I met my husband on the same day I committed my very last murder. There’s a joke in there somewhere, about ending two men’s lives. Olivia Hodges used to do horrible things – back when she worked for a Spanish crime syndicate – but she fled that life and moved home to Australia, building aContinue reading “Review: ‘The Hitwoman’s Guide to Reducing Household Debt’ is a highly entertaining debut”
Tag Archives: adult fiction
Review: The quiet emotional force of The Burrow
Amy, Jin and Lucie are leading isolated lives in their partially renovated, inner city home. They are not happy, but they are also terrified of change. When they buy a pet rabbit for Lucie, and then Amy’s mother, Pauline, comes to stay, the family is forced to confront long-buried secrets. Will opening their hearts toContinue reading “Review: The quiet emotional force of The Burrow”
Review: The uplifting layers of The End and Everything Before It
Emma watched her mother’s kayak disappear among icebergs in the Arctic Sea. Six years later, her brother, who had not spoken since their mother was lost, warns Emma of the curse of death that she brought to anyone who looked on her face—before tragedy befalls him too. Emma consigns herself to a solitary life atContinue reading “Review: The uplifting layers of The End and Everything Before It”
Nina Kenwood on life stability, 30s anxieties, and wedding drama | Author interview
In this interview, we welcome author Nina Kenwood back to the show, where we discuss her new book – and her first book for adults – The Wedding Forecast. Topics include starting over after a long-term relationship, anxieties around parenthood and aging, and stability versus taking a leap. Content notes for the episode: anxiety and overthinking;Continue reading “Nina Kenwood on life stability, 30s anxieties, and wedding drama | Author interview”
Alice Robinson: Grief, Parenting and an Uncertain Future | Author Interview
Author Alice Robinson joins Elise and Priscilla for an insightful interview about her new release, If You Go. The novel follows protagonist Esther, who must piece together a timeline between her past and the highly confusing present. We chat about a non-linear experience of grief, the relationship between feminism and motherhood, and speculate about theContinue reading “Alice Robinson: Grief, Parenting and an Uncertain Future | Author Interview”
Review: a contemporary mystery brings up historical tensions in The Desert Knows Her Name
In Lia Hills’ new novel, a girl walks barefoot out of the Wimmera desert, near the small town of Gatyekarr, on a hot October afternoon. She finds sanctuary with Beth, a regenerative farmer and collector of seeds, devoted to bringing her family’s farm back to life. The arrival of the mysterious ‘desert girl’ unsettles theContinue reading “Review: a contemporary mystery brings up historical tensions in The Desert Knows Her Name”
Review: Red River Road – a tense solo female travel mystery
Anna Downes’ new thriller follows a woman desperate to discover what happened to her sister on a solo road trip through the Australian outback. Katy Sweeney is determined to find her sister. A year earlier, just three weeks into a solo vanlife trip, free-spirited Phoebe vanished without a trace on Western Australia’s remote and achinglyContinue reading “Review: Red River Road – a tense solo female travel mystery”
‘Ravenous Girls’: a tender story of love and hunger
Adelaide. Summertime. 1985. Fourteen-year-old Frankie is struggling to make sense of her older sister Justine’s admission to hospital with anorexia. But growing up is harder than it seems, and as the summer passes, Frankie has to try to make sense of her own life, too. Years later, looking back on her sister’s illness from theContinue reading “‘Ravenous Girls’: a tender story of love and hunger”
‘The Glass House’ and the pointy end of mental healthcare
Psychiatry registrar Doctor Hannah Wright, a country girl with a chaotic history, thought she had seen it all in the emergency room. But that was nothing compared to the psychiatric ward at Menzies Hospital. Hannah must learn on the job in a strained medical system, as she and her fellow trainees deal with the common andContinue reading “‘The Glass House’ and the pointy end of mental healthcare”
Review: loneliness, mental health, and something else in Beatrix & Fred
Emily Spurr’s Beatrix & Fred follows two lonely individuals as their lives entwined in unexpected ways. If this sounds really vague to you, that’s because this book’s premise is best discovered on your own. Topics include perimenopause, mental health, loneliness and belonging. Review Weird premise, touching execution Beatrix is a loner with a genuine attachmentContinue reading “Review: loneliness, mental health, and something else in Beatrix & Fred”
Novel Feelings 