CAOILINN HUGHES The Wild Laughter. Reviewed by Ann Skea
Caoilinn Hughes’s second novel, The Wild Laughter, explores what happens in post-boom Ireland when a father makes a life-altering request of his sons. There is plenty of laughter in this book. Hart (Doharty) Black’s way of telling his story is unique, colourful...
SAM COLEY State Highway One: extract
We’re delighted to bring you an extract from Sam Coley’s debut novel State Highway One, winner of the Richell Prize for Emerging Writers. Told with intimacy and pace, it’s a story of reconnecting with home and confronting the wounds of the past. Alex hasn’t seen his...
JO LENNAN In the Time of Foxes. Reviewed by Michelle McLaren
Predator or prey? Jo Lennan’s debut collection of stories lures the reader into a world where foxes can mean many things. In 2011, when the London Shard was under construction, workers were stunned to discover a fox had taken up residence on the...
TERRY IRVING The Fatal Lure of Politics: The life and thought of Vere Gordon Childe. Reviewed by Braham Dabscheck
Terry Irving charts the politics of early twentieth century Australia through the life of writer and polymath Vere Gordon Childe. Vere Gordon Childe (1892–1957) was one of Australia’s most distinguished scholars and public intellectuals in the first half of the...
MIKEY ROBINS Reprehensible: extract
We’re delighted to bring you a tale of literary forgery and deception in eighteenth-century London in this extract from Mikey Robins’s latest book Reprehensible, an entertaining compendium of disreputable deeds from around the world and down the ages. There’s...
JAY KRISTOFF Truel1f3: Lifel1k3 Book 3. Reviewed by Amelia Dudley.
Truel1f3 delivers a satisfying conclusion to Jay Kristoff’s dystopian Lifel1k3 series, a tale of love, sacrifice and betrayal. ‘You built a world on metal backs. Held together by metal hands. And one day soon, those hands will close. And they’ll become fists.’...
PETER O’BRIEN Bush School and JOHN COOK with JON BAUER The Last Lighthouse Keeper. Reviewed by Ann Skea
These two memoirs of life in remote parts of Australia reveal the challenges of isolation. By the time Easter approached… I was feeling quite desperate: I had no company of my own age, I had an improper diet, I spoke with other adults only on Sunday afternoons...
Special Friday Giveaway
Here’s something to get the weekend off to a great start: a chance to win a swag of great books in our special Friday giveaway. To go in the draw to win all four titles, simply email editors@newtownreviewofbooks.com.au with ‘Friday’ in the subject...
MICAIAH JOHNSON The Space Between Worlds. Reviewed by Robert Goodman
Micaiah Johnson delivers a fresh take on multiple worlds and explores issues of power, nature and fate in her novel The Space Between Worlds. The idea of multiple worlds or multiple realities is a common one in science fiction. In her debut, The Space Between...
JAMES GARDNER The Louvre: The many lives of the world’s most famous museum. Reviewed by Ann Skea
James Gardner’s history of the Louvre includes emperors and architects, social and political upheaval, war and revolution – and great works of art. Before the Louvre was a museum, it was a palace, and before that a fortress, and before that a plot of earth, much...
CHRISTOPHER RAJA Into the Suburbs: extract
This week’s extract is from Christopher Raja’s memoir Into the Suburbs, a story of immigration and family, ambition and tragedy. It is also a resonant portrait of Australia through the eyes of an outsider. Christopher Raja spent the first eleven years of his life in...
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