I love it when the book I'm reading picks up ideas explored in my previous book. Alice Robinson's debut novel Anchor point is, in reality, far removed from Mark Henshaw's The snow kimono (my review), but the first line of Henshaw's book - "There are times in your life when something happens after which you are … Continue reading Alice Robinson, Anchor point (Review)
Debut fiction
Kavita Nandan, Home after dark (Review)
When Kavita Nandan offered me her novel to review I was happy to accept because its setting - Fiji, Australia and India - intrigued me. I've read several novels set in India, and by Indian writers, but none set in Fiji or by Fijiindian writers. Moreover, as Nandan wrote in her email, and as the … Continue reading Kavita Nandan, Home after dark (Review)
Emma Ashmere, The floating garden (Review)
I had a little chuckle when, fairly early in Emma Ashmere's novel, The floating garden, we discover that our main character, Ellis Gilbey, writes a gardening column under the name Scribbly Gum! Good name, I thought. If it hadn't been for my school song inspiration, this would have been the name for me! There's another … Continue reading Emma Ashmere, The floating garden (Review)
Dymphna Cusack, Jungfrau (Review)
Are there some historical periods that particularly fascinate you? There are for me, and one of those is that between the two world wars. It was a complex time encompassing both economic hardship and great social change. A time when many of those Victorian era constraints were being lifted and women, in particular, were starting to enjoy … Continue reading Dymphna Cusack, Jungfrau (Review)
Jane Rawson, A wrong turn at the Office of Unmade Lists (Review)
The weirdest thing happened when I put down Jane Rawson's debut novel, A wrong turn at the Office of Unmade Lists: I started imagining things! This is weird because I'm not a particularly imaginative or fanciful person, so it must have been this book that did it. Let me explain ... First though, I need to say that I've … Continue reading Jane Rawson, A wrong turn at the Office of Unmade Lists (Review)
Charles Hall, Summer’s gone (Review)
When Western Australian writer Craig Silvey set his coming-of-age novel Jasper Jones in the 1960s I was a bit surprised, as Silvey himself did not grow up in that era. I'm not so surprised, though, about Charles Hall's debut novel Summer's gone as Hall did grow up in the 1960s. The novel is, from my … Continue reading Charles Hall, Summer’s gone (Review)
Eimear McBride, A girl is a half-formed thing (Review)
I try very hard when writing reviews to avoid clichés and superlatives, like, say, "achingly beautiful" or "masterful". But I think I'm going to use one for Eimear McBride's multi-award-winning debut novel A girl is a half-formed thing when I describe it as "searing". I can't think of a more apposite word. Yet I fear it too … Continue reading Eimear McBride, A girl is a half-formed thing (Review)
Brooke Davis, Lost & found (Review)
I must say that my antennae go up when I hear a book being touted as a publishing sensation even before it is published, as Brooke Davis' recently published debut novel Lost & found, was. What does that mean? That it was the subject of a mega-dollar bidding war like, say, Hannah Kent's Burial rites? Well, … Continue reading Brooke Davis, Lost & found (Review)
Roslyn Russell, Maria returns: Barbados to Mansfield Park (Review)
A week or so ago my local Jane Austen group had a guest speaker at our meeting, Roslyn Russell, the author of Maria returns: Barbados to Mansfield Park. Russell is a local historian who has written this historical novel based on Jane Austen's novel, Mansfield Park. She is also a lapsed member of our group, … Continue reading Roslyn Russell, Maria returns: Barbados to Mansfield Park (Review)
Tara June Winch, Swallow the air (Review for Indigenous Literature Week)
Tara June Winch's Swallow the air is another book that has been languishing too long on my TBR pile, though not as long as Sara Dowse's Schemetime. For Swallow the air, it was a case of third time lucky, because this was the third year I planned to read it for ANZLitLovers Indigenous Literature Week. Like the … Continue reading Tara June Winch, Swallow the air (Review for Indigenous Literature Week)
Whispering Gums 