Introducing the Readings Children's Book Prize 2021 Shortlist
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F R EE M AR CH 2021
Introducing
the Readings
Children’s
Book Prize
2021 Shortlist
page 5
New releases from
Kazuo Ishiguro,
Viet Thanh
Nguyen, Sarah
Krasnostein and
many more
from page 6
B OOK S
M USI C
F I LM
EVENTS
F LE E T F OX E S HERA
page 22 HYESANG PARK
page 23
KA ZUO MADELEI N E S AR AH LE AN N E H ALL
ISH I GU R O R YAN K R A SNOSTEI N page 17
page 6 page 7 page 12
CARLTON 309 LYGON ST 9347 6633 KIDS 315 LYGON ST 9341 7730 DONCASTER WESTFIELD DONCASTER, 619 DONCASTER RD 9810 0891
HAWTHORN 701 GLENFERRIE RD 9819 1917 MALVERN 185 GLENFERRIE RD 9509 1952 ST KILDA 112 ACLAND ST 9525 3852 STATE LIBRARY
VICTORIA 285-321 RUSSELL ST 8664 7540 | SEE SHOP OPENING HOURS, BROWSE AND BUY ONLINE AT READINGS.COM.AU
NEWS March 2021 R E A D I N G S M O N T H LY 3
News
As Fast as I Can by Penny Tangey. clubs, what the book of the month is and previously worked at Readings as the
This year’s guest judge is children’s and YA instructions on how to join, see manager of both the South Yarra and
writer Emily Gale. Emily has more than 20 www.readings.com.au/book-clubs Port Melbourne shops, as well as a book
years’ experience in children’s publishing buyer. She is loved by staff, authors and
and has previously worked at Readings as a publishers alike. Joe Rubbo will move into
children’s book buyer and was instrumental Australians longlisted for 2021 Walter the role of operations manager.
The Readings Children’s Book Prize in establishing this prize. Emily will help Scott Prize
Shortlist select the winner from this shortlist, to be The Walter Scott Prize for Historical Fiction
We’re delighted to announce the shortlist announced in the May edition of Readings 2021 longlist has been announced and
for The Readings Children’s Book Prize Monthly. Find out more on page 5. four Australian authors have made the
2021. The shortlisted titles are: The Power
of Positive Pranking by Nat Amoore, The
list. The four longlisted Australian titles
are The Tolstoy Estate by Steven Conte, A Sales &
Promotions
Year the Maps Changed by Danielle Binks, Virtual Book Clubs Treacherous Country by K.M. Kruimink, A
Aussie Kids: Meet Taj at the Lighthouse by Calling all book lovers! Starting in March, Room Made of Leaves by Kate Grenville
Maxine Beneba Clarke and illustrated by we will be running two virtual book clubs. and The Dictionary of Lost Words by Pip
Nicki Greenberg, The Grandest Bookshop One for children (ages 8–12) and another Williams. The shortlist will be announced
in the World by Amelia Mellor, Bindi by Kirli for young adults (ages 14+). For more at the end of April. For more information,
Saunders and illustrated by Dub Leffler and information about the Readings book and to view the full longlist, visit
www.walterscottprize.co.uk
3 for 2 fiction favourites
We have a special offer on a select
range of popular fiction titles. Buy two
Steph Bowe Mentorship for Young Writers books in the range, and choose a third
Text Publishing has announced the Steph book in the range (of equal or lesser
Bowe Mentorship for Young Writers, a value) for free! This offer is exclusively
new initiative designed to nurture and available in all Readings shops until
encourage new Australian children’s writers 31 March on stickered, in-stock items
under the age of 25. The mentorship is held only, while stocks last. This offer is not
in the memory of Young Adult author Steph available online.
Bowe and to honour her longstanding
commitment to fostering and supporting 25% off online fiction favourites
young writers. The winner of the mentorship
We have an exclusive online offer on
will be paired with a middle-grade or YA
a select range of popular fiction titles.
author for a 20-hour mentorship to develop
Buy any title from the fiction favourites
their manuscript.
collection, use the code 25OFF and
receive a 25% discount. This offer runs
online only until 31 March, on select in-
Louise Ryan re-joins Readings
stock items only, while stock lasts. This
We are thrilled to announce that Louise offer is not available in shops.
Ryan, former Penguin Random House
publishing manager, has re-joined Readings
as the Carlton shop manager. Louise has
R E A D I N G S M O N T H LY EDITOR ADVERTISING P R I C E S A N D AVA I L A B I L I T Y
Free, independent monthly newspaper Jackie Tang Lucie Dess Please note that all prices and release
published by Readings Books, Music & Film jackie.tang@readings.com.au lucie.dess@readings.com.au dates in Readings Monthly are correct
at time of publication, however prices
SUBSCRIBE E D I T O R I A L A S S I S TA N T S GRAPHIC DESIGN and release dates may change without
You can subscribe to Readings Monthly Judi Mitchell & Lucie Dess Cat Matteson notice. Special price offers apply only for
and our e-news by visiting our website: the month in which they are featured in
readings.com.au/sign-up PROOFREADER CAR TOON Readings Monthly.
Joanna Di Mattia Oslo Davis
DELIVERY CHARGES FOR COVID-19
M A I L- O R D E R & O V E R - T H E - K I D S & YA C U R AT O R S FRONT COVER While all title release dates were correct
PHONE PURCHASES
Angela Crocombe & Dani Solomon The March Readings Monthly at the time of going to press, due to the
$6.50 flat rate to anywhere in Australia for cover features artwork from the cover ongoing COVID-19 crisis the unexpected
orders under $120. Free shipping for orders M U S I C C U R AT O R of Leanne Hall’s new novel, The Gaps, may happen along the supply chain.
$120 and over. Dave Clarke courtesy of the publisher Text Publishing Please bear with us as we bring you books
(cover design by Imogen Stubbs). Read a in these rapidly changing circumstances.
DELIVERY CHARGES FOR C L A S S I C A L M U S I C C U R AT O R
ONLINE PURCHASES review of The Gaps on page 17.
Phil Richards
$6.50 flat rate to anywhere in Australia for Readings donates 10% of its profits each
orders under $120. Free shipping for orders year to the Readings Foundation:
D V D S C U R AT O R
$120 and over. readings.com.au/the-readings-foundation
Lou Fulco
EVENTS & PROGRAMMING
Chris Gordon
Bold voices.
