Staff recommend 8 new Australian novels
A loving, faithful animal by Josephine Rowe
Readings Monthly Editorial assistant Alan Vaarwerk says: “There’s a hint of the Australian Gothic in the book’s portrayal of small town despair, and Rowe’s portrayal of her characters is tender but uncompromising – each is deeply flawed but heart-rendingly sympathetic. A loving, faithful animal is quietly, catastrophically beautiful, a powerful new work by one of Australia’s most gifted writers.”
Wildlight by Robyn Mundy
Bookseller Suzanne Steinbruckner says “Mundy’s crisp prose so vividly places you on the island that I was regularly reaching for a blanket while reading Wildlight. I felt the storms racing in, and could smell the ocean, the fresh tea tree and the oily mutton-birds descend.”
Sing Fox to Me by Sarah Kanake
Bookseller Natalie Platten says: “This is a powerfully atmospheric work that evokes the cold, wet earthiness of the remote Tasmanian wilderness in which it is set. A place where Dreamtime mythology gives meaning to the lives of those who live there – mostly quiet and brooding types more attuned to the forces of nature than to one another.”
Hold by Kirsten Tranter
Bookseller David Little says: “Tranter’s writing is very contemporary, but it also feels shaped by an appreciation for the classic novels of the English literary tradition. It holds a dagger, or a musket, or whatever people once held threateningly, and asks those old stories to please, please, be alive again.”
The Midnight Watch by David Dyer
Event manager Chris Gordon says: “This excellent historical novel pushed me into new territory. I found myself researching for more stories of the accident, reaching for more facts from the night, re-watching A Night to Remember and berating myself for my seemingly macabre interest.”
Our Magic Hour by Jennifer Down
Marketing and events coordinator Stella Charls says: “Jennifer Down’s Our Magic Hour is a brilliant Australian debut. Intimate, raw and occasionally heartbreaking, this is a book that demands to be devoured quickly, but stayed with me long after I finished the final page.”
The Light on the Water by Olga Lorenzo
Bookseller Annie Condon says: “ The Light on the Water will be perfect for book groups – it explores many current issues and yet it is a page-turner. The novel opens with Anne Forster spending her first night in gaol after being arrested for the murder of her six-year-old autistic daughter.”
All These Perfect Strangers by Aoife Clifford
Bookseller Fiona Hardy says: “The emotional intensity of starting university is made even headier by undercurrents of threat on campus that start as a game, then turn into something much more vicious. It’s a haunting read, a psychological thriller with loose threads picked at and unravelled chapter by chapter, from past to present, from truth to fiction and back again.”
