VICTORIA HANNAN Marshmallow. Reviewed by Jessica Stewart
Victoria Hannan’s second novel is a study of friendships under pressure. After the success of her debut, Kokomo, in 2020, Victoria Hannan’s second novel is another study of friendship. Its five characters have been friends since university. They are now in their...
JESS KIDD The Night Ship. Reviewed by Robert Goodman
The latest novel from the author of The Hoarder reimagines the tragedy and legacy of the Batavia. In The Night Ship, Jess Kidd brings together two disparate stories joined by location but separated by hundreds of years. The first, the wreck of the Batavia in 1629, is...
KIM KELLY The Rat Catcher. Reviewed by Ann Skea
In her latest novel Kim Kelly blends a slice of Sydney’s history with an Irish love story. In February 1900, Sydney was sweltering in the sort of summer heat that, as The Rat Catcher’s Patrick O’Reilly says, sent ‘ale sizzling down your throat as if the amber...
VIKKI PETRAITIS The Unbelieved. Reviewed by Robert Goodman
After more than 25 years of writing true crime, Vikki Petraitis turns her hand to fiction. Australian true crime author Vikki Petraitis won the inaugural Allen and Unwin crime fiction prize for The Unbelieved, her first fictional outing. And while this is fiction, it...
ASTRID SCHOLTE League of Liars. Reviewed by Amelia Dudley
Melbourne-based Astrid Scholte’s new novel pits its characters against injustice. Liars … recount their stories perfectly. As though they’ve memorised the story from start to finish. However, the truth is organic. Details are remembered in bits and pieces....
HOLDEN SHEPPARD The Brink. Reviewed by Michael Jongen
Holden Sheppard’s second novel is more Lord of the Flies than teen exploitation story. Holden Sheppard’s Invisible Boys (2019) was a stunning debut that got a lot of attention when it was released. It’s a raw and real read – an honest novel about being young and...
MADELINE MILLER Galatea: A short story. Reviewed by Ann Skea
Madeline Miller reimagines Ovid’s story of Pygmalion and Galatea, the work of art brought to life. … he sculpted white ivory happily with wondrous art and wondrous skill and gave it form with which no mortal woman is born, and he fell in love with his...
TONI JORDAN Dinner with the Schnabels. Reviewed by Michelle McLaren
Toni Jordan’s sixth novel navigates post-lockdown Melbourne with a memorable family. Before the pandemic, Simon Larsen was a successful architect. He had everything a successful person would have – an expensive watch, a luxury car. He, his wife Tansy, and their...
BENJAMIN MYERS The Perfect Golden Circle. Reviewed by Robert Goodman
Benjamin Myers’ new novel delves into 1980s Britain and the allure of crop circles. For those of us old enough to remember, there was a period in history when mysterious geometric shapes appeared in crops across the western world with increasing regularity....
JODI PICOULT Wish You Were Here. Reviewed by Sally Nimon
Jodi Picoult’s latest novel contrasts life in the Galapagos and New York during Covid-19. Jodi Picoult’s Wish You Were Here is a story about the nature of reality. When Covid-19 first hit in the early months of 2020, few understood just how much of a swathe it...
GILLIAN McALLISTER Wrong Place, Wrong Time. Reviewed by Robert Goodman
British crime writer Gillian McAllister’s new novel explores time travel as crime prevention. Time loops are everywhere these days. Groundhog Day might have popularised them (and in doing so entered the popular vernacular) but the narrative conceit has now gone...
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