The Godfather: Peter Corris on historical fiction
Historical novels have always been my favourite kind of recreational reading. From Baroness Orczy’s Scarlet Pimpernel to Georgette Heyer’s Regency bucks to sterner stuff like Henry Treece’s bloody tales of Saxon and Roman Britain, I escaped from a dreary...NICOLA SHULMAN Graven with Diamonds: the many lives of Thomas Wyatt: courtier, poet, assassin, spy. Reviewed by Peter Corris
What was Thomas Wyatt’s effect on English poetry? It helps to know Middle English or to have a glossary handy to fully appreciate Chaucer (1343-1400): In al the route was ther young ne oold That he ne seyde it was a noble storie, And worthy for to drawen to...The Godfather: Peter Corris on popular vs literary fiction
Some writers of popular and big-selling fiction claim that they would be able to write literary novels. I heard Lee Child and Matthew Reilly state this on Jennifer Byrne’s television program, and in a recent article on Bryce Courtenay in the Sydney Morning...NICOLE WATSON The Boundary
Murder, dispossession and revenge fuel this passionate debut. It may have a body on the first page, but The Boundary is no ordinary crime novel. Yes, there is a lawyer-hero (the troubled Miranda Eversley), there is a good cop and a bad cop, bad lawyers, a weak...The Godfather: Peter Corris on writing endorsements
From time to time writers are asked to give endorsements for forthcoming books. These are called straplines in the trade. You know the sort of thing: ‘This out-swashes and out-buckles Bernard Cornwall’. Often the publishers make the request on behalf of a debut...MARGO LANAGAN Sea Hearts. Reviewed by Linda Funnell
A vibrant and imaginative fable of magic and tragedy. Sea hearts are a type of shellfish that children gather for their mothers along the blustery shores of Rollrock Island: Some folk ate the best hearts raw, particularly mams; they drank up the liquor inside, and if...The Godfather: Peter Corris on Publishing Non-fiction
Mad Dog: William Cyril Moxley and the Moorebank Killings is the first non-fiction book (not counting a few ‘as told to’ autobiographies and some co-edited anthologies) since my history of prize fighting in Australia, Lords of the Ring, in 1980. All fiction in between....ROSALIE HAM There Should Be More Dancing. Reviewed by Linda Funnell
This new novel from the author of The Dressmaker features a cross-stitching cross-patch and swings between comedy and pathos. Thousands of fans embraced Rosalie Ham’s first novel, The Dressmaker, when it appeared in 2000. Set in the little country town of...The Godfather: Peter Corris on Lee Child
photo by Lorrie Graham Patrick Gallagher, the publisher at Allen & Unwin Australia, asked me some time ago if I’d ever thought of writing a novel à la Lee Child. I had to admit I hadn’t read Lee Child. I checked with Jean, who consumes eight novels a week,...FAVEL PARRETT Past the Shallows. Reviewed by Linda Funnell
This debut is a sharp plunge into dark water. Bad things happen in Tasmania: from Marcus Clarke to Richard Flanagan and Carmel Bird, our novelists have been delivering stories inspired by the island’s ancient forests, wild seas and brutal history. Favel Parrett...The Godfather: Peter Corris on the Kindle
photo by Lorrie Graham My wife gave me a Kindle for my birthday. I was sceptical but willing. At first I thought to download (that is, have her download – my IT skills are few), some Conrad, Hardy and Trollope, not (shudder) Henry James. These classics are...
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