Notable books: a guide to great new reads
A bunny, a puppy, and an office printer feature in our list of Notable Books to read this week.
Puccini’s Butterfly is a lovely book that has been posthumously published by the family of Sue Howard, who died in 2015. It’s a fictional take on the life and times of Giacomo Puccini (1858-1924). What inspired him to write Madame Butterfly? It’s well-known that he had a mistress, and this book imagines some of their passion. The author adored opera and Italy. According to family, “she lived under a kind of Puccini spell, enjoying the opportunity to breathe the same air he breathed”. She was an English teacher in Australia before moving to Pisa to teach Italian students. She met her Italian partner Pierluigi there, and they shared a great love for music, conversation, travel and each other. Lovely stuff and published on the centenary of Puccini’s death, too.
The Burrow
If you’ve ever been lucky enough to own a bunny, well, you’ll know how gorgeous they are, capable of bringing a family together almost as well as a puppy. The Burrow is a novel about the efforts of one family to draw each other closer after a tragedy involving the drowning death of a baby. The rabbit, Fiver, is a character, which is an achievement all by itself; Christos Tsiolkas says the book is “stupendously good”. The author is a GP and writer who has been longlisted for the Miles Franklin and won a Victorian Premier’s Award for Fiction.
Running with Pirates
Kari Gislason was just 18 when he first landed in Corfu. Who else remembers what it was like to be 18, adrift in the confusion of early adulthood, with all of life dauntingly ahead of you? Gislason takes a chance by deciding to stay after meeting a character he calls The Pirate. He eventually flees, but leaves a debt that, like all debts, will have to be acknowledged and paid one day. Today Gislason is a writer and Queensland University of Technology academic whose own children are entering the early years of adulthood, and he pines for the little boys they once were while admiring the men they are soon to become.
Cowpuppy
There’s a bit of a theme developing here but Cowpuppy, like The Burrow, has an unusual pet as a main character, but it’s a calf this time, not a bunny, and Cowpuppy is memoir, not fiction. Author Gregory Berns is a neuroscientist whose main study has been dogs, but he recently has purchased a farm and, with it, a handful of cows. Cowpuppy – such a beautiful new word! – is the name he gives to a calf that he comes to love. Along the way we get to marvel at what he has learnt about cows, and their funny little quirks, habits and memories.
The Rat Cage
Author Lynette Clarke wrote to say that her book is interesting because the characters don’t really have backstories. All the reader knows is what the protagonist sees or hears. The idea, she says, is to keep the reader guessing until the end. The Rat Cage is set in London in 1984 and the lead character is a 20-something backpacker on her rite-of-passage gap year. You’ll encounter London in the Thatcher years, with the miners’ strike, punk, HIV-AIDS and a classic share house. Clarke is a copywriter and this is her third book but her first novel. Bravo.
Hard Copy
Hard Copy isn’t out until September but I wanted to mention it, so you can order one before they sell out. It’s just mesmerising and also amazing. A girl spends most of her time in the office with a printer. She loves the printer. It’s her only friend. Girl meets … printer? It’s such a surreal idea, yet it works. Author Fien Veldman completely pulls it off. Beware: you may also find yourself in love with the printer. It’s a joyful book, warm and funny, especially when the office manager puts her on leave, assuming she’s got burnout when she’s really just in love with a piece of office equipment. Do try this one, you won’t regret it.
London
This is No.223 in the second numbered series of Miegunyah Volumes, funded by the Miegunyah Fund, established under the wills of Sir Russell and Lady Grimwade (it is named for their former home). Author Tanya Dalziell is a fellow of the Australian Academy of the Humanities and a professor and chair of English at the University of Western Australia. She takes the reader through the literary career of West Australian writer Joan London and considers women’s writing and female literature as she goes. Lovely stuff.
Albert Rathbone
This lovely, shiny, self-published book came with a compelling note from the author, who said: “I know you must get dozens of books sent to you each week, mostly from budding authors wanting a leg-up … I’m not one.” Phil Geary went on to explain that he didn’t publish his book in the hope of making his fortune. It was a labour of love. It covers the first 10 years of his life and began with the creation of a cartoon character. Geary says: “I drew the cartoons. I wrote the book and illustrated the poems. I typeset it and designed the cover. I proofread it and sent it to Brisbane to be published.” And what a lovely thing it is. Thank you for sending it to me.
Ancient Egypt a Western obsession
The third significant Australian exhibition of art from the time of the pharaohs this year boasts great works from the British Museum.
Anyone can be a guru these days
When novelist Andrew O’Hagan’s latest protagonist writes a self help book it brings him a world of trouble, but really, it should be easy and lucrative.