LAURA BLOOM The Women and the Girls. Reviewed by Sally Nimon
Laura Bloom’s third novel for adults explores the social upheavals of 1970s Australia through the experiences of three women. For a certain kind of person, there’s only one thing less welcome than a bill – and it’s an invitation. So opens The Women and the...
CLAIRE THOMAS The Performance. Reviewed by Michelle McLaren
Set during a bushfire, Claire Thomas’s second novel juxtaposes the performance of a play with the inner lives of its audience. We turn to art for strange reasons. We see it as a ticket to help us escape from reality and somehow also as a way to make us more...
EMILY MAGUIRE Love Objects. Reviewed by Linda Godfrey
The sixth novel from the author of An Isolated Incident and Fishing for Tigers explores hoarding, shame and class. Narrated from the points of view of three people from the same extended family, Love Objects is a study of hoarding, violations of private spaces,...
ROBERT HORNE The Glass Harpoon. Reviewed by Ben Ford Smith
Robert Horne’s novel reveals uncomfortable truths about the violence of colonial Australia. In September 1848, between nine and eleven Aboriginal people were murdered at Avenue Range Station in South Australia. However, Aboriginal Australians’ testimonies were...
MARIA LEWIS The Rose Daughter. Reviewed by Amelia Dudley
Aurealis award-winner Maria Lewis has created an imaginative world that is both compelling and addictive. ‘All the best characters have scars…not just the villains.’ Set in a fantasy universe shared with her other novels, but still satisfying as a standalone read, The...
KAZUO ISHIGURO Klara and the Sun. Reviewed by Paul Anderson
Kazuo Ishiguro’s latest novel is as much about what it is to be human as it is about artificial intelligence. Klara and the Sun is Kazuo Ishiguro’s first novel since he was awarded the 2017 Nobel Prize in Literature. He touches on AI towards the end of his Nobel...
BRANDON SANDERSON Rhythm of War: Stormlight Archive Book 4. Reviewed by Amelia Dudley.
Brandon Sanderson’s epic fantasy series encompasses battles both mental and physical. A thousand quotes from noted scholars leapt to her mind. Accounts of what it was like to be in war. She’d read hundreds; some so detailed, she’d been able to smell the blood in...
THOMAS McMULLAN The Last Good Man. Reviewed by Ann Skea
Thomas McMullan’s debut novel explores truth, justice and punishment – and who gets to decide them. The air is rich enough to turn stones to men and men to stone. Careful not to step on anything that will make a noise, Peck edges towards the sound of heavy...
TESSA HADLEY Late in the Day. Reviewed by Linda Godfrey
Tessa Hadley’s latest novel is one to savour as she examines four London lives with subtlety and elegant prose. In the London of Tess Hadley’s novel, everything inside her protagonists’ houses is cool, well placed and well maintained. It is the world outside...
ANDREW O’HAGAN Mayflies. Reviewed by Paul Anderson
Andrew O’Hagan’s new novel evokes Scotland in the 1980s, the music, the politics, and the bonds of male friendship. If Mayflies was a record it would be a double A-side seven-inch single with a literary sleeve. It is a remarkable novel of two equal...
CERIDWEN DOVEY Life After Truth. Reviewed by Amy Walters
Set among Harvard alumni, Ceridwen Dovey’s new novel explores power relations and hidden lives. Life After Truth is Ceridwen Dovey’s fourth work of fiction, following on the heels of her critically acclaimed 2018 novel In The Garden of the Fugitives. The story...
Recent Posts
KERRIE DAVIES Miles Franklin Undercover. Reviewed by Ann Skea13 May 2025Author Kerrie Davies explores Miles Franklin’s life in the decades after [ … ]
SALLY ROONEY Intermezzo. Reviewed by Jessica Stewart8 May 2025Irish writer Sally Rooney is known for her succession of bestselling literary [ … ]
ROBERT MANNE A Political Memoir. Reviewed by Braham Dabscheck7 May 2025Robert Manne’s memoir charts the life of a public intellectual and independent [ … ]
IRMA GOLD Shift. Reviewed by Naomi Manuell6 May 2025Set in South Africa, the new novel from the author of The Breaking is both a [ … ]