VANESSA BERRY Mirror Sydney. Reviewed by Tom Patterson
A series of delightful anecdotes about Sydney Vanessa Berry sets out her brief in Mirror Sydney early. This book is a description of Sydney that doesn’t seek to describe its ‘natural beauty’ but instead focuses on the ‘marginalia, the overlooked and the odd’. To...
ROSIE WATERLAND Every Lie I’ve Ever Told. Reviewed by Jessica Stewart
Rosie Waterland gives a clear-eyed reckoning of her life in this new memoir. In Every Lie I’ve Ever Told, Rosie Waterland tells stories from her ruptured childhood – first laid bare in her 2016 memoir The Anti-Cool Girl – interlacing them with intelligent,...
BRADON ELLEM The Pilbara: From the deserts profits come. Reviewed by Bernard Whimpress
The Pilbara is an important book for anyone thinking about the world of work and how it might be shaped in Australia. Bradon Ellem tells us at the outset that his approach will be historical and geographical, that the past does not stay the same, and that the vast...
CASSIE LANE How to Dress a Dummy. Reviewed by Robin Elizabeth
How to Dress a Dummy speaks frankly of Cassie Lane’s battle for acceptance and will ring bells with many women. Cassie Lane is a former international model with a Masters in Creative Writing, but seems to be best known in Australia for dating AFL player...
JULIANNE SCHULTZ and JERATH HEAD (eds) Griffith Review #56: Millennials Strike Back. Reviewed by Folly Gleeson
Millennials write here about what affects their generation – it affects us all. This is a stunningly good collection of essays, memoirs, images, fiction, reportage and poetry. Written with flair and commitment, it is fresh and exciting. It is very timely, too....
ROXANE GAY Hunger. Reviewed by Michael Jongen
The gruelling honesty and intense focus of Hunger invite self-reflection in the reader. Roxane Gay has a gift for observation and the ability to articulate her thoughts into beautiful writing, no matter how ghastly the revelation. That she can find humour or hope...
HELEN HAENKE Helen Haenke at Rockton: A creative life. Reviewed by Jeannette Delamoir
The life of Helen Haenke highlights the vitality and value of regional arts and their crucial interconnections with place. Who was Helen Haenke? Where is Rockton? This non-fiction publication from the University of Queensland Press (edited by Joanne...
JILL ROE Our Fathers Cleared the Bush: Remembering Eyre Peninsula. Reviewed by Bernard Whimpress
Our Fathers Cleared the Bush is a captivating combination of regional history and memoir. ‘When I say I come from Eyre Peninsula, I am sometimes met with a blank look,’ wrote the late Professor Emerita of History at Macquarie University, Jill Roe, in opening her first...
JOYCE MORGAN Martin Sharp: His life and times. Reviewed by Jeannette Delamoir
Joyce Morgan’s version of Martin Sharp presents an important portrait of the man and his times. The cultural volatility of the 1960s demanded new ways to express its clashing ideals and philosophies. Late Sydney artist Martin Sharp was one of the key contributors to...
REBECCA STOTT In the Days of Rain; A daughter, a father, a cult. Reviewed by Linda Godfrey
This is a story of the devastating effects of waiting for the Rapture – and surviving a cult. Rebecca Stott is the daughter of Roger Stott, once a lay minster in the Exclusive Brethren in England. In the Days of Rain relates one family’s experience of living...
DAVID STEPHENS AND ALISON BROINOWSKI (eds) The Honest History Book. Reviewed by Bernard Whimpress
This is a passionate argument for a wider Australian history. Never have so many ringing phrases from so many historians rung so true. Every weekend I drive down Anzac Highway to my home in Plympton, passing the Keswick Army Barracks, and note a sign to the Army...
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