ANNA SPARGO-RYAN A Kind of Magic. Reviewed by Virginia Muzik
Anna Spargo-Ryan’s memoir melds a vivid account of lifelong mental illness with thorough research. Early on in A Kind of Magic, Anna Spargo-Ryan tries to establish where her mental illness story begins, looking – not surprisingly – to her family. Did she inherit...
EMILY ST JOHN MANDEL Sea of Tranquility. Reviewed by Amelia Dudley
The author of Station Eleven and The Glass Hotel travels through time in her new novel. If there’s pleasure in action, there’s peace in stillness. Emily St John Mandel takes us on a delightfully strange journey through time in her latest novel. In the distant future,...
JAY CARMICHAEL Marlo. Reviewed by Ivan Crozier
Set in the 1950s, Jay Carmichael’s second novel is a window onto Australia’s queer history. In the closing paragraph of the author’s note to Marlo, Jay Carmichael tells us that for him, ‘the task of the historical novel’ is to fill the gap between what we...
ANNE TYLER French Braid. Reviewed by CJ Pardey
The Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist demonstrates there is little she doesn’t know about human nature. Anne Tyler’s most recent novel, her twenty-fourth, French Braid covers familiar territory. If this was said about any other novelist it might be a...
PAUL M CLARK The Witchfinder’s Mark. Reviewed by Amelia Dudley
Paul M Clark employs the tropes of ‘folk horror’ in this tale of a 16th-century witchfinder. Samuel was the most experienced witchfinder north of London. Until he’d met Douglass. Now he felt like an infant learning how to walk. Trying to find the courage...
CAMERON K. MURRAY and PAUL FRIJTERS Rigged. Reviewed by Susan Francis
Cameron K. Murray and Paul Frijters reveal how Australia is run by the ‘Game of Mates’, the cosy relationships at the centre of power. Given current discussions about a federal ICAC, and a continuing avalanche of corruption allegations against former members of the...
PETER GODFREY-SMITH Metazoa: Animal minds and the birth of consciousness. Reviewed by Venkat Ramanan
Do animals have consciousness? And if so, to what degree? Professor Peter Godfrey-Smith investigates in Metzoa. A scene in André Brink’s anti-apartheid novel An Act of Terror begins with a team of labourers processing recently caught crayfish. They take hold of each...
Spring 2022 Giveaway #5
Welcome to our fifth and final spring giveaway for 2022 One last fabulous bundle of books to win in our series of spring giveaways. To go in the draw to win all four of the titles below, simply email editors@newtownreviewofbooks.com.au with ‘Spring 5′ in the subject...
ELAINE PEARSON Chasing Wrongs and Rights. Reviewed by Braham Dabscheck
Elaine Pearson gives an insider’s account of fighting for human rights around the world. The concept of ‘human rights’ is relatively new, becoming embodied in international law in response to atrocities perpetuated during World War II. The preamble to the...
Spring 2022 Giveaway #4
Welcome to our fourth spring giveaway for 2022! Yes, here are more goodies for you to win in our spring giveaways. To go in the draw to win all four of the titles below, simply email editors@newtownreviewofbooks.com.au with ‘Spring 4′ in the subject line and your name...
PAUL GALLICO Mrs Harris Goes to Paris. Reviewed by Ann Skea
The author of The Snow Goose tells the story of a London charlady and a Dior dress. This is an old-fashioned book. Not just because the two stories in it were first published in 1958 and 1960, but because the world has changed so much since then. The likes of Mrs...
Recent Posts
CHRISTINE BALINT A Single Witness. Reviewed by Ann Skea14 May 2026Christine Balint’s fourth novel takes inspiration from the courage of a teenage [ … ]
VERONICA ROTH Seek the Traitor’s Son12 May 2026Set in a future Earth, the first instalment of Veronica Roth’s new [ … ]
FRANCESCA DE TORES Cast Away. Reviewed by Ann Skea7 May 2026The new novel from the author of Saltblood again traverses the high seas, this [ … ]
CLARA BRACK The Secret Landscapes: On not pleasing your mother. Reviewed by Sandra Hogan5 May 2026Clara Brack finds her own voice in exploring the differences between her [ … ]