Category Archives: Alison’s Picks

  Bruny by Heather Rose [also available as eAudio & eBook] -Well, there’s fiction that you know is fiction – and then there’s Bruny. The novel is set in contemporary Tasmania, where the Liberal government of the day has decided … Continue reading →

   The Dutch House by Ann Patchett – Danny Conroy and his sister Maeve grow up in an opulent house in small-town Pennsylvania. This house becomes a powerful symbol for everyone connected with it. Because I enjoy fiction that tells … Continue reading →

  Peace by Garry Disher. The title is of course ironic, because Constable Paul Hirschhausen, manning a small police station in country South Australia, is pretty much run off his feet. The nature of country policing is that, if you … Continue reading →

  Only: a singular memoir by Caroline Baum. Baum is the only child of Austrian parents who were traumatised by their Jewish family’s experiences during the Hitler regime, and on settling in England felt driven to make the best life … Continue reading →

  See What You Made Me Do by Jess Hill. In 2014, young Luke Batty was bashed to death, in broad daylight, by his father. The nation was shocked into having a closer look at domestic abuse, which had tended … Continue reading →

    Sula by Toni Morrison.  How has it taken me so long to discover this major American writer? The story follows the paths of Sula and Nel, friends from childhood, growing up in The Bottom (paradoxically not low country … Continue reading →