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F R EE F E BR UAR Y 2021
The most
anticipated books
of 2021
page 6
Read an extract from
Growing Up Disabled
in Australia
page 5
B OOK S
M USI C
F I LM
EVENTS
EMMA
DONOVAN &
THE PUTBACKS
page 22 WE AR E WH O
ADAM S AM VAN G AR Y AMIE KAUFMAN WE AR E
T H OM PSON Z WEDEN LONESBOROUGH & RYAN GRAUDIN page 21
page 8 page 13 page 17 page 18
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
Congratulations to each of the seven category winners
who were selected from an outstanding shortlist of 26 titles,
and to Laura Jean McKay as the recipient of the Victorian
Prize for Literature.
Congratulations also to Louise Milligan for Witness:
An Investigation into the Brutal Cost of Seeking Justice
as the winner of the People’s Choice Award.
Winner
VICTORIAN PRIZE FOR LITERATURE – FICTION
The Animals in
That Country
Laura Jean McKay
Scribe Publications
NON-FICTION DRAMA POETRY
Body Count: Wonnangatta Case Notes
How Climate Angus Cerini David Stavanger
Change is Killing Us Sydney Theatre UWA Publishing
Paddy Manning Company
Simon & Schuster
Australia
YOUNG ADULT INDIGENOUS WRITING UNPUBLISHED MANUSCRIPT
Metal Fish, Tell Me Why: Anam
Falling Snow The Story of My Life André Dao
Cath Moore and My Music
Text Publishing Archie Roach
Simon & Schuster
Australia
wheelercentre.com
NEWS February 2021 R E A D I N G S M O N T H LY 3
News
is a volunteer group of teenagers who meet
Winners of the Victorian Premier’s monthly to discuss young adult books, learn
Sales &
Literary Awards about the book industry, meet authors,
Congratulations to the winners of the and more. This year, the board will be run
2021 Victorian Premier’s Literary Awards, online and we welcome applications from
Readings State Library is open again!
especially The Animals in That Country by
Laura Jean McKay, which won both the
a diverse range of from teenagers, aged
14-19, from anywhere in Australia. If you Promotions
Fiction prize and the overall Victorian Prize would like to join the board, please tell us
We are delighted to announce our State
for Literature. Other winners included Body why you would like to take part, the types
Library shop is open to the public again! Our
Count: How Climate Change Is Killing Us of books you like to read, and why you love
booksellers can’t wait to see you in-store,
and we’re very pleased to offer a special by Paddy Manning for Nonfiction, Metal bookshops. Your application should be a 20% off all books at Readings
Fish, Falling Snow by Cath Moore for Young single page document of no more than
20% off books sale to celebrate – see the State Library shop
Adult and Tell Me Why: The Story of My 500 words, in either Word or PDF format,
sales and promotion section for more details. To celebrate the store’s reopening,
Life and My Music by Archie Roach for addressing the points above and including
You’ll find our beautiful SLV shop (featured we’re offering 20% off all books at our
Indigenous Writing. Find a full list of winners your name, age and contact details. Send
on this month’s cover!) in the State Library’s State Library shop from Monday 15
at wheelercentre.com. it to teenadvisoryboard@readings.com.au
Russell Street Welcome Zone, right next to Feb to Sunday 28 Feb! This special
by 5pm, Wednesday 24 February, 2021. For
the Guild Café, which has also reopened. 20% off sale is available in-store only
more details, please see readings.com.au/
For the most up-to-date information about at the Readings State Library Victoria
Readings Teen Advisory Board the-readings-teen-advisory-board
opening hours and conditions of entry into shop, and is not available online, or
our State Library shop, please visit Applications for the 2021 Readings Teen
at any other Readings shop. The
readings.com.au/state-library. Advisory Board are now open! The board
Readings bestsellers of 2020 discount applies to the recommended
retail price, and is not valid with any
We’ve tallied the numbers and our top
other offers or discounts.
ten bestselling books for 2020 were, in
order: The Dictionary of Lost Words by Pip
Williams, The Yield by Tara June Winch,
Ottolenghi FLAVOUR by Yotam Ottolenghi 3 for 2 nonfiction favourites
& Ixta Belfrage, Dark Emu by Bruce Pascoe, Throughout February, we are offering
The Survivors by Jane Harper, All Our three books for the price of two on
Shimmering Skies by Trent Dalton, Where a range of our favourite non-fiction
the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens, The titles. If you purchase two books,
Mirror and the Light by Hilary Mantel and you can choose a third book in the
Beatrix Bakes by Natalie Paull. range (of equal or lesser value) for
free. From memoir to politics, you’ll
find a wide and thought-provoking
COVID-19 update range of books to browse. This offer
All our shops are now open and trading is exclusively available in all Readings
as normal. We ask that all our customers shops, except Readings Kids, until
maintain social distancing and follow Sunday 28 February. This offer is
government guidelines when visiting our valid on select stickered, in-stock
stores. For the most up-to-date information items only, while stocks last, and is
about our opening hours and conditions of not available online.
entry into our shops, please visit
readings.com.au/our-shops.
R E A D I N G S M O N T H LY EVENTS & PROGRAMMING
Free, independent monthly newspaper Chris Gordon
published by Readings Books, Music & Film
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Please note that all prices and release
dates in Readings Monthly are correct
EDITOR
at time of publication, however prices
Jackie Tang
and release dates may change without
jackie.tang@readings.com.au
notice. Special price offers apply only for
E D I T O R I A L A S S I S TA N T the month in which they are featured in
Readings Monthly.
Judi Mitchell & Lucie Dess
COVID-19
PROOFREADER
While all title release dates were correct
Nico Callaghan
at the time of going to press, due to the
K I D S & YA C U R AT O R S ongoing COVID-19 crisis the unexpected
may happen along the supply chain.
Angela Crocombe & Dani Solomon
Please bear with us as we bring you books
M U S I C C U R AT O R in these rapidly changing circumstances.
Dave Clarke
Readings donates 10% of its profits each
C L A S S I C A L M U S I C C U R AT O R year to the Readings Foundation:
Phil Richards readings.com.au/the-readings-foundation
D V D S C U R AT O R
Lou Fulco
4 R E A D I N G S M O N T H LY February 2021 C O LU M N S
Mark’s
Atherfold told me: ‘It is hard to describe what
it means to me to be back at the Readings SLV
bookshop after so long away over 2020. Being
Say with Mark Rubbo
surrounded by literary sustenance once
more, it is enticing, engaging and just simply
a breath of much needed fresh air. I can’t wait
to share this with our customers again.’
