single sentence....
by NRB | 3 Sep 2024 | Fiction |
Stephen Downes’ debut The Hands of Pianists was shortlisted for the PM’s Literary Awards. His second ranges across art, violence, folklore and mental illness. This is a strange book. Not just because the narrator is a violent criminal writing his thoughts for his...
by NRB | 29 Aug 2024 | Fiction |
Jodi Picoult’s latest novel reimagines Shakespeare and shows little has changed since the sixteenth century for women playwrights. ‘I believe we can help each other,’ Emilia said. ‘You wish for everyone to know your name; I wish for no one to know mine.’ So begins...
by NRB | 27 Aug 2024 | Fiction, SFF |
Sarah Beth Durst calls her new novel ‘cozy fantasy’ and delivers a tale of magic, persecution – and jam-making. Librarian Kiela flees the burning Great Library of Alyssium with Caz, her chatty, sentient spider-plant assistant, and as many priceless (and highly...
by NRB | 22 Aug 2024 | Fiction |
The lyrical second novel from the author of The Burial criss-crosses through time following one girl’s parallel lives. Bird is the pensive, defiant 14-year-old protagonist of Courtney Collins’ new novel. In the opening chapter, she’s living with her family in a...
by NRB | 20 Aug 2024 | Non-fiction |
Maggie Walters’ memoir goes beyond the clichés of Hollywood to describe what it’s like living with mental illness. Maggie Walters was diagnosed with multiple personality disorder (now known as dissociative identity disorder) 30 years ago. On the outside, she is like...
JUNE WRIGHT Mother Paul series. Reviewed by Karen Chisholm6 December 2024June Wright has faded from view, but in 1948 her novel Murder in the Telephone [ … ]
ANDREW O’HAGAN Caledonian Road. Reviewed by Catherine Pardey5 December 2024This new novel from the author of Mayflies is set in London, but Glasgow is [ … ]
IAIN RYAN The Dream. Reviewed by Ben Ford Smith3 December 2024Iain Ryan’s latest novel continues his fascination with 1980s Queensland and [ … ]
MARINA YUSZCZUK Thirst. Reviewed by Ann Skea28 November 2024Argentinian writer Marina Yuszczuk puts her twist on the vampire novel in [ … ]