Image of cover of book Intermezzo by Sally Rooney, reviewed by Jessica Stewart in the Newtown Review of Books.

SALLY ROONEY Intermezzo. Reviewed by Jessica Stewart

by NRB | 8 May 2025 | Fiction | 0 Comments

Irish writer Sally Rooney is known for her succession of bestselling literary novels. Intermezzo is her best yet. In her first novel, Conversations with Friends, a young woman, Frances, enters into an obsessive affair with an older man, a jaded, not overly successful...

Image of cover of book A Political Memoir by Robert Manne, reviewed by Braham Dabscheck in the Newtown Review of Books

ROBERT MANNE A Political Memoir. Reviewed by Braham Dabscheck

by NRB | 7 May 2025 | Non-fiction | 0 Comments

Robert Manne’s memoir charts the life of a public intellectual and independent thinker unafraid of a fight. A Political Memoir is an important work that says a lot about Australia and the sort of country we are. As well as some personal history, Robert Manne provides...

Image of cover of book Shift by Irma Gold, reviewed by Naomi Manuell in the Newtown Review of Books.

IRMA GOLD Shift. Reviewed by Naomi Manuell

by NRB | 6 May 2025 | Fiction | 0 Comments

Set in South Africa, the new novel from the author of The Breaking is both a family drama and deeply political. Irma Gold’s second novel explores the vital things we share through art and human connection. Arlie is a 30-something Melbourne photographer with a talent...

Image of cover of book Ignorance and Bliss by Mark Lilla, reviewed by Braham Dabscheck in the Newtown Review of Books.

MARK LILLA Ignorance and Bliss: On wanting not to know. Reviewed by Braham Dabscheck

by NRB | 1 May 2025 | Non-fiction | 0 Comments

In Ignorance and Bliss, political scientist Mark Lilla gives a timely examination of why we can be so keen to avoid the truth. The Enlightenment, aka the Age of Reason, is based on the assumption that we want to acquire knowledge about ourselves and how the world...

Image of cover of book The Paris Express by Emma Donoghue, reviewed by Justine Ettler in the Newtown Review of Books.

EMMA DONOGHUE The Paris Express. Reviewed by Justine Ettler

by NRB | 29 April 2025 | Fiction | 0 Comments

The new novel from the author of Room and Akin delivers an Agatha Christie feel, a historical train derailment, and identity politics. In the search for an original twist, some crime writers are turning to literary and experimental tropes like hybrid genres and...