Books
Deborah Burrows' latest mystery, A Time of Secrets, brings wartime Melbourne to life
![Swanston and Bourke streets, Melbourne, in the 1940s.](http://web.archive.org./web/20150324012549im_/http://images.theage.com.au/2015/03/19/6367228/Thumbnail975578371m2ztjimage.related.thumbnail.320x214.1m303x.png1426739860520.jpg-90x60.jpg)
12:15am We're in Melbourne in 1943, a city where, for just a penny, a tram will take you anywhere you want to go.
Kooshyar Karimi review: A doctor and the perils of Iranian attitudes to women
![Leila's Secret
By Kooshyar Karimi](http://web.archive.org./web/20150324012549im_/http://images.theage.com.au/2015/03/21/6374076/Thumbnail975945371m3r2limage.related.thumbnail.320x214.1m3sfd.png1426930080189.jpg-90x60.jpg)
Owen Richardson 12:15am Kooshyar Karimi almost fell foul of Iranian authorities for performing illegal abortions that saved women's lives
Undercover: news from the book world
![Susan Wyndham](http://web.archive.org./web/20150324012549im_/http://images.theage.com.au/2015/03/18/6361371/Thumbnail655698621m1me4image.related.thumbnail.320x214.131e12.png1426658590012.jpg-90x60.jpg)
SUSAN WYNDHAM 1:00pm Sydney Morning Herald literary editor Susan Wyndham discusses two anniversaries of note and festival events for readers.
Apple
Apple opens up to praise new book on Steve Jobs and slam an old one
![Steve Jobs, with Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak, pictured with an Apple I computer.](http://web.archive.org./web/20150324012549im_/http://images.theage.com.au/2015/03/23/6377243/Thumbnail976645391m5c9wimage.related.thumbnail.320x214.1m5afv.png1427068610015.jpg-90x60.jpg)
Brian X. Chen, Alexandra Alter Steve Jobs prized secrecy from his executives and employees during his tenure at Apple. Now his top lieutenants are speaking out — to help shape the legacy of Steve Jobs.
Marie-Morgane Le Moel tells the truth about French women
![Mythbusting: <i>The Truth about French Women</i>.](http://web.archive.org./web/20150324012549im_/http://images.theage.com.au/2015/03/16/6354755/Thumbnail66887259143ew8image.related.thumbnail.320x214.13tmjf.png1426823422175.jpg-90x60.jpg)
ROSE POWELL Australia's fascination with French culture, and especially their women, bewildered Marie-Morgane Le Moel when she lived in Australia.
Book review: The Refuge by Kenneth Mackenzie
![<i>The Refuge</i> by Kenneth Mackenzie.](http://web.archive.org./web/20150324012549im_/http://images.theage.com.au/2015/03/17/6358405/Thumbnail673088671m08r6image.related.thumbnail.320x214.142nur.png1426823549635.jpg-90x60.jpg)
Peter Craven Kenneth Mackenzie wrote a masterpiece when he was 23 and drowned, alcoholic and troubled, in his early forties.
Fury book reveiw: A call to action on a battle that should be over
![<i>Fury: Women Write About Sex, Power and Violence</i> edited by Samantha Trenoweth.](http://web.archive.org./web/20150324012549im_/http://images.theage.com.au/2015/03/16/6354359/Thumbnail6734552213ppraimage.related.thumbnail.320x214.143g4y.png1425444350341.jpg-90x60.jpg)
Johanna Leggatt Fury: Women Write about Sex, Power and Violence is a political document.
Book reviews
Book reviews: Touch, An English Ghost Story, Prophecy of Bees
![RX22_take3_books_Thumb](http://web.archive.org./web/20150324012549im_/http://images.theage.com.au/2015/03/17/6359612/RX22_take3_books_Thumb-90x60.jpg)
Reviewer: Colin Steele Colin Steele delves into the world of horror with three reviews.
