Book news, reviews and recommendations
A few years ago, I read Kevin Wilson’s Nothing to See Here despite my reluctance at the prospect of children spontaneously combusting. It ended up on my books of the year list. Last year’s short story collection, Tunneling to the Centre of the Earth, also impressed me so I jumped at the chance to read […]
Now is Not the Time to Panic by Kevin Wilson: We are all fugitives Read More »
I spotted Kevin Wilson’s Tunneling to the Centre of the Earth on Netgalley, reminding me of how much I enjoyed his novel, Nothing to See Here. It’s a new edition of his first short story collection comprising eleven pieces. Knowing that many of them were written when Wilson was a student, my expectations weren’t particularly
Tunneling to the Centre of the Earth by Kevin Wilson: ‘I don’t think I belong here’ Read More »
I wasn’t at all sure that I’d get on with Kevin Wilson’s Nothing to See Here. While I’d quite enjoyed The Family Fang, the premise of his new novel seemed a little off the wall but Ann Patchett’s hymn of praise swung it for me. Wilson’s novel tells the story of a young woman, still
Nothing to See Here by Kevin Wilson: Families and how to survive them Read More »
I was a little wary of Gail Jones’ new novel, having been somewhat disappointed by A Guide to Berlin a few years back. All the poetic elegance of Sorry and Sixty Lights was present and correct but it felt a bit strained to me. The Death of Noah Glass flows much more smoothly. When the
The Death of Noah Glass by Gail Jones: Love, death and art Read More »
It took me a mere ninety minutes to read Lily Tuck’s Sisters which might lead you to think it’s a slight, inconsequential piece of fiction but that’s far from the case. A sharp psychological study of obsession with a neat sting in its tail, it’s completely riveting. Our unnamed narrator is married to a man
Sisters by Lily Tuck: A tale of obsession Read More »
This book was actually published here in the UK at the very tail end of 2016 – I hope that won’t mean that it falls through the Christmas/New Year coverage cracks because it deserves attention. Our Magic Hour is Jennifer Down’s debut and comes from Australian publishers Text Publishing whose books I’ve learnt to look
Our Magic Hour by Jennifer Down: Learning to look after yourself Read More »
Midge Raymond’s My Last Continent caught my eye when I was busy perusing the July publishing schedules for a preview post. It’s set mainly in Antarctica, a backdrop shared by two other novels that I’d read and thoroughly enjoyed: Favel Parret’s tale of the 1987 Nella Dan disaster, When the Night Comes, and Rebecca Hunt’s
My Last Continent by Midge Raymond: Two love stories in one Read More »
In Boccaccio’s The Decameron ten young people take to the hills to escape the Black Death devastating Florence. To entertain themselves they spin tales, some erotic, some tragic, others funny: a reflection of life as it was lived then. It’s an attractive structure: Jane Smiley used it in Ten Days in the Hills as did
Demons by Wayne Macauley: Truth and lies Read More »
I’ve read some sad books this year – I Refuse and Academy Street spring to mind – but none as sad as Suzanne McCourt’s The Lost Child set in small town Australia. At one stage I thought I might have to give it up but her writing is so impressive that I decided to tough
The Lost Child by Suzanne McCourt: Best read when cheerful Read More »
There’s a curiously old-fashioned feel to Sebastian Hampson’s debut. It’s about a naïve gauche young man about to start his art history studies at the Sorbonne and his encounter with an older, sophisticated woman who decides to make something of him. The press release suggests Brief Encounter and there’s certainly a cinematic feel about Hampson’s
The Train to Paris by Sebastian Hampson: More than just a romp Read More »
Romy Ash’s Floundering comes shortlisted for what must be just about every Australian literary prize there is, including the Miles Franklin Award which most of us literary poms have heard of. Aside from Tim Winton and Peter Carey, I don’t read much Australian fiction mainly, I suspect, because not much is published in the UK
Floundering by Romy Ash: Leading the way to more Australian writing Read More »