Inspiring stories.
www.uqp.com.au
4 R E A D I N G S M O N T H LY March 2021 C O LU M N S
Mark’s Dear On
Say with Mark Rubbo
Reader with Jackie Tang
Events with Chris Gordon
For some Australian publishers, growth has come by expanding into It’s a shorter column this I don’t know about you,
other markets. Publisher Hardie Grant has been very successful setting month and the books are but I am not leaving
up companies in the US and UK, and so has Scribe Publications. Black too good for me to waffle Victoria this year. Travel
Inc. had a go too, but publisher Morry Schwartz is now trying a different on with an introduction, seems like some sort of
tack by taking over the London-based Jewish Quarterly. Founded in so I will get straight to it, far-flung concept of
1953, it was rooted in the Eastern European Jewish tradition. It will be relaunched starting with Fiction Book of the Month, another era. Luckily, however, we still
internationally by Black Inc. in May and will be edited in Australia by Jonathan the highly anticipated new Kazuo Ishiguro have the ability to hear from authors,
Pearlman, who also edits Black Inc.’s triannual publication Australian Foreign Affairs. novel, Klara and the Sun. Ishiguro once artists and thought leaders from all over
The first issue features some stellar Jewish intellectuals including Simon Schama on again quietly picks apart themes of sacrifice the world. Coming up in March, I am
democracy, Deborah Lipstadt on antisemitism and some rediscovered letters of the great and authenticity in this finely wrought thrilled to let you know that the Readings
philosopher Isaiah Berlin. work that ‘illustrates [his] mastery and his event program is reaching across the seas
Henry Rosenbloom’s Scribe Publications proudly boasts that it publishes ‘books ability to control and subvert the reader’s to bring you stories from all over, as well
that matter’ and has been doing so since 1976. It’s been a long hard struggle and they’ve expectations in unsettling ways,’ writes our as from our very own vibrant state.
stuck to their guns. In the last six months their books have notched up some impressive reviewer Joe Rubbo. I know I’m not alone in Together with the National Gallery
awards: the National Biography Award for Tiberius with a Telephone by Patrick Mullins, wanting to get a hold of this one, nor am I of Victoria’s 2021 Melbourne Art Book
the Victorian Premier’s Literary Award for The Animals in That Country by Laura Jean alone in anticipating Max Porter’s slim, Fair, we are honoured to present one of
McKay, and now Fathoms: The World in the Whale by Rebecca Giggs has just won the experimental volume inspired by the last Australia’s leading Aboriginal creators
Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Nonfiction in the US. Fathoms is an amazing days of Francis Bacon’s life; and of course, Wayne Quilliam in a discussion about his
book that looks at how whales experience environmental and technological change, and Pulitzer Prize-winner Viet Thanh Nguyen’s work and the importance of documenting
what future awaits them and us. The Committed, which our Managing significant events for Aboriginal and
Readings was founded in 1969 by Ross Reading, Dorothy Reading and Peter Reed. Director Mark Rubbo found ‘often Torres Strait Islander peoples. Quilliam’s
Ross passed away in 2000, and Dorothy in 2019, and last month Peter Reed passed hilarious, always stimulating and often photos have been displayed on a global
away after a long battle with cancer. Peter began his career as a chartered accountant brilliant’. Our booksellers also loved new scale and he was awarded the NAIDOC
but hated it and gave it up to work as a bookseller at Cheshires, then Melbourne’s international fiction by Olivia Sudjic, Indigenous Artist of the Year. Culture
pre-eminent bookshop. There he met co-workers Ian Atkins and Ross Reading, and in Francis Spufford and Danielle Evans. Is Life is his new photography book. It
1967, together with Ian Atkins, he set up Jockels Bookshop in Collins Street. It wasn’t a March is traditionally a strong month celebrates and shares stories of First
success, and Peter partnered with Ross and Dorothy in a new venture in Lygon Street. for local first- or second-time authors, and Peoples across the continent.
Readings thrived but the partnership broke up when Dorothy and Ross decided they this year is no different. Five debut and I am also delighted to announce
wanted to sell the business. Peter wasn’t able to purchase their shares and somewhat sophomore works are reviewed in these that Readings is partnering with the
reluctantly agreed to put the business on the market and my business partners and I pages, including books by Chloe Wilson, Australian Red Cross’ International
purchased Readings from them in 1976. Peter kindly agreed to stay on as an employee Kavita Bedford, Ella Baxter, Claire Thomas Humanitarian Law Advisory Committee
and became a mentor to me. Peter loved bookselling and loved sharing his ideas and and Madeleine Ryan, whose debut, A Room to run a book club on the law and the
opinions on the trade, and I could listen for hours to his stories. He held very strong Called Earth, is described by head book impact of war. We would be so delighted
views on a lot of things that at times could be both infuriating and admirable. His buyer Alison Huber as a ‘knockout’. As you if you could join the first discussion
great passion outside bookselling and his family was betting on the races, an activity already know from her regular column with Professor Philippe Sands as we talk
he approached with the same fastidiousness as he did to bookselling. He would go to a (which, never fear, will return next month), about his latest book, The Ratline. As
race meeting at least once a week. One of my most memorable outings with Peter was Alison’s recommendations are always you may know, Sands is a British and
when he took me and my friend Garth, literally, to the dogs, a mid-week evening dog worth listening to. During lockdown last French lawyer and Professor of Laws
race at Olympic Park. It was a weird and surreal experience. When Peter felt I was ready year, several booksellers observed to me at University College London, where
he left to work for an educational bookseller, JP Books, and his family eventually took that many readers were flocking to poetry, he is also Director of the Centre on
over the business. We lost touch but I was very pleased that he and Dorothy were able so it’s wonderful to be able to devote International Courts and Tribunals.
to come to Readings’ 50th birthday celebration in 2019. He wasn’t well then and we some space to reviewing Evelyn Araluen’s
A tad closer to home, we have former
promised to keep in contact, but sadly we didn’t. With Readings, Peter, Dorothy and exciting debut collection Dropbear.
Prime Minister of New Zealand, the
Ross left a great legacy. If you can cast your mind back to 2017, Right Honourable Helen Clark joining
you’ll remember how Sarah Krasnostein Bill Bowtell to discuss his new essay on
swept award after award for The Trauma COVID-19, Unmasked: The Politics of
Cleaner, so it’s hard to believe The Believer Pandemics. It’s part of an impressive new
is only her second book. This one’s a series by Monash University Publishing
fascinating look at how belief systems
Vale Olga Lorenzo
titled ‘In the National Interest’ that aims
bolster people’s lives and shape who they to address the major issues of our times,
are, and it’s deservedly our Nonfiction from public policy to governance and
Book of the Month. Last year was the government. This month we also have
by Joe Rubbo
year we discovered how essential – and former Prime Minister Kevin Rudd in
vulnerable – healthcare workers are. Two conversation with Radio National Big
It saddened me to hear last month of the new books explore this high-pressure, high- Ideas host Paul Barclay. Rudd will be
passing of writer and teacher Olga Lorenzo. stakes world: former junior doctor Yumiko discussing the Murdoch press and its
Olga was the author of two novels The Rooms Kadota’s Emotional Female, which builds influence on Australian politics.