Geoffrey Blainey takes fresh look at Australia's early history
![Historical perspective: Aborigines using fire to hunt kangaroos (c. 1817) by Joseph Lycett.](http://web.archive.org./web/20150324012549im_/http://images.theage.com.au/2015/03/14/6351019/Thumbnail673298151433c8image.related.thumbnail.320x214.14340n.png1426650661654.jpg-90x60.jpg)
John Maynard Geoffrey Blainey put Aborigines back into the heart of Australian history, but he is still fixated on violence in their communities.
Jill Alexander Essbaum's Hausfrau review: Adrift in Zurich with sex as the saviour
![Several on the side: A lonely life that leads to infidelity.](http://web.archive.org./web/20150324012549im_/http://images.theage.com.au/2015/03/14/6351373/Thumbnail673322961435obimage.related.thumbnail.320x214.1435xk.png1426650686895.jpg-90x60.jpg)
Emma Young Jill Alexander Essbaum's first novel of an unhappy woman in Switzerland and has echoes of Madame Bovary.
Alex Skovron review: Looking back on a 30-year career
![<i>Towards the Equator</i> by Alex Skovron.](http://web.archive.org./web/20150324012549im_/http://images.theage.com.au/2015/03/15/6353256/Thumbnail673343751437c5image.related.thumbnail.320x214.1437jb.png1426650426478.jpg-90x60.jpg)
Peter Kenneally Alex Skovron's selected poems shows the consistency of his work over the past 30 years.
In Short: Non-fiction by Kim Gordon, Tom Ryan, Catharine Mayer, Andrew Lynch
![Pitched: Baz Luhrmann Interviews edited by Tom Ryan.](http://web.archive.org./web/20150324012549im_/http://images.theage.com.au/2015/03/14/6351650/Thumbnail673376141439wfimage.related.thumbnail.320x214.143a1a.png1426326018760.jpg-90x60.jpg)
Fiona Capp Short reviews of non-fiction from Australia and overseas.
In Short: Reviews of fiction by Christopher Lee, George Pelecanos, Smith Henderson and Deborah Ellis
![Seasons of War
By Christopher Lee](http://web.archive.org./web/20150324012549im_/http://images.theage.com.au/2015/03/14/6351450/Thumbnail67339711143b9bimage.related.thumbnail.320x214.143bnj.png1426322573341.jpg-90x60.jpg)
Cameron Woodhead Short reviews of fiction from Australia and overseas
Turning Pages: How climate-change fiction is heating up
![Michel Faber: His future in <i>The Book of Strange New Things</i> sees a priest preaching to aliens.](http://web.archive.org./web/20150324012549im_/http://images.theage.com.au/2015/03/15/6353537/Thumbnail6734091111mltgimage.related.thumbnail.320x214.143ckv.png1426812216453.jpg-90x60.jpg)
Jane Sullivan Apocalypse fiction is embracing a new cause of disaster – climate change.
Amanda Lohrey review: Her new novel is profound, empathetic and beautifully written
![<i>A Short History of Richard Kline</i> by Amanda Lohrey.](http://web.archive.org./web/20150324012549im_/http://images.theage.com.au/2015/03/16/6354226/Thumbnail67341985143cziimage.related.thumbnail.320x214.143dep.png1426652888138.jpg-90x60.jpg)
Morag Fraser Amanda Lohrey's new novel is broad and wise, and written on the other side of disillusionment.
Kathy Acker & McKenzie Wark review: Their emails are fascinating and ghoulish
![<i>I'm Very Into You:
Correspondence 1995-1996</i> by
Kathy Acker & McKenzie Wark](http://web.archive.org./web/20150324012549im_/http://images.theage.com.au/2015/03/18/6363484/Thumbnail67346195143fslimage.related.thumbnail.320x214.143gnn.png1426653198919.jpg-90x60.jpg)
Ashley Crawford Publishing the correspondence of former lovers Kathy Acker and McKenzie Wark faces the problem that only one of them is still alive.
