EMILY MAGUIRE Rapture. Reviewed by Ann Skea
The author of Love Objects and An Isolated Incident turns to historical fiction to tell the story of a young ninth-century woman whose quest for knowledge will not be denied. Rapture is a romance. Not just because it follows the love and passion of an unconventional...
RODNEY HALL Vortex. Reviewed by Paul Anderson
Rodney Hall has won the Miles Franklin Award twice (Just Relations, The Grisly Wife); his new novel is a panoramic alternative history of the twentieth century. Queen Elizabeth II visited Brisbane on 9 March 1954 as part of her longest-ever Commonwealth tour. A...
BENJAMIN STEVENSON Everyone This Christmas Has A Secret. Reviewed by Naomi Manuell
The author of Everyone In My Family Has Killed Someone returns with another witty homage to the Golden Age of crime fiction. There’s a whiff of unseriousness around some whodunnits. Many readers still think of the form as stuck in detective fiction’s Golden Age with...
TIM WINTON Juice. Reviewed by Robert Goodman
Tim Winton’s new novel dives into a post-climate-change world where violence seems the only solution. The opening of Tim Winton’s new novel Juice cannot help but put readers in mind of Cormac McCarthy’s seminal work The Road. A man, possibly an ex-soldier, and a young...
EMILY TSOKOS PURTILL Matia. Reviewed by Ann Skea
Emily Tsokos Purtill’s debut novel ranges across continents to tell the stories of five generations of Greek women. Sia’s quick Greek lesson: µári – máti : eye; also a small jewellery charm, usually blue with a black dot, worn to protect the...
ELIZABETH STROUT Tell Me Everything. Reviewed by Michael Jongen
Pulitzer-winner Elizabeth Strout explores themes of isolation and connection in her new novel featuring two of her most-loved characters. Elizabeth Strout, author of Oliver Kitteridge, My Name is Lucy Barton and Oh William! (among others), has an ability to capture...
HARRIET CONSTABLE The Instrumentalist. Reviewed by Ann Skea
Harriet Constable’s debut novel takes inspiration from a real-life Venetian prodigy who was both a student of and rival to Vivaldi. Anna Maria della Pietà is destined for greatness. At eight, she knows it as surely as string knows bow, as lightning knows storm, as...
ANNA DOWNES Red River Road and LISA KENWAY All You Took From Me. Reviewed by Justine Ettler
These two new crime thrillers from Australian writers Anna Downes and Lisa Kenway bring fresh takes to the genre. Writers groups are an increasingly popular way for new and established novelists to workshop and complete their manuscripts. It’s always been difficult...
ANTONIA PONT The Memory Library. Reviewed by Ann Skea
Memories are not merely recounted in Antonia Pont’s novella. How would you like to share someone else’s memories? No, not to just listen to them or read them, but to experience them, to be where they were, do what they were doing, hear what they heard (voices, birds,...
ALINA BELLCHAMBERS The Order of Masks. Reviewed by Amelia Dudley
Spies, magic, intrigue, and the human cost of an expanding empire all feature in Australian author Alina Bellchambers’ debut fantasy. Growing up on the run from mysterious criminals with her mother, Mira has always dreamed of having safety and stability; of being able...
LARRY BUTTROSE Everyone on Mars. Reviewed by Sue Woolfe
Not just astronauts and science experiments: Larry Buttrose’s stories imagine what it would be like if we had to live on Mars. One of the most memorable opening lines in fiction is Ford Maddox Ford’s ‘This is the saddest story I have ever heard.’ The Good Soldier is...
FERDIA LENNON Glorious Exploits. Reviewed by Ann Skea
Set in the ancient world, Ferdia Lennon’s debut novel features the plays of Euripides, prisoners of war, and an unlikely production of Medea. Syracuse 412 BC So Gelon says to me, ‘Let’s go down and feed the Athenians. The weather’s perfect for feeding Athenians.’ When...