in My Mother’s House and The Light on the on her 2018 article about burnout in the
Speaking of big ideas, we are hosting
Water. As she insisted to her students, she public health system; and Ailsa Wild’s The
a conversation between award-winning
was a writer first and a teacher second. But Care Factor, which offers a behind-the-
authors Sarah Krasnostein and Chloe
what a teacher she was! She taught at the scenes look at a nurse’s experience of the
Hooper about an enthralling new work
CAE and then at RMIT and over the years pandemic. Elsewhere in nonfiction, you’ll
from Krasnostein. Her latest book The
left an indelible mark on the Melbourne find Mark McKenna’s Return to Uluru, Luke
Believer weaves together the stories of
writing scene. Many aspiring novelists Stegemann’s Amnesia Road, Rick Morton’s
six extraordinary ordinary people and
attended Olga’s classes, and a good deal of My Year of Living Vulnerably, Murray Bail’s
examines the stories we tell ourselves to
them have been published – there are too He., and beautiful, illustrated books on
deal with the distance between the world
many of them to name here. Kerstin Thompson, Ken Done, and the lush
as it is, and the world as we would like it
I was lucky enough to take a couple of Lune de Sang estate. It’s also a bountiful
to be. I found it completely enthralling
Olga’s fiction classes, as have many Readings employees over the years, and found her month for cookbooks. In fact, when Chris
and I cannot wait to hear more about it.
to be inspiring and generous. Teaching creative writing is an imperfect science, and Gordon first sent me her monthly column,
These events are only a handful of
Olga developed her own style that was underpinned by a great sense of empathy towards I had to fend off the impulse to buy all of
what we have on offer. Whatever your
her students and their struggles. Her commitment to the craft was unwavering, and her them at once. If you have more discipline
interests are, I just know there will be a
understanding of how it should be done was often unambiguous. It was this clarity that than me, turn to page 16 for a mouth-
discussion you will want to join. Do have
made her a beacon for many students struggling through the murky art of fiction writing. watering taste.
a look at the Readings event web page at
There’s a chance that many readers here haven’t heard of Olga, but if you have an Finally, I must draw your attention to
www.readings.com.au/events for the full,
interest in local fiction, chances are she’s influenced a few novels you’ve come across Leanne Hall’s powerfully feminist YA novel
up-to-date program. My aim is to make
and loved. In 2016 Readings Carlton was lucky enough to host the launch of The Light The Gaps. It’s been on my most-anticipated
our program of events the easiest and
on the Water. The store was packed with former students, their love and respect for Olga list for a while now, and I just know it will be
most secure way to travel.
reverberating around the room – it’s one of my all-time favourite launches at Readings. embraced by teen and adult readers alike.
F E AT U R E March 2021 R E A D I N G S M O N T H LY 5
The Readings
Children’s Book
Prize Shortlist
2021
The Readings Children’s Book Prize The Power of Positive The Grandest Bookshop in the
celebrates exciting new voices in Pranking World
Nat Amoore Amelia Mellor
Australian children’s literature. This
Puffin. PB. $14.99 Affirm Press. HB. $19.99
year’s six shortlisted titles are for
Casey and her friends Cookie and Zeke Set in 1893 in the heyday of Cole’s Book
readers ages 5 to 12. are the Green Peas, a top-secret positive Arcade in Melbourne, this is the perfect
The 2021 shortlist is: The Power of Positive pranking club who are trying to get their book lover’s adventure. Pearl and Vally
Pranking by Nat Amoore (Puffin), The teachers’ and classmates’ attention about live in a bookshop full of magic with
Year the Maps Changed by Danielle Binks environmental issues. When they learn talking parrots, enchanted lollies and
(Hachette), Aussie Kids: Meet Taj at the of the Mayor’s plan to demolish parts of the power of stories all around them. But
Lighthouse by Maxine Beneba Clarke and the town and destroy the environment, their father has made a terrible deal with
illustrated by Nicki Greenberg (Puffin), the stakes get higher. the Obscurosmith, and it is up to the Cole children to outsmart
The Grandest Bookshop in the World by This funny and fast-paced story shows how every individual the Obscurosmith’s surreal challenges.
Amelia Mellor (Affirm Press), Bindi by Kirli can make a difference, no matter how young – in fact, often it Well-researched and captivating, this middle-grade novel
Saunders and illustrated by Dub Leffler is the adults who need to listen to children. Casey’s ‘positive seamlessly weaves in historical detail of the real Cole family and
(Magabala) and As Fast as I Can by Penny pranking’ is a fantastic concept and we loved her grand 1800s Melbourne around a fast-paced series of challenges to
Tangey (UQP). intentions, even if she sometimes has to face consequences for defeat the Obscurosmith. Amelia Mellor’s writing is imaginative
This year’s shortlist reflects the best her schemes. The family dynamic is also engaging – Casey’s and beautiful, and she captures the motivations of each Cole
that Australian children’s publishing has on mother died when she was very little, and she lives with her dad family member as they consider just how much they have to
offer. There is a book for every child here: and grandfather, both of whom are Deaf/Hard of Hearing. Casey lose. This is an entrancing read that makes bookshops feel even
stories that are funny and adventurous; is inspired by stories of her mother’s resistance and her care for more magical than they already are! For ages 9+
fantastical and enchanting; sporty and the environment and for others. For ages 8+
inspiring; and kind and compassionate. Bindi
Each book addresses themes and topics The Year the Maps Changed Kirli Saunders (featuring
relevant to young people today, whether Danielle Binks illustrations by Dub Leffler)
that’s climate change; refugee policies; Hachette. PB. $17.99 Magabala. HB. $16.99
growing up and making new friends; self- Sorrento, Victoria, 1999: Winifred/Fred’s Eleven-year-old Bindi loves art class,
acceptance; changes in families; living life is complicated. Her mother died when playing hockey, her friends and her
with disability; or taking care of each other. she was only six, and she now lives with horse, Nell. She’s learning all about
Through these stories of compassion and her adoptive father, Luca, and her Pop. herself and being part of her community
resilience, we judges journeyed to a magical Luca’s girlfriend Anika has moved in, on Gundungurra Country. But life
bookshop, prepared for the Olympics and along with Sam, Fred’s new stepbrother. changes drastically with a drought, a
engaged in environmental activism. Told And there’s a baby on the way. bushfire and a broken wrist, all of which leave Bindi confused
through beautiful and accessible writing, The Year the Maps Changed has all about the future.
these stories represent the diversity of the hallmarks of great historical fiction for young people, even In 2019 Kirli Saunders won the inaugural Daisy Utemorrah
experiences for today’s young people. though it’s set not that long ago. Danielle Binks has conducted Award for an unpublished book of children’s or YA fiction
We are pleased to offer all six books on an incredible amount of research into John Howard’s refugee for this work, and we could immediately see why. This is a
the 2021 shortlist in a specially priced pack. policies and the arrival of Kosovar-Albanian refugees at the children’s verse novel and the story is told through short
You can buy this pack in-store and online ‘safe haven’ near Sorrento. This precipitates Fred’s compassion individual poems, all of which are immediately accessible, not
for the special price of $79.99 (was $99.94). and increasing awareness of the injustices in the world. With just as a story but also as an introduction to how captivating
This year’s judging panel includes some heavy topics, this is a heartbreaking read about blended poetry can be. Although there is a glossary at the back, the
four children’s book specialists: Angela families, dealing with loss, and changing how you see the world. Gundungurra words are seamlessly blended into story. Through
Crocombe (manager of Readings Kids), For ages 10+ Bindi’s eyes, young readers will appreciate the importance of
Sam Kelly (bookseller at Readings taking care of this country. For ages 9+
Doncaster and host of Doncaster’s Aussie Kids: Meet Taj at the
middle fiction book club), Tye Cattanach Lighthouse As Fast as I Can
(bookseller at Readings Kids), and me.