Bob Shacochis review: A literary novel disguised as a thriller
![<i>The Woman Who Lost Her Soul</i> by Bob Shacochis.](http://web.archive.org./web/20150324012549im_/http://images.theage.com.au/2015/03/17/6358558/Thumbnail974294751m08wfimage.related.thumbnail.320x214.1m092b.png1426653514666.jpg-90x60.jpg)
Kevin Rabalais Bob Shacochis has written a weighty book of ideas and political intrigue.
Bookmarks: News and views from the book world
![<p></p>](http://web.archive.org./web/20150324012549im_/http://images.theage.com.au/2014/02/28/5208841/Jason-Steger-90x60.jpg)
JASON STEGER The puzzles about literary prizes and the campaigning Raimond Gaita.
Book review
Book review: Now You Shall Know, by Jennifer Compton
![<p>](http://web.archive.org./web/20150324012549im_/http://images.theage.com.au/2015/03/18/6364219/pa21books_compton-90x60.jpg)
Reviewer: Geoff Page This has a significant autobiographical dimension, making it almost a livre composé.
Book review
Book review: Woman of the Dead, by Bernhard Aichner
![<p>](http://web.archive.org./web/20150324012549im_/http://images.theage.com.au/2015/03/18/6364221/pa21books_aichner-90x60.jpg)
Reviewer: Anna Creer Bernhard Aichner's Woman of the Dead is a "horrifying thriller".
Books
Reviews: Two Pennies, From Gallipoli with Love, Anzac Ted, Lest We Forget, Digger: The Dog Who Went to War
![<p>](http://web.archive.org./web/20150324012549im_/http://images.theage.com.au/2015/03/18/6364226/pa21books_doherty-90x60.jpg)
Reviewer: Stephanie Owen Reeder Stephanie Owen Reeder explores picture books based on personal stories from the First World War.
World Poetry Day 2015: a chance for children to embrace the power of words
![Preparing a lifetime's appetite for words.](http://web.archive.org./web/20150324012549im_/http://images.theage.com.au/2015/03/18/6363009/Thumbnail67292973142b32image.related.thumbnail.320x214.142bl9.png1426135026950.jpg-90x60.jpg)
Damon Young If life is toast, then poetry is its butter.
Book review: The Story of Australia's People, by Geoffrey Blainey
![<p>](http://web.archive.org./web/20150324012549im_/http://images.theage.com.au/2015/03/18/6364220/pa21books_blainey-90x60.jpg)
Reviewer: Peter Stanley Geoffrey Blainey's new revisionist history is deemed both a joy to read and intellectually stimulating.
Litbits: March 21
![<i></i>](http://web.archive.org./web/20150324012549im_/http://images.theage.com.au/2013/09/18/4758415/Litbits-90x60.jpg)
RON CERABONA Our guide to literary news and views from the book world in Canberra.
Booksellers and their brave new world - vale Electric Shadows bookshop
![Nigel Featherstone thumbnail](http://web.archive.org./web/20150324012549im_/http://images.theage.com.au/2015/03/19/6366839/Thumbnail97465069zrg2mimage.related.thumbnail.320x214.1m10j1.png1426811957384.jpg-90x60.jpg)
Nigel Featherstone The closure of Electric Shadows Bookshop ends one chapter but not the whole story.
Books
Marion Halligan: Goodbye Sweetheart author talks life, death and narratives
![Marion Halligan with her new book Goodbye Sweetheart.](http://web.archive.org./web/20150324012549im_/http://images.theage.com.au/2015/03/18/6364732/Thumbnail975063971m1w07image.related.thumbnail.320x214.1m1wf1.png1426807929897.jpg-90x60.jpg)
SALLY PRYOR This pragmatic author with a penchant for pathos takes the fear out of the inevitable.
