DAVID HUNT Girt Nation: The unauthorised history of Australia volume 3. Reviewed by Bernard Whimpress
Like its predecessors Girt and True Girt, David Hunt’s third volume is a riotous romp through Australian history. Covering the late 19th century in the lead up to Federation, Girt Nation brings the makers and shapers of our country to not-so-glorious life as it notes...
LÁSZLÓ KRASZNAHORKAI A Mountain to the North, a Lake to the South, Paths to the West, a River to the East. Reviewed by Ben Ford Smith
Without drama, plot or action, Hungarian writer László Krasznahorkai has nevertheless created a compelling work of fiction. Susan Sontag once described novelist László Krasznahorkai as ‘the Hungarian master of the apocalypse’. Many of Krasznahorkai’s...
TASHA SYLVA The Guest Room. Reviewed by Ann Skea
In Tasha Sylva’s debut novel a young woman obsessively investigates her sister’s murder … and her houseguests. ‘33-year-old woman found dead in a London park’ The woman was Tess’s sister, Rosie, and in her grief Tess has become obsessed with finding...
SUE ORR Loop Tracks. Reviewed by Mary Garden
Sue Orr’s new novel brings a timely personal dimension to debates around abortion. Sue Orr’s Loop Tracks has been a bestseller in New Zealand since its release in 2021. Published by Victoria University Press (now Te Herenga Waka University Press), the novel has flown...
NICK HARKAWAY Titanium Noir. Reviewed by Robert Goodman
Nick Harkaway’s dystopian new novel features a classic noir detective. While it is always true to say genre is fluid, occasionally something magical can happen when crime fiction meets science fiction. This may be because the best crime fiction uses its tropes...
JEN BEAGIN Big Swiss. Reviewed by Ann Skea
Jen Beagin’s Big Swiss is a social satire with a moral dilemma at its heart. It can also make you laugh out loud. Forty-five-year-old Greta is an audio transcriptionist for a sex therapist called Om (whose real name is Bruce). Om tape-records his sessions with...
DAVID SCRIMGEOUR Remote As Ever: The Aboriginal struggle for autonomy in the Western Desert. Reviewed by Braham Dabscheck
David Scrimgeour charts local successes and government failures for Aboriginal people in the Western Desert. While there has been a growing awareness over recent decades, it would still be reasonable to suggest that most non-Indigenous Australians have only limited...
It’s-almost-winter 2023 Giveaway #3
Look, it actually will be winter next week, so don’t miss out on your chance to win a fabulous book pack to curl up with through the chill. To go in the draw to win all four of the titles below, simply email editors@newtownreviewofbooks.com.au with ‘Winter 3′ in...
It’s-almost-winter 2023 Giveaway #2
Winter is coming … so of course you need a bundle of great books for those long cold nights. To go in the draw to win all four of the titles below, simply email editors@newtownreviewofbooks.com.au with ‘Winter 2′ in the subject line and your name and address in...
It’s-almost-winter 2023 Giveaway #1
The nights are drawing in and the mercury is heading down. It’s time to stock up on some great books for the cold days ahead. To go in the draw to win all four of the titles below, simply email editors@newtownreviewofbooks.com.au with ‘Winter 1′ in the subject...
DAMIEN LEWIS The Flame of Resistance: The untold story of Josephine Baker’s secret war. Reviewed by Suzanne Marks
Josephine Baker, the most glamorous and highly paid female entertainer of her time, was also an Allied spy in World War II. In The Flame of Resistance Damien Lewis has drawn on a profusion of new historical material, including previously undisclosed letters and...
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