Maxine Beneba Clarke (featuring Penny Tangey
We’re thrilled to have celebrated children’s
illustrations by Nicki Greenberg) UQP. PB. $16.99
and YA writer Emily Gale joining the panel Puffin. PB. $12.99 Ten-year-old Vivian has her life sorted
as a guest judge to help select the winner
Aussie Kids is a new junior fiction series already – she’s determined to go to the
from the shortlist. Emily has more than 20
that reflects the diversity of children Olympics. She just doesn’t know in which
years’ experience in children’s publishing
living in all sorts of places in Australia. sport! She’s tried nearly everything, but
and has previously worked at Readings
In Meet Taj at the Lighthouse, Taj and his now she’s found her love of cross country
as a children’s book buyer and was
family have recently arrived in Australia. running. Everything changes, however,
instrumental in establishing this prize. We
He feels a bit lonely and confused about when a family illness is discovered, and
can’t wait to have her back to discuss these
life in a new place with a new language, but he has his special Vivian has to learn to adjust.
incredible books.
lightning shirt, and now he lives in a cool lighthouse. We loved everything about this book – it’s funny, heartfelt
Clare Millar, bookseller at Readings online We already love Maxine Beneba Clarke’s adult books and and warm with compassion and the love of family and friends.
picture books – her foray into junior fiction is no exception. This Vivian’s determination was inspiring, as was the way she
is a beautiful story about belonging and making new friends navigates the changing world of friendships in upper primary
who accept you for who you are. We were charmed by Taj’s school. The changes the family must face when confronted
positive attitude, and the message of kindness and acceptance with health issues are handled sensitively, highlighting Vivian’s
of others. Greenberg’s bright illustrations will help along early understandable frustration but eventual resilience. This is a
readers, as will the accessible vocabulary. For ages 5+ sporty read that all kinds of readers will enjoy. For ages 8+
6 R E A D I N G S M O N T H LY March 2021 FIC T IO N
Fiction
Victoria Hannan’s Kokomo and Jennifer sexual exploration.
Down’s Our Magic Hour. It will imprint Readers should be warned that Baxter
its shape onto your brain, leaving you tackles some potentially triggering subject
thinking long after the final page. matter in this novel, including suicide
Jackie Tang is the editor of Readings Monthly and explicit, sometimes visceral, sexual
imagery. While very few of the events
In Klara and the Sun Kazuo Ishiguro returns to
in Amelia’s story are ones the average
dystopian terrain, much like his earlier, and most Hold Your Fire
B OO K OF T H E Chloe Wilson
reader may experience – embalming
well-known novel, Never Let Me Go. As in Never Let Me Go,
M ON T H Ishiguro has once again created a world that is futuristic, S&S. PB. $32.99
suicide victims or hiding from emotional
pain in a Hobart BDSM club – Baxter’s
International lonely and strange. Ishiguro’s distinctly understated style Available 3 March
writing and incredible descriptive detail
Fiction makes this unsettling world seem oddly familiar, leaving the Chloe Wilson’s
make the almost absurd experiences of
reader feeling comfortably uncomfortable. brilliant debut
her protagonist deeply relatable. Baxter’s
When we first meet our narrator, Klara, she is brand new. collection of short
illustration of Amelia’s challenged
Her experience of the world is limited to the store that sells stories, Hold Your Fire,
connection to her body evokes deep
her, and the limited view of the street through the front is an absolute delight to
compassion, allowing the reader to connect
window. The only human she interacts with regularly is read. Contained within
strongly to the character. We come to see
Manager, and her only friend is a fellow AF, Artificial Friend, you’ll find a mix of
that Amelia’s stumble through grief is the
named Rosa. They are both on display, waiting for a child to witty and deadpan flash
epitome of the human experience of loss.
come in, choose them and take them home. fiction and short stories
Baxter has created a dark, beautiful,
of varying lengths, all of them connected
wild and engaging read with an incredible
by a shared sense of peculiarity and
Ishiguro has once again created a world ending to match. The story and evolution
Wilson’s matter-of-fact delivery.
that is futuristic, lonely and strange. I’m a particular fan of ‘Arm’s Length’,
of Amelia’s relationship struggles and
Ishiguro’s distinctly understated style sexual compulsions are somewhat
a flash-fiction story that proves a title
reminiscent of works by Nina Leger,
makes this unsettling world seem really can say it all. Being a gardener, I
and I would highly recommend Baxter
Klara and the oddly familiar, leaving the reader feeling also delighted in the gorgeous, descriptive
to any fan of Leger’s The Collection.
Sun comfortably uncomfortable. prose Wilson wields in ‘Blood Bag’, which
That said, New Animal’s descriptive
Kazuo Ishiguro explores the lengths to which people will
imagery and emotionally engaging and
Faber. PB. $32.99 go to protect their vegetable patch. Some
Day by day, Klara uses her incredible perceptive powers unexpected plot make this incredibly
Available 2 March of the other stories feature two sisters
to analyse and build an understanding of the world around appealing to a much wider audience
with similarly vague digestive issues
her. But at the same time, she is incredibly naïve, and too, so my recommendation extends
who hope the ultimate detox will cure
this dichotomy makes for an intriguing narrator. Ishiguro far beyond Leger fans. If you enjoy bold
all, and a couple whose upward mobility
subverts the common sci-fi convention that AI would be an unsympathetic force – the contemporary Australian fiction, read it,
in the property market is made possible
possible end to humanity. Instead, Klara is a delicate creature. as long as you’re prepared to hide your
by a gruesome murder that slashes the
She is eventually plucked from the shop floor by Josie, a young girl who lives with blush if reading on public transport.
price of the home they want to purchase.
her mother Helen. Josie is sick with an undisclosed illness, but we know it’s linked Izzy White is from Readings Carlton
In the title story, which was originally
to the troubled state of the world and the growing class divide. It is Klara’s job to be
published in Granta, Wilson touches on
her friend and protector, which Klara takes on with unwavering dedication. As Josie’s
illness worsens, her family contemplate a harrowing plan in which Klara finds herself
career choices, family relationships, more The Performance
gut issues and playground dynamics. I Claire Thomas
the centrepiece.
empathised with our protagonist here, Hachette. PB. $32.99
The reader is left to do a lot of satisfying work in this story, as details are eked out in
as she processes thoughts that could be Available now
snatches of conversation and glimpses of action that are never quite fully understood by
seen as unmotherly or vindictive but are In The
Klara. The mechanics of the narrative form illustrate Ishiguro’s mastery and his ability
actually just raw and real. Performance,
to control and subvert the reader’s expectations in unsettling ways.