Nick Cave's new book began life on airline sick bags appealing to new audience
![Nick Cave's new book.](http://web.archive.org./web/20150324012549im_/http://images.theage.com.au/2015/03/23/6378958/Nick-Cave-sick-bag-20150323175621486797-90x60.jpg)
JASON STEGER Nick Cave started writing his extraordinary new book on sick bags as he flew from city to city on a North American tour.
Winds of Winter
Game of Thrones' George RR Martin skips Comic-Con to finish next book Winds of Winter
![George RR Martin: staying home to write <i>Winds of Winter</i>.](http://web.archive.org./web/20150324012549im_/http://images.theage.com.au/2015/03/18/6361973/Thumbnail97498542zt3ryimage.related.thumbnail.320x214.1m1qcu.png1426635270328.jpg-90x60.jpg)
MICHAEL IDATO The author announced via his blog he will instead be focusing on writing the next book, Winds of Winter.
Robin Rinaldi's year-long sex romp ends in broken marriage and a book
![Magazine writer Robin Rinaldi turned the pen towards herself.](http://web.archive.org./web/20150324012549im_/http://images.theage.com.au/2015/03/17/6361128/Thumbnail974907831m1kghimage.related.thumbnail.320x214.1m1kdb.png1426587418748.jpg-90x60.jpg)
NICK TOSCANO What started as an internet ad looking for lovers soon swelled into a year-long erotic odyssey for Robin Rinaldi, who had sex with 10 men, two women and had one threesome.
Publisher Penguin pulls Belle Gibson cook book The Whole Pantry
![Belle Gibson, creator of the app The Whole Pantry](http://web.archive.org./web/20150324012549im_/http://images.theage.com.au/2015/03/16/6356323/Thumbnail97435596143uo1image.related.thumbnail.320x214.1m0dsc.png1426485910069.jpg-90x60.jpg)
Beau Donelly and Nick Toscano Publishing giant Penguin will pull Belle Gibson's debut cook book after the author failed to defend accusations of falsely claiming to have cancer and explain her reasons for withholding charitable donations.
Wordplay: Europe and Australia compete for linguistic riches
![](http://web.archive.org./web/20150324012549im_/http://images.theage.com.au/2015/03/17/6358955/Thumbnail974190121m0ymkimage.related.thumbnail.320x214.1m00zo.png1426637975863.jpg-90x60.jpg)
David Astle All week I've been ping-ponging between two books, scrawling notes, circling words and generally getting lost in language and latitude. That's their mutual theme, though in many ways the books are opposites.
Top 10 romance books
John Mangan The top 10 romance fiction bestsellers in Australia.
Review: Guantanamo Diary
![Infamous: Guantanamo Bay.](http://web.archive.org./web/20150324012549im_/http://images.theage.com.au/2015/03/13/6348014/Thumbnail6700102813x46timage.related.thumbnail.320x214.13w2bo.png1426225716747.jpg-90x60.jpg)
Owen Richardson Prisoner's memoir of life in Guantanamo reveals the shameful truths of the war against terror.
An author moves into her grandparents' home and mysterious break-up
![<i>A Fifty-Year Silence</i> by Miranda Richmond Mouillot](http://web.archive.org./web/20150324012549im_/http://images.theage.com.au/2015/03/09/6333286/Thumbnail6705256113x5hiimage.related.thumbnail.320x214.13x635.png1426221512998.jpg-90x60.jpg)
Ross Southernwood Miranda Richmond Mouillot tells the history of her grandparents' survival in World War II and the end of their marriage.
Vietnam immigrants: War-torn exodus to a landing of grace
![<i></i>](http://web.archive.org./web/20150324012549im_/http://images.theage.com.au/2014/02/11/5152505/SundayAuthor-90x60.jpg)
Thuy On We Are Here proves cathartic in the writing for Cat Thao Nguyen.
