Australian fiction
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 manuscript of the memoir of Elizabeth Macarthur, the wife of John Macarthur, A Room…
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 for one person may not appear true for another. Imbi Neeme’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 stories are creatures of beauty and interest, inspiring fear, admiration, revulsion…
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 fourteen years sleeps by his side. By…
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, descriptive language…
The Loudness of Unsaid Things by Hilde Hinton
Reading The Loudness of Unsaid Things, I was reminded of two other debut novels that I have also reviewed: Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine and The Lost Flowers of Alice Hart. With both those books, I knew I…
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, dictionaries and books with the story…
Stone Sky Gold Mountain by Mirandi Riwoe
Although Stone Sky Gold Mountain is only Mirandi Riwoe’s second work of literary fiction (her first, Fish Girl, was shortlisted for the Stella Prize), she has also written three historical crime novels under a pen name. Her skill and…
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, is driving towards Sheerwater, an…
The Adversary by Ronnie Scott
With his debut novel The Adversary, Ronnie Scott has gifted readers the most relatable coming-of-age narrative I’ve encountered in some time. With a hot and empty Melbourne summer ahead our unnamed protagonist, a homebody in denial, finds himself slowly…
Browse our reviews by category
