What to read this week

A memoir of breast cancer treatment, and an account of the lives of nurses on the frontline of the HIV-AIDS crisis in this week’s list of Notable Books

A memoir of breast cancer treatment, and an account of the lives of nurses on the frontline of the HIV-AIDS crisis in this week’s list of Notable Books.

I approached this book with some trepidation: it is an ­account of the author’s experience with breast cancer, and I knew from the press release that Xi Xi had died in 2022. But it’s a beautiful book, encompassing diagnosis and treatment, and of course it’s about much more than loss. I marvelled throughout at the way Xi – the first Hong Kong writer to win the Newman Prize – was able to ­observe the illness, and the process of treating it, from a quiet distance. The book was first published in Taiwan, and is translated here into English for the first time.

Mourning a Breast by Xi Xi

What Have The French Every Done For Us?

This collection of essays, edited by a professor of French studies at the University of Adelaide, seeks to examine “French contributions to Australian cultural life”. It includes chapters on cinema – never, ever will I forget the first time I saw Betty Blue – and French books; French exploration in Australia; and the pleasures of French food, all of which will be obvious. But did you know that the French also helped with waste management, cyber security and road construction?

God or Anything by John M. Wright 

This slim and lovely collection came direct from the ­author, John M. Wright, who says he has been writing ­poetry since childhood. His poems have appeared in Meanjin, Overland and Quadrant. He is currently completing a bachelor of divinity through the Melbourne College of Divinity. I adored Youth Group (Your father didn’t take to me) and Divorce (We’re civilised as ­royalty/glad to move on) but they’re all lovely.

Going Under by Seana Smith

I haven’t yet had a chance to read this, but it came with a lovely note from the publisher, Jane Curry, who says: “When Covid hit in 2020 and bookshops closed, the 20 years of owning and running Ventura caught up with me. I was burnt out. I closed the office and thought I would keep the golden backlist but not commission any new book. That was until Seana Smith told me she had ­finished her memoir ... a book I have wanted to be published since Seana and I met in 1999. These are the books that keep me in the book business.” Can you think of a better introduction? I can’t.

Critical Care by Geraldine Fela

I am old enough to remember when HIV-AIDS arrived in Australia, taking the life of one of our very dear friends, whom we tried to care for in a little flat in St Kilda, where we all lived at the time. To this day, I remember the nurses who agreed to tend to him, when so many in the community were terrified to be so close to a patient suffering with the disease. This book honours those who bathed the sweat from the exhausted brows of sufferers; who cared for people abandoned by their families and the community; who stood up for those who could no longer stand up for themselves. Bravo, bravo, bravo.

One Hour of Fervour by Muriel Barbery

Haru is a Japanese art dealer who has an affair with Maud, who falls pregnant after they separate. She doesn’t want him to see his child, and he agrees, after she threatens him in a quite cruel way. The child grows up, and Haru longs to see her. He’s her father, after all. The book has been described as a love letter to Japan (the author lives in the French countryside) and if, like me, you’re one of those people who has come to adore the short but still gorgeous novel, this one (in glossy hardback) is for you.

Catherine Wheel by Liz Evans

Kate’s partner, Max, left her for his pregnant lover. Five years on, Kate is still fixated, to the point where she moves to the small town of Bridgewell, to be closer to the lover, and the child. If you’re thinking ‘Well, that’s not going to end well, is it?’ you’d be absolutely right. Never mind that the affair is over; Kate is determined to insert herself into the life of her “replacement”, who of course has no idea who she is, or why she’s being so friendly. The author is a British journalist now based in Tasmania.

Strange Little Girl By Jessica Knight 

Jessica Knight grew up on a Victorian dairy farm, “her crib next door to where all the cows were milked”. It was a Mormon household, “a God-fearing home, where all Jessica wants to do is make her parents and the Heavenly Father happy” yet she’s also plagued by a bewildering illness, necessitating many hospital stays, and surgeries. Some readers will know Jessica from her one-woman play, Mormon Girl. She’s a dynamo, and an accomplished poet, to boot.