The Mystery Woman… About the Book: Rebecca Wood takes the role as postmistress in a sleepy seaside town, desperate for anonymity after a scandal in Sydney. But she is confronted almost at once by a disturbing discovery - her predecessor committed suicide. To add to her worries, her hopes for a quiet life are soon … Continue reading Book Review: The Mystery Woman by Belinda Alexandra
Historical Fiction
Book Review: The Women’s Pages by Victoria Purman
The Women’s Pages... About the Book: From the bestselling author of The Land Girls comes a beautifully realised novel that speaks to the true history and real experiences of post-war Australian women. Sydney 1945: The war is over, the fight begins. The war is over and so are the jobs (and freedoms) of tens of … Continue reading Book Review: The Women’s Pages by Victoria Purman
Book Review: The Tolstoy Estate by Steven Conte
The Tolstoy Estate... About the Book: Epic in scope, ambitious and astonishingly good, The Tolstoy Estate proclaims Steven Conte as one of Australia's finest writers. In the first year of the doomed German invasion of Russia in WWII, a German military doctor, Paul Bauer, is assigned to establish a field hospital at Yasnaya Polyana - … Continue reading Book Review: The Tolstoy Estate by Steven Conte
Book Review: The Yield by Tara June Winch
The Yield... About the Book: Winner of the 2020 Miles Franklin Literary Award. Shortlisted for the VPLA. Winner, Book of the Year, People's Choice, Christina Stead Prize for Fiction at NSW Premier's Literary Award. Shortlisted for the Stella Prize. The yield in English is the reaping, the things that man can take from the land. … Continue reading Book Review: The Yield by Tara June Winch
Book Review: Night Lessons in Little Jerusalem by Rick Held
Night Lessons in Little Jerusalem... About the Book: The hero of this book was not a saint, nor even a tzadik - the nearest Jewish equivalent - but he was a hero. Someone who risked his own life to make a difference to the life of another. Were his motives selfless? No. He was after … Continue reading Book Review: Night Lessons in Little Jerusalem by Rick Held
Book Review: The Clock Winder by Anne Tyler
The Clock Winder... About the Book: Having sacked her handyman, newly-widowed Mrs Emerson finds a replacement in Elizabeth, a lanky, awkward girl. The Emersons - there are seven grown-up children - have a reputation for craziness and Elizabeth finds herself drawn into their disorderly lives against her will. But in the end it is hard … Continue reading Book Review: The Clock Winder by Anne Tyler
Book Review: Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel
Wolf Hall... About the Book: Winner of the Man Booker Prize Shortlisted for the Orange Prize Shortlisted for the Costa Novel Award England, the 1520s. Henry VIII is on the throne, but has no heir. Cardinal Wolsey is his chief advisor, charged with securing the divorce the pope refuses to grant. Into this atmosphere of … Continue reading Book Review: Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel
Book Review: The Pull of the Stars by Emma Donoghue
The Pull of the Stars... About the Book: In an Ireland doubly ravaged by war and disease, Nurse Julia Power works at an understaffed hospital in the city centre, where expectant mothers who have come down with an unfamiliar Flu are quarantined together. Into Julia's regimented world step two outsiders: Doctor Kathleen Lynn, on the … Continue reading Book Review: The Pull of the Stars by Emma Donoghue
Book Review: Swimming in the Dark by Tomasz Jedrowski
Swimming in the Dark... About the Book: Poland, 1980. Anxious, disillusioned Ludwik Glowacki, soon to graduate university, has been sent along with the rest of his class to an agricultural camp. Here he meets Janusz - and together, they spend a dreamlike summer swimming in secluded lakes, reading forbidden books - and falling in love. … Continue reading Book Review: Swimming in the Dark by Tomasz Jedrowski
Book Review: Hamnet by Maggie O’Farrell
Hamnet... About the Book: On a summer’s day in 1596, a young girl in Stratford-upon-Avon takes to her bed with a fever. Her twin brother, Hamnet, searches everywhere for help. Why is nobody at home? Their mother, Agnes, is over a mile away, in the garden where she grows medicinal herbs. Their father is working … Continue reading Book Review: Hamnet by Maggie O’Farrell