One of the pleasures of Wilson’s short three woman are
Joe Rubbo is the manager of Readings Carlton stories is that they’re not shackled by waiting in a Melbourne
structural rules. You can turn the page theatre for a production
expecting more, only to find you’ve read of Samuel Beckett’s
a burst of micro-fiction. Alternately, an Happy Days to begin. It
arc that alludes to a natural conclusion has been a day of
Australian the city, taking her from one suburb
to the next. In some, she talks to the
might take an unexpected turn, causing extreme heat, and
Fiction locals about their stories – a young hijab
you to eagerly race ahead to see what
Wilson has in store for you. This
bushfires around the state continue to
burn into the night. Cocooned in air
fashion designer setting up her own
collection of well-crafted tales presents conditioning are: theatre subscriber and
shop, a shoe repairer from Lebanon who
Friends and Dark Shapes the reader with repeated opportunities academic Margot; Beckett enthusiast and
recounts the changing demographics
to question the divide between how philanthropist Ivy; and lastly Summer, a
Kavita Bedford of his area. Other suburbs evoke
we present ourselves to others, and drama school student working part-time
Text. PB. $32.99 memories of the narrator’s own past,
what we’re really, secretly thinking but as an usher. Each woman is preoccupied
Available 2 March like loving childhood outings with her
perhaps dare not speak out loud. with her own thoughts as they enter the
In Kavita father and her loud and wild teenage
Bedford’s quietly years. Each one of these vignette-like Suzanne Steinbruckner is from Readings theatre: Margot is being pushed towards
hypnotic debut, an chapters inscribes personal histories and Carlton retirement by her university and
unnamed narrator in identities into the geography of the city. Summer’s girlfriend has parents in the fire
her late 20s roams the That strong symbiotic relationship New Animal zone who are determined to stay to protect
suburbs of Sydney between self and place is one of the Ella Baxter their property. Meanwhile Ivy is sitting
trying to process her highlights of this dreamy and delicate A&U. PB. $29.99 with her old school friend, bemused by the
grief. A freelance writer, novel. Bedford’s Sydney is restless, Available 2 March fact that as a major company donor, she
she lives in a Redfern thronging with the sharp opinions Ella Baxter’s gets everything for free.
share house with three other people fast and outspoken voices of its various debut novel New A fourth female voice enters the
approaching their 30s: lawyer Sami, inhabitants, allowing Bedford to flex Animal introduces a story in the form of Winnie, Happy Days’
aspiring musician Bowerbird and her skilful way with voice and dialogue. gritty, honest and central character. The choice of the play
hardworking Niki, who juggles multiple At one point, the narrator muses that complex protagonist in Happy Days is a genius move by author
jobs and side hustles. The quartet are Sydney is a city without a centre: the form of Amelia, an Claire Thomas. As the play begins,
facing a raft of existential issues ‘There is no architectural organisation embalmer working as a Winnie is waist-high in a mound of earth,
characteristic of this new generation of around a central point and the city lacks make-up artist at her physically restricted yet still able to talk.
adults: the precarity of work, the seeming coherence.’ The same could easily be said mother’s mortuary. Her words drift in and out of the book’s
impossibility of home ownership, the of our narrator’s own interior landscape. Exposed to other people’s grief, trauma main narrative, echoing the thoughts of
search for a meaningful life. ‘I don’t even In losing her father, the narrator is and pain on a daily basis, Amelia escapes the three women watching. In the second
know what I’m working towards anymore,’ unmoored, and as she searches through her mind and body through sex with act, Winnie’s physical situation worsens,
says Niki during an outburst at a gallery the dark shapes of her thoughts and strangers, all of whom she quickly sparking even stronger reactions,
opening the housemates have gatecrashed memories, she is attempting to form discards. However, when faced with her especially in Margot and Summer. By the
for the free wine. ‘Do we just keep on, something solid again from the messy, own trauma and grief, Amelia’s desires end of the performance, Margot, Ivy and
heads down, making ourselves so tired to fractured contradictions of her life. and compulsions are challenged, and Summer each individually decide to try
get somewhere like this?’ With its slow build of emotion, sparse finding ways to escape her own mind and stop either themselves or others from
Our narrator is also beset by the yet precise prose, and astute insights becomes increasingly difficult. She leaves completely sinking into the earth.
undertow of her grief after her father’s into modern-day adulthood, Friends and for Tasmania, where her semi-estranged Although theatre lovers including
death. She boards trains that crisscross Dark Shapes is a thrilling debut for fans of father lives, and starts a different form of myself are likely to be drawn to The
F IC T ION March 2021 R E A D I N G S M O N T H LY 7
Performance, it should also appeal meets Kate, a successful plastic surgeon
to anyone who enjoys character and facing her own emotional insecurities.
thematically driven fiction. The book is also As Swallows Fly is a poignant portrayal
a treat for lovers of novels set in real time. I of survival, identity and empowerment
only wish I had more space to discuss this in a culture dominated by the pursuit
novel’s wit, character development and of perfection.
‘Brilliant.
creativity. And just wait until you see what
Thomas does with the interval.
So compelling on
The Breaking so many levels.’
Amanda Rayner is from Readings Carlton Irma Gold ‘Funny,
CHRIS
Midnight Sun. PB. $29.99 raw, gutsy and
A Room Called Earth Available now HAMMER
stealthily sweet.’
Madeleine Ryan Hannah Bird has just
EMILY
Scribe. PB. $29.99 arrived in Thailand,
MAGUIRE ‘A gripping thriller,
Available 2 March where she meets
Here’s the plot Deven, a fierce
brimming with
pitch: in a Australian expat who heart and intellect.’
first-person stream- sweeps her into GERALDINE
of-consciousness high-risk missions BROOKS
narrative, a young rescuing elephants. From the Booker
woman describes her As they head deeper Prize winning
preparations for a into the fraught world of elephant author of ‘Fast-paced,
night out at a party. tourism, Hannah must confront how far
Never Let Me Go gripping and
She goes to the party; she is willing to go to save a life. This
comes a stunning frightening’
she meets some people; she comes home. moving debut explores the bond between
new novel that SOFIE
With such a simple set-up, how does this two women and the enduring cost of
asks, what does it LAGUNA
quietly elegant novel do so much, and so animal exploitation.
compellingly? A Room Called Earth is a mean to love?
novel of many contradictions, but key to
Chasing the McCubbin
its accomplishments are the beautifully
rendered literary depictions of feelings
Sandi Scaunich ‘Profound,
Transit Lounge. PB. $29.99
and emotions. profane and darkly
Available now
From the first page, the reader is hilarious.’
