Annie Condon
Annie Condon is from Readings Hawthorn
Review — 30 Mar 2021
Smokehouse by Melissa Manning
One of the joys of a collection of interlinked short stories is that it illuminates different aspects of character and location from multiple perspectives. Two of the best examples of…
Review — 2 Feb 2021
A Town Called Solace by Mary Lawson
It’s wonderful to start the year reading a novel that’s tender, well-written and hard to put down. This book is set in rural Toronto in 1972, and the landscape and…
Review — 6 Sep 2020
Dreams They Forgot by Emma Ashmere
Emma Ashmere’s debut collection contains stories that have been published and won awards over the last twenty years. Generally, an author’s work improves with time, but all twenty-three stories in…
Review — 6 Sep 2020
Ordinary Matter by Laura Elvery
Laura Elvery has merged art and science with a clever twist in her collection of short stories, Ordinary Matter. She has won multiple awards for her stories, and her…
Review — 25 Feb 2019
The Glad Shout by Alice Robinson
The Glad Shout is set in a frightening future Melbourne where storms and floods have ravaged the city; families have been separated, and food and water supplies are limited. I…
Review — 28 Jun 2020
All Adults Here by Emma Straub
There have been many novels recently showcasing the histories, rivalries, and loyalties of adult siblings. These includes titles such as The Jetsetters by Amanda Eyre Ward, The Most Fun We…
Review — 29 Mar 2020
Sheerwater by Leah Swann
Leah Swann’s debut novel is literary fiction with the tempo of a crime novel. Told over three dramatic days, even astute readers will be stunned by the conclusion.
Ava, the…
Review — 23 Feb 2020
Topics of Conversation by Miranda Popkey
Miranda Popkey’s debut novel is a narrative told in ten conversations that occur between 2000 and 2017. The unnamed female narrator converses with her employer, her mother, a group of…
Review — 22 Jul 2018
Give Me Your Hand by Megan Abbott
Megan Abbott was a guest of the Melbourne Writers Festival in 2017, and I heard her speak in a session titled, ‘The Dark Side of Womanhood’. Abbott, a literary thriller…
Review — 19 Aug 2019
The Breeding Season by Amanda Niehaus
Debut novelist Amanda Niehaus is both a scientist and a writer, and she brings these passions to The Breeding Season. Elise and Dan, a couple in their thirties, experience…
