KAREN BROOKS The Escapades of Tribulation Johnson. Reviewed by Ann Skea
The latest novel from Karen Brooks brings Restoration London to life, particularly the world of its theatres and playwright Aphra Behn. Papa always said I was unnatural – that I’d too much to say for myself. He said a great many other things besides, all of which...
JAMES HYNES Sparrow. Reviewed by Michael Jongen
James Hynes’ new novel spins a tale from the edge of the Roman Empire. I was initially perplexed by Sparrow, a historical novel that diverges from the usual focus of significant historical personalities and events. In this captivating tale, Hynes introduces us to an...
GREGORY DAY The Bell of the World. Reviewed by Paul Anderson
Gregory Day’s new novel explores the sublime through the life of a young woman in his beloved Otways. In the essay ‘Otway Taenarum’ in his previous book, Words are Eagles (2022), Day recounts how, at a formative age, he looked for ‘imaginative texts...
FIONA McFARLANE The Sun Walks Down. Reviewed by Ben Ford Smith
Fiona McFarlane’s story of a lost child reveals a cross-section of colonial Australia. ‘The boy met a god by the hollow tree.’ So begins Fiona McFarlane’s second novel, The Sun Walks Down, and so begins a kaleidoscopic tour through the social strata of early...
JAY CARMICHAEL Marlo. Reviewed by Ivan Crozier
Set in the 1950s, Jay Carmichael’s second novel is a window onto Australia’s queer history. In the closing paragraph of the author’s note to Marlo, Jay Carmichael tells us that for him, ‘the task of the historical novel’ is to fill the gap between what we...
PAUL M CLARK The Witchfinder’s Mark. Reviewed by Amelia Dudley
Paul M Clark employs the tropes of ‘folk horror’ in this tale of a 16th-century witchfinder. Samuel was the most experienced witchfinder north of London. Until he’d met Douglass. Now he felt like an infant learning how to walk. Trying to find the courage...
LAVIE TIDHAR Maror. Reviewed by Robert Goodman
Science fiction and fantasy writer Lavie Tidhar turns to the very real history of Israel in his latest novel, Maror. This is not the first time Tidhar has used Israel as a setting for his work. But his award-winning Central Station is set around a Tel Aviv spaceport,...
KIRSTY MANNING The Paris Mystery. Reviewed by Ann Skea
The glamour of prewar Paris is the backdrop to a murder in this new novel from the author of The Lost Jewels. Drums rolled. The orchestra struck opening chords as the elegant hostess, Lady Eleanor Ashworth, stepped into the spotlight dressed in a black tulle Chanel...
JESS KIDD The Night Ship. Reviewed by Robert Goodman
The latest novel from the author of The Hoarder reimagines the tragedy and legacy of the Batavia. In The Night Ship, Jess Kidd brings together two disparate stories joined by location but separated by hundreds of years. The first, the wreck of the Batavia in 1629, is...
KIM KELLY The Rat Catcher. Reviewed by Ann Skea
In her latest novel Kim Kelly blends a slice of Sydney’s history with an Irish love story. In February 1900, Sydney was sweltering in the sort of summer heat that, as The Rat Catcher’s Patrick O’Reilly says, sent ‘ale sizzling down your throat as if the amber...
BENJAMIN MYERS The Perfect Golden Circle. Reviewed by Robert Goodman
Benjamin Myers’ new novel delves into 1980s Britain and the allure of crop circles. For those of us old enough to remember, there was a period in history when mysterious geometric shapes appeared in crops across the western world with increasing regularity....
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