Outer Melbourne
enfolded in the narrating character’s
suburb The Pines is
BRI LEE
captivating internal monologue as she
down on its luck.
moves through the night; her ruminations
Experienced collector
offer a profoundly affecting and humane
Ron senses new
representation of what it feels like to
possibilities: swift
be a person in the world, describing
evictions provide
sensations that move between belonging
hard-rubbish to scour
and detachment, at times shuttling
and garage sales have
between these feelings and their desires
doubled. There’s just one problem: since
quite quickly, and occasionally offering
losing his wife, Ron has struggled to
the sense of them simultaneously.
navigate the suburbs alone. Then he
Sometimes, the novel feels like an other-
meets 19-year-old Joseph, who knows
worldly cinematic dreamscape, but its
nothing about antiques but shares Ron’s
location in urban Melbourne at a familiar
dream of finding a rare bargain, and an
scene of youthful excess – the house
unlikely friendship forms.
party – places it firmly in the realm of
the reader’s understanding. First-time
novelist Madeleine Ryan explores her Driving Stevie Fracasso
character’s interior world with a fearless Barry Divola
precision, giving voice to subjective HarperCollins. PB. $32.99
experiences that are somehow both Available 3 March
utterly unique and very familiar. Here, Two estranged
no topic is beyond serious and extended brothers, one stolen car
contemplation, while the social norms and a road trip from
that we are told keep civil society turning Texas to New York.
are interrogated at every opportunity. What could possibly go
Ryan’s presentation of the internal self wrong? For fans of Nick PRESERVING
at the very moment it intersects with the Hornby and David THE ITALIAN
external world and the lives of others is Nicholls, Driving Stevie WAY
exciting and exceptional. Fracasso is a music-
This is a knockout debut novel from infused, rollicking road-trip novel about
SILVIA PIETRO EMMA GUY RAZ
an author with a refreshing, neurodiverse how the road always leads back to family & MINDY
COLLOCA DEMAIO STONEX
perspective, and a skilled writerly hand. and the things that bring us joy, even THOMAS
Silvia’s food This is the Cornwall, 1972.
This book made me feel exhilarated though we may at times lose ourselves
is authentic, ultimate recipe Three lighthouse The hosts of the
about what fiction can do: reading it is a along the way. fresh, simple collection for keepers vanish mega-popular
grounding experience that also sets the and delicious. preserving from a remote Wow in the World
reader free. I fell completely under its No fussy or enthusiasts. rock, miles podcast take
Everyday Madness elaborate Including how from the shore. you on a fact-
mesmeric spell, and I absolutely loved it.
Susan Midalia techniques and to preserve Inspired by real filled adventure
Alison Huber is the head book buyer at Fremantle Press. PB. $29.99 nothing but the vegetables and events, this is from your
Readings Available 2 March best produce fish in oil, vinegar an intoxicating, toes and your
and ingredients. or salt, how to suspenseful and tongue to your
Life sucks when you’re With 100 recipes brain and your
make cheese, deeply moving
As Swallows Fly a vacuum cleaner and countless cure meats mystery, and an lungs. Featuring
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Available 3 March like a nonna in methods for and obsession. filled with facts,
wife never stops her
no time. making bread, jokes, photos,
When Malika, a young incessant chatter. But quizzes and
wine and liqueurs.
orphan in rural when Gloria suddenly experiments kids
Pakistan, is savagely stops talking, Bernard will love.
attacked, her face is can’t bear the silence.
left disfigured and her He turns to his former daughter-in-law
self-esteem destroyed. for help, but Meg has her own issues. Love talking about books?
She leaves Pakistan for Filled with wit and wisdom, Everyday Find us online at Pan Macmillan Australia
a better education in Madness is a carefully observed story of
Melbourne, where she marriage and family.
8 R E A D I N G S M O N T H LY March 2021 FIC T IO N
Australian us together’. Despite this unease, Luke
proposes and they return home engaged.
Poetry But there is a spectre haunting the
relationship. It haunts the whole novel.
As a child, Anya escaped war-torn Bosnia
Dropbear and the trauma lingers. As the novel
Evelyn Araluen progresses we witness a relationship (and
UQP. PB. $24.99 a woman) on the brink of disaster.
Available 2 March This is a novel in motion; much
I cannot speak like Anya, it cannot settle. The most
highly enough of compelling and moving incidents in the
contemporary novel occur when the couple is displaced
Australian poetry, and from their London home and we travel
Evelyn Araluen’s debut with them to Provence, Cornwall and
collection Dropbear is Sarajevo. If motion propels the novel,
no exception. Araluen then stasis is its only drawback: Anya’s
is the recipient of life in London just isn’t as engaging.
several awards and However, this is a small complaint of an
fellowships, including the Nakata Brophy otherwise brilliant novel.
Prize for Young Indigenous Writers, the I wasn’t familiar with Olivia Sudjic’s
Judith Wright Poetry Prize, and a Wheeler writing but I’m now determined to read
Centre Next Chapter Fellowship. Her first everything she has ever written. The
collection is a momentous occasion. language in Asylum Road is reminiscent
As I read through the poems in this of Otessa Moshfegh’s work: lyrical and
debut, the final line of the opening poem beautiful but with a sense of dread and
stayed with me: ‘got something for you decay lingering under the surface. Like
to swallow’. The whole collection for me Moshfegh, there is also a dark, cynical
was about swallowing and sitting with sense of humour running through the
the truths that Araluen explores – the novel that saves it from descending into
horror and continuing messiness of melodrama. Musing on the subject of
colonisation. I felt the collection was surnames, Anya notes that her favourite
also Araluen digesting her own feelings author ‘had become Bedford by one of
about this land and the complexity of her those strategic marriages that happened
position within it as a descendant of the between Jews and gays in the 1930s’.
Bundjalung Nation. I was particularly Cynicism is excused here as the reader is
drawn to the ways that the collection in on the joke.
employs canonical Australian texts – Asylum Road is not for the faint of
Snugglepot and Cuddlepie, Blinky Bill heart, but it is hugely rewarding for
and the poetry of Banjo Paterson, for those willing to take the leap. It is a
example – to wrestle with the colonial stunning example of where the novel as
image of Australia. Araluen’s use of a form is today.
intertextuality here is rich and well- Tristen Brudy is from Readings Carlton
considered. This is not just a collection
that contains post-colonial anger,
however, as many poems reflect a love
The Committed
Viet Thanh Nguyen
Australian motherhood, the power of memory,
and the pain of divorce and of
and deep compassion. Araluen is not
just exploring an Aboriginal history (or
Corsair. PB. $32.99
Fiction dashed dreams. colonial one), but a personal history too. Available 9 March
continued The Last Bookshop
In fact, these things cannot be separated.
