Review
A darkly funny debut novel and the inner life of teenage girls
Our reviewers cast their eyes over recent fiction and non-fiction releases.
- by Cameron Woodhead and Steven Carroll
Latest
Ten great books we’re excited to read in July
From a highly anticipated poetry collection to a mind-bending debut, here are the books we’re looking forward to this month.
- by Melanie Kembrey
Bestselling author’s sweet novel explores the human need for love
A safe escape from the world, Alexander McCall Smith’s new novel, like all his works, is grounded in an optimistic world view.
- by Kerryn Goldsworthy
Editing secrets of literature’s greatest authors
From Jane Austen’s abandoned novel to the first line of John le Carre’s Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, manuscripts give us fascinating insight into the creative process.
- by Simon Caterson
This novel is a fable of language, silence and connection to the land
Lia Hills’ moody new novel is an intricate tale of the land and the people in it.
- by Helen Elliott
Tale of a difficult childhood is part memoir, part redemption story
Poet Kevin Hart’s memoir traces his childhood as a “backward boy” in a poor part of London to his life in Australia.
- by Geoff Page
This inventive debut novel is a love letter to Australian music
Our reviewers cast their eyes over new fiction and non-fiction releases, including new fiction from Bruce Pascoe and a memoir from champion surfer Pauline Menczer.
- by Cameron Woodhead and Fiona Capp
This rock memoir has everything: sex, drugs, stardom and Andy Warhol
Chris Stein’s memoir of growing up in New York and finding fame – and love – in pop-art band Blondie is a compelling portrait of music, fame and 1970s and ’80s New York.
- by Michael Dwyer
Who was really to blame for the failure of Scott’s Antarctic expedition?
More than a century after Captain Robert Scott’s Antarctica expedition, the reasons for disastrous outcome are still fiercely debated by the explorer’s devotees.
- by Dennis Glover
This republished classic captures the intensity of young love
First published in 1980, Beverley Farmer’s debut novel, Alone, reminds the reader how hard it was to be queer in Australia in the 1950s.
- by Vanessa Francesca
An intricately woven novel straddling war, love and friendship
Catherine McKinnon’s sprawling new novel, To Sing of War, interweaves several stories against the backdrop of World War II.
- by Flynn Benson
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