To encourage you to rediscover, or indeed
After having been closed discover, this beautiful Readings shop we are
Open Water for the best part of a year, offering a 20% discount on all full price books
Caleb Azumah Nelson
the State Library of Victoria for two weeks this month: from Monday 15
A stunning, shattering debut novel
about two Black British artists. (SLV), one of Australia’s February to Sunday 28 February.
Tentatively, tenderly, they fall in most-loved and most-used About 10 years ago, then-director of the
love. But two people who seem cultural institutions, is open again. There’s
destined to be together can still be Wheeler Centre Michael Williams and I were
torn apart by fear and violence. no need to book but as a precaution, visitors discussing how the Wheeler Centre could
will have to scan a QR code. Just prior to support emerging writers. In the Wheeler
The Silent Listener lockdown the library had completed a major Centre building, there is a gallery that
Lyn Yeowart
renovation with many magnificent heritage runs most of the length of the building, an
Propelling the reader back and
forth between the 1940s, 1960s spaces reopened to the public after decades ideal space to plonk some desks for writers
and 1980s, The Silent Listener is of closure. For CEO Kate Torney the closure to use. Combine that with the ability for
an unforgettable literary debut
set in the dark, gothic heart of was difficult. ‘It felt counterintuitive,’ she aspiring writers to mix with the Wheeler
rural Australia. said. ‘So often libraries play a critical role as a Centre folk, and it seemed like it could be
community hub and trusted source of a perfect hothouse of creativity. Readings
'A wickedly dark debut – haunting information during a crisis.’ Like many agreed to throw in $20,000 a year, which
and unputdownable.' organisations she and her colleagues thought would be enough for a small stipend and
CHRISTIAN WHITE on The Silent Listener of different ways to engage with the public. some admin, and the Wheeler Centre Hot
Hitler’s Horses
Ironically, this has enabled the library to Desk Fellowships were born. Over the years,
Arthur Brand
connect with more people in regional around 150 writers have passed through.
How the Indiana Jones of the
art world took on neo-Nazis and Victoria and beyond. Despite the lockdown, Many of the writers have had their works
the criminal underworld to solve Kate is optimistic about the future. The published including Ronnie Scott, Kirsty
the mystery of the disappearance
of Hitler's favourite statue. renovations give the library many more Murray, Jennifer Down, Rajith Savanadasa,
opportunities to engage with the public, with Alice Bishop and Laura Jean McKay. I was
How to Avoid a more spaces and better facilities. particularly thrilled that Jennifer Down’s
Climate Disaster
Bill Gates Readings has been part of the State collection of short stories, Pulse Points, was
In this urgent, authoritative Library for many years, so it has been the 2018 winner of the Readings Prize for
book, Gates sets out a equally hard for us to have had our SLV New Australian Fiction. And I am absolutely
wide-ranging, practical plan for branch closed for such a long time, and we
how the world can get to zero
thrilled that Laura Jean McKay’s novel
greenhouse gas emissions in time were all thrilled when we reopened a few The Animals in That Country has just been
to avoid a climate catastrophe. weeks ago for the first time since last July. announced as the winner of the Victorian
Kate commented: ‘Readings is such a huge Premier’s Literary Awards, Australia’s richest
part of the SLV experience, and I loved literary award. As well as winning the fiction
seeing the new Russell Street space thrive category, it won the overall Victorian Prize
when it opened in 2019. The design makes for Literature as the best book of the year. Set
it a seamless experience for library visitors. in a not-too-distant future Australia where
With Readings reopening, it feels like the a pandemic is sweeping the country, it’s
Library is really coming back to life,’ certainly a novel for our times. Our reviewer
For our staff at the SLV Readings the Alison Huber called it ‘hugely entertaining
lockdown was also tricky. Our manager Claire and superbly crafted’.
On
month include Perth journalist Bret Christian
who has investigated the Claremont murders
(Stalking Claremont); Brisbane-based
Events with Chris Gordon
journalist Sandra Hogan who recounts the
true story of three children growing up with
parents who were ASIO spies (With My Little
Eye); and the wonderful Tony Brooks (Bourke
Street, My View from Here). If you are from
Recently at a Readings Melbourne you probably know Tony. He
marketing team meeting seats himself close to Pellegrini’s most days
we decided to theme this and is always up for a chat about what it’s like
year, internally, as: ‘Better to be living on our streets.
Than 2020’. Well, with that This year, Readings will be taking over
in mind, I am delighted to let you know that The Collective on some evenings to host
the Readings events program is continuing to book launches again. The Collective is a huge
expand this year. We will be hosting events in warehouse event space (and importantly,
our shops, in our local bars and theatres, and a bar) on Elgin Street in Carlton. The space
– no surprises here – online. Using the Zoom allows us to safely celebrate together, but
platform allows us to continue to bring you please note, you must book a place. We
authors from all over the world. need to be able to contact you all if needed.
We started the year strongly with Looking to the future, I am also excited that
Angie Thomas, US author of international we have former Prime Minister Kevin Rudd
bestseller The Hate U Give, who spoke talking about the influence of the Murdoch
about her new YA novel Concrete Rose with media empire. This event will be held at the
Readings’ own Leanne Hall. This powerful Athenaeum Theatre. Of course, we will be
story examines racist vilification. Authors following all health protocols but truly, what a
who bring us stories from across the oceans thrill it will be to simply see you.
are vital to understanding what is happening On a personal note, receiving emails from
elsewhere and indeed within our own you this past year made me feel connected
country. We must stay informed and we to you all. Please do not stop writing and
must keep caring. Do also tune into Zoe suggesting author events. Anywhere in the
Daniel talking about her book Greetings from world is an option, so let me follow up any
Trumpland. Zoe was the ABC’s US bureau dreams you have of listening to your favourite
chief and has been based in Washington author. Together we can make this year better
since December 2015, and the revelations than 2020. And of course, the easiest means of
within her book will shock you to the core. finding out what is on is to visit our website or
Australian authors we are hosting this subscribe to our e-newsletter.
E X TR AC T February 2021 R E A D I N G S M O N T H LY 5
Growing Up a spaceship; the glowing green numbers on During daylight hours, when I wasn’t
Disabled in the pole could have been data on the ship’s in the emergency department for high
Australia dashboard. potassium levels or the fluid building up on
Carly Findlay my chest, I wrote in my diary, which had
The cystic fibrosis patient in the
(ed.) been my confidant since high school.
adjacent bed, coughing up blood into the
Black Inc. PB.
nurse’s bedpan, wasn’t another person Dear Diary,
$29.99
waiting for their organs to fail. She was my
Available 2 Nightly dialysis sucked. Again. I didn’t
February fellow astronaut.
travel to the Moon or go for a spacewalk;
Your suit’s running low on oxygen. instead I spent the whole night reading
between the spasms and cramps.
