Australian Fiction reviews
The Spill by Imbi Neeme
The late, great Inga Clendinnen had a theory that history based on personal recollections could be considered, essentially, ‘fake news’ because we all remember details differently; what seems true fo…
The Fogging by Luke Horton
On a plane to Indonesia for a holiday that struggling academics Tom and Clara really can’t afford, Tom experiences a sudden and intense panic attack (not his first) while his on-and-off partner of fo…
A Lonely Girl Is A Dangerous Thing by Jessie Tu
Jessie Tu has worked as a classical violinist, teacher and journalist. This is her first work of fiction and it is an astonishing debut. The lonely girl at the heart of this novel is Jena Lin. Jena’s…
In the Time of Foxes by Jo Lennan
In Jo Lennan’s varied, beguiling debut short-story collection, the psychological qualities often ascribed to foxes are evoked as often as their visual and habitual distinctions. The foxes of these st…
Rise & Shine by Patrick Allington
Patrick Allington’s second novel is a quick-moving and lively tale set some thirty years after an ecological collapse has rendered the earth almost uninhabitable. Those who remain of the human race l…
A Room Made of Leaves by Kate Grenville
Kate Grenville returns with a much-anticipated fourth novel considering Australia’s colonial past, and interactions between Australia’s First Nations peoples and colonists. Purporting to be the lost …
The Rain Heron by Robbie Arnott
‘A farmer lived, but not well.’ The opening line of Robbie Arnott’s second novel, The Rain Heron, grabs you by the throat. The rest of the novel never lets you go. In a swirling display of rich, desc…
The Dictionary of Lost Words by Pip Williams
To write this review, obviously, I had to have completed reading the book and that is the sadness for me because I did not want it to end. This absorbing story that incorporates lexicography, diction…
Sheerwater by Leah Swann
Leah Swann’s debut novel is literary fiction with the tempo of a crime novel. Told over three dramatic days, even astute readers will be stunned by the conclusion.
Ava, the mother of two young boys…
The Animals in That Country by Laura Jean McKay
The Animals in That Country is a standout debut novel of 2020. It is the second work of fiction from Laura Jean McKay, following her acclaimed short-story collection, Holiday in Cambodia (2013). Orig…
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