- This House of Grief: The Story of a Murder Trial by Helen Garner
- Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki and His Years of Pilgrimage by Haruki Murakami
- The Good Fight by Wayne Swan
- Optimism: Reflections on a Life of Action by Bob Brown
- Adultery by Paulo Coelho
- All the Birds Singing by Evie Wyld
- Will to Win by Don Miller
- We are All Completely Beside Ourselves by Karen Joy Fowler
- The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt
- The Life of I: The New Culture of Narcissism by Anne Manne
Our top seller for last week is Helen Garner’s new work of non-fiction, This House of Grief: The Story of a Murder Trial, which follows the court case of Robert Farquharson. A separated husband, Farquharson was driving his three sons home to their mother when his car left the road and plunged into a dam. The boys, aged ten, seven and two, drowned. Garner follows the subsequent murder trial which asked, was this an act of revenge or a tragic accident?
Our reviewer writes, ‘It would be misleading to say this is an enjoyable read, but it ripples with the strength of Garner’s prose: she portrays the courtroom vividly, bringing the parading barristers, Farquharson’s indignant sisters and string of frustrated expert witnesses all piercingly to life. Over the days that I read this book I felt like I sat there with her, behind the scrimmage of journalists, a sullen, sunken Farquharson just beyond my direct gaze. … This is a gut-wrenching, tense study of a murder trial, brilliant in its precision and perception.’
Read the full review here.
