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...
KIM KELLY Her Last Words. Reviewed by Sally Nimon
Historical novelist Kim Kelly (author of Walking, Sunshine and Wild Chicory) turns to the 21st century in her new novel to deliver a tale of intrigue and literary ambition. What a strange year 2020 has been. The world has already had bushfires, floods, pandemics,...
VICTORIA HANNAN Kokomo. Reviewed by Jessica Stewart
Winner of the Victorian Premier’s Literary Award for an Unpublished Manuscript, Victoria Hannan’s debut is a rewarding journey. Victoria Hannan’s Kokomo takes us deep into the conundrum of love, with its heartbreak and trauma. In this, her first...
SL LIM Real Differences. Reviewed by Ann Skea
SL Lim’s debut won this year’s UTS Glenda Adams Award for New Writing at the NSW Premier’s Literary Awards and explores questions of race, religion and culture. Nick, who tells this story, is a rather disengaged white Australian man who, as he tells us, ‘graduated...
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