Biography and Memoir reviews
Hanns and Rudolf by Thomas Harding
Thomas Harding’s Hanns and Rudolf tells the story of Hanns Alexander, a German-Jewish refugee who became one of the first Nazi hunters after the war. Alexander’s biggest scalp, Rudolf Höss, Kommandan…
An Appetite for Wonder by Richard Dawkins
Richard Dawkins is perhaps one of the foremost contributors to the expansion of scientific knowledge and ideas in our time, making his memoir greatly anticipated. An Appetite for Wonder details Dawki…
His Stupid Boyhood by Peter Goldsworthy
Peter Goldsworthy has laid himself open for inspection – like one of his cadavers from medical school – in this memoir.
Starting with his first sexual inclination, at age four, towards crank-handled…
Madeleine: A Life of Madeleine St John by Helen Trinca
In 2012, Text Publishing released its Classics series, the aim of which was to shine a spotlight on some of our nation’s literary milestones, many of which had grown dusty in our archives, either due…
Welcome To Your New Life by Anna Goldsworthy
Anna Goldsworthy’s debut memoir, Piano Lessons, followed her emergence into the world of classical music and subsequent rise to fame. Her second, Welcome to Your New Life, is a record of the birth of…
Boomer & Me by Jo Case
When Leo starts school, his mum starts to notice little things that make him stand out. His first teacher calls him gifted; his reading and verbal skills are very advanced. But, as time goes on, othe…
Boy, Lost by Kristina Olsson
Bringing her journalistic skills to what is described on the cover as a ‘family memoir’, Kristina Olsson uses perfectly balanced prose to weave breathtaking beauty into this sad yarn.
As a 19-year-o…
Ghost Wife by Michelle Dicinoski
In 2005, Michelle Dicinoski and her American girlfriend, Heather, decided to get married. The proposal came, wildly and beautifully, from Michelle musing casually about a road trip together to Canada…
Things I Didn’t Expect (When I Was Expecting) by Monica Dux
It’s been nearly a decade since I was first expecting, and six years since my last child, but I seized on the chance to read what might be described as the anti-pregnancy book – the one that tells it…
Madness: a Memoir by Kate Richards
I went to secondary school with Kate Richards, or Katie as I knew her then, where she was an intelligent, friendly yet slightly reserved high achiever. I first heard that she was writing a book – a m…
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