Australian fiction
Border Districts by Gerald Murnane
If you’ve ever read Gerald Murnane before, you’ll have some idea of what to expect with Border Districts, his thirteenth book and, apparently, his final work of fiction. It’s esoteric, thought-provoking and difficult to describe – for the purposes…
Stories and True Stories by Helen Garner
I know I’m not the only Melbourne writer whose motto, at my laptop, is WWHGD (what would Helen Garner do?). From Monkey Grip – Readings’ first Australian bestseller – to last year’s collected non-fiction, Everywhere I Look, Garner has…
A Long Way from Home by Peter Carey
One of my favourite books is Peter Carey’s Illywhacker, with its outrageous narrator Herbert Badgery and the sprawling basalt plains of Bacchus Marsh. It was a riot of fun that hid a message about this country of ours, for…
The Passage of Love by Alex Miller
I don’t suppose Alex Miller is religious – nor am I, for that matter – however, I did think of Corinthians 13:8 when reading Miller’s new book, The Passage of Love. It goes something like this, depending on the…
Force of Nature by Jane Harper
Jane Harper’s The Dry was the book of 2016. An Australian debut that grabbed everyone’s attention, it won awards, hit the top of bestseller lists, and captured a Hollywood movie deal in the process. Following up such enormous success isn’t…
Dancing Home by Paul Collis
Fresh out of prison and driven by a hunger for drugs, revenge, and a hankering to reconnect with his grandmother’s country, Blackie embarks on a road trip back to Wiradjuri country. Along for the ride are former cellmate, Rips, and…
Soon by Lois Murphy
A fleet of forebodingly official-looking vehicles arrives one winter solstice in the West Australian town of Nebulah. The vehicles disappear as mysteriously as they appeared, and with them go the birds and wildlife. Before long, the hauntings begin. A strange…
The Book of Dirt by Bram Presser
The opening chapter of Bram Presser’s debut novel about the Holocaust and how to make sense of it begins with some caution. Caution that could really apply to all literature of trauma. ‘This is a book of memories, some my…
The Choke by Sofie Laguna
Sofie Laguna’s third novel for adults gave me that sweet reading moment we all pine for – when you realise that your lived world is colliding with that of the page. Reading becomes the sole purpose of the day. You…
Rain Birds by Harriet McKnight
Pina and Alan have lived in Boney Point, a town in rural East Gippsland, for decades. When Alan develops early-onset dementia, the fiercely independent Pina struggles to give up her life to care for the husband she barely recognises anymore…
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