LAVIE TIDHAR Adama. Reviewed by Robert Goodman
Lavie Tidhar’s new novel spans generations and embodies the ideals, contradictions and brutality within the establishment of the State of Israel. Lavie Tidhar is both incredibly prolific and remarkably eclectic. In the last couple of years alone he has released a...
NRB readers’ favourite reviews of 2023
Which of our reviews did you enjoy the most in 2023? We’ve checked the stats and the results are in: here are our top 10 reviews of the year. Is your favourite among them? Or one of your favourite books? Or just a few things you’d like to add to your TBR...
ADRIAN HYLAND The Wiregrass. Reviewed by Karen Chisholm
In Adrian Hyland’s latest crime novel, Jesse Redpath is back, stationed in a new town during a time of stormy weather. The much anticipated follow-up to Canticle Creek, The Wiregrass is set in the temperate rainforest area of Victoria in the fictional town of...
SAMANTHA HARVEY Orbital. Reviewed by Robert Goodman
It may be set on the International Space Station, but Samantha Harvey’s fifth novel is grounded in the beauty and fragility of Earth. Samantha Harvey’s new novel Orbital is an extended love letter to the Earth. It charts the 16 orbits made by the International Space...
BEN SANDERS Exit .45. Reviewed by Karen Chisholm
When Marshall Grade agrees to meet his former NYPD colleague Ray Vialoux, he does not expect Ray to end up dead on the floor of a New York restaurant. Exit .45 is the third Marshall Grade novel by New Zealand-based author Ben Sanders, following on from American Blood...
MICHAEL FITZGERALD Late. Reviewed by Ann Skea
Evoking Sydney in the 1980s, Michael Fitzgerald’s third novel plays with ideas of identity, celebrity, and mortality. I’m not always Zelda, and Zelda is not always me. The voice is not Zelda’s and yet it is, and this is a very strange book, which is not at all what...
VIDYA MADABUSHI The Days Toppled Over. Reviewed by Sanchana Venkatesh
Exploitative work and striving for a visa: Vidya Madabushi’s novel highlights the plight of international students in Australia. Thirty-six-year-old Malli lives in a home for the elderly in Bangalore. Young and fit, unlike the other residents, her only ailment is her...
BRYAN BROWN The Drowning. Reviewed by Karen Chisholm
Actor and Australian icon Bryan Brown brings his laconic style to his first full-length crime novel. The Drowning is set on the northern beaches of New South Wales in a small town that is mostly occupied by surfers, retirees, outsiders and backpackers. But with the...
JESSICA DETTMANN Without Further Ado. Reviewed by Sally Nimon
Jessica Dettmann’s third novel reinvents a classic tale of romantic complications to enjoyable effect. Jessica Dettmann’s Without Further Ado is based an old story – about 400 years old. It was 1600 or thereabouts when Shakespeare is thought to have written Much Ado...
NADINE J COHEN Everyone and Everything. Reviewed by Jessica Stewart
Encompassing grief, trauma and recovery, Nadine J Cohen’s debut novel is also very funny, navigating its dark themes with wit and compassion. ‘Immersed in water as the sun announces its arrival, I feel weightless. I feel free. It’s how I imagine other people feel all...
ALICE HOFFMAN The Invisible Hour. Reviewed by Linda Godfrey
Best known for her Practical Magic series, Alice Hoffman delivers a time-travelling homage to the power of books in The Invisible Hour. This novel charts the lives of a mother and daughter and their search for independence and control over their lives. Ivy Jacob grows...
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