by NRB | 20 Oct 2020 | Fiction |
Ottessa Moshfegh’s new novel is an unconventional mystery that walks a fine line between reality and existential fantasy, probing the nature of memory, identity and loss. Vesta Gul is not your typical little old lady. At 72 years of age she lives a hermit-like...
by NRB | 1 Oct 2020 | Fiction, SFF |
Matthew Baker casts a critical eye on his country in these timely short stories that present alternate versions of America. While there have always been books of short stories, at the moment there seems to be a resurgence of anthology TV series, particularly in genres...
by NRB | 17 Sep 2020 | Fiction |
Fans of Susanna Clarke’s Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell will not be disappointed by her latest offering. Piranesi is a transcendental mystery set in a harsh yet wondrous fantasy world that raises challenging questions about the nature of reality, identity, and...
by NRB | 28 Aug 2020 | Extracts, Fiction |
We’re delighted to bring you an extract from Sam Coley’s debut novel State Highway One, winner of the Richell Prize for Emerging Writers. Told with intimacy and pace, it’s a story of reconnecting with home and confronting the wounds of the past. Alex hasn’t seen his...
by NRB | 17 Jul 2020 | Extracts, Fiction |
This week we’re thrilled to bring you an extract from Jessie Tu’s novel A Lonely Girl is a Dangerous Thing – an exhilarating, disturbing, unputdownable debut about music, sex, and, yes, loneliness and connection. Jena Lin was a musical child prodigy, touring the great...
by NRB | 2 Jul 2020 | Crime Scene, Fiction |
Anna Downes’s first novel is a thriller that poses uncomfortable questions about families. The Safe Place begins with a dreamlike escape. A young Londoner in a Ramones T-shirt and worn sneakers boards a private jet and arrives in France, where a chauffeur...
by NRB | 30 Jun 2020 | Fiction |
This new novel from the author of Prep and American Wife imagines what might have happened if Hillary Rodham hadn’t married Bill Clinton. Towards the end of Curtis Sittenfeld’s fictionalised treatment of the life of Hillary Rodham Clinton, she has the 2016...
by NRB | 19 May 2020 | Fiction |
Laura Southgate’s first novel highlights questions of agency and serves as a warning against allowing others to make choices for you. At seventeen, here’s what I know: a boyfriend falls desperately in love. It’s an affliction. He tells you he loves you, how much...
by NRB | 14 Apr 2020 | Fiction |
This new novel from the author of The Jade Lily traverses three continents and features the fabulous jewels of the famous Cheapside Hoard. The Lost Jewels was inspired by a true story. On 18 June 1912, a workman clearing rubble from a cellar in London’s...
by NRB | 7 Apr 2020 | Fiction |
Bem Le Hunte’s third novel explores what happens when Australian mores meet Indian traditions, and old ways collide with new. Siddharth is a successful Delhi businessman. The sort of person who, as Guruji sees, is keen to make it clear that: … he didn’t lead a life of...
by NRB | 6 Apr 2020 | Giveaways |
This is the last in this series of Autumn Giveaways, so don’t miss out! To go in the draw, simply email editors@newtownreviewofbooks.com.au with ‘Autumn 5′ in the subject line and your name and address in the body of the email by midnight tonight, Monday 6 April...
by NRB | 3 Apr 2020 | Extracts, Fiction |
Welcome to the first of our new series of Friday extracts – a little something for the end of the week. If you like the idea, please let us know! We’re delighted to launch with an extract from Kirsten Krauth’s new novel Almost A Mirror. This is a...
CATHERINE JINKS Panic. Reviewed by Karen Chisholm6 February 2025In her new novel, Panic, Catherine Jinks provides a timely take on online mobs, [ … ]
TODD LEY Smashed: Tennis prodigies, parents, and parasites. Reviewed by Braham Dabscheck4 February 2025Todd Ley’s account of his time as a tennis prodigy may be one of the most [ … ]
MELANIE CHENG The Burrow. Reviewed by Sanchana Venkatesh30 January 2025The arrival of a pet rabbit proves confronting as well as comforting for the [ … ]
JONATHAN WATTS The Many Lives of James Lovelock: Science, Secrets and Gaia Theory. Reviewed by Ann Skea29 January 2025Jonathan Watts relates the extraordinary life of scientist, engineer, Gaia [ … ]