Although Emily O'Grady's debut novel The yellow house won this year's prestigious The Australian/Vogel's Literary Award for unpublished manuscripts by authors under 35, I wasn't sure at first that I was going to like it. I think this was because I was feeling I'd read a surfeit of books this year about young people living challenging lives … Continue reading Emily O’Grady, The yellow house (#BookReview)
Australian writers
Margaret Merrilees, Big rough stones (#BookReview)
In her latest novel Big rough stones, Margaret Merrilees seems to have done for Australian lesbians what Armistead Maupin did for the American gay community in his Tales of the city series. It is the story, spanning roughly three decades from around 1970s on, of a character named Ro and her lesbian sisterhood in Adelaide. … Continue reading Margaret Merrilees, Big rough stones (#BookReview)
Amanda Duthie (ed.), Margaret & David: 5 stars (#BookReview)
Margaret and David, the subjects of this delightful, eponymously named collection of reminiscences and essays, do not need last names here in Australia. They are just "margaretanddavid". But, since we have an international readership here, I should formally introduce them. Margaret and David are Margaret Pomeranz and David Stratton, Australia's best-known and best-loved film critics … Continue reading Amanda Duthie (ed.), Margaret & David: 5 stars (#BookReview)
Nadia Wheatley, Her mother’s daughter: A memoir (#BookReview)
In Her mother's daughter: A memoir, Australian writer Nadia Wheatley has written the sort of hybrid biography-memoir that I've reviewed a few times in this blog. All of them, as I mentioned in my recent Meet the Author post, have been mother-daughter stories, Susan Varga’s Heddy and me, Anna Rosner Blay’s Sister, sister, and Halina Rubin’s … Continue reading Nadia Wheatley, Her mother’s daughter: A memoir (#BookReview)
Sue Williams, Live and let fry (#BookReview)
Well, 2018 is clearly "the year of the Mallee" here at Whispering Gums, with Sue Williams' Rusty Bore Mystery, Live and let fry, being my third Mallee-set book so far this year. The others are Jenny Ackland's Little gods (my review) and Charlie Archbold's Mallee boys (my review). By the time I visit the Mallee … Continue reading Sue Williams, Live and let fry (#BookReview)
HC Gildfind, The worry front (#BookReview)
The first thing to note about HC Gildfind's short story collection, The worry front, is its striking, inspired cover. Designed by Susan Miller, it features a weather map which captures the central motif of the title story, but it also suggests the unsettled lives which characterise the book. Gildfind, however, writing a post on the … Continue reading HC Gildfind, The worry front (#BookReview)
Robyn Cadwallader, Book of colours (#BookReview)
What makes historical fiction worth reading for me is the exploration of universal ''truths". Fortunately, Robyn Cadwallader's second novel, Book of colours, does this, albeit I wish that some of the universals - gender inequity, class (meaning social and economic inequity), and fear of foreigners - were no longer universal! The book explores other more general universals, … Continue reading Robyn Cadwallader, Book of colours (#BookReview)
Vance Palmer, Battle (#Review)
Vance Palmer's short piece "Battle" is the first piece in this special Meanjin anthology. Meanjin is one of Australia's longest lasting literary journals. It was founded by Clem Christesen in 1940. As publisher Melbourne University Press says, it has, since then, "documented both the changing concerns of Australians and the achievements of many of the … Continue reading Vance Palmer, Battle (#Review)
Laurie Steed, You belong here (#BookReview)
My first reaction as I started reading Laurie Steed's debut novel, You belong here, was, "oh dear, another novel about a dysfunctional family", but I was quickly disabused of that prejudice because while that is indeed the book's "genre", Steed writes it in such a fresh and engaging way, albeit seriously so, that I was … Continue reading Laurie Steed, You belong here (#BookReview)
Canberra Writers Festival 2018, Day 1, Pt 4: Indigenous Australians (2)
My first day of the Canberra Writers Festival ended with a bang - two hours with several of Australia's top indigenous writers, organised by FNAWN (First Nations Australia Writers Network). It was a not-to-be-missed event, and was divided into two parts: "Because of her I can": poetry readings with Ellen van Neerven, Yvette Holt, Jeanine … Continue reading Canberra Writers Festival 2018, Day 1, Pt 4: Indigenous Australians (2)
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