The display panel showed three hours
and forty-five minutes until re-entry. Morning also sucked. Took tablets.
Injected EPO. Tried going for a walk until
Go! I’ll fix the heat shield. I’ll save you.
my swollen ankles hurt too much to stand.
Go back to the ship!
Looked through the classifieds for a job
Eventually she did go. suited to my degree and flexible enough for
Growing
my dialysis schedule.
I wondered whether the nurse asked
her what she wanted to be when she grew Afternoon was okay. I’d passed out from
up, and whether the nurse knew that she fatigue at the kitchen table until the alarm
Up wouldn’t get that chance. awoke me for my midday dialysis exchange. From the bestselling author of
Superpower, a ground-breaking
— Drained. Depressed. Desperate for sleep.
sequel about Australia’s best
Disabled After numerous hospital stays, endless
appointments, and surgery, I began to
Signing off until tomorrow, when we will
do it all again. Or leave to heaven and the
stars. Dear Diary, tell me which is really the
path out of recession
in
realise why Mum had said the stars were
out of reach. Maybe the only way to travel worst option?
to the stars was via heaven, like other Months and years blurred by. During
Australia
patients I’d met. another sleepless night dialysing, I was
I knew astronauts were checked for reading The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy
even the slightest hint of an infection for the umpteenth time, trying to find out
before taking flight. I guessed that my that elusive meaning behind forty-two.
potential for organ failure and need for I must have fallen asleep, because I
in-flight dialysis meant I wouldn’t be awoke with a stomach cramp like nothing
Edited by award-winning author and considered. Even after a transplant, the I’d ever felt before. I placed the waste
medical complications, risk of infection
activist Carly Findlay, Growing Up bag over my book to check the fluid for
and rejection would be an issue. I was like infection and, through the usually clear
Disabled in Australia is an essential the Invalid from Gattaca, who was never yellow liquid, I couldn’t see a single
new anthology that brings together given a chance. word. The cloudy solution concealed
more than forty personal stories of everything. I should’ve been scared of the
What I didn’t yet realise was that an
disabled writers and writers living elite gymnastics career was now also a potentially life-threatening infection, and
with chronic illness. ‘The Bedridden ridiculous dream. Cramps, fatigue and yet a tranquillity settled over me. Like
Astronaut’ by Melanie Rees, below, is nausea became the new norm. During high galactic hitchhiker Arthur Dent, I suddenly
one such memorable story. school, the doctors convinced my parents understood everything as my Babel fish A rich collection of writing
that my body couldn’t cope anymore. translated the invisible prose: Why waste
from those negotiating
Although I didn’t speak to them for a week, time on pointless ramblings in your diary
and pining for something you know to be disability in their lives – a group
It was an innocent question, but when the I was almost relieved they made me quit
nurse asked what I wanted to be when I the arduous thirty-hours-a-week training impossible? Why write about disadvantages whose voices are not heard
grew up the conversation left an aftertaste schedule. It gave me the chance to sleep. and what makes you unhappy? Write about often enough
worse than my medication. what you want, what you imagine, what
Sleep. That was all I seemed to do
you dream behind that cloudiness.
‘She’s training as an elite gymnast, but during my school and university years,
after that she wanted to be an astronaut leading up to complete organ failure and When I was too swollen to walk, I
and go to the Moon.’ Mum’s voice was like kidney dialysis. could still write. When I was tethered
soda; it sounded bubbly until those bubbles to drips or emergency haemodialysis
On peritoneal dialysis, restful sleep
reached the surface and popped. machines, I could still write. And even
became a forgotten pleasure. Like a scene
on the darkest, most painful days, when
Wanted? from Aliens, a catheter emerged from my
my bones ached too much to type, I could
stomach, connecting me to my dialysis
‘I guess she could still work in still create new worlds.
machine, filling and draining my stomach
the scientific field,’ Mum continued. Maybe in an alternate reality, like
with fluid to remove toxins. Every. Single.
‘Something at a desk.’ Stargate or Sliders, I would be looking out a
Night. It was hard to imagine the tube
Desk? from my stomach was an astronaut’s portal at the approaching Moon.
safety tether now. Cramps pierced my But why should I mourn the loss of a
‘Sounds exciting.’ The nurse rolled up
calves and shins, and as I attempted to single trip so close to home, when I could
the sleeves of my oversized hospital gown
walk the pain off, I tried to believe I was visit a thousand worlds and moons?
and connected a bag of saline to the needle
flying back to my ship.
in my elbow crease. ‘We will just give her That’s why I’m happy and thriving in
some fluid to help her kidneys.’ She talked But my tubing only let me walk a my reality, resting on a lumpy hospital bed
to Mum about disability financial support, couple of metres, and that floor space was tethered to tubing, after a failed transplant
as if I were the Invisible Man’s child. cluttered with the bucket containing my and more years on dialysis. I’m not staring A gripping exploration of the
last night’s dinner and the plastic bag with at the flickering fluorescent light above complex relationship between
Disability? I naively associated that
the yellow waste in it. or dwelling on biopsy pain and boredom.
with amputees or paraplegics. Sure, the heart, the brain and the
they had just discovered the kidney I was trapped by my tubing, unable I’m holding a pen in my spare hand and human spirit.
disease I was born with, and I was tired to sleep or escape. The display panel on gazing at distant stars, wondering which
and vomiting regularly, but I’d just been the dialysis machine mocked me with will be next.
selected for a junior training squad at its bright green words suggesting I have
the Australian Institute of Sport. I was a ‘good night’. Toxins accumulating in
Melanie Rees is a dual transplant survivor and
physically fit and capable. my blood made sleep even more elusive: speculative fiction writer from South Australia.
my skin itched so much I made it bleed, Her work has appeared in over 100 domestic and
That night, as I attempted and failed to
and restless leg syndrome caused spasms international publications such as Nature: Futures and
sleep, I stared at the IV line – like a safety Cosmos. She was recently awarded The Hope Prize’s
throughout my body.
tether connecting my spacesuit to the Women’s Writing Career Development Scholarship.
shuttle during my spacewalk – and gazed at Each morning, the yellow complexion
the cardboard cut-out stars dangling from of Frankenstein’s monster glistened in the
This is an edited extract from Growing Up Disabled
the ceiling along with Disney characters. mirror and bloodshot anaemic eyes greeted in Australia, published by Black Inc. books and BLACKINCBOOKS.COM
The stars could have been real. The IV pole me, as I spat out mouthwash to remove the available now at all Readings shops.
and infusion pump could have been part of taste of bile and urea.
