My first question when I read a book of historical fiction is why? And so it was for John Clanchy's latest novel In whom we trust, which is set in Victoria around World War 1, albeit is not about the war. It is, in fact, about a Catholic home for orphaned children, St Barnabas, and three … Continue reading John Clanchy, In whom we trust (#BookReview)
Review – Novels
Sharlene Teo, Ponti (Guest post by Rosalind Moran) (#BookReview)
Last year as in the two previous years of the ACT Litbloggers/New Territory program, I offered the participants the opportunity to write a guest post for my blog. As a result Emma Gibson wrote a post on Randolph Stow's Tourmaline, while Amy Walters suggested we do a 2018 Year in Review posts on each other's … Continue reading Sharlene Teo, Ponti (Guest post by Rosalind Moran) (#BookReview)
Melanie Myers, Meet me at Lennon’s (#BookReview)
I was keen to read Melanie Myers' debut novel, Meet me at Lennon's, because it is set during the Brisbane of my mother's early teens, that is, wartime Brisbane when her school, Somerville House, was commandeered in 1942 by the Australian Military Forces and served as a US Army Headquarters for the rest of the … Continue reading Melanie Myers, Meet me at Lennon’s (#BookReview)
Elizabeth Kuiper, Little stones (#BookReview)
Announcing their 2019 longlist back in February (see my post), the Stella Prize judges said that they "wished for more representations of otherness and diversity from publishers: narratives from outside Australia, from and featuring women of colour, LGBTQIA stories, Indigenous stories, more subversion, more difference". Elizabeth Kuiper's debut novel, Little stones, may not exactly fulfil this wish … Continue reading Elizabeth Kuiper, Little stones (#BookReview)
Tim Winton, The shepherd’s hut (#BookReview)
Tim Winton and Christos Tsiolkas have to be Australia's foremost contemporary writers about men and boys, Tsiolkas doing for urban/surburban males what Winton does for small town/rural ones. Winton's latest novel, The shepherd's hut, continues his exploration of males in extremis. It's strong, gritty, page-turning, and yet reflective too, which is not easy to pull-off. … Continue reading Tim Winton, The shepherd’s hut (#BookReview)
Dominic Smith, The electric hotel (#BookReview)
I admit to a brief feeling of déjà vu when I started Dominic Smith's latest novel, The electric hotel, because it starts by telling us that its protagonist 85-year-old Claude Ballard has been living in the Knickerbocker Hotel in Los Angeles for over thirty years. Not another man living in a hotel like our gentleman … Continue reading Dominic Smith, The electric hotel (#BookReview)
Sir Walter Scott, Waverley, Vol. 1 (#BookReview)
I admit it, I'm defeated - not because I'm not enjoying it, but because it needs more attention than my distracted brain can give it right now. Consequently, I am posting on just the first volume of Sir Walter Scott's first novel, Waverley. I read it for my Jane Austen meeting last weekend. We did … Continue reading Sir Walter Scott, Waverley, Vol. 1 (#BookReview)
Louise Erdrich, The bingo palace (#BookReview)
When I bought Louise Erdrich's The bingo palace in 1995, I never expected it to take me 24 years to read it but, there you go. Time flies, and suddenly it was 2019 and the book was still sitting on the high priority pile next to my bed! Truly! It took Lisa's ANZLitLovers Indigenous Literature Week … Continue reading Louise Erdrich, The bingo palace (#BookReview)
Tony Birch, The white girl (#BookReview)
We need more novels like Tony Birch's The white girl and Melissa Lucashenko's Too much lip. This is not to say that we don't need all the wonderful Indigenous Australian literature I've read and reviewed here over the years, but some of the books, as excellent (and as beloved by me) as they are, can … Continue reading Tony Birch, The white girl (#BookReview)
Mary McCarthy, The group (#BookReview)
My reading group has a few loose "rules" for choosing our reads, but one of the more rigid ones is that each year we like to read at least one classic. This year's first classic - yes, another is coming - was Mary McCarthy's The group. As I wrote in last week's Monday Musings, it … Continue reading Mary McCarthy, The group (#BookReview)
Whispering Gums 