Our latest reviews
Baby Lost by Hannah Robert
During her second night in the ICU, after an accident that ended the life of her unborn baby, law lecturer Hannah Robert writes in her journal: ‘I dreamt that the sun was rising as the pieces of a sh…
The Party by Elizabeth Day
Usually when you read a book, you make up your mind about the main character fairly quickly, or at least about whether they’re basically good or bad. But that’s not the case in this book. Martin Gilm…
Thirty Days by Mark Raphael Baker
Older readers (like me) might remember Mark Raphael Baker’s critically acclaimed, deeply moving family memoir, The Fiftieth Gate, about the experiences of his Holocaust survivor parents. His second b…
Evening Primrose by Kopano Matlwa
Masechaba, a medical intern in a South African hospital, is a teenager suffering excruciating periods when she’s inspired to become a doctor. Her secret plan is to one day convince a colleague to giv…
Watching Out by Julian Burnside
Julian Burnside, intellectual hero of the left and early advocate for the rights of asylum seekers, voted Liberal in every election from 1972 to 1996. And while he infamously defended the MUA in the …
How to Stop Time by Matt Haig
Tom Hazard is a London school history teacher who has a knack for bringing the past to vivid life. It helps that he’s lived through many of the historical events he teaches. He suffers from a conditi…
Pulse Points by Jennifer Down
Jennifer Down’s debut novel, Our Magic Hour, released last year, remains one of the most absorbing works of fiction I’ve had the pleasure of reading. This intimate, emotionally astute novel about gri…
And Fire Came Down by Emma Viskic
Since Emma Viskic’s debut novel Resurrection Bay took out two of Australia’s biggest crime awards – the Ned Kelly Award for Best First Fiction and a slew of Davitt Awards – readers have been waiting …
On the Java Ridge by Jock Serong
Jock Serong’s books don’t shy away from tackling topics that affect contemporary society and in On the Java Ridge, although this doesn’t dominate the narrative, they are there. In Quota, it was the e…
Common People by Tony Birch
In one of Tony Birch’s stories, a young character says, ‘You never told me that part of the story.’ Her friend Betty replies, ‘No, I didn’t. It was better to concentrate on the best part. That’s how …
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