As I started reading this next fl smalls offering, an essay this time, I was reminded of one of my favourite Australian writers, Elizabeth von Arnim. Von Arnim was a novelist, but she also wrote several pieces of non-fiction, including her delightful non-autobiography, All the dogs of my life. The similarity stems from the fact that both writers play … Continue reading Carmel Bird, Fair game: A Tasmanian memoir (Review)
Women writers
Caroline de Costa, Double madness (Review)
I'm not a crime reader as most of you know, and in fact most of the crime novels I've read here have been review copies sent to me. Caroline de Costa's Double madness is one of these. I accepted it for a couple of reasons. It's a debut novel by a doctor, indeed a professor … Continue reading Caroline de Costa, Double madness (Review)
Emily Bitto, The strays (Review)
Let me start by saying I really enjoyed reading Emily Bitto's The strays. It was scheduled for my reading group the day after my return from Tasmania, and I suddenly found myself in the last day of my Tasmanian holiday without having started the book. Wah! I read it in two days, helped by several … Continue reading Emily Bitto, The strays (Review)
Danielle Wood, Mothers Grimm (Review)
If you thought from the title of Danielle Wood's latest novel, Mothers Grimm, that it comprises a retelling of fairytales you'd be right - and wrong. Right, because the stories contained within do springboard from specific fairytales, but wrong if you expect the new stories to be retellings. The wordplay on the title - Mothers … Continue reading Danielle Wood, Mothers Grimm (Review)
Paddy O’Reilly, Peripheral vision: Stories (Review)
The title of Paddy O'Reilly's latest collection of short stories, Peripheral vision, comes from the story "Restraints", in which the narrator, standing in a robotics lab where things have gone awry, says: ... and I caught again a flicker in my peripheral vision. It's a good title for the book because the stories are about … Continue reading Paddy O’Reilly, Peripheral vision: Stories (Review)
Author Talk with Kate Llewellyn, Barbara Hill and Ruth Bacchus
Having attended Robert Drewe's Seymour Biography lecture at the National Library of Australia last week, I was thrilled to see another event come up this week. It was billed as an author talk with Kate Llewellyn, and with Barbara Hill and Ruth Bacchus who edited First things first, the collection of Llewellyn's letters which I reviewed a … Continue reading Author Talk with Kate Llewellyn, Barbara Hill and Ruth Bacchus
Karen Lamb, Thea Astley: Inventing her own weather (Review)
Courtesy: UQP One of the threads that runs through Karen Lamb's biography, Thea Astley: Inventing her own weather, is Astley's ongoing frustration about her work not being appreciated or recognised. On the face of it, this seems neurotic or, perhaps, paranoid. After all, she was the first writer to win the Miles Franklin Award four times, … Continue reading Karen Lamb, Thea Astley: Inventing her own weather (Review)
Mary Austin, The land (Review)
Regular readers here know that I choose my Library of America offerings for various reasons: for authors I haven't read before but would like to (such as Edgar Allan Poe and Sherwood Anderson), for authors I love and am always happy to read more of (such as Willa Cather, Kate Chopin and Edith Wharton), or … Continue reading Mary Austin, The land (Review)
Rochelle Siemienowicz, Fallen (Review)
Being a reader who focuses more on "truths" than "facts", I'm not averse to writers playing around with fact in their fiction or fiction in their fact. This issue raises its head most frequently in historical fiction of course, but it's also present in autobiographies, memoirs and even biographies. And so, here I am, having … Continue reading Rochelle Siemienowicz, Fallen (Review)
Kate Grenville, One life: My mother’s story (Review)
Kate Grenville is one of Australia's best known contemporary writers, and is one of that small band to have succeeded both critically and commercially. Most know her for The secret river, which was shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize among other awards. I enjoyed that, and the other novels of hers that I've read, with my … Continue reading Kate Grenville, One life: My mother’s story (Review)
Whispering Gums 