‘What are those?’ while pointing at Fosse’s shoes. ‘Shoes,’ he said, very clearly, as if talking to a young child. ‘I thought they were regulation standard military Coalition issued walking apparel,’ it said. It was strange how being more precise with language could move everyone further away from a mutual level of understanding. This is […]
literary fiction
Review: The Swimmers by Marian Womack
The Swimmers is a furistic fable about how the power of storytelling can be turned into propaganda by those who wish to impose their will on others. It’s messy and, at times, hard to follow. But it’s also lyrical and beautiful to read. Chaotically structured and constantly rambling just like the jungle the story takes […]
Review: Wolfe Island, by Lucy Treloar
And yet, the book ended. I feel so sad that it’s gone. God, it was beautiful. You absolutely must read it. Lucy Treloar’s Wolfe Island is the dystopian novel you read when you don’t want to read a dystopian novel. It’s a gorgeously written story of a reclusive artist who tries to stay out of […]
Review: The Choke, by Sofie Laguna
I’m working my way through my lovely box of library books while in Melbourne lockdown and finally got around to reading this much-raved-about book. I couldn’t put The Choke down, even though the subject matter is devastating and confronting. Sofie Laguna’s simple writing style evokes simple, yet complex, lives and beautiful Australian landscapes. The theme […]
Review: A Lifetime of Impossible Days, by Tabitha Bird
“Wow. Just wow.” These were my first thoughts on reading the final page of Tabitha Bird’s incredible novel. A Lifetime of Impossible Days is, at its core, a heartbreaking love letter to therapy after childhood trauma. I adored the writing, I miss the characters already and I wholeheartedly endorse the argument that you can’t change […]
Review: The Old Lie, by Claire G. Coleman
The Old Lie, by Claire G. Coleman is one of those brilliant but infuriating novels that you really want to tell other people to read, but is really hard to describe properly without including at least a couple of almost-spoilers. I can tell you that it’s a wonderfully imaginative, dark novel set in the future (mostly in […]
