BILL HOSKING QC with JOHN SUTER LINTON Justice Denied. Reviewed by Tom Kelly
True stories from the courts of the 1970s and 1980s: police verbals, complacent judges, and a rich cast of characters. The word ‘legend’ is grossly overused thanks to sporting commentators, but not in respect of Bill Hosking QC — at least not among criminal...
NRB Editors remember literary agent and friend Rose Creswell
Trailblazing literary agent Rosemary Creswell died on 19 April 2017 after a long illness. Jean and Linda each pay tribute. Linda Funnell: Eulogy given at Rose’s funeral on 28 April 2017 Dear Rose, how lucky I was to know you. How lucky we all were to...
JULIA BAIRD Victoria the Queen: An intimate biography of the woman who changed the world. Reviewed by Bernard Whimpress
This immensely satisfying biography of Queen Victoria humanises its subject. The final words of Julia’s Baird’s biography of 493 pages are ‘Victoria endured’. Victoria endured to the age of 81 years when the average life span of her subjects was 46 and only one in 20...
RUTH QUIBELL The Promise of Things. Reviewed by Ashley Kalagian Blunt
Ruth Quibell’s The Promise of Things offers a pathway to ‘an intelligent life with things’. We’re surrounded by things. Our own things, other people’s things, necessary things, beloved things, things we cannot wait to be rid of. Our heads are...
CAROLINE BAUM Only: A singular memoir. Reviewed by Shelley McInnis
Baum’s memoir is replete with examples of emotional deftness of the highest order. I have very much enjoyed Caroline Baum’s published essays, and it is a delight to see two of them appearing as familiar landmarks in this big map of a memoir. One, entitled...
BRENTLEY FRAZER Scoundrel Days: A memoir. Reviewed by Annette Hughes
Scoundrel Days takes the reader into each unfolding moment of Frazer’s getting of wisdom. Brentley Frazer has changed names in this memoir to protect the privacy of particular individuals, but every word of it rings true. Children who grew up in far north...
BOB ELLIS In His Own Words (compiled by Anne Brooksbank). Reviewed by Bernard Whimpress
This anthology of Ellis’s writing reflects his wide range of interests and concerns. Scene 1: A man came up to me in a pub. I was reading Goodbye Jerusalem or Goodbye Babylon – one of the big books. ‘He’s an angry man, Ellis,’ he said. ‘He’s much to be angry...
PETER DOYLE Crooks Like Us. Reviewed by Linda Funnell
Peter Doyle seeks to unlock the stories behind this extraordinary collection of police mug shots from the early 20th century. Around 1910 the New South Wales Police began photographing some of the people who passed through Sydney’s Central and other inner-city police...
ANDREW P STREET The Curious Story of Malcolm Turnbull, the Incredible Shrinking Man in the Top Hat Reviewed by Chris Maher
Street continues to blend fact and witticisms as he takes on Captain Abbott’s mutinous replacement. As your humble scribe suggested when reviewing The Short and Excruciatingly Embarrassing Reign of Captain Abbott, Andrew P Street could well have embarked upon a sequel...
NRB Editors on their favourite books of 2016
Unusually, this year Jean only features one crime novel, but as usual our picks are widely different. Linda’s close following of Australian women’s fiction is evident, while Jean has returned to some classics. Jean’s picks: Wide Sargasso Sea,...
NRB reviewers pick their best books of 2016
This year, we’ve asked some of our regular reviewers to nominate the best book they have read in 2016. The result is a diverse and fascinating round-up. Ashley Kalagian Blunt David Hunt’s Girt: The Unauthorised History of Australia, Volume 1: From Megafauna to...
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