Our latest reviews
The Mighty Red by Louise Erdrich
Pulitzer Prize-winning author Louise Erdrich has composed one of the most compelling and rewarding novels I have read in a very long time. I defy anyone to read the first page and not be intrigued and drawn instantly into the…
A Sunny Place for Shady People by Mariana Enriquez & Megan McDowell (trans.)
‘It was the terror that came from the cold of the grave … a glimpse beyond the walls of sleep.’ To step into Mariana Enriquez’s vision of Argentina is to step into a world of chilling strangeness and abject terror…
Rosarita by Anita Desai
Rosarita opens with Bonita, a young language student from India who arrives in Mexico to study Spanish. The novel alternates between the languid environmental bliss of Mexico and the busy domesticity of India, each city providing an invasive friction to…
The Last Dream by Pedro Almodóvar & Frank Wynne (trans.)
From one of Spain’s most iconic filmmakers comes The Last Dream, a mix of short stories, diary entries and reflections on writing, filmmaking and the many passions that drive the creative mind of Pedro Almodóvar.
The stories range from…
The Belburd by Nardi Simpson
The Belburd is a story of The Dreaming and of dreaming, of creation and of motherhood. Nardi Simpson weaves together two threads of experience: the story of Ginny, a blak poet recovering from loss, who is trying to contend with…
The Deal by Alex Miller
The Deal is Alex Miller’s 14th novel, and he’s already well into his 15th, The Minister, which draws on his long friendship with former immigration minister Ian McPhee. Like all his novels, The Deal is big on ideas and…
Rapture by Emily Maguire
Long a source of conjecture, the myth or legend of a female pope has endured for centuries. Pope John of England was allegedly Pope Joan, and ascended to the throne of Saint Peter after disguising herself as a man in…
A Song to Drown Rivers by Ann Liang
Ann Liang, winner of The Readings Young Adult Prize 2023 for her debut If You Could See the Sun, premieres her first adult novel in this spell-binding historical fiction which blends Chinese history and mythology.
Set in the capital…
All the Bees in the Hollows by Lauren Keegan
This murder mystery of a novel does not follow the usual rules of the genre. The stage is set in the 16th century and follows two women set upon proving themselves for varied reasons. Maryte, a bereaved widow, is a…
Wing by Nikki Gemmell
Nikki Gemmell is most famous for her erotic novel, The Bride Stripped Bare, published over 20 years ago and written in second person using the pronoun ‘you’ to address the reader, which created an intimacy with the narrator. Gemmell’s…
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