CASSANDRA AUSTIN Like Mother. Reviewed by Jessica Stewart
Cassandra Austin’s second novel is a page-turner that weaves together themes of motherhood and family secrets. On an ordinary summer’s day in 1969, in a small Australian town, a new mother finds her baby missing from her cot. In this gothic novel, Cassandra...
IRMA GOLD The Breaking. Reviewed by Amy Walters
Canberra writer Irma Gold brings her passion for elephants to her debut novel. After losing her job as a receptionist, Hannah flees to Thailand where her money will go further. Here she encounters Deven, a fellow Australian expat working as a teacher, whose passion is...
REBECCA STARFORD The Imitator. Reviewed by Ann Skea
Set in wartime London, Rebecca Starford’s debut novel brings a true story of espionage to life. When I was halfway through this book I discovered, by accident, that it is based on real wartime espionage that occurred in London between 1939 and 1940. Evelyn, the...
TRENT DALTON All Our Shimmering Skies. Reviewed by Chris Maher
The author of the bestselling Boy Swallows Universe returns with a tale of a young girl’s quest. Following the resounding acclaim for his debut novel, Trent Dalton has drawn together some of the elements that made Boy Swallows Universe such a success and remixed...
ALISON BOOTH The Philosopher’s Daughters. Reviewed by Kim Kelly
The fifth novel from Australian author Alison Booth, The Philosopher’s Daughters is an intriguing and energetic historical fiction that takes us from the genteel world of 1890s London parlour-chat to the sun-crisped, trackless outback of the Northern Territory. The...
SL LIM Revenge: Murder in Three Parts. Reviewed by Ann Skea
Following her first novel Real Differences, SL Lim explores the weight of family obligations and betrayals in her second, Revenge. The three parts of this ‘Murder’ appear to be the Prologue ‘The Demon Brother’; 11 chapters culminating in one titled ‘Revenge’; and an...
TARA JUNE WINCH The Yield. Reviewed by Suzanne Marks
Tara June Winch’s multi-award-winning novel is told in three voices, one of which takes the form of a dictionary. Yield, bend the feet, tread, as in walking, also long, tall – baayanha. Yield itself is a funny word – yield in English is the reaping, the things that...
EMMA ASHMERE Dreams They Forgot: extract
This week we’re delighted to bring you the short story ‘Fallout’ from Emma Ashmere’s debut collection Dreams They Forgot. What haunting stories these are, with their ghosts, betrayals and secrets, ranging back and forth across time and continents. A...
STEVEN CONTE The Tolstoy Estate. Reviewed by Paul Anderson
You don’t need to have read War and Peace to enjoy Steven Conte’s second novel. Steven Conte returns to World War II as the mise en scène for his accomplished second novel, The Tolstoy Estate. His first, The Zookeeper’s War, won the 2008 Prime...
JO LENNAN In the Time of Foxes. Reviewed by Michelle McLaren
Predator or prey? Jo Lennan’s debut collection of stories lures the reader into a world where foxes can mean many things. In 2011, when the London Shard was under construction, workers were stunned to discover a fox had taken up residence on the...
LUKE HORTON The Fogging. Reviewed by Amy Walters
Luke Horton’s tense debut novel asks uncomfortable questions about intimate relationships. In hindsight, the end of a relationship can take on an air of inevitability. But is it possible to pinpoint the exact moment when it irrevocably breaks down? Or is the end...
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