The Aunts’ House is a delightful coming of age story set in 1942 Sydney. Author Elizabeth Stead has conjured an ensemble of quirky, lovable characters that would make Charles Dickens envious. Angel Martin is an orphaned child foisted upon long-suffering boarding house mistress, Missus Potts. Enraged upon discovering Angel hasn’t brought the inheritance she’d counted on […]
historical fiction
Review: The Familiars, by Stacey Halls
The Familiars is an excellent example of writers filling the gaps in history with imagination. The historical record shows that, in 1612, ten witches were put to death in Pendle, England following a trial. Each of them had a ‘familiar’, a sort of demon animal (traditionally a black cat) which does the bidding of the […]
Review: The Last Days of the Romanov Dancers, by Kerri Turner
The Last Days of the Romanov Dancers, by Kerri Turner, is a wonderful and thoroughly enjoyable story to read. I’m a sucker for anything set in Russia. I devoured Paullina Simons’ The Bronze Horseman series, with Tatiana and Alexander and have read my way through plenty of Russian literature, including Anna Karenina and Crime and […]
Review: Once Upon A River, by Diane Setterfield
I absolutely adored Once Upon a River. Diane Setterfield can really spin a yarn, she has an incredible gift for understated storytelling. Reading this book felt just as though I was sitting by the fire with an ale in the dead of winter, over a hundred years ago. The story opens on a dark midwinter’s […]
Review: Book of Colours, by Robyn Cadwallader
To me, Book of Colours is a novel about art and artists. The process of creating art, what goes on in the head of an artisan, and how do they reconcile artistic independence with the need to eat and pay rent? Set in 1321 London in a small illustrators’ workshop in Paternoster Row, three people […]
Review: The Killing of Louisa, by Janet Lee
To lose one husband may be regarded as a misfortune; to lose both looks like murder. It’s 1888 and, in New South Wales, Louisa Collins has been sentenced to hang for the murder of her husband. Two previous juries could not convict her, but the (all male) authorities kept trying until they found a jury […]