Australian fiction
The Year of the Beast by Steven Carroll
We have certain expectations of a novel, don’t we? We read to take a journey that we cannot influence. We want to be swept along and if, by the means of our reading, we learn more about our humanity then…
Fusion by Kate Richards
Conjoined twins Sea and Serene live in an isolated shack in the Australian Alps with Wren, the young man who cares for them. Up among the snow gums they grow their own vegetables and ferment their own wine. Largely self-sufficient…
Into the Fire by Sonia Orchard
A literary trend I’m enjoying very much is the novel focusing on the tribulations of female friendship. Think Elena Ferrante’s Neapolitan Quartet; Marlena by Julie Buntin; The Burning Girl by Claire Messud and Give Me Your Hand by Megan…
The Butcherbird Stories by A.S. Patrić
A.S. Patrić won the Miles Franklin Award in 2016 for his debut novel, Black Rock White City. His latest book, The Butcherbird Stories, is a collection of eleven stories that confirm his craftsmanship as a writer.
Many of…
The Fragments by Toni Jordan
Toni Jordan’s latest novel, The Fragments, holds within its pages a fable-like fervour for the written word. Using parallel stories which both have the theme of loss at their core, Jordan has created a unique and wonderful plot. One…
Preservation by Jock Serong
A little-known (though maybe soon-to-be-well-known) historical event forms the basis for Jock Serong’s latest novel, Preservation.
Using the 1797 shipwreck of the Sydney Cove off the coast of Preservation Island in Bass Strait as a starting point, Serong imagines…
Shell by Kristina Olsson
When most people see the Sydney Opera House, they think of sails on the harbour. But Kristina Olsson (and her character Axel Lindquist) is reminded of shells you might find on the beaches of Sweden. Set in the 1960s, Shell…
The Year of the Farmer by Rosalie Ham
No one does Australian Gothic quite like Rosalie Ham. Her sun-soaked revenge fantasy, The Dressmaker, captured a particular side of rural Australia – one steeped in malice, jealousy, bitter rivalries, and tightly held grievances. It’s to this world that…
The Children's House by Alice Nelson
The Children’s House begins in the sweltering heat of summer in New York’s eclectic Harlem. The year is 1997, three years after the Rwandan genocide. Marina Hirsch, a young professor teaching at Columbia, has just moved into the neighbourhood with…
Cedar Valley by Holly Throsby
Cedar Valley, Holly Throsby’s second novel, exists in the same world as her first novel, Goodwood. It’s an area a couple of hours south of Sydney, near the coast, near a large regional town, and very firmly situated…
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