When I thought about Bill's AWW Gen 4 week, I knew I'd have some hard choices to make as I have many eligible novels on my TBR shelves. However, the choice wasn't too hard because there was one author who just doesn't seem to be talked about and I wanted to include her on my … Continue reading Margaret Barbalet, Blood in the rain (#BookReview)
Historical fiction
Christine Balint, Water music (#BookReview)
Christine Balint's Water music was a joint winner of the 2021 Viva La Novella Prize with Helen Meany's Every day is Gertie Day (my review), but they are very different books. Meany's is contemporary, perhaps even near-future, and tackles some up-to-the-minute issues regarding fact, truth and authenticity, while Balint's is historical fiction, a coming-of-age story, … Continue reading Christine Balint, Water music (#BookReview)
Maggie O’Farrell, Hamnet (#BookReview)
Not unusually, I'm late to this book that was all the talk in 2020 - and, I may not have read it at all if it hadn't been for my reading group. I'm talking, as you will have guessed from the post title, of Maggie O'Farrell's Hamnet. As most of you will know, Hamnet's plot … Continue reading Maggie O’Farrell, Hamnet (#BookReview)
Monday musings on Australian literature: Defining the novel, in 1975?
During one of my forays into Trove, I came across an intriguing little piece by Canberra artist-educator-reviewer, Malcolm Pettigrove. Pettigrove was a regular arts reviewer in The Canberra Times through the 1970s and 1980s, but it was his article published on 31 January 1975 that particularly caught my attention. It starts: NO issue in the … Continue reading Monday musings on Australian literature: Defining the novel, in 1975?
Steven Conte, The Tolstoy Estate (#BookReview)
Steven Conte burst on the scene in 2008 when he won the inaugural Prime Minister's Literary Award with his 2007-published debut novel, The zookeeper's war. I always intended to read it but somehow it never happened. Jump to 2020, and Conte's second novel, The Tolstoy Estate, was published. That's a big gap, but what he's … Continue reading Steven Conte, The Tolstoy Estate (#BookReview)
Craig Cormick and Harold Ludwick, On a barbarous coast (“BookReview)
Craig Cormick is a Canberra-based writer whom I've seen at various literary events around town, but not read until now, so I was especially glad when Allen & Unwin sent me this book to review. Titled On a barbarous coast, it was written collaboratively with Harold Ludwick, "a Bulgun Warra man whose traditional lands lie … Continue reading Craig Cormick and Harold Ludwick, On a barbarous coast (“BookReview)
Julie Janson, Benevolence (#BookReview)
In a rather curious synchronicity, the last three books I've read have all had single word, multiple-meaning, titles, all relating to the colonial settlement of Australia - Gay Lynch's historical fiction Unsettled (my review), John Kinsella's memoir Displaced (my review), and now Julie Janson's historical fiction Benevolence whose title drips with irony. Recently, I commented … Continue reading Julie Janson, Benevolence (#BookReview)
Anna Goldsworthy, Melting moments (#BookReview)
Melting moments is Australian writer and concert pianist Anna Goldsworthy's debut novel, following her highly successful memoir of a decade ago, Piano lessons (my review). Melting moments - for those not familiar with this Antipodean classic - are little shortbread-based biscuits (cookies) sandwiched together with buttercream. In titling her book by these little treats, with … Continue reading Anna Goldsworthy, Melting moments (#BookReview)
Monday musings on Australian literature: Modern sensibilities and Historical fiction
Following last week's Monday Musings, and my recent review of Gay Lynch's historical novel, Unsettled, I thought it might be worth teasing out the fraught issue of "modern sensibilities" in this genre. By teasing out, I mean that this will not be a thorough analysis of the topic so much as my sharing a few … Continue reading Monday musings on Australian literature: Modern sensibilities and Historical fiction
Gay Lynch, Unsettled (#BookReview)
Coincidentally, my first review after this week's Monday Musings on historical fiction happens to be a work of historical fiction, Gay Lynch's cleverly titled Unsettled. Consequently, I'm going to start there, that is, talking about the form. Well, more or less, because I should at least give you a sense of its subject. It is … Continue reading Gay Lynch, Unsettled (#BookReview)
Whispering Gums 