Over recent years, John Boyne has published a series of four novellas named after the ancient elements of Water, Earth, Air and Fire. I have just finished reading the first two, Water and Earth, both published in 2023. In each, Boyne takes on a part of human nature which is dark and difficult and examines […]
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Chimamanda Ngosi Adichie begins her latest novel, Dream Count, in Washington where one of her four main characters grapples with the challenges of Covid lockdown. Chiamaka’s plans to keep herself active and productive come to nothing. She embarks instead on a dream count, remembering all the men in her life and how they failed to
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Intermezzo is Irish writer Sally Rooney’s most recent novel. It explores similar themes to her previous books, Conversations with Friends, Normal People, and Beautiful World, Where Are You. They all interrogate the search for love or meaningful connection with other people. In Rooney’s previous novels, a common theme has been the relationship between a young
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Orbital is a slim volume that packs a punch. It richly deserves the 2024 Booker Prize. Six astronauts from five different countries (two are from Russia) and their experiences in the International Space Station are the focus of the book. Yet the beating heart of Orbital is the Earth. The astronauts live in a different
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Niall William’s latest novel, Time of the Child, is one of those books that transports you to another time and place in the company of characters you really care about. The opening sentence sets the scene and the hook for the story: ‘This is what happened in Faha over the Christmas of 1962, in what
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Joseph Roth’s novel, The Radetzky March, has been hailed by Michael Ondaatje as ‘one of the 20th century’s great historical novels.’ It was first published in German in 1932 and only made available to English-speaking readers in 2002 in a translation by Michael Hoffmann. The story unfolds at a leisurely pace. Each scene is replete
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Over the summer break, I read six books, three of which I really enjoyed. I couldn’t choose between them for a review so I’ve written a few words about each. I found Tell me Everything a great indulgence after the hectic days leading up to Christmas. It has a warm conversational tone and involves
As summer holidays approach in Australia, dedicated readers look forward to giving and receiving books for Christmas and to holidays filled with reading pleasure. This is also a time for the publication of lists of the best books. I’d like to share with you some of those lists, sourced from the Sydney Morning Herald and
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Joanne Fedler wrote The Whale’s Last Song, her fifteenth published book, as a children’s story before her editor urged her to rewrite it for adults. I think it works as both. Written after Fedler’s mother’s death, this uplifting gem of a book retains the structure and narrative elements of a traditional fable and includes elements
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Storm Child is the fourth book in a thriller series by Australian author, Michael Robotham. All four involve forensic psychologist Cyrus Haven and Evie Cormac, a traumatised young woman aged twenty-two in Storm Child. Both Cyrus and Evie have been psychologically damaged. As a boy, Cyrus returned from football practice to discover the bodies of
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