JOHN DALE The Faculty. Reviewed by Airlie Lawson
This insider’s satire of university life is no advertisement for an academic career. The premise of John Dale’s new novel is simple, age-old even: ambitious young thing gets dream job – but discovers that, in reality, it’s closer to a nightmare. The book opens with a...
JESSICA JOHNS Bad Cree. Reviewed by Robert Goodman
Jessica Johns’ debut novel does not discount the importance of dreams and the persistence of spirits. Jessica Johns claims that she wrote her horror-inspired novel Bad Cree ‘as a form of revenge’. The revenge was against what could be described as the mainstream...
BARRY MAITLAND The Russian Wife. Reviewed by Karen Chisholm
The fourteenth instalment of Barry Maitland’s groundbreaking Brock and Kolla crime series is also the last. Scottish-born, English-raised and, since 1984, Australian-based, Barry Maitland published the first Brock and Kolla novel, The Marx Sisters, in 1994. On his...
FIONA McFARLANE The Sun Walks Down. Reviewed by Ben Ford Smith
Fiona McFarlane’s story of a lost child reveals a cross-section of colonial Australia. ‘The boy met a god by the hollow tree.’ So begins Fiona McFarlane’s second novel, The Sun Walks Down, and so begins a kaleidoscopic tour through the social strata of early...
GERALDINE BROOKS Horse. Reviewed by Catherine Pardey
In unearthing the story of a 19th-century thoroughbred, Pulitzer Prize-winner Geraldine Brooks examines racism then and now. Geraldine Brooks takes on a mighty task in her latest novel, Horse, covering events leading up to the American Civil War through the story of...
JODI PICOULT and JENNIFER FINNEY BOYLAN Mad Honey. Reviewed by Sally Nimon
What did happen to Lily? Jodi Picoult’s collaboration with Jennifer Finney Boylan is much more than a murder mystery. Mad Honey is the latest novel from Jodi Picoult, a collaboration with fellow writer Jennifer Finney Boylan. The term ‘mad honey’ refers to a...
NRB readers’ favourite reviews of 2022
Which of our reviews this year did you enjoy the most? We’ve run the numbers to discover our top ten reviews of 2022 based on reader views. Are any of your favourites among them? Or perhaps on your TBR pile? (A TBR pile is a wonderful thing – there’s...
HOLLY THROSBY Clarke. Reviewed by Sally Nimon
Holly Throsby’s third novel takes inspiration from a notorious real-life missing persons case. What would you do if you believed someone was a murderer? You don’t have proof, necessarily, but you have witnessed a series of events that seem to add up to an...
BETH SPENCER The Age of Fibs: extract
Award-winning author Beth Spencer ranges across popular culture, the environment, and the body in her new collection. Forthright, feminist, full of wry wit and insight whether dissecting relations between men and women or contemplating the fragility of nature, The Age...
JO RICCIONI The Branded. Reviewed by Amelia Dudley
In the world of Jo Riccioni’s debut fantasy novel, surviving a plague carries a price. How I longed to be allowed to wield a sword, to fight, to kill the Settlement’s enemies when I trained with Brim in the Fornwood. Now I’d give anything not to. Acclaimed...
MEG HOWREY They’re Going to Love You. Reviewed by Ann Skea
The new novel from the author of The Wanderers explores relationships within the New York ballet world. It is clear from the very beginning that Carlisle Martin is a dancer. ‘Feel what I feel,’ she tells us, as she instructs us in the movements that will result in us...
Recent Posts
ALAN FYFE The Cross Thieves. Reviewed by Paul Anderson9 April 2026Alan Fyfe’s second novel is a zany, punchy, circuitous literary picaresque set [ … ]
RACHEL PERKINS, STEPHEN GAPPS, MINA MURRAY and HENRY REYNOLDS (Eds) The Australian Wars. Reviewed by Braham Dabscheck7 April 2026The Australian Wars presents the confronting facts of white settlement, the [ … ]
EMILY LIGHEZZOLO Life Drawing. Reviewed by Ann Skea2 April 2026Through the stories of Charlie and Maisie, artist and model, Emily Lighezzolo’s [ … ]
GEMMA PARKER The Mother is Restless and She Doesn’t Know Why. Reviewed by Sally Nimon31 March 2026For Gemma Parker, Nietzsche and nihilism were surprisingly liberating during [ … ]