6 R E A D I N G S M O N T H LY February 2021 FE AT U R E
Clockwise from top left: Tony Birch, Leanne
Hall, Alice Pung, Sally Rooney, Christos
Tsiolkas, Ellen van Neerven, Gabrielle
Williams, Kazuo Ishiguro, Omar Sakr, Jamie
Marina Lau, and Emily Bitto, centre.
The most
anticipated
books of
2021
Dear Reader
It doesn’t seem so long ago that I these stories, and his writing is particularly strong in its success, documenting the breadth and specificity of lived
sat down to write the version of this development of character and dialogue. It’s a standout experience in Australia. This month Growing Up Disabled
piece for the February 2020 Readings debut of the first half of the year. Our nonfiction pick in Australia joins this book family, edited by writer and
Monthly, but then again, as I am is also a debut, Sam van Zweden’s collection of essays, activist Carly Findlay. Turn to page five to read an extract
Alison Huber certainly not the first to observe, it Eating with My Mouth Open, a unique work of critical from this essential release. Our reviewers also point you
Readings’ also feels like we have lived (or is body politics, which is also a great piece of food writing. to another polyphonic project, Coming of Age in the War
head book that aged?) several years’ worth of In crime, we draw your attention to the new novel from
buyer life since then (can I get a credit on Iain Ryan, The Spiral, an extremely clever, edgy crime
these years, please universe). I reread
that article before I sat down to write
take on the campus novel that happens to involve a
choose-your-own-adventure style sub-plot. Our reviewers
A year with a new
this year’s missive, and cringed
slightly at what felt like our collective
also recommend several other strong debut novels – from
Rebecca Starford, Christy Collins, and Martin McKenzie- Tony Birch book is a
good year;
naivety in the way things were pre- Murray – as well as the new novel from Steven Carroll, O,
pandemic. Thankfully, there were which novelises the life of the author of the classic erotic
some constants throughout the novel, The Story of O.
chaos of 2020, and the solace and
entertainment to be found in books
In international fiction, our reviews will entice you
to discover the new works from Jennifer Nansubuga
a year with two
was one of them (changing release
dates and COVID-related supply
Makumbi, Melissa Broder and Mary Lawson, as well as
debuts from Lucy Jago, Lauren Oyler, and Robert Jones Tony Birch books is
a great year.
chain issues notwithstanding!). Jr., whose highly anticipated novel The Prophets is off to a
So here I am again, faithfully cracking start already, with our reviewer joining a chorus
anticipating a new year of of international praise (and while stocks last we have a
publishing, which begins with a great special-edition hardcover available for you to purchase at
list of February books to help you the same price as the paperback, $32.99). Also take note on Terror, as well as Craig Munro’s book about Australia’s
maintain that new year’s resolution of Maria Dahvana Headley’s new translation of Beowulf book editing culture, Literary Lion Tamers, and Danielle
to read more, and more widely. (you may remember the author’s contemporary retelling Celermajer’s reflection on the losses endured in our
We begin the year with three very of that story from a few years ago, The Mere Wife), staff changing climate, Summertime. The climate emergency
fine Books of the Month. Our fiction favourite Sigrid Nunez’s first novel reissued (A Feather on is also (back) on the agenda with big new releases from
title is an excellent collection of short the Breath of God), Rebecca Watson’s experiment in form climatologist Michael E. Mann and Microsoft co-founder
stories from Adam Thompson, Born (Little Scratch), and Anna North’s appealing feminist turned philanthropist Bill Gates. Also out in February
Into This. Thompson takes readers Western, Outlawed, in which a brave coterie of ‘barren are major new releases from Henry Reynolds, Mariana
into the heart of contemporary women’ run for their lives and make their own fortunes. Mazzucato, Simon Winchester and Christopher Harding.
Aboriginal experience in each of Black Inc.’s ‘Growing Up’ series has been a wonderful The winner of the National Book Award for Nonfiction
F E AT U R E February 2021 R E A D I N G S M O N T H LY 7
make a splash. Another debut with great expectations a ‘queer ghost story set in Sydney and Beijing’. I was
is Emily Spurr’s A Million Things (April), which earned quite smitten by Robert Hillman’s The Bookshop of the
the author one of those legendary big book deals with Broken Hearted; Hillman’s new book, The Bride of the
a US publisher that make writers’ dreams come true. Almond Tree, is due in July. Antoni Jach’s first novel
Having a short story published in Granta is kind of a since Napoleon’s Double will be out the following month:
big deal too: Chloe Wilson had that experience with her a novel with travel themes and European settings
story ‘Hold Your Fire’ which gives her debut collection (remember when we could travel there?), it’s called
its title (March). More very promising debut titles to look Travelling Companions. Anita Heiss has a new novel
out for include Melissa Manning’s Smokehouse (April), in May called Bila Yarrudhang-galang-dhuray, and its
Clare Moleta’s Unsheltered (May), Campbell Mattinson’s publisher says it’s the first commercial fiction release to
We Were Not Men (June), and Filip Vukasin’s Modern have a title in Indigenous language (Wiradjuri) without
Marriage (September). an English translation on the jacket. Later in the year, my
Claire Thomas’s debut, Fugitive Blue, won the 2009 sources tell me we can expect a new Liane Moriarty novel
Dobbie Award, and her second novel, The Performance (Apples Never Fall, September), a work of autofiction
(March), has a great buzz behind it: it centres on three called 7 1/2 from Christos Tsiolkas, and a new novel called
characters’ internal lives, and unfolds across the duration Scary Monsters from Michelle de Kretser. Oh boy!
