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Q&A :: Alison Stuart :: The Postmistress / The Goldminer’s Sister
Ok so it’s no secret I loved Alison Stewart’s The Postmistress when I read it over Christmas (if you haven’t heard me rave about it yet you can check out my review here). I was so thrilled to find out that not only is Alison working on another book set in Maiden’s Creek, but it is coming out really soon! Alison was kind enough to answer some questions I had for her about her books and writing. Check out our little Q&A below. Do you remember when the idea for The Postmistress first came to you, and what inspired you to write it? I was asked by…
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Review :: The Long Call :: Ann Cleeves
I have to confess that I haven’t read very many crime fiction books, and when I have they have mostly been standalone-ish, rather than series. I do, however, enjoy the occasional British mystery/crime tv show so I was happy to have the opportunity to read and review Ann Cleeves’ brand new novel, The Long Call. This is the first book in a new series by Cleeves, the author of Shetland and Vera. In this first instalment of the Two Rivers series we meet Detective Matthew Venn – here’s the blurb from the Macmillan website: In North Devon, where the rivers Taw and Torridge converge and run into the sea, Detective Matthew…
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Sunday Stack :: Women in Translation Month
August is shaping up to be a very exciting month, bookishly speaking, and my reading wish list for the month is ENORMOUS – I really need to take a few weeks off to just read haha. The Canberra Writers Festival is coming up, and there’s Children’s Book Week and the CBCA Book of the Year awards and the book fair at school. On top of all of that, I’m also very excited about Women in Translation Month this year! WIT Month is held every August to promote women writers from around the world who write in languages other than English, and was started by Meytal Radzinski. You can read more…
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Review :: Allegra in Three Parts :: Suzanne Daniel
I feel like I’m reading so many amazing new female voices in fiction this year, and I’m back today with another debut novel from an Australian woman – Allegra in Three Parts by Suzanne Daniel. Here’s the description from the Pan Macmillan website… I can split myself in two… something I have to do because of Joy and Matilde. They are my grandmothers and I love them both and they totally love me but they can’t stand each other. Eleven-year-old Allegra shuttles between her grandmothers who live next door to one another but couldn’t be more different. Matilde works all hours and instils discipline, duty and restraint. She insists that…
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Review :: The Woman in the Green Dress :: Tea Cooper
Tea Cooper’s latest novel, The Woman in the Green Dress, tells us the stories of two strong young women living over 60 years apart: 1853 Mogo Creek, NSWDella Atterton, bereft at the loss of her parents, is holed up in the place she loves best: the beautiful Hawkesbury in New South Wales. Happiest following the trade her father taught her, taxidermy, Della has no wish to return to Sydney. But the unexpected arrival of Captain Stefan von Richter on a quest to retrieve what could be Australia’s first opal, precipitates Della’s return to Sydney and her Curio Shop of Wonders, where she discovers her enigmatic aunt, Cordelia, is selling more…
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Library loans :: The Stella Prize Longlist
When the longlist for the Stella Prize – a major literary award for women’s writing in Australia – was announced I immediately logged onto my library account to start requesting some of the titles. I did pretty well – about 10 days later and my loans for 4 of the fiction titles are in already! I wrote a bit last year about my issues with prize lists and reader’s FOMO – I always want to read ALL THE BOOKS, which is obviously not possible. This year my plan is to start with the fiction books – 7 of the 12 longlisted books are fiction and I’d like to read them…
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Review :: The Mother-in-Law :: Sally Hepworth
The Mother-in-Law, the brand new novel be Melbourne writer Sally Hepworth, was near top of my list of most anticipated books for 2019. I was delighted to find a copy waiting for me when I arrived home from our holiday, and when I finally sat down to read it this week I devoured it in two short sittings. Someone once told me that you have two families in your life – the one you are born into and the one you choose. Yes, you may get to choose your partner, but you don’t choose your mother-in-law. The cackling mercenaries of fate determine it all. From the moment Lucy met Diana,…
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Review :: The Widow of Ballarat :: Darry Fraser
I was really keen to read Darry Fraser’s The Widow of Ballarat after getting a taste of her writing in HQ Fiction’s Christmas release Our Country Christmas – I really enjoyed her story The Drover Comes Home for Christmas. (as an aside, this is one of my favourite things about those kinds of anthologies/short story collections – it is such a great way to discover new favourite authors!). Check out the synopsis below, and then my review under that! What is Darry Fraser’s The Widow of Ballarat about? 1854, Ballarat, Victoria When Nell Amberton’s husband is shot dead by a bushranger, there are few who grieve his passing, and Nell…
