Australian fiction to pick up this month
Theory & Practice by Michelle de Kretser
It's 1986, and 'beautiful, radical ideas' are in the air. A young woman arrives in Melbourne to research the novels of Virginia Woolf. In bohemian St Kilda she meets artists, activists, students – and Kit. He claims to be in a 'deconstructed' relationship, and they become lovers. Meanwhile, her work on the Woolfmother falls into disarray.
Theory & Practice is a mesmerising account of desire and jealousy, truth and shame. It makes and unmakes fiction as we read, expanding our notion of what a novel can contain.
Read our staff review here.
Molly by Rosalie Ham
It's 1914 and Molly Dunnage wants to see change: at home, at work and in underwear. Her burgeoning corsetry business is starting to take off, thanks to some high-profile supporters. She's marching with Melbourne's suffragists for better conditions for women everywhere. And her family – her eccentric, confounding, adored father and aunt – are turning their minds to country retirement.
But as the clouds of war gather and an ominous figure starts skulking in the shadows of her life, Molly's dreams begin to falter. Then, when true love drops out of the sky and into her arms, her hopes for her life and the world are entirely upended.
Read our staff review here.
A Secret Garden in Paris by Sophie Beaumont
After the sudden death of her mother, Sydneysider Emma has taken refuge in Paris with her Parisian grandmother. Garden designer Charlotte believed she had a happy marriage, until her husband became distant. Parisian florist and mother of twins Arielle has finally managed to get her life together after the discovery of her husband’s crippling debts when he died three years earlier, but now her controlling in-laws have arrived.
The paths of the three women begin to intersect and they develop an unexpected friendship that will transform their lives.
This Kingdom of Dust by David Dyer
The whole world has just watched Neil and Buzz walk on the Moon. Now they are struck by terror: the lunar module's engine has failed. There is no back-up, no other way off the surface. If the astronauts can't fix the problem, they'll slowly run out of oxygen and die. This Kingdom of Dust explores this harrowing scenario through the intertwined narratives of three distinct voices: Buzz on the Moon, his wife Joan back on Earth, and Aquarius, the journalist compelled to craft a story he doesn't want to write.
Marooned, Buzz confronts his fate with a mix of dread and awe. On Earth, Joan wrestles with grief and sacrifice against the backdrop of 1960s America - a nation riven by war and seismic social change. Caught between professional duty and personal turmoil, Aquarius soon discovers that he will need all his skill to capture this unfolding drama, and all his courage to follow it through to its breathtaking conclusion.
Read our staff review here.
The Thinning by Inga Simpson
Fin grew up by an observatory, learning about telescopes and planets, inspired by the passions of her mother and father, then leaders in their fields of astrophotography and astronomy. Those days are long over. Now Fin, her mother, Dianella, and a band of outliers live deep off the grid, always on amber alert and always ready to run.
In the outside world, things are not good: extinctions and a loss of diversity threaten what's left of the environment. With a new disaster looming, Fin finds herself thrust into an unlikely partnership with a stranger who has appeared in their camp. Terry is one of a new breed of evolved humans, the Incompletes, who are widely distrusted. But the pair will need to work together during a dangerous journey if they are to play their part in a plan to help restore the natural world – and humankind.
Read our staff review here.
The Defiance of Frances Dickinson by Wendy Parkins
1838, England: When 18-year-old heiress Frances Dickinson impulsively marries Lieutenant John Geils, she soon discovers there is much about her husband she did not know. A cruel and violent man, John keeps Frances in isolation on his family’s estate in Scotland, while spending her fortune and preying upon their maids. Frances yearns to break free from her marriage, but the law is not on her side. Only when John’s abuse escalates can she set in motion a daring plan to secure her freedom.
Available from 26 November