of a Beckett play. Laura Elizabeth Woollett also impressed Not to get too distracted by the year’s forthcoming
with her first novel, Beautiful Revolutionary, which fiction, I do want to point out some of the great pieces
delved into the dark world of Jim Jones and the People’s of nonfiction coming our way too. Sarah Krasnostein’s
Temple, and was shortlisted for the Prime Minister’s follow-up to her outstanding The Trauma Cleaner
Literary Awards in 2019, so we’ll be keen to see what appears in March. The Believer is a well-timed
she does in The Newcomer (July). Another celebrated exploration of the notion of belief during this time where
emerging novelist, Mark Brandi, whose first two books our collective foundations are very shaky. Stan Grant’s
(Wimmera and The Rip) have won him many fans at With the Falling of the Dusk (April) is a look at the global
Readings, has a new book called The Others (July). status quo, and the change we are living through. We
Briohny Doyle, the author of the acclaimed work of can also look forward to new work from Bri Lee and
climate fiction, The Island Will Sink, has a second novel, Clementine Ford, as well as memoirs from former MP
called Echolalia, due in June, another thought-provoking Kate Ellis, comedian and broadcaster Kate Langbroek,
work whose context is how we are to live in a changing writers Monica Dux, Rick Morton and Catherine Deveny,
environment. while Clem Bastow reflects on a mid-life diagnosis in
Michael Mohammed Ahmad’s debut, The Tribe, her memoir, Late Bloomer (July). Turns Out I’m Fine
was shortlisted for the inaugural Readings Prize, and is a great title for Judith Lucy’s memoir (April). Sarah
Walker’s essay collection themed around the body in late
capitalism sounds amazing: The First Time I Thought I
This is, of course, Was Dying (August), as does writer and scientist Kaya
Wilson’s literary memoir of transgender experience, As
our annual appetite-
Beautiful as Any Other (May). Historian Mark McKenna’s
Return to Uluru is out in March, while Kate Holden’s
The Winter Road (April) investigates the killing of
whetting exercise, environmental officer Glen Turner. The Care Factor
by Ailsa Wild (March) is getting great endorsements:
so get set, for this it’s about a nurse called Sim and her work during
the pandemic. In the same month, Yumiko Kadota’s
fast, furious, and
Emotional Female is bound to produce much discussion,
as she recounts her time as a young hospital surgeon
pushed to the edge by the culture of work in this high-
entirely incomplete stress, male-dominated workplace. Proud Gunai/Kurnai
woman, Veronica Gorrie, has written a memoir of her
rundown of what’s time in the police force called Black and Blue (April).
I always look forward to reading Anwen Crawford’s
coming up.
writing, and her essay collection, No Document, will be
no exception (also April). Don Watson publishes his first
major new work in some years with The Passion of Private
White (October). Helen Garner will treat us to the third
is now available locally (The Dead Are Arising: The Life so we’ve followed his career with interest. The Lebs was instalment of her diaries in November.
of Malcolm X by Les and Tamara Payne), as is a reissue impressive too, and the timely anthology he edited, After And then, of course, there is the odd international
of Joe Biden’s 2007 memoir, Promises to Keep. The Australia, was in our Top 100 bestselling books of 2020. author in whose new work you might hold a passing
marvellous George Saunders has written a book about His new novel is The Other Half of You (June). One of the interest, such as Sally Rooney (cancel all plans in
writing, A Swim in a Pond in the Rain. Amal Awad takes a contributors to Ahmad’s edited collection, award-winning September!), Willy Vlautin, Haruki Murakami, Colson
look at new spiritualism (In My Past Life I Was Cleopatra); poet and essayist Omar Sakr, has been working his piece Whitehead, Maggie Nelson, Helen Oyeyemi, Elizabeth
Vanessa Russell documents her journey to understand ‘White Flu’ into novel length (due later in the year). Strout, Kazuo Ishiguro, Imbolo Mbue, Max Porter, Patricia
refugee experiences in The World Is Not Enough; artist Meanwhile, another of the Readings Prize alumni, Jamie Lockwood, John Banville, Lauren Groff, Jonathan
and writer Fiona McGregor publishes a collection of Marina Lau, brings us Gunk Baby in May (a book that Franzen, Deborah Levy, Jim Shepard, Colm Tóibín,
essays, Buried Not Dead. There’s more to February, of staff have been asking me about for years, so anticipation Vendela Vida, Karl Ove Knausgård, Sebastian Faulks,
course, but as my word count builds, I must turn our has built to extreme levels!). Speaking of tremendous Rachel Cusk, Lucy Ellmann, Mieko Kawakami , Lisa
attention to the books slightly further ahead of us, for anticipation, we’ve been hanging for Jennifer Down’s Taddeo (with a debut novel!), Richard Powers, David
this is, of course, our annual appetite-whetting exercise, new book (you’ll recall her great debut, Our Magic Hour, Sedaris, Viet Thanh Nguyen, Jarvis Cocker, Laurent
so get set, for this fast, furious, and entirely incomplete and her Readings Prize-winning collection, Pulse Points): Binet, Pat Barker, Anthony Doerr, Rachel Kushner, and
rundown of what’s coming up. get set for Proudflesh in September. I really like the sound Richard Osman, whose second Thursday Murder Club
A year with a new Tony Birch book is a good year; a of several anthologies on the way: Flock (May, ed. Ellen book will delight many, many people. There are also
year with two Tony Birch books is a great year, so bring on van Neerven) which showcases First Nations stories numerous exciting novels on the way from authors whose
2021! Tony has a collection of poetry, Whisper Songs, out from both established and emerging writers; Cop This name you don’t know yet, but to be honest, dear reader,
in June, followed in August by a story collection called Lot (May, ed. Tobias McCorkell, May) whose contributors let’s deal with them as they appear. By the way, I should
Dark as Last Night. And speaking of local celebrities, address class in Australia; Lines to the Horizon (April), a have mentioned that there will be a test on your retention
Stella Prize-winning Emily Bitto’s second novel, Wild book of Australian surf writing, including a piece by Sam of the above information as a condition of entry next time
Abandon, will also be out in the second half of this Carmody (who also happened to win the 2017 Readings you visit us!
year, and I think we can expect it to be brilliant. Much Prize with The Windy Season). And finally, dear reader, you have come to expect
anticipated too is One Hundred Days (June) the first novel The multi-talented writer/filmmaker/academic annual book releases from the talented staff of Readings,
for adults by beloved writer Alice Pung. Larissa Behrendt has her third novel, called After and this year they meet that expectation yet again.
I so enjoy reading stories about non-normative Story, due in July; it follows an Indigenous mother Leanne Hall and Gabrielle Williams both have new work
women (a description I would apply to almost every and daughter on a bus tour of historic literary sites on the way for young adult readers, which is terrific
woman I’ve met in real life) and two exciting debuts out in England. Emily Maguire’s most recent novel, An news. If all of this is still not exciting enough for you,
in March have scratched that itch: Madeleine Ryan’s Isolated Incident, was shortlisted for the Stella Prize, I’m pleased to say that we have a 3-for-2 promotion on a
quite stunning A Room Called Earth, and Ella Baxter’s and she publishes Love Objects in April, a novel which great range of nonfiction titles for the month of February
audacious New Animal, which is already in development addresses the complex issue of hoarding. Jennifer Mills’s thanks to our friends at Penguin Random House, so do
as a TV series. These are both novels that will challenge Dyschronia made the 2019 Miles Franklin shortlist, and come by one of our stores and have a rummage. We’d love
readers in very different ways and I feel certain they will in August we’ll see The Airways which is described as to see you soon.
