Australian fiction

Dancing Home by Paul Collis

Reviewed by Deborah Crabtree

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…

Read more ›

Soon by Lois Murphy

Reviewed by Michael McLoughlin

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…

Read more ›

The Book of Dirt by Bram Presser

Reviewed by Dave Little

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…

Read more ›

The Choke by Sofie Laguna

Reviewed by Chris Gordon

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…

Read more ›

Rain Birds by Harriet McKnight

Reviewed by Ellen Cregan

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…

Read more ›

City of Crows by Chris Womersley

Reviewed by Deborah Crabtree

It was during the reign of King Louis XIV that the Affair of the Poisons transpired, scandalising seventeenth-century France. Many members of the aristocracy were implicated, hundreds of people were arrested and more than 30 were executed. During this time…

Read more ›

The Last Days of Jeanne d'Arc by Ali Alizadeh

Reviewed by Freya Howarth

Ali Alizadeh blends historical research and poetic sensibilities to imagine Jeanne d’Arc’s life, moving between her imprisonment and execution at the hands of the English, her heroic exploits and her early life in Lorraine. Alizadeh balances two stories: that of…

Read more ›

A New England Affair by Steven Carroll

Reviewed by Chris Gordon

Once upon a time T.S. Eliot (Tom), considered one of the most influential playwrights and poets of modern times, wrote: ‘I said to my soul, be still, and wait without hope/ For hope would be hope for the wrong thing.’…

Read more ›

Common People by Tony Birch

Reviewed by Annie Condon

In one of Tony Birch’s stories, a young character says, ‘You never told me that part of the story.’ Her friend Betty replies, ‘No, I didn’t. It was better to concentrate on the best part. That’s how stories work.’ This…

Read more ›

On the Java Ridge by Jock Serong

Reviewed by Mark Rubbo

Jock Serong’s books don’t shy away from tackling topics that affect contemporary society and in On the Java Ridge, although this doesn’t dominate the narrative, they are there. In Quota, it was the ethics of the legal system…

Read more ›