EMILY TESH The Incandescent. Reviewed by Robert Goodman
Emily Tesh’s magical fantasy is as much about the art of teaching as it is about dealing with demons. There are so many magical academy books now that they have become a definable sub-genre. While the first fantasy book to feature a magic school was Ursula K Le Guin’s...
JO HARKIN The Pretender. Reviewed by Ann Skea
Jo Harkin’s novel is a fresh and rollicking take on the mystery of fifteenth-century pretender to the English throne, Lambert Simnel. Perhaps the best part of John’s life (and the funniest) is when he is still ‘a small village boy’, ‘short of words’ but full of...
GEORGIA ROSE PHILLIPS The Bearcat. Reviewed by Linda Godfrey
Phillips’ debut novel fictionalises the early life of Anne Hamilton Byrne, the real-life leader of the notorious Australian cult The Family. Anne Hamilton Byrne invented her own philosophy, attracted adherents, and wielded spiritual power over them. She claimed to be...
KAREN VIGGERS Sidelines. Reviewed by Mary Garden
Karen Viggers’ fifth novel centres on a junior soccer team, but the ambitions and rivalries of the parents are the real story. Although I’m not a footy fan, I bought Sidelines at last year’s Port Fairy Writer’s Festival after hearing Karen Viggers speak passionately...
KELLY GARDINER and SHARMINI KUMAR Miss Caroline Bingley Private Detective. Reviewed by Michael Jongen
Gardiner and Kumar give Caroline Bingley a larger and more exciting role than she ever had in Pride and Prejudice. Caroline Bingley’s unpopularity in Pride and Prejudice stems largely from her behaviour and motivations, which clash with the values celebrated in...
SALLY ROONEY Intermezzo. Reviewed by Jessica Stewart
Irish writer Sally Rooney is known for her succession of bestselling literary novels. Intermezzo is her best yet. In her first novel, Conversations with Friends, a young woman, Frances, enters into an obsessive affair with an older man, a jaded, not overly successful...
IRMA GOLD Shift. Reviewed by Naomi Manuell
Set in South Africa, the new novel from the author of The Breaking is both a family drama and deeply political. Irma Gold’s second novel explores the vital things we share through art and human connection. Arlie is a 30-something Melbourne photographer with a talent...
EMMA DONOGHUE The Paris Express. Reviewed by Justine Ettler
The new novel from the author of Room and Akin delivers an Agatha Christie feel, a historical train derailment, and identity politics. In the search for an original twist, some crime writers are turning to literary and experimental tropes like hybrid genres and...
FRANCESCA DE TORES Saltblood. Reviewed by Ann Skea
Francesca de Tores’ novel is swashbuckling historical fiction, featuring unconventional women, war, and piracy on the high seas. Francesca de Tores makes it clear from the start: Mary Read and Anne Bonny are real historical figures – but I am no historian. In...
FIONA HARDY Unbury the Dead. Reviewed by Karen Chisholm
Melbourne author Fiona Hardy has broken very different ground with her crime fiction debut Unbury the Dead. Hardy is well-known in crime fiction circles as a Melbourne bookseller, crime fiction reviewer and, more recently, an award-winning author of children’s...
RACHEL MORTON The Sun Was Electric Light. Reviewed by Ann Skea
Set in Guatemala, Australian Rachel Morton’s debut novel of a young woman searching for her place in the world is already a prize-winner. Ruth is in her thirties and is disillusioned with life. She had moved to New York because it was the ‘furthest place’ from her...
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