8 R E A D I N G S M O N T H LY February 2021 FIC T IO N
Fiction
world, and the shadow cast by World War II The Price of Two Sparrows
and the Cold War continues to influence Christy Collins
writers. Affirm Press. PB. $29.99
Over the last decade, there has been a Available now
noticeable presence of female voices in the In a Sydney
espionage fiction genre, including Jennie beachside suburb in
Adam Thompson’s Born Into This was the perfect
Rooney, Charlotte Philby (Kim Philby’s early 2004, a block of land
short-story collection to start my 2021 reading year. This
B OO K OF T H E granddaughter), Kate Atkinson and Natasha next to a bird sanctuary
remarkable debut crackles with wit, swagger and rage – as
M ON T H entertaining and affecting as it is thought-provoking – and
Walter. Rebecca Starford’s new World War II has been purchased by
spy thriller, The Imitator, is another welcome members of the Muslim
Australian assuredly introduces Aboriginal (pakana) writer Thompson as
addition to the espionage canon, capturing community to build a
Fiction a fresh new voice to follow in the Australian fiction landscape.
the look and bustle of wartime London, as mosque. The mosque has
Thompson was an inaugural recipient of the Wheeler well as the anxiety and dread associated with been designed by talented young architect
Centre’s The Next Chapter scheme (through which he has the occupation. Bored of her job in ladies’ Salema with the intention of incorporating
been mentored by Cate Kennedy), and many of our country’s fashion, Evelyn, a young Oxford graduate, the natural environment to create a
finest writers including Ellen van Neerven, Tara June Winch embarks on a new career as a spy working for peaceful area for people to gather and pray.
and Tony Birch are all singing his praises. MI5. Evelyn never did quite fit into the social Meanwhile ornithologist Heico has been
circles at boarding school or university, asked by the media to comment on the
Every encounter in this collection and the mask-wearing and deceit in these upcoming development and its effect on
is charged with tension and energy; settings make her a natural candidate for the migratory birds in that vicinity.
Thompson’s dialogue sparks on clandestine work. However, the deeper the Unaware what the proposed development
infiltration, the greater the cost, and the is, Heico sends compromised information
the page.
harder it is to distinguish friend from foe, to a paper which overlays years of data onto
obscuring true objectives. Readers will know the one map thus exaggerating the
It’s clear why from the first page of Born Into This. of Starford through her work as co-founder visitation rate of birds to the area.
These 16 tight and punchy stories are distinctly Tasmanian, of Kill Your Darlings and her memoir about
Born Into This each with a Tasmanian Aboriginal character at its centre.
The Price of Two Sparrows is the debut
bullying, Bad Behaviour. The Imitator is a
Adam Thompson Every encounter in this collection is charged with tension
novel from Christy Collins, a writer from an
UQP. PB. $29.99 bold character study from a versatile and academic background whose fiction talents
and energy; Thompson’s dialogue sparks on the page. adept writer.
Available now have already been recognised through the
Yet while the stories in Born Into This are all driven by
Julia Jackson is from Readings Carlton 2015 Viva La Novella Prize (among other
their human conflicts, each protagonist’s relationship to
achievements). Collins’s background in
their environment (both urban and natural) is deeply considered and fully realised.
Thompson leaves the reader with a profound sense of what we’re losing when it comes to O both the academic and the creative has
Steven Carroll produced a unique and intelligent piece of
both the damage and disappearance of our native environment and the cultural practices
Fourth Estate. PB. $32.99 work that explores the things people hold
that rely on its survival.
Available now sacred and the importance and challenges
Born Into This not only stands out as an engaging short-story collection from an
Almost 70 years ago, of creating and protecting sacred
exciting young writer, but will open readers’ minds to the diverse lived experiences of First
a slim little book was spaces. Salema is a wonderful character:
Nations people. I hope we are all approaching the year ahead with a strengthened resolve
published by a small purposeful and confident, yet realistic. She
to listen deeply and actively to First Nations Australians so that we may better advocate for
French publishing house, is a perfect complement to Nahla (Heico’s
justice and equality in this country. This is vital storytelling that we should all be reading,
sans publicity or fanfare, cleaner) who has recently moved to
and I couldn’t recommend it more highly.
its author a previously Australia and is exactly the type of person
Stella Charls is from Readings Carlton for whom the mosque is being built. Most
unheard-of woman by the
name of Pauline Réage. intriguing, however, is Kadim, the teller of
The Story of O would go on to become one fables and stories and the only character
written in first person.
Australian uncovered on site, the exploration of
the friendship between the two young
of the most divisive (and bestselling) works
of literature ever published, celebrated by I had to spend days thinking about this
Fiction women, the politics of the personal some, reviled by others. For decades, book before I could even attempt to start
writing about it and I have a feeling that’s
and academic relationship between the Réage’s identity remained a mystery, many
husband-and-wife pair leading the digs, believing The Story of O could never have exactly what Collins wants us to do. She
The Beach Caves or Sue’s growing feelings for Brian and her been written by a woman. Then, in 2004, it presents the issues in all their complexity
Trevor Shearston reluctance to explore them. With so many was revealed that the true author was and readers are asked to respond by drawing
Scribe. PB. $29.99 threads already, the arrival of the mystery Dominique Aury, a refined, intellectually on their own experiences and beliefs.
Available now in the book’s second half was a slight passionate French woman, respected for This is a perfect book for both private
shock. When it does arrive, it explores the her translations and her years of excellent contemplation and discussion with others.
