This is a marvellous book that brings to life the underside of Brisbane – the people who, in many respects, are invisible to the majority of so-called ordinary people. Like Boy Swallows Universe, this is a book that is direct and honest. Dalton’s superb knowledge, not only of the people on the bottom rungs of …
‘A Forsyte takes a practical – one might say a common-sense – view of things, and a practical view of things is based fundamentally on a sense of property’ (Page 131 Heinemann 1976. All quotes are from this edition). The Forsyte Saga comprises three parts or books. The Man of Property, published in 1906. In …
Francesca Albanese is the UN Special Rapporteur on the Occupied Palestinian Territory since 2022 (a three-year appointment that was renewed in 2025), and her book looks at the situation in those small islands of what is left of Palestine and the impact the State of Israel has had on both the country and the people. …
In keeping with other books by Dalton, Gravity Let Me Go is not restricted by any kind of novel-writing template. Whether the novel belongs specifically to the crime genre (straddling problems with social cohesion, both psychological and personal), or whether it can be interpreted as one man’s inner journey and awakening is of little importance. …
Act of Oblivion is a fictional account (anchored in history) of the events following the execution of Charles I in 1649 and of the re-establishment of the monarchy in 1660. The book is gripping right from the first page and gives not only what I assume is a fairly correct picture of the events of …
Written as a serial in 1894 and published in book form in 1895 this beautiful, sad, thought-provoking book is centred around sex, religion and marriage and the question as to what makes a union between two people authentic. Is it linked to some religious or legal licence, or is it some kind of deep understanding …
It took me about 60 pages to actually start getting into this book, and even then it was a roller-coaster ride. Putting all of this to one side (for a moment) the language and the visual images are very often unforgettable. Zusak’s descriptions of the Dunbar family, places frequented, things said fill each page with …
I read this book many years ago when it was first published (2009), and really enjoyed it. At the centre of the book is Allan Karlsson – the 100-year-old man of the title – who escapes from his nursing home in May 2005, moments before the celebration planned for his hundredth birthday party. Of course, …
Beautifully and passionately written this book focuses on two completely different working-class families, brought together by tragedy and fate. Covering twenty years from the early 1940s through to the 1960s and set mainly in Perth, Cloudstreet presents an array of unique characters, revealing their weaknesses, their hopes and their fears. Winton’s use of the working-class …
English translation: Ottilie Mulzet (All quotes in this review have been taken from the Tuskar Rock Press edition, published 2019) László Krasznahorkai was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature for 2025. and as I had never heard of him I decided to rectify the situation by borrowing one of his books from the local library. …