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
Prize Winning fiction
The Silence of the Girls and The Women of Troy by Pat Barker
The Silence of the Girls: The greatest war story in literature, retold by our greatest living storyteller on war - in the voice of the forgotten woman who lived through it. Queen Briseis has been stolen from her conquered homeland and given as a concubine to a foreign warrior. The warrior is Achilles: famed hero, … Continue reading The Silence of the Girls and The Women of Troy by Pat Barker
#2021StellaPrize Winner: The Bass Rock by Evie Wyld
I'm thrilled to pass on the news that The Bass Rock by Evie Wyld is this year's Stella Prize winner! If you need a reminder on why I love this novel so much, read my review here. The Bass Rock is published by Penguin Random House Australia.
#BookBingo2020 – Round 11: Prize Winning Book
The Spill by Imbi Neeme The Spill is the winner of the 2019 Penguin Literary Prize and it is a worthy recipient. A story of two sisters; on the surface, it may not seem all that spectacular. But the characterisation is so finely tuned, not just with Samantha and Nicole, but with all of the … Continue reading #BookBingo2020 – Round 11: Prize Winning Book
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
#MWFDIGITAL: Victoria Hannan – Kokomo
Victoria Hannan is a writer, photographer and creative director living in Melbourne. Her writing has appeared on McSweeney's Internet Tendency, 3:AM Magazine and in her monthly TinyLetter about swimming pools. Kokomo, her first novel, was written at artist-in-residence programs in Brazil, Tasmania and Iceland. Kokomo was the 2019 winner of the Victorian Premier's Literary Award … Continue reading #MWFDIGITAL: Victoria Hannan – Kokomo
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 Spill by Imbi Neeme
The Spill… About the Book: Winner of the 2019 Penguin Literary Prize In 1982, a car overturns on a remote West Australian road. Nobody is hurt, but the impact is felt for decades. Nicole and Samantha Cooper both remember the summer day when their mother, Tina, lost control of their car – but not in … Continue reading Book Review: The Spill by Imbi Neeme
Book Review: Where the Sun Will Rise Tomorrow by Rashi Rohatgi
Where the Sun Will Rise Tomorrow... About the Book: It's 1905, and Japan’s victory over the Russians in the Russo-Japanese War has shocked the British and their imperial subjects. In India, 16-year-old Leela and her younger sister, Maya, are spurred on to wear homespun as a sign of protest to show the British that the … Continue reading Book Review: Where the Sun Will Rise Tomorrow by Rashi Rohatgi
Book Review: Beastings by Benjamin Myers
Beastings... About the Book: Winner of the Portico Prize for Literature and the Northern Writers' Award A girl and a baby. A priest and a poacher. A savage pursuit through the landscape of a changing rural England. When a teenage girl leaves the workhouse and abducts a child placed in her care, the local priest … Continue reading Book Review: Beastings by Benjamin Myers
Theresa Smith Writes 