Readers who enjoyed Alison
Viet Thanh
Nguyen won the
Whittaker’s Blakwork will similarly Pulitzer Prize in 2016
Emma Young
enjoy this collection, as Araluen uses a for his novel The
The Family Doctor Fremantle Press. PB. $32.99
range of poetic forms, with passages of Sympathizer and the
Available 2 March
Debra Oswald titular character of that
Cait is the owner of memoir and more academic reflection
A&U. PB. $32.99 book returns here in
Book Fiend, the last interspersed throughout. There is also
Available 2 March The Committed. This
bookshop in the CBD an eerie yet beautiful immediacy to
Dedicated suburban GP time the Sympathizer
and the last many of the poems – grappling with the
Paula is devastated has surfaced in Paris in the eighties as a
independent retailer on 2019–20 bushfires and the pandemic.
when a friend and her refugee, staying with an ‘aunt’ who has
a street of high-end For many readers, this will open up the
children are murdered completely assimilated into left-wing
labels. When James exciting possibilities of blending poetry,
by their estranged French bourgeois society. His aunt
breezes in through the memoir and theory, and it makes for a
husband and father. entertains a series of leftist lovers
door, Cait realises life great book club choice. Araluen is a poet
How had she missed ranging from a corrupt socialist
might hold more than her shop and her I’ll be keeping my eye on, and Dropbear a
the warning signs? How politician to a Maoist academic, and their
cat. But while the new romance distracts collection I’ll return to.
had she failed to keep predilection for good quality drugs
them safe? Soon after, a patient with her, luxury chain stores are circling Book Clare Millar is from Readings online
provides an opportunity for the
suspicious injuries brings her young son Fiend’s prime location, and a more
Sympathizer. His new employer, The
personal tragedy is looming.
into Paula’s surgery. Can Paula go against
everything she believes to save the International Boss, is an old acquaintance from
Vietnam and runs a crime empire out of
woman and her child? Tipping Fiction the worst Asian restaurant in Paris. The
Anna George Boss backs his scheme to provide hashish
From Where I Fell Viking. PB. $32.99 to French intellectuals, but in doing so he
Susan Johnson Available 2 March Asylum Road steps on the toes of the French Arab
A&U. PB. $32.99 An Instagram scandal Olivia Sudjic gangs. These interactions give The
Available 2 March at a grammar school Bloomsbury. PB. $29.99 Sympathizer an opportunity to reflect on
An email from Pamela sparks outrage in an Available 2 March the shared experiences of the colonised,
in Australia to her exclusive bayside Even after five particularly through the works of French
ex-husband in Paris suburb and upends the years together the West Indian philosopher Frantz Fanon –
accidentally ends up in lives of the families only time Luke and and through a beating at the hands of the
the inbox of New York involved. However, it Anya are at ease in one gang members.
State teacher might also prove to be another’s company is Some of the most interesting bits
Chrisanthi. Chrisanthi the tipping point when they’re listening of the novel are in these ruminations
is sympathetic to required to change the community for the to true crime podcasts about the relationship between colonised
Pamela’s struggles and better. Sometimes all it takes is a tweak. together. Driving from and colonisers. It also ties into The
the women begin to tell each other the And the will. And a bit of fun. Light- London to Provence for Sympathizer’s own dual nationality
stories and secrets of their lives. From hearted and optimistic, Tipping is a novel a romantic getaway, Anya notes that of being half French, half Vietnamese.
Where I Fell explores the complexities of for our times. ‘sometimes it felt like the murders kept After all, he reflects, the relationship
F IC T ION March 2021 R E A D I N G S M O N T H LY 9
that produced him is the very epitome of Yorker describes it as ‘sublime short
colonisation: his father was a French priest stories of race, grief and belonging’.
who disowned both him and his poor Issues of race and the ways young
Vietnamese mother, yet part of him wants Black women experience the world are
to be French, to be like his oppressors. paramount. In the opening story titled
A complex exploration of capitalism, ‘Happily Ever After’, Lyssa must advocate
colonisation and identity, this book is for her mother who has cancer. She
often hilarious, always stimulating and buys clothes she can barely afford and
often brilliant. applies a full face of makeup to meet
Mark Rubbo is the Managing Director of with doctors. Tell me what you would
Readings tell a White woman, she thinks. A White
woman with money.
Light Perpetual In ‘Boys Go to Jupiter’, a naïve college
Francis Spufford student, Claire, is photographed by her
Faber. PB. $29.99 boyfriend wearing a Confederate flag
Available 2 March bikini. He uploads the photo to Facebook
and tags her. The lone Black student in
It starts with a
her college dorm uploads the photo on
bang. November
her Twitter feed. Suddenly Claire’s phone
1944. A Saturday
is overloaded with messages and emails.
lunchtime on the
She’s oblivious to the offence she’s
Bexford high street, a
caused and digs her heels in deeper by
fictional South London
sliding a note under the Black student’s
neighbourhood.
door and displaying a Confederate flag in
There’s a buzz at
her window. The brilliance in this story is
Woolworths, the kind
how, through an examination of Claire’s
explained by wartime rationing: a
past, the reader oscillates between
gleaming delivery of saucepans, the first
disgust and empathy.
in years. Five working-class kids – sisters
Jo and Val, Alec, Ben, and Vernon – are Grief is a constant theme in this
with their mums. There’s a buzz collection. Mothers die, sisters die, and
overhead too, as a German V-2 rocket more generally there is a loss of hope
heads their way. It strikes, flattening the or expectation. Lives don’t work out
scene. All those lives extinguished, just the way they were meant to, and many
like that. of the protagonists find themselves in
dissatisfying jobs and relationships.
That’s the vivid scene that opens
In ‘Anything Could Disappear’, Vera,
Francis Spufford’s elegant new novel
a college dropout, takes a bus to New
Light Perpetual. It draws on real events:
York for dubious reasons. Subsequent
a German rocket did decimate a South
events give her purpose and a sense of
London Woolworths in 1944 and killed
belonging, but she is also forced to make
168 people, including 15 children under
a difficult and heartbreaking decision.
the age of 11. Spufford has passed the
plaque that commemorates this loss These stories all have such a depth
every day for over a decade, and it of characterisation, and grapple with
planted a seed. Jo, Val, Alec, Ben and some of the huge issues of our time. I
Vernon aren’t real, but they could be urge everyone to read this collection. It is
warm, empathetic and unputdownable.
‘Spooky, profound,
any of the children who died that day.
Stretching out from this prologue, Annie Condon is from Readings Hawthorn
Spufford imagines an alternative history
of the five lives that might have been
thrilling, hilarious
Acts of Desperation
lived, brightly lit.
Megan Nolan and unbelievably
Checking in with his quintet at
15-year intervals from 1949 to 2009,
Jonathan Cape. PB. $29.99
Available 2 March
beautiful.’
Spufford’s style is warm and intimate.
Irish columnist Megan Anna Funder
Via a montage of episodes, he spends
Nolan’s Acts of
a day at a time with each character as
Desperation explores a
they grow older and mostly wiser; we
young woman’s toxic
fill in the gaps, as time moves forward,
relationship with a
both slowly and with speed. Light
beautiful but cruel man,
Perpetual is interested in the imperfect
told through a
fragments that comprise a day and
propulsive interior
ultimately a whole life. Spufford notices
monologue that
and observes; his great strength is how
interrogates female desire, insatiability,
he renders the minutiae of everyday life
envy, love addiction, and how it is that a
– the highs, the disappointments, the
woman can still need the love of a man to
washing up.
make herself feel real. A bitingly honest,
Light Perpetual is a quiet, beautiful, darkly funny debut.
and profound novel. It is a reminder that
in all human calamities, we are more
than just anonymous bodies in a crowd. Bright Burning Things Bestselling author Walter
Lisa Harding Isaacson provides a gripping
Joanna Di Mattia is from Readings Carlton
Bloomsbury. PB. $29.99
account of how pioneering
Available 4 March
The Office of Historical scientist and Nobel Prize
Being Tommy’s mother
Corrections: A Novella and winner Jennifer Doudna
is too much for Sonya.
