Australian fiction

Tiny Uncertain Miracles by Michelle Johnston

Reviewed by Tye Cattanach

Michelle Johnston is an emergency physician and an author, whose author profile online ends with the line: ‘she is occupied searching for the beauty and awe in an often-brutal reality.’ Her new novel, Tiny Uncertain Miracles, indeed seems to…

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Salonika Burning by Gail Jones

Reviewed by Aurelia Orr

Having won numerous literary awards, and been shortlisted three times for the Miles Franklin, Gail Jones once again showcases her talent for writing memorable characters and poignant storylines with this latest work of historical fiction, Salonika Burning.

It is…

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The Lovers by Yumna Kassab

Reviewed by Vasilia Nerouppos

What happens after we fall in love with someone? When the excitement has softened into comfort? When that giddiness melds into familiarity and the butterflies have flown away? How does one describe the feeling of loving someone and continuing to…

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Willowman by Inga Simpson

Reviewed by Kate McIntosh

Every now and then you watch or read something that takes you completely by surprise. Maybe it was Friday Night Lights, and suddenly you found yourself caring about American football. Or maybe it was the Netflix series Formula 1: Drive

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A Brief Affair by Alex Miller

Reviewed by Chris Gordon

Alex Miller’s website has a section about writing. There he states: ‘The serious novel is an act of imaginative truth and requires the writer to confront unclear aspects of the self; to delve, in other words, into the unconscious and…

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Seeing Other People by Diana Reid

Reviewed by Annie Condon

Diana Reid’s 2021 novel Love and Virtue was an outstanding debut that saw Reid named one of Sydney Morning Herald’s Best Young Novelists of the Year. At first, her new novel, Seeing Other People, looks to be a light-hearted…

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Limberlost by Robbie Arnott

Reviewed by Celeste Deliyiannis

Robbie Arnott is a tremendously talented and unique voice in Australian literature, and his third novel, Limberlost, exceeded all my expectations. It is a gorgeously written coming- of-age novel, set in a Tasmanian river valley. Ned’s two brothers are…

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Moon Sugar by Angela Meyer

Reviewed by Amanda Rayner

Recently separated and living in Melbourne, personal trainer Mila meets ‘sugar baby’ Josh when she becomes one of his clients through the ‘SugarMeetMe’ website. Time passes and the two develop an emotional intimacy alongside their physical one. Then Josh goes…

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The Sun Walks Down by Fiona McFarlane

Reviewed by Grace Gooda

In The Sun Walks Down, Fiona McFarlane doesn’t just describe the landscape of 1880s rural, colonial Australia, she slices it open and dissects it. The effect is visceral. Denny, a six-year-old boy, is missing in the harsh South Australian…

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Iris by Fiona Kelly McGregor

Reviewed by Alison Huber

I love a good character-driven novel, those books that bring a reader right up close to a single actor and fix that person in the reader’s mind forevermore. Iris Webber, the subject of Fiona Kelly McGregor’s Iris, just joined…

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