DAVID MARR Political Animal: the Making of Tony Abbott (Quarterly Essay 47). Reviewed by Linda Funnell
He’s anti-abortion and his career owes a debt to Alan Jones. Does Tony Abbott have a problem with women? There’s an unsettling recent tradition of the political subjects of Quarterly Essays meeting with ill fortune. Think of Annabel Crabb’s profile of then-Opposition...EMILY MAGUIRE Fishing for Tigers. Reviewed by Linda Funnell
Emily Maguire’s vivid novel of expats in Hanoi reveals some uncomfortable truths. Mischa is a thirty-something Australian woman who washes up in Hanoi in the aftermath of an abusive marriage: I wanted to lose myself so thoroughly that I would never find...The Godfather: Peter Corris on living in Newtown
In Sydney I’ve only ever lived in the inner-west, but it took me a while to find my way to Newtown. I had short stints in Redfern and Balmain in 1970 before going overseas, returning to Canberra, surviving two years in Victoria and then heading to Sydney. In late 1975...NELLIE BENNETT Only in Spain: In Search of My Heart’s Desire. Reviewed by Jody Lee
This warm-hearted memoir of an Aussie girl learning flamenco in Spain may inspire you to run away with the gypsies … or at least a handsome Basque chef. How many times has that little voice sounded in your head, suggesting that you ‘just do it’? Nellie Bennett...The Godfather: Peter Corris on book dedications
Dedicating books is one of the few ways an impecunious writer can do something nice for people. Publishing around 80 books has given me ample opportunity to acknowledge family, friends, helpers and people I’ve admired. Not that every book of mine has a dedication;...Robert G Barrett: a personal farewell
The creator of the immensely popular Les Norton died on Thursday 20 September 2012. He was a more complex figure than his public image suggested. Bob Barrett loved to stir. The first time I saw him was in a newspaper photograph of the opening...The Godfather: Peter Corris on alcohol and writing
Patrick White worried about his drinking. He told biographer David Marr there were times when he drank half a bottle of spirits a day and wine as well. He consulted doctors, almost hoping, Marr suggests, for a diagnosis of alcoholism, which would relieve him of...PAT BARKER Toby’s Room. Reviewed by Peter Corris
Pat Barker returns to the haunting fictional territory of World War One. There have been many fine novels with World War One settings, such as A Farewell to Arms, All Quiet on the Western Front, A Very Long Engagement and Birdsong. While this book isn’t in that class...The Godfather: Peter Corris on book reviewing
I came to book reviewing in a bizarre way. In 1975 I was teaching at a CAE in Gippsland, Victoria, and hating it, when I read a newspaper review by Olaf Ruhen of a book on Pacific history. I was affronted. I’ve forgotten the book’s title, but I thought the review poor...BELINDA CASTLES Hannah and Emil. Reviewed by Linda Funnell
This third novel from Belinda Castles is a love story, a family saga, and a slice of twentieth-century European and Australian history. Hannah and Emil first see one another across a crowded room in 1933. The venue is a trade union conference in Brussels, where...SUZANNE JOINSON A Lady Cyclist’s Guide to Kashgar. Reviewed by Kylie Mason
The unlikely story of 1920s lady missionaries in exotic Kashgar entwines with the tale of a modern woman in contemporary London. Evangeline English has inveigled her way onto a 1923 missionary expedition, led by the enigmatic Millicent, to explore the mysterious East...
Recent Posts
2025 Readers’ Favourites8 January 2026With the new year barely begun, take a look back at our top ten reviews of [ … ]
Tributes to Jean Bedford18 December 2025Writer and editor Jean Bedford died after a long illness on 11 December 2025. [ … ]
LYN DICKENS Salt Upon the Water. Reviewed by Ann Skea11 December 2025Lyn Dickens’s award-winning debut novel of an independent woman in colonial [ … ]
STUART EVERLY-WILSON The Maskeys. Reviewed by Catherine Pardey10 December 2025Set in a small Australian town dominated by a family of drug dealers, Stuart [ … ]