Stories launched a revolution that will
Too much love, too
Danielle Evans much fear, too much allow us to cure diseases and
Picador. PB. $32.99 fend off viruses.
longing for the cool
Available now
wine she gulps from the
Danielle Evans’s bottle each night. Once
collection of short
stories, The Office of
there was the thrill of a THE
Historical Corrections,
London stage, a
glowing acting career, handsome men. CODE
has been much lauded
in the US. The
But now there are blackouts and bare
cupboards, her estranged father showing
BREAKER
collection has been up uninvited and the risk of Sonya losing WALTER ISAACSON
nominated for multiple Tommy – forever.
prizes, and the New
10 R E A D I N G S M O N T H LY March 2021 FIC T IO N
International A History of What Comes Next
Sylvain Neuvel
lover; a new fruit at the neighbourhood
market starts to affect locals in strange
Fiction Penguin. PB. $32.99 ways. In this dazzling collection, Te-Ping
continued Available now Chen exposes the realities of modern
China with a cast of rich and
ALISON CROGGON Germany, 1945. 19-year-
old Mia is sent by the OSS complicated characters.
Monsters The Death of Francis Bacon to find Wernher von
Max Porter Braun. Her mission: stop The Smash-Up
the Russians getting hold Ali Benjamin
Faber. HB. $14.99
of the World’s foremost Riverrun. PB. $32.99
Available now
rocket scientist. In this Available now
Madrid. Unfinished.
sci-fi thriller, Sylvain Life for Ethan and Zo
Man Dying. A great
Neuvel blends a fast- used to be simple.
painter lies on his
moving, darkly satirical look at 1940s Ethan co-founded a
deathbed. Max Porter
rocketry with an exploration of the amorality lucrative media
translates into seven
of progress and the nature of violence. start-up, and Zo was on
extraordinary written
pictures the explosive her way to becoming a
final workings of the
Infinite Country successful filmmaker.
artist Francis Bacon’s Patricia Engel When newfound
Scribner. PB. $29.99 political activism
mind. As Porter did in his award-winning
Available 9 March transforms Zo into a barely recognisable
works Lanny and Grief Is the Thing with
Feathers, this short, explosive Talia is being held at a ball of outrage and #MeToo allegations
experimental work is written on the fine correctional facility in rock his old firm, Ethan finds himself and
line between prose and poetry. the mountains of his comfortable world rocked by crisis. A
Colombia. She urgently modern satirical take on the classic novel
needs to return to Ethan Frome.
Detransition, Baby
Bogotá, where her father
Torrey Peters and a ticket to the US are
Serpent’s Tail. PB. $29.99 What’s Mine and Yours
waiting for her. If she
Available 9 March Naima Coster
‘A marvel
misses her flight, she
Trapeze. PB. $32.99
Reese nearly had it all: might also miss her chance to be reunited
Available 9 March
a loving relationship with her family in the north. Rich with
of a book’ with Amy, a New York
apartment, a job she
Bogotá urban life, this is a tense depiction
of life for the undocumented in America.
When a county
initiative forces the
students at a mostly
liked. She’d scraped
RUBY HAMAD together a life previous Black public school to
Kink integrate with a nearly
generations of trans
R.O. Kwon & Garth Greenwell (eds.) all-White high school,
women could only
S&S. PB. $29.99
dream of. Then the community rises in
Available 22 March
everything fell apart. Three years on, outrage. For two
In this anthology of students, Gee and
Ames – formerly Amy – has
literary short fiction, Noelle, these divisions will extend far
detransitioned and started an affair with
renowned writers beyond their schooling. As their paths
his boss Katrina. He calls Reese with a
including Roxane Gay, collide and overlap over 30 years, their
life-changing offer. This is a unique take
Carmen Maria Machado, two seemingly disconnected families
on love, motherhood, and those exes
Chris Kraus and more
Use the who you just can’t quit.
explore love, desire,
begin to form messy ties that shape the
trajectory of their lives.
power of your Double Blind
bondage, power-play,
and submissive-
hormones to Edward St Aubyn dominant relationships. While there are
While Paris Slept
Ruth Druart
Harvill Secker. PB. $32.99 whips and chains, sure, the true power of
master any Available 16 March these stories lies in their beautiful, moving Headline Review. PB. $32.99
Available now
stage of life. Olivia meets Francis, a
committed naturalist
dispatches from across the sexual spectrum
of interest and desires. Santa Cruz 1953.
living off-grid, and Jean-Luc thought he
they connect The Lamplighters had left the horrors of
immediately. At the Emma Stonex the war behind. He
same time, Olivia Picador. PB. $32.99 never expected the past
welcomes her friend Available 9 March to come knocking on
Lucy back from New his door. Paris 1944.
Cornwall, 1972. Three
York. Olivia Herded on to a train
lighthouse keepers
introduces the two – but Lucy has news bound for Auschwitz,
vanish from a remote
of her own that binds the trio unusually in an act of desperation, a young woman
rock, miles from the
close. Following the three friends entrusts her most precious possession to
shore. The door is locked
through a year of transformation, Double a stranger. On a darkened platform two
from the inside. The
Blind is deeply intelligent, often tender, destinies become entangled, and
clocks have stopped. The
and very much alive. their choices will change the course
Principal Keeper’s
of their futures.
weather log describes a
The Galaxy, and the Ground mighty storm, but the skies have been clear
Within all week. Inspired by real events, The Who is Maud Dixon?
Becky Chambers Lamplighters is an intoxicating and Alexandra Andrews
Hachette. PB. $32.99 suspenseful mystery, and an unforgettable Tinder Press. PB. $32.99
Available now story of love, grief and obsession. Available 9 March
When a freak Florence wants to be a
technological failure Land of Big Numbers writer. Fired from her
halts traffic to and from Te-Ping Chen first publishing job, she
Gora, three strangers are Scribner. PB. $29.99 signs up to be assistant
thrown together at the Available 3 March to anonymous
Five-Hop One-Stop. A brother competes for bestselling novelist
Grounded, and with gaming glory while his Maud Dixon. On a
nothing to do but wait, sister exposes the dark research trip in
the trio are compelled to confront where side of the Communist Morocco, Florence
they’ve been, where they might go, and government on her wakes up in a hospital, having narrowly
what they might be to each other. The underground blog; a survived a car crash. How did it happen?
Galaxy, and the Ground Within is the government call centre Florence feels she may have been played,
fourth and final instalment of the worker finds herself but if Maud isn’t around, maybe Florence
Wayfarers series. speaking to a former can make her mark as a writer after all.You can also read