Annette Cooley and
Sue Klima met in decades-long consequences of decisions work as an editor at leading French Amanda Rayner is from Readings Carlton
their first prehistory made on those sites. Shearston wrangles publisher Gallimard. Many have since
tutorial. Quickly realising these threads into a satisfying conclusion, speculated how such a woman could have The Speechwriter
they were as ambitious as though it’s not tidy on all fronts, and I was written this novel. Moreover, why would Martin McKenzie-Murray
each other, they chose left thinking how I would have responded she have written it? Scribe. PB. $29.99
friendship over to the situations Annette found herself in at Enter Steven Carroll and his new novel Available now
competition. Now it’s this early stage in her life and career. O. Some might say that a book that seeks to It is a funny old time
1970 and the pair are in their final year with Suzanne Steinbruckner is from Readings reimagine Aury’s motivations for writing to be writing political
promising careers ahead of them. Annette’s Carlton The Story of O could never be written by a satire. I mean, satire is
thesis supervisor Professor Aled Wray has man, but I would argue Carroll has done everyday reality in our year
called for volunteers at a new The Imitator a spectacular job. O is beautifully written, 2021. And so, when a
archaeological site on the New South Wales at once a heartbreaking love story and a political satire comes
Rebecca Starford
south coast. Annette and Sue are keen to be deft exploration of just why The Story of along, I am eager to see
A&U. PB. $29.99
involved firsthand in this exciting and O so offends those who despise it. The where it can possibly go.
Available now
significant discovery which may prove that multifaceted conversations between The answer is inwards, and in Martin
In writing this
local First Nations people were less Carroll’s Dominique and her married lover McKenzie-Murray’s The Speechwriter, we
review I simply can’t
nomadic than previously believed. Jean (also her publisher) enthral the reader, explore the inner workings of a nascent
ignore the fact that 2021
Later that year, Wray and his wife conveying the progression of this unique political powerbroker.
will mark the 70th
return from the coast after finding a cave relationship, and provoking deeper thought Toby has grown up with the collected
anniversary of the
they believe will link the two sites and as to why the world finds the baring of speeches of Churchill and the injustice
defections of Soviet
solidify the hypotheses. At this new site female desire so appalling, even frightening. of being denigrated for his seriousness
agents Guy Burgess and
Sue develops feelings for an engineering Carroll is known and celebrated for at school. In the first of many literal
Donald Maclean across
student, Brian, and their tentative his talent in writing all-encompassing embodiments of frustrated ideals, a young
the Iron Curtain. Both were high-ranking
friendship results in Sue being the one historical novels, often focusing on other Toby with gastro literally soils his collected
double agents embedded in the upper
Brian turns to when he notices features that writers, their skill with words and their speeches of Churchill before he has had
echelons of the British civil service. These
point to further archaeological discoveries. imagined motivations for writing. Were a chance to read them. In Toby we have a
two, along with Antony Blunt, John
Tensions and secrecy on camp are already Aury alive to read O, I have no doubt she frustrated idealist: frustrated by growing
Cairncross and Kim Philby, were all
high due to the importance of the work, would be well pleased with his portrayal up in an environment that doesn’t seem to
recruited while at Cambridge University in
when one of the party goes missing. of her: a woman brave even when afraid, care about lofty ideals, and frustrated by
the 1930s. The growing threat of fascism,
The Beach Caves is a fascinating thrilled by secrecy and danger, most free his own inability to transcend them.
civil war in Spain and the decline of the
book that left me eager to find out what when defeated and occupied. This is a satire for all of us who can see
aristocracy in the UK were all factors that
happened next; whether this be what’s drove men and women into the clandestine Tye Cattanach is from Readings Carlton ourselves in Toby. He is McKenzie-Murray’s
F IC T ION February 2021 R E A D I N G S M O N T H LY 9
everyman of early 21st century political home with machinery than people rescues discard without hesitation. finds her joy in spoonfuls of Splenda, low-
idealism, crystallised by The West Wing and a drowning kitten. Populated with This unvarnished, unflinching portrait cal protein bars, and best of all, her daily
running afoul of the growing tide of populist eccentric, compelling characters, Pushing of millennial womanhood is so frank as cup of fat-free, sugar-free, low-carb frozen
rhetoric. As each day of the last few years Back features John Kinsella’s most to be sometimes shocking, but Oyler’s yoghurt (no toppings) from the Yo!Good
seems to have brought a new level of crisis haunting and timely short stories to date. grasp of the modern world and those who yoghurt bar near her work.
to the world and the absurdity of political inhabit it is extraordinarily witty, wry, and Prompted by her questionable
response, I take heart in one of Toby’s early
Repentance oh so incisive. Fake Accounts is perfect for therapist, Rachel begins a no-contact detox
acts of government service. In a moment fans of Sarai Walker, Kristen Roupenian or from her mother and uses “Theraputticals”
Alison Gibbs
more Parks and Recreation than The West Patricia Lockwood. putty to craft an overweight doll that is
Scribe. PB. $32.99
Wing, Toby and a local constituent share a meant to resemble her worst fears. The
Available now Lian Hingee is the digital marketing manager
moment of connection while burying birds doll goes missing and, soon after, the
It’s the summer of 1976, at Readings
that have been the victims of feral cat attacks Yo!Good counter boy is replaced with an
and the winds of change
on the median strip: ‘Silently we dug six small orthodox Jewish girl with light blue eyes,
trenches with our hands. I slowed my pace to
are blowing through the The First Woman
pink lips, rolls of fat under her clothes,
match Arthur’s, who seemed to be struggling,
small town of Repentance. Jennifer Nansubuga Makumbi
The old families farmed Oneworld. HB. $34.99 and three moles on her neck that look like
uncomplainingly, with arthritic fingers.’ chocolate drops. Her name is Miriam and
cattle and cut timber, but Available now
A satire needs heart as much as not only does she wilfully ignore Rachel’s
the new hippy settlers have 1970s Uganda:
cleverness to be effective, and in these instructions to only fill the cup to the line,
a different perspective on halfway through Idi
moments Martin McKenzie-Murray she thoroughly covers the yoghurt with free
the natural order. A tale of a country town Amin’s terrible reign. The
delivers – on the median strip. rainbow sprinkles. The dam cracks, and
and its rhythms, Repentance is also the story First Woman details the
Marie Matteson is from Readings Carlton of modern Australia at one of its flashpoints. Rachel finds herself sliding into a world of
coming of age of Kirabo, a
flavour, feasting, lust and obsession that
headstrong young woman
Eye of a Rook Sargasso from a small Ugandan
may not be as bad for her as she thinks it is.
Josephine Taylor Broder has written another story about
Kathy George village who begins to feel
Fremantle Press. PB. $32.99 chasing desire, but this time it’s hopeful.