STEPH TISDELL The Skin I’m In. Reviewed by Linda Godfrey
Comedian Steph Tisdell’s first novel tackles serious issues in this story of growing up in a First Nations family. Set in Brisbane, The Skin I’m In opens with Layla, the youngest daughter of a First Nations mother and a white father, getting ready for her last year of...
MALCOLM KNOX The First Friend. Reviewed by Ann Skea
Malcolm Knox’s new novel satirises the brutal madness of the Soviet Union, focussing on Stalin’s notorious head of secret police, Beria. In the business of producing fiction, the novelist can never keep up with authoritarian political leaders. Such leaders offer an...
CLAIRE SUTHERLAND The Crag. Reviewed by Karen Chisholm
In Claire Sutherland’s debut crime novel, a body is found on an isolated track on the Wimmera Plains, where Mount Arapiles towers over all. Anybody who has ever spent any time in the Wimmera around Gariwerd (the Grampians) in Victoria will know how striking the...
LÁSZLÓ KRASZNAHORKAI Herscht 07769. Reviewed by James Arbuthnott
László Krasznahorkai’s latest novel encompasses physics, the music of JS Bach, and an obsessive correspondence with the German chancellor. László Krasznahorkai enthusiasts won't be surprised he's written a 430-page novel comprising a single sentence. It's as bleak and...
STEPHEN DOWNES Mural. Reviewed by Ann Skea
Stephen Downes’ debut The Hands of Pianists was shortlisted for the PM’s Literary Awards. His second ranges across art, violence, folklore and mental illness. This is a strange book. Not just because the narrator is a violent criminal writing his thoughts for his...
JODI PICOULT By Any Other Name. Reviewed by Sally Nimon
Jodi Picoult’s latest novel reimagines Shakespeare and shows little has changed since the sixteenth century for women playwrights. ‘I believe we can help each other,’ Emilia said. ‘You wish for everyone to know your name; I wish for no one to know mine.’ So begins...
SARAH BETH DURST The Spellshop. Reviewed by Amelia Dudley
Sarah Beth Durst calls her new novel ‘cozy fantasy’ and delivers a tale of magic, persecution – and jam-making. Librarian Kiela flees the burning Great Library of Alyssium with Caz, her chatty, sentient spider-plant assistant, and as many priceless (and highly...
COURTNEY COLLINS Bird. Reviewed by Emma Foster
The lyrical second novel from the author of The Burial criss-crosses through time following one girl's parallel lives. Bird is the pensive, defiant 14-year-old protagonist of Courtney Collins’ new novel. In the opening chapter, she’s living with her family in a...
JAMES SA COREY The Mercy of Gods. Reviewed by Robert Goodman
The team that is James SA Corey – author of The Expanse – delivers the first instalment of an epic new science fiction series. Lovers of good science fiction will be aware of the name James SA Corey. It is the pen name of Ty Frank and Daniel Abraham who, as a pair,...
COLM TÓIBÍN Long Island. Reviewed by Catherine Pardey
The new novel from the author of The Magician and A Guest at the Feast continues the story of one of his most popular characters. In Long Island, his sequel to the award-winning 2009 Brooklyn, Tóibín returns to familiar territory. Brooklyn begins with Eilis Lacey...
GAIL PARENT Sheila Levine is Dead and Living in New York; SARAH ROSE ETTER Ripe. Reviewed by Jessica Stewart
When Gail Parent published Sheila Levine in 1972 it wasn’t called a ‘sad girl novel’; in 2024 Sarah Rose Etter’s Ripe shows the trope's enduring popularity. Content warning: suicidal ideation Over 50 years ago, Gail Parent wrote a dark satire about a young woman...
KIRSTY ILTNERS Depth of Field. Reviewed by Ann Skea
Winner of the 2023 Dorothy Hewett Award, photographer Kirsty Iltners’ first novel explores both darkness and light. If you want to freeze something fast, you increase the shutter speed – but it makes the image darker. Tom’s memories of his first encounter with Adeline...