The decision to republish, last year, Sara Dowse's pioneering 1983 novel, West Block, was prescient. Think about this. In last weekend's The Saturday Paper (14 August 2021), journalist Karen Middleton wrote about an issue involving the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet. In her article, she shares some comments made about this Department by law … Continue reading Sara Dowse, West Block (#BookReview)
AWW Challenge 2021
Nardi Simpson, Song of the crocodile (#BookReview)
Nardi Simpson's Song of the crocodile is a tight multi-generational saga set in the fictional town of Darnmoor over the last decades of the twentieth century. It tells the story of the people of the Campgrounds, who are ostracised, exploited and abused by the white townspeople. Between the Campgrounds and the town proper, with its … Continue reading Nardi Simpson, Song of the crocodile (#BookReview)
Emma Ashmere, Dreams they forgot (#BookReview)
Emma Ashmere's short story collection, Dreams they forgot, is different again from recent short story collections I've read. Certainly very different from the most recent, Adam Thompson's Born into this (my review). One of the things that makes it different is its breadth in terms of time and place. Thompson's collection, for example, is mostly … Continue reading Emma Ashmere, Dreams they forgot (#BookReview)
Irma Gold, The breaking (#BookReview)
I have broken a golden rule! That is, I am reviewing Irma Gold's debut novel, The breaking, out of the order in which I received it for review, which is something I (almost) never do! But, I am attending an author event on this book this weekend, and I really wanted to have read it … Continue reading Irma Gold, The breaking (#BookReview)
Marian Matta, Life, bound (#BookReview)
In August 2020, small independent publisher MidnightSun sent me two short story collections, Margaret Hickey's Rural dreams (reviewed last month), and Marian Matta's Life, bound. I enjoyed Rural dreams, as some of you may remember, for its exploration of rural lives from multiple angles and points of view. Life, bound is a very different collection. … Continue reading Marian Matta, Life, bound (#BookReview)
Sara Phillips (ed), The best Australian science writing 2020 (#BookReview)
In 2016, my reading group discussed the 2015 edition of The best Australian science writing. We enjoyed it so much that we decided to do it again, and so this month we read the 2020 (tenth anniversary) edition. Our discussion was as engaged as before (and the overall reasons I enjoyed this volume are the … Continue reading Sara Phillips (ed), The best Australian science writing 2020 (#BookReview)
Margaret Hickey, Rural dreams (#BookReview)
Rural dreams is another collection of short stories from small independent publisher MidnightSun, and it's another good one. I hadn't heard of Margaret Hickey before, but her website says that she's won a number of awards and is a performed playwright. Relevant to this book is that Hickey grew up in small country towns in … Continue reading Margaret Hickey, Rural dreams (#BookReview)
Leah Swann, Sheerwater (#BookReview)
I've been wanting to read Leah Swann's Sheerwater, having read and enjoyed, a few years ago, her short story collection, Bearings (my review). However, I didn't get around to buying a copy, so was pleased to see it available as an audio book when I was looking for listening matter for our recent Melbourne trip. … Continue reading Leah Swann, Sheerwater (#BookReview)
Elizabeth Harrower, The long prospect (#BookReview)
Oppression and tyranny, power and manipulation in human relationships are the stuff of Elizabeth Harrower's writing, at least in my experience of it, and so I found it again in her second novel The long prospect. Unlike The watch tower (my review), however, which explores the more traditional domination of women by a man, The … Continue reading Elizabeth Harrower, The long prospect (#BookReview)
Wendy Scarfe and Allan Scarfe, A mouthful of petals: Three years in an Indian Village (#BookReview)
Husband and wife writers, Wendy and Allan Sharfe, first published A mouthful of petals, the story of their three years in the remote Indian village of Sokhodeora, in 1967. It is not, however, their only book. Wendy Scarfe has written poetry and several novels, two of which I've reviewed here, Hunger town and The day … Continue reading Wendy Scarfe and Allan Scarfe, A mouthful of petals: Three years in an Indian Village (#BookReview)
Whispering Gums 