HarperCollins. PB. $29.99 the terrible absence of her unknown mother
Available now You can taste all the food in this book and
Available now as she enters her teenage years. A stunning
In 1860s London, Arthur’s the sex scenes are excellent, but aside from
As a child, Hannah lived at epic and breathtaking tour de force that
wife is struck down by a its sensuous triumphs, there is a deep
Sargasso, the isolated spans generations, the novel explores the
pain for which she can find sweetness and generosity at the heart of
beachside home designed very concept of Ugandan womanhood while
no words. In modern-day this story that is downright moving.
by her architect father. tracking Kirabo’s first move, first love and
Perth, Alice and her older Hannah’s idyllic childhood first betrayals in a rapidly changing world. Anna Thwaites is from Readings St Kilda
husband find their ended in tragedy, but now The novel is a particularly successful
marriage threatened as as an adult she is back to example of the coming-of-age story due to its A Net for Small Fishes
Alice investigates the relive the memories of her careful blend of universality and specificity. Lucy Jago
history of hysteria and the treatment of the past. With its empty houses and lonely What does it mean to be on the brink of Bloomsbury. PB. $29.99
female body. A compassionate debut that shores, Sargasso is a journey into the dark womanhood? As a feminist – or rather, Available 16 February
explores literary history and the relationship lands of the Australian Gothic with echoes mwenkanonkano (a Ugandan movement that Last year’s big
between body and self. of Daphne du Maurier’s Rebecca. predates Western feminism)? In a country in historical fiction
turmoil? As a girl without a mother? Author release was Hilary
The Funny Thing about Jennifer Nansubuga Makumbi draws upon
Norman Foreman International mythology, folklore and biblical tales to build
Mantel’s hefty conclusion
to her brilliant Tudor-era
Julietta Henderson
Bantam. PB. $32.99
Fiction a story that transcends the expectations of a
bildungsroman or a feminist take on a classic
trilogy The Mirror and the
Light. This year’s could
Available now trope. The characters and situations are too well be historian Lucy
Norman’s mum Sadie Fake Accounts present, too real, to act merely as allegory. Jago’s A Net for Small Fishes.
knows she won’t win Lauren Oyler Kirabo refuses to act as a stand in for all
Fast forward from the death of Thomas
Mother of the Year anytime Fourth Estate. PB. $29.99 young women – her voice is too loud, her
Cromwell in 1540 to 1616, during the reign
soon. But when Norman’s Available now perspective too unique. And don’t even get
of James I of England, and you’ll come
best friend dies, she I know it takes years me started on her grandmothers.
across the Overbury murder scandal upon
resolves to do anything to for a book to be Published overseas last year, which this novel is based. In a nutshell,
make her grieving son’s written, edited and Makumbi’s novel made it on to most of Thomas Overbury died while imprisoned
wishes come true: ‘Find printed, but Lauren Oyler’s the ‘Best of’ lists of 2020 and I would in the Tower of London, but his supporters
Dad’ and ‘Get to the Edinburgh Fringe’. With debut novel Fake Accounts be shocked if it didn’t find its way onto weren’t satisfied he died from natural
their friend Leonard and his vintage Austin feels so immediate that it’s Readings’ Best of 2021. The book has causes, and it later transpired he was
Maxi, mother and son set off from Cornwall hard to believe it wasn’t earned well-deserved comparisons to Tsitsi poisoned. An investigation instigated
on a road trip that will change their lives. written last week and just Dangarembga’s Nervous Conditions and by the King revealed the architects of
beamed into my hands via some kind of Elena Ferrante’s Neapolitan Quartet. It has the murder plot: Robert Carr, Earl of
Low Expectations publishing magic. Even from the very first the same mastery of language and ability Somerset, a court favourite; his wife
Stuart Everly-Wilson page it’s painfully relatable, imbued with to transport the reader to another time and Frances Carr (nee Howard), formerly the
Text. PB. $32.99 that feeling that we’re spiralling inexorably place. And as we pass our first COVID-19 wife of Robert Devereux; as well as the
Available now towards our own doom but we’re too anniversary, who wouldn’t want to be in Somersets’ accessories, Anne Turner and
numbed by the 24-hour news cycle, our another time and place? Read immediately. Richard Weston.
1975, Western Sydney. A
street where neighbours dependence on social media, and our own Tristen Brudy is from Readings Carlton Four people were hanged at Tyburn
keep an eye on everyone impotence to do anything about it. gallows, including Turner, while the
else’s business. A boy and Told in an almost stream-of- Milk Fed Somersets were spared from the noose
his mum – and a family consciousness first person, this novel Melissa Broder by the King. Through the lens of fiction,
secret. Devon flies under sweeps you through the unnamed narrator’s Bloomsbury Circus. PB. $29.99 however, Jago reclaims Anne Turner and
the radar and does nothing life as she makes two discoveries: one, that Available now Frances from extant, libellous historical
to correct any assumptions her boyfriend was secretly an influential Milk Fed, Melissa accounts that malign these women, and
of his low intelligence. But when the chilling conspiracy theorist; and two, that he has Broder’s latest novel focuses on their transgressive womanhood
revelation of his mother’s past unexpectedly died unexpectedly (and, annoyingly, before (following The Pisces), is a instead. English women, according to
blows open his view of himself, Devon she has a chance to confront him about his funny, sexy feast of a story Jago, were regarded as ‘too independent’,
realises he has a score to settle. secret identity and dump him). Fleeing to about indulgence, self- particularly of their spouses. Here, both
Berlin for reasons that are unclear even to denial and female love. women are presented as highly intelligent,
Pushing Back herself, she embarks on her own campaign Rachel is a bored, and with far more complex motives for
John Kinsella of dissimulation, recreating herself again lonely and cynical their actions. Under Jago’s careful hand,
Transit Lounge. PB. $29.99 and again for the people she meets. atheistic Jewish girl in her mid-20s Frances and Anne both have a strong resolve
Available now Whether she’s a freelance chartered who works as an assistant for a talent that fuels their sense of self and underpins
A couple make love in an accountant with a suspiciously poor grasp management company in Los Angeles. She their unlikely friendship across the social
abandoned asbestos of tax law, or a massage therapist with has no partner or friends to speak of. She divide. The large ensemble of characters
house; a desperate carpet a calling for acupuncture, she analyses lives alone and her days are dominated by who occupy these pages add colour and
cleaner beholden to the every encounter with a forensic precision thoughts of food and the anticipation of her substance to the plot as it wends its way
gig economy begs a that’s equally profound as it is narcissistic. next meal. But thanks to a life under the towards its bitter end. A Net for Small Fishes
financially distressed The result is a disorientating portrait of judgement of her fat-phobic mother, Rachel is a great read, full of scandal, illicit activity
client not to cancel his a person who doesn’t exist except as a is also obsessed with remaining skinny. and the buzz of a gossipy court.
booking; a man more at character she’s trying on for size and will She counts her calories meticulously, and Julia Jackson is from Readings Carlton
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