Trent Dalton’s new book and other must-reads of 2020
Some of the biggest names in Australian publishing will return with new titles next year. From true crime and a grandmother’s tell-all to a visit from award-winning author Margaret Atwood, here are the best happenings in books in 2020.
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ALL OUR SHIMMERING SKIES
TRENT DALTON, FOURTH ESTATE, JULY
Journalist, author and revered wordsmith Trent Dalton follows up his brilliant
best-selling debut novel, the coming-of-age story Boy Swallows Universe, with All Our Shimmering Skies, the winding tale of gravedigger’s daughter Molly Hook in
1942 Darwin.
LAWYER X
ANTHONY DOWSLEY and PATRICK CARLYON, HARPERCOLLINS, JUNE
With more colourful characters than you can shake a stick at, this is the real story behind Melbourne’s gangland wars and how barrister turned police informer Nicola Gobbo became the infamous Lawyer X, as uncovered by dogged Herald Sun investigations.
UNTITLED
JANE HARPER, MACMILLAN
Melbourne author success story Jane Harper’s hotly anticipated fourth novel is due in the second half of 2020, a stand-alone story set in regional Australia. It comes as the feature film adaptation of her first novel The Dry — starring Eric Bana — is due in cinemas in August.
IN CONVERSATION WITH MARGARET ATWOOD
HAMER HALL, FEBRUARY 23
The celebrated Canadian author hits Melbourne as part of an Aussie speaking tour, fresh from rave reviews for The Testaments, her follow-up to 1985’s The Handmaid’s Tale which spawned the award-winning TV series. Praise be.
GRANDMOTHERS
EDITED BY HELEN ELLIOTT, TEXT, APRIL
A collection of essays about the ups and downs of modern grandmotherhood, from 24 prominent Aussie nanas including Helen Garner, Jane Caro and Maggie Beer.
DIRTY LINEN
RACHEL WARD, TEXT, APRIL
The actor and director’s set of short stories is set in the stiff English aristocracy of Ward’s childhood as well as the strangeness and familiarity of her new home in Australia in this revealing work of autofiction that blurs the lines between fiction and autobiography.
TOP END GIRL
MIRANDA TAPSELL, HACHETTE, MAY
Charming indigenous actor and activist Miranda Tapsell releases her memoir, charting her childhood in the Northern Territory, rise to fame in The Sapphires, co-writing, producing and starring in Top End Wedding and commitment to telling indigenous stories.