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'Gone Girl' of Australian crime fiction gets award nod

First-time success: Jane Harper's <i>The Dry</i> has exceeded all expectations.

Jane Harper's initial hopes for The Dry, a page-turning murder-mystery set in drought-stricken rural Australia, were modest enough. Firstly, it was to finish the manuscript she had started, then it was to get published and onto book shelves.

Firsts, fiction, and fr-omances

"One of the reasons I like young adult fiction so much is that it explores so many firsts": author Gabrielle Tozer.

Tozer's novels cover first jobs, new loves, big decisions, the agony of indecision and uncertainty, peer pressure - and lots of kissing.