It feels strange to be reviewing a Vogel Literary Award runner up, which Rachel Hennessy's The heaven I swallowed was in 2008, in a year when the judges decided not to award the prize because they didn't find ‘that special quality that a winning entry has’. C'est la vie I suppose, but what a shame … Continue reading Rachel Hennessy, The heaven I swallowed (Review)
Women writers
Hilary Mantel, Bring up the bodies (Review)
In her author's note at the end of her second Thomas Cromwell novel, Bring up the bodies, Hilary Mantel writes that: In this book I try to show how a few crucial weeks might have looked from Thomas Cromwell's point of view. I am not claiming authority for my version; I am making the reader … Continue reading Hilary Mantel, Bring up the bodies (Review)
Australian Women Writers 2013 Challenge completed – and Miles Franklin Award Winner 2013
As regular readers here know by now, last year I broke my non-challenge rule to take part in the Australian Women Writer's Challenge. It was so satisfying, I decided to do it again this year. After all, it's really the challenge I'd do when I'm not doing a challenge. Like last year, I signed up … Continue reading Australian Women Writers 2013 Challenge completed – and Miles Franklin Award Winner 2013
Krissy Kneen, Steeplechase (Review)
Darn that Australian Women Writers Challenge! It has introduced me to a bunch of Aussie women writers I hadn't heard of previously, one of whom is today's author, Krissy Kneen. I may not have read her quite as soon as I have - there are so many I want to read - if it hadn't … Continue reading Krissy Kneen, Steeplechase (Review)
Susan Hawthorne, Limen (Review)
Limen is a lovely word, isn't it? It's the title of Susan Hawthorne's recently published verse novel. You probably know what it means, but just in case you'd forgotten like I had, it means threshold or doorway. This Limen though is a verse novel! If you are uncertain about novels in verse, this would be … Continue reading Susan Hawthorne, Limen (Review)
Anna Krien, Night games: Sex, power and sport (Review)
Towards the end of her most recent non-fiction work, Night games, Anna Krien writes: I wish I'd chosen to follow an 'easier' rape trial. She's concerned that what she's written, what she's finding, won't "sit well with feminists or footballers". She might be right, but that would be a shame, because what she's produced is … Continue reading Anna Krien, Night games: Sex, power and sport (Review)
Irma Gold and Craig Phillips, Megumi and the bear (Review)
Now here's something different at the Gums! I don't, as you'd know, make a practice of reviewing children's literature, though I have done a few cross-over adult-young adult novels. So, when Irma Gold and Craig Phillips' children's picture book, Megumi and the bear, landed in my letterbox a week or so ago I was challenged. … Continue reading Irma Gold and Craig Phillips, Megumi and the bear (Review)
Carrie Tiffany, Mateship with birds (Review)
Carrie Tiffany is on a roll. Last month her second novel, Mateship with birds, won the inaugural Stella Prize, and this month it won the Christina Stead Prize for Fiction at the New South Wales Premier's Literary Awards. It has also been shortlisted for the Miles Franklin award. Many bloggers* have already read and reviewed … Continue reading Carrie Tiffany, Mateship with birds (Review)
Jane Austen’s letters, 1796-1800
For the past five years my Jane Austen group has been reading Jane Austen's letters in a rather higgledy piggdledy manner*. We have nearly finished now. We have just done her first letters, and next year we will conclude, logically at last, on her final letters. What a fascinating time we've been having. Jane Austen's … Continue reading Jane Austen’s letters, 1796-1800
Monday musings on Australian literature: Miles Franklin Award shortlist and the woman question
Things have been looking up lately on the women writers front. Last year two women - Anna Funder (All that I am) and Gillian Mears (Foal's bread) - made an almost clean sweep of our major literary awards. This year women writers are again faring well, with the Miles Franklin shortlist comprising all women. The … Continue reading Monday musings on Australian literature: Miles Franklin Award shortlist and the woman question
Whispering Gums 