Broadly speaking, Melissa Lucashenko's latest novel, Edenglassie, does for southeast Queensland what Kim Scott's That deadman dance does for Noongar country in southwest Western Australia. Both tell of the early days of their respective colonies from a First Nations perspective; both are written in a generous spirit but with absolute clarity about the dispossession that … Continue reading Melissa Lucashenko, Edenglassie (#BookReview)
21st century literature
Delicious descriptions: Charlotte Wood on silence and solitude
It's some time since I wrote a Delicious Descriptions post, but I want to explore Charlotte Wood's novel Stone Yard devotional (my review) just a little more. Although I finished it over a week ago, I keep thinking about its evocation of quiet lives in retreat - and what Wood might be saying. I am, … Continue reading Delicious descriptions: Charlotte Wood on silence and solitude
Charlotte Wood, Stone Yard devotional (#BookReview)
Charlotte Wood's most recent novel, Stone Yard devotional, is set in the Monaro, a region just south of where I live. It's a landscape that is much loved by many of us, including Nigel Featherstone, whose My heart is a little wild thing (my review) is also set there. The Monaro is expansive country, a … Continue reading Charlotte Wood, Stone Yard devotional (#BookReview)
Sean Doyle, Australia’s trail-blazing first novelist: John Lang (#BookReview)
Sean Doyle's literary biography, Australia's trail-blazing first novelist: John Lang, provides insights not only into this "idiosyncratic" man, but into two colonial societies - Australia and India - through the early to mid nineteenth-century. Doyle's is not the first biography of John Lang, but it's the first I've read. However, Lang (1816-64) himself is not … Continue reading Sean Doyle, Australia’s trail-blazing first novelist: John Lang (#BookReview)
Gail Jones, Salonika burning (#BookReview)
Australian author Gail Jones' ninth novel, Salonika burning, is a curious but beautiful novel, curious because she fictionalises four real people for whom she has no evidence that they met or knew each other, and beautiful because of her writing and the themes she explores. The novel is set during World War 1, but its … Continue reading Gail Jones, Salonika burning (#BookReview)
Michael Fitzgerald, Late (#BookReview)
Australian author Michael Fitzgerald's novel Late owes something to what is known as the alternate (alternative) history genre, or what I call "what if" novels. Here, the underlying story is, what if Marilyn Monroe had not died in 1962 but, instead, had instead escaped Hollywood's oppressive celebrity culture and moved to Sydney, Australia? It's hard … Continue reading Michael Fitzgerald, Late (#BookReview)
Anna Funder, Wifedom (#BookReview)
Anna Funder's Wifedom: Mrs Orwell's invisible life is a book with a mission, a mission that is implied in its full title. That mission is to examine the notion of "wifedom", and the way patriarchy works to construct it, through the example of the invisible - or, as Funder also calls it, erased - life … Continue reading Anna Funder, Wifedom (#BookReview)
Monday musings on Australian literature: Stella Prize 2024 Winner
The 2024 Stella Prize winner was announced last Thursday, the 2nd of May, but that was the also the day my blog turned 15, and I didn't want to flood cyberspace with too many posts. Then this weekend was the SixDegrees meme which meant another post coming at you. So, I decided to do my … Continue reading Monday musings on Australian literature: Stella Prize 2024 Winner
Rachel Matthews, Never look desperate (#BookReview)
One of the most appealing things about Rachel Matthews' third novel, Never look desperate, is that it features some decent men. In this #metoo era, which differs little from what came before, there's plenty of fiction which shows men in less than stellar light. And that's fair enough. One of the reasons I read fiction … Continue reading Rachel Matthews, Never look desperate (#BookReview)
Shankari Chandran, Chai time at Cinnamon Gardens (#BookReview)
Shankari Chandran's Miles Franklin Award winning novel, Chai time at Cinnamon Gardens, was my reading group's March book. Unfortunately I was out of town at the time of the meeting, but of course I wanted to read it - and I did, finally! Like many people, I think, when I first saw the book, I … Continue reading Shankari Chandran, Chai time at Cinnamon Gardens (#BookReview)
