Australian Fiction reviews
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 Colu…
Bridge of Clay by Markus Zusak
Markus Zusak’s previous book, The Book Thief, first published in 2005, has spent more than a decade on the New York Times bestseller list, has been translated into over forty languages, has been made…
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…
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. …
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…
Nine Perfect Strangers by Liane Moriarty
I have sold hundreds of Liane Moriarty books in my time at Readings, but I hadn’t read one myself until a friend suggested I read Truly, Madly, Guilty. I was instantly hooked! Like all Moriarty fans,…
Man Out of Time by Stephanie Bishop
Stephanie Bishop took themes of nostalgia, memory and migration and made them her own in her stunning 2015 Readings Prize-winning novel, The Other Side of the World. Bishop’s third novel, Man Out of …
The Helpline by Katherine Collette
Earlier this year I attended a bookseller’s conference, where, in one session, two authors had to present a Gruen-like pitch for their forthcoming novels. The winner was Melbourne-based author Kather…
Wintering by Krissy Kneen
Jessica is a PhD candidate living in southernmost Tasmania, studying the activity of the glow worms that inhabit Winter Cave, an untouched haven she discovered herself. Aside from study and work, Jes…
Too Much Lip by Melissa Lucashenko
Melissa Lucashenko’s last novel, Mullumbimby, opened me up to a conversation about feminism, culture and land rights that has stayed with me for years, so I was excited to read her new book. Too Much…
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