About the Book: Inspired by the story of Svalbard’s first female trapper, Cold Coast is a gripping portrayal of survival within the stark beauty and perilous wilderness of the high Arctic. In 1932, Wanny Woldstad, a young widow, travels to Svalbard, daring to enter the Norwegian trappers’ fiercely guarded male domain. She must prove to … Continue reading Quick Shots Book Review: Cold Coast by Robyn Mundy
Australian Women Writers Challenge
Book Review: Water Music by Christine Balint
About the Book: Winner of Viva la Novella IX In eighteenth-century Venice, orphan Lucietta is raised by a fisherman’s family yet supported by a secret benefactor to study music. At 16, she takes up her position at the Derelitti Convent, one of the prestigious musical orphanages for girls, playing the violin in the ensemble and … Continue reading Book Review: Water Music by Christine Balint
Quick Shots Book Review: The Younger Wife by Sally Hepworth
About the Book: The moment she laid eyes on Heather Wisher, Tully knew this woman was going to destroy their lives. Tully and Rachel are murderous when they discover their father has a new girlfriend. The fact that Heather is half his age isn't even the most shocking part. Stephen is still married to their … Continue reading Quick Shots Book Review: The Younger Wife by Sally Hepworth
Book Review: The Freedom of Birds by Stephanie Parkyn
About the Book: Two French storytellers and a runaway girl travel through fairytale lands, Italian theatres, and the battlefields of France in search of a place to belong as Napoleon's Empire falls, from the author of Josephine's Garden. Remi Victoire is the golden child among all the theatre orphans; he dreams of a life on … Continue reading Book Review: The Freedom of Birds by Stephanie Parkyn
Book Review: Devotion by Hannah Kent
About the Book: Prussia, 1836 Hanne Nussbaum is a child of nature - she would rather run wild in the forest than conform to the limitations of womanhood. In her village of Kay, Hanne is friendless and considered an oddity . . . until she meets Thea. Ocean, 1838 The Nussbaums are Old Lutherans, bound … Continue reading Book Review: Devotion by Hannah Kent
Book Review: Believe in Me by Lucy Neave
About the Book: As a teenager in the 1970s, Sarah is forced to leave her home in upstate New York to accompany a missionary to Idaho. When she falls pregnant, she is dispatched to relatives in Sydney, who place her in a home for unmarried mothers. Years later her daughter, Bet, pieces together her mother’s … Continue reading Book Review: Believe in Me by Lucy Neave
Book Review: The Fossil Hunter by Tea Cooper
About the Book: A fossil discovered at London's Natural History Museum leads one woman back in time to nineteenth century Australia and a world of scientific discovery and dark secrets in this compelling historical mystery. The Hunter Valley 1847 The last thing Mellie Vale remembers before the fever takes her is running through the bush … Continue reading Book Review: The Fossil Hunter by Tea Cooper
Book Review: The Hush by Sara Foster
About the Book: Lainey's friend Ellis is missing. And she's not the only one. In the six months since the first case of a terrifying new epidemic - when a healthy baby wouldn't take a breath at birth - the country has been thrown into turmoil. The government has passed sweeping new laws to monitor … Continue reading Book Review: The Hush by Sara Foster
Book Review: Wild Abandon by Emily Bitto
About the Book: In the fall of 2011, a heartbroken young man flees Australia for the USA. Landing in the excessive, uncanny-familiar glamour and plenitude of New York City, Will makes a vow to say yes to everything that comes his way. By fate or random chance, Will's journey takes him deep into the American … Continue reading Book Review: Wild Abandon by Emily Bitto
Book Review: Flight of the Budgerigar by Penny Olsen
About the Book: The Budgerigar is arguably Australia’s best-known bird. At the same time, it is so ubiquitous that not everyone knows that it is Australian. Nor do many realise that the multicoloured bird that comes to mind—not to mention today’s super-sized, extravagantly coiffed show budgie—is as different from the free-living original as a chihuahua … Continue reading Book Review: Flight of the Budgerigar by Penny Olsen
Theresa Smith Writes 