LYNNE OLSON The Sisterhood of Ravensbrück. Reviewed by Ann Skea
Lynne Olson documents how, within the horror of a Nazi concentration camp, the women of the French Resistance continued to resist. In Paris, the granddaughter of Jacqueline Péry d’Alincourt remembers her grandmother entertaining three old friends to afternoon tea....
SARAH GILBERT Unconventional Women: The story of the last Blessed Sacrament Sisters in Australia. Reviewed by Suzanne Marks
Sarah Gilbert’s account of this religious order offers a rare insight into the women who chose to separate themselves from the world. In the 1950s and 60s, eight young women left their families to join an enclosed order of nuns in Melbourne. Gilbert’s book...
JENNIFER MILLS Salvage. Reviewed by Robert Goodman
The new novel from the author of Dyschronia and The Airways is climate fiction focussed on human adaptability. There is plenty going on in Australia at the moment that reflects the impacts of climate change. Massive bushfires, years-long droughts, tropical cyclones...
BELINDA LYONS-LEE The Haunting of Mr and Mrs Stevenson. Reviewed by Ann Skea
The new novel from the author of Tussaud imagines what might have inspired Robert Louis Stevenson to write Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde. Have you ever looked closely at your wardrobe in the dark? Have you ever lain in bed, perhaps with the candle flickering on your bedside...
KELL WOODS Upon A Starlit Tide. Reviewed by Amelia Dudley
Kell Woods blends history, folklore and fairytales in her second novel set on the French coast in eighteenth-century Saint Malo. I know what it is to cry and have no one but the sea there to listen. Lucinde de Leon has always loved the sea. Whenever she can, she...
JOHN WISWELL Wearing the Lion. Reviewed by Robert Goodman
His first novel has just won a prestigious Nebula Award; now John Wiswell puts his humorous and humanist spin on the labours of Heracles. The retelling of tales from Greek mythology is not new – Shakespeare did it, among others. But it feels like there are a lot of...
ANNE SEBBA The Women’s Orchestra of Auschwitz. Reviewed by Justine Ettler
British historian Anne Sebba’s account of the Nazi death camp describes the dissonance of beautiful music in a place of suffering and death. A monstrous, life-and-death version of sing for your supper, The Women’s Orchestra of Auschwitz fascinates as it horrifies with...
CHRISTOPHER CLAREY The Warrior: Rafael Nadal and his kingdom of clay. Reviewed by Braham Dabscheck
The French Open may be over for another year, but Roland-Garros will always belong to Rafael Nadal, its all-time champion. Rafael Nadal will always be regarded as one of tennis’s greatest players. He turned professional in 2001, aged 14, and retired in 2024. He won 92...
STEVE MINON First Name, Second Name. Reviewed by Ben Ford Smith
Winner of a Queensland Literary Award, Steve MinOn’s debut novel charts the lives – and afterlives – of a family of Chinese Australians. Queensland author Steve MinOn’s debut novel, First Name, Second Name, explores the complexities of family history and personal...
EMILY TESH The Incandescent. Reviewed by Robert Goodman
Emily Tesh’s magical fantasy is as much about the art of teaching as it is about dealing with demons. There are so many magical academy books now that they have become a definable sub-genre. While the first fantasy book to feature a magic school was Ursula K Le Guin’s...
LAURIE WOOLEVER Care and Feeding: A memoir. Reviewed by Jessica Stewart
Laurie Woolever – cook, writer, and fixer for chef Anthony Bourdain – enjoyed the glamour of a celebrity lifestyle. But it came with a price. Laurie Woolever’s memoir opens with an introduction noting that none of us has very much control over anything in life,...
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LYNNE OLSON The Sisterhood of Ravensbrück. Reviewed by Ann Skea10 July 2025Lynne Olson documents how, within the horror of a Nazi concentration camp, the [ … ]- SARAH GILBERT Unconventional Women: The story of the last Blessed Sacrament Sisters in Australia. Reviewed by Suzanne Marks8 July 2025Sarah Gilbert’s account of this religious order offers a rare insight into the [ … ]
JENNIFER MILLS Salvage. Reviewed by Robert Goodman3 July 2025The new novel from the author of Dyschronia and The Airways is climate fiction [ … ]