Culture
Books
This coming-of-age novel features strikingly precise characterisation
Our reviewers cast their eyes over new fiction and non-fiction releases including a swashbuckling tale of a woman pirate and a deep dive into the symphony beneath the waves.
- by Cameron Woodhead and Fiona Capp
Latest
Bob Dylan, Socrates and a speaking sky: this thrilling book has it all
Poet Anne Carson pairs words and drawings in a celebration of beauty and absurdity.
- by Philippa Hawker
Did Miranda July just write ‘the first great perimenopause novel’?
The writer, director and actor has achieved the impossible and made middle age sexy.
- by Melanie Kembrey
Like Jane Austen with Asian people: Kevin Kwan’s new novel
The author of Crazy Rich Asians returns with another outrageous comedy of manners, family and money. So much money.
- by Jessie Tu
‘Misogynistic massacre’: Sydney Writers’ Festival closing address dedicated to Bondi Junction victims
A feminist author used her closing address to call out “himpathy”, where men who commit violence receive “disproportionate and undue sympathy”.
- by Helen Pitt
This clever novel brings cosy crime to Australia
The regional town of Welcome would seem an unlikely location for a murder. Aoife Clifford’s new book is a nicely judged crime caper.
- by Sue Turnbull
Opinion
Racism
I’m not cancelling my favourite books, despite my dark skin troubling their authors
I can’t cancel the stories of my childhood. Great stories can survive the sins of their writers.
- by Satara Uthayakumaran
A clever novel that isn’t afraid to poke fun at itself
Kaveh Akbar’s book Martyr! is a delight because it manages to embrace seriousness and irreverence, darkness and light.
- by Giselle Au-Nhien Nguyen
This Australian psychological thriller examines death penalty with a horrific twist
Our reviewers cast their eyes over recent fiction and non-fiction releases, including an engaging account of the seven Cleopatras and Geoffrey Robertson’s crisply argued case for prosecuting Putin.
- by Cameron Woodhead and Steven Carroll
This retelling of Huckleberry Finn is a masterful satire of race
Percival Everett tells the story of Mark Twain’s classic from the point of view of Jim, the runaway slave who befriends Huck.
- by Declan Fry
Exclusive
Literature
The day I shