Image of cover of book The Cross Thieves by Alan Fyfe, reviewed by Paul Anderson in the Newtown Review of Books.

ALAN FYFE The Cross Thieves. Reviewed by Paul Anderson

by NRB | 9 April 2026 | Fiction | 2 Comments

Alan Fyfe’s second novel is a zany, punchy, circuitous literary picaresque set in the regional city of Mandurah on the southwest coast of WA. The story of The Cross Thieves works like a strange Rube Goldberg machine. One small act of kindness is followed by a tragic...

Image of cover of book The Australian Wars by Rachel Perkins, Stephen Gapps, Mina Murray and Henry Reynolds, reviewed by Braham Dabscheck in the Newtown Review of Books.

RACHEL PERKINS, STEPHEN GAPPS, MINA MURRAY and HENRY REYNOLDS (Eds) The Australian Wars. Reviewed by Braham Dabscheck

by NRB | 7 April 2026 | Non-fiction | 0 Comments

The Australian Wars presents the confronting facts of white settlement, the massacres of First Nations Australians, and their resistance. This is a difficult book to read. Its subject matter is the killing of hundreds of thousands of First Nations people by Europeans...

Image of cover of book Life Drawing by Emily Lighezzolo, reviewed by Ann Skea in the Newtown Review of Books.

EMILY LIGHEZZOLO Life Drawing. Reviewed by Ann Skea

by NRB | 2 April 2026 | Fiction | 0 Comments

Through the stories of Charlie and Maisie, artist and model, Emily Lighezzolo’s award-winning debut explores body image and its consequences. The publicity for this book describes it as a ‘provocative novel about women’s bodies, sex, autonomy – and the power of the...

Image of cover of book The Mother is Restless and She Doesn’t Know Why by Gemma Parker, reviewed by Sally Nimon in the Newtown Review of Books.

GEMMA PARKER The Mother is Restless and She Doesn’t Know Why. Reviewed by Sally Nimon

by NRB | 31 March 2026 | Non-fiction | 0 Comments

For Gemma Parker, Nietzsche and nihilism were surprisingly liberating during lockdown, as she recounts in her memoir. I’ve long been interested in nihilism because I find the concept of a meaningless existence intoxicating, liberating. The Mother is Restless opens...

Image of cover of book Old Games by Fiona Hardy, reviewed by Karen Chisholm in the Newtown Review of Books.

FIONA HARDY Old Games. Reviewed by Karen Chisholm

by NRB | 26 March 2026 | Crime Scene, Fiction | 0 Comments

The morally flexible PI team of Alice and Teddy are back in a perfectly bonkers scenario in Fiona Hardy’s new novel Old Games. Alice and Teddy, introduced to readers in the excellent Unbury the Dead, are best mates and private investigators who work for ‘Choker’, a...