About the Book: Two women stand in the shallows, a man dead at their feet, while around them buildings burn. Amid the ruins of a fire-ravaged amusement park and destroyed waterfront dwellings, one boarded-up building still stands. May has come from Australia to Loveland, Nebraska, to claim the house on the poisoned lake as part … Continue reading Book Review: Loveland by Robert Lukins
Allen and Unwin
Book Review: The Islands by Emily Brugman
About the Book: In the mid-1950s, a small group of Finnish migrants set up camp on Little Rat, a tiny island in an archipelago off the coast of Western Australia. The crayfishing industry is in its infancy, and the islands, haunted though they are by past shipwrecks, possess an indefinable allure. Drawn here by tragedy, … Continue reading Book Review: The Islands by Emily Brugman
Book Review: Scary Monsters by Michelle de Kretser
About the Book: Michelle de Kretser's electrifying take on scary monsters turns the novel upside down - just as migration has upended her characters' lives. Lili's family migrated to Australia from Asia when she was a teenager. Now, in the 1980s, she's teaching in the south of France. She makes friends, observes the treatment handed … Continue reading Book Review: Scary Monsters by Michelle de Kretser
Book Review: A Woman Made of Snow by Elisabeth Gifford
About the Book: A gorgeous, haunting and captivating novel of a century-long family mystery in the wilds of Scotland, and one woman's hunt for the truth. Scotland, 1949: Caroline Gillan and her new husband Alasdair have moved back to Kelly Castle, his dilapidated family estate in the middle of nowhere. Stuck caring for their tiny … Continue reading Book Review: A Woman Made of Snow by Elisabeth Gifford
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: The Swift and The Harrier by Minette Walters
About the Book: An unforgettable novel of England's Civil War, from the bestselling author of The Last Hours and The Turn of Midnight. Dorset, 1642. When bloody civil war breaks out between the King and Parliament, families and communities across England are riven by different allegiances. A rare few choose neutrality. One such is Jayne … Continue reading Book Review: The Swift and The Harrier by Minette Walters
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: The Housemate by Sarah Bailey
About the Book: Three housemates. One dead, one missing and one accused of murder. Dubbed the Housemate Homicide, it's a mystery that has baffled Australians for almost a decade. Melbourne-based journalist Olive Groves worked on the story as a junior reporter and became obsessed by the case. Now, nine years later, the missing housemate turns … Continue reading Book Review: The Housemate by Sarah Bailey
Book Review: Beautiful World, Where Are You by Sally Rooney
About the Book: Alice, a novelist, meets Felix, who works in a distribution warehouse, and asks him if he'd like to travel to Rome with her. In Dublin, her best friend Eileen is getting over a break-up, and slips back into flirting with Simon, a man she has known since childhood. Alice, Felix, Eileen and … Continue reading Book Review: Beautiful World, Where Are You by Sally Rooney
Book Review: The Heart Principle by Helen Hoang
About the Book: A woman struggling with burnout learns to embrace the unexpected - and the man she enlists to help her - in this heartfelt new romance by the bestselling author of The Kiss Quotient, Helen Hoang. When violinist Anna Sun accidentally achieves career success with a viral YouTube video, she finds herself incapacitated … Continue reading Book Review: The Heart Principle by Helen Hoang
Theresa Smith Writes 