Book reviews: Lamentation, Winter Siege, The Whispering City
![Take Three dinkus](http://web.archive.org./web/20150324012549im_/http://images.theage.com.au/2013/09/18/4758407/Take%20Three-90x60.jpg)
Reviewer: Michael Popple Historical fiction with Michael Popple
Paula Hawkins tops the independent bookshop charts
The top 10 bestsellers in independent bookshops
Eben Venter review: Wolf Wolf offers stark view of new South Africa
![<i></i>](http://web.archive.org./web/20150324012549im_/http://images.theage.com.au/2015/03/10/6337630/ko_t_PBVenter-90x60.jpg)
Anne Susskind Eben Venter follows J M Coetzee with a brilliant picture of post-apartheid of South Africa.
Jon Ronson reveals the nightmare of public shaming on Twitter
![<i></i>](http://web.archive.org./web/20150324012549im_/http://images.theage.com.au/2015/03/10/6337628/ko_t_PBRonson-90x60.jpg)
Anson Cameron Jon Ronson's investigation into vigilantism on social media is a dispiriting study of ourselves.
Reif Larsen review: Playful epic I Am Radar remains serious about its concerns
![Light but earnest: <i>I am Radar</i> by Reif Larsen.](http://web.archive.org./web/20150324012549im_/http://images.theage.com.au/2015/03/07/6330513/Thumbnail6700180513w2fiimage.related.thumbnail.320x214.13w2x9.png1426215327966.jpg-90x60.jpg)
Peter Pierce Reif Larsen has written a sprawling mock epic of modern times that is both playful and earnest about its concerns.
Johann Hari: can he overcome charges of plagiarism with his account of the war on drugs?
![Commendable passion: <i>Chasing the Scream</i> by Johann Hari.](http://web.archive.org./web/20150324012549im_/http://images.theage.com.au/2015/03/07/6329752/Thumbnail6700423713w437image.related.thumbnail.320x214.13w4st.png1426215089955.jpg-90x60.jpg)
Richard Ferguson Johann Hari plunges into the tortuous history of the war on drugs. But can we trust a journalist so discredited?
Short reviews of fiction by Samuel Kaye, Patrick Lenton, Bob Franklin, and Sally Hepworth
![Fascinating insights: <i>The Secrets of Midwives</i>
by Sally Hepworth.](http://web.archive.org./web/20150324012549im_/http://images.theage.com.au/2015/03/07/6329793/Thumbnail6700751913w722image.related.thumbnail.320x214.13w7bz.png1425697944531.jpg-90x60.jpg)
Kerryn Goldsworthy Short reviews of fiction from around Australia.
Wordplay: comic-strip creators of new vocabulary
![David Astle.](http://web.archive.org./web/20150324012549im_/http://images.theage.com.au/2015/03/09/6334811/Thumbnail67134000102nqnimage.related.thumbnail.320x214.13ywxc.png1426046167983.jpg-90x60.jpg)
David Astle Crosswords and comic strips are traditional neighbours. Most papers clump us on the same page - a chance for readers to tickle the brain, verbally and visually. Head down the back and you'll find Hagar being horrible beside homophones, or Snoopy snoozing next to spoonerisms.
Bletchley Park and the Enigma code: The women who helped win the war
![<i></i>](http://web.archive.org./web/20150324012549im_/http://images.theage.com.au/2015/03/10/6337633/ko_t_PBDunlop-90x60.jpg)
Guy Rundle The role of women at Bletchley Park, Britian's code-breaking centre during World War II, has been secret for many years. But no longer.
Turning Pages: The heroes of Adelaide Writers' Week
![Roxane Gay at Adelaide Writer's Week: Unfamiliar with our Germaine Greer.](http://web.archive.org./web/20150324012549im_/http://images.theage.com.au/2015/03/09/6334459/Thumbnail6714048913z1f2image.related.thumbnail.320x214.13z1xl.png1425871479363.jpg-90x60.jpg)
Jane Sullivan Literary heroes bare all and make confessions at Adelaide Writers' Week.
Top10 bestselling books in Australia
The bestselling books from around Australia.
Columns
Bookmarks
A look at what's going on in the books world at home and abroad.
Undercover
News and views on books, writers and publishing.