Elke Power
Elke Power is the editor of Readings Monthly
Review — 30 May 2023
The Shot by Naima Brown
If you are looking for a disturbing and absorbing story that is (hopefully only loosely) informed by real-life professional experience, and will make you fundamentally question the baseline ethical standards…
Review — 30 May 2023
A Disappearance in Fiji by Nilima Rao
Nilima Rao’s debut novel arrives with a glowing endorsement from the prolific and adored Alexander McCall Smith of No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency fame, who describes A Disappearance in Fiji…
Review — 24 Apr 2023
Graft: Motherhood, Family and a Year on the Land by Maggie MacKellar
In any study of nature, there must be some attempt to grapple with the cycles of life. Maggie MacKellar has perhaps had more cause than most to contemplate these rhythms…
Review — 20 Apr 2023
Honeybees and Distant Thunder by Riku Onda & Philip Gabriel (trans.)
Honeybees and Distant Thunder introduces an ensemble cast on the cusp of the internationally acclaimed, triennial Yoshigae International Piano Competition. The story launches with an extraordinary audition in Paris by…
Review — 2 Mar 2023
Underground Lovers: Encounters with Fungi by Alison Pouliot
Some people chase the sun, or the snow, around the world each year; Alison Pouliot follows autumn. Splitting most of her time between Victoria and Switzerland, she roams far and…
Review — 30 Jan 2023
The God of No Good by Sita Walker
It’s hard to believe that The God of No Good is Sita Walker’s first book. Almost from the outset, Walker establishes the stakes: ‘Love and pain are two fangs of…
Review — 1 Oct 2020
Trio by William Boyd
As the title suggests, William Boyd’s new novel Trio follows the interconnected fates of three characters. Elfrida Wing is a novelist formerly celebrated as ‘the new Virginia Woolf’, but she’s…
Review — 2 Aug 2020
Jillian by Halle Butler
Halle Butler’s Jillian is a whole-body cringe, can’t-look-away experience of vicarious mortification. The second novel by Butler to be published in Australia, following The New Me which delighted Readings’ staff…
Review — 2 Aug 2020
The Last Migration by Charlotte McConaghy
While The Last Migration is the author’s debut work of literary fiction, Charlotte McConaghy’s considerable experience writing speculative fiction is evident in the pacing and plot of this novel. McConaghy…
Review — 6 Sep 2020
The Mother Fault by Kate Mildenhall
Kate Mildenhall’s debut novel, Skylarking, found many fans at Readings. With her second novel, The Mother Fault, Mildenhall is sure to cement herself as a reader favourite. While…