NK JEMISIN The City We Became. Reviewed by Robert Goodman
NK Jemisin’s new novel is both an urban fantasy and a love letter to New York. NK Jemisin has come off her three-for-three Hugo wins for the Broken Earth trilogy with something completely different. The City We Became firmly puts the urban into urban fantasy,...
KIRSTY MANNING The Lost Jewels. Reviewed by Ann Skea
This new novel from the author of The Jade Lily traverses three continents and features the fabulous jewels of the famous Cheapside Hoard. The Lost Jewels was inspired by a true story. On 18 June 1912, a workman clearing rubble from a cellar in London’s...
CHRIS HAMMER Silver: extract
This week our extract is from Chris Hammer’s second crime novel, Silver. It again features investigative journalist Martin Scarsden, who readers first met in Scrublands where – among other things – he fell for the beautiful Mandalay Blonde in the small Riverina town...
PAUL KINGSNORTH Confessions of a Recovering Environmentalist. Reviewed by Kurt Johnson
In this collection of essays Paul Kingsnorth charts the changes in the environmentalism movement and proposes a radical new step. By 2020 the environmentalism movement has become fully corporate. It has finally found a three-piece suit that fits and now comfortably...
BEM LE HUNTE Elephants with Headlights. Reviewed by Ann Skea
Bem Le Hunte’s third novel explores what happens when Australian mores meet Indian traditions, and old ways collide with new. Siddharth is a successful Delhi businessman. The sort of person who, as Guruji sees, is keen to make it clear that: … he didn’t lead a life of...
Autumn Giveaway #5
This is the last in this series of Autumn Giveaways, so don’t miss out! To go in the draw, simply email editors@newtownreviewofbooks.com.au with ‘Autumn 5′ in the subject line and your name and address in the body of the email by midnight tonight, Monday 6 April...
KIRSTEN KRAUTH Almost A Mirror: extract
Welcome to the first of our new series of Friday extracts – a little something for the end of the week. If you like the idea, please let us know! We’re delighted to launch with an extract from Kirsten Krauth’s new novel Almost A Mirror. This is a...
KIRSTEN ALEXANDER Riptides. Reviewed by Karen Chisholm
Kirsten Alexander’s second novel evokes 1970s Queensland as it explores the fallout of a tragedy. In her acknowledgements at the end of Riptides, Kirsten Alexander touches on the difficulties she faced in writing about her home town: Anyone who grew up in...
LAUREN CHATER Gulliver’s Wife. Reviewed by Sally Nimon
In her first novel, The Lace Weaver, Lauren Chater took readers to Estonia; in her second she imagines the life of the woman left behind in London when Jonathan Swift’s Gulliver went off on his travels. There’s an old saying: behind every great man there’s...
Autumn Giveaway #4
No, you can’t ever have enough books, whatever Marie Kondo says. Here’s your chance to win all four of these titles in our fourth big Autumn Giveaway. To go in the draw, simply email editors@newtownreviewofbooks.com.au with ‘Autumn 4′ in the subject...
HAFSAH FAIZAL We Hunt the Flame. Reviewed by Amelia Dudley
Hafsah Faizal draws on Arabic culture in her first novel, spinning a tale of an evil forest, a lost jewel, and a magical quest. Love is for children, said the girl. Death is for fools, said the shadow. Darkness is my destiny, said the boy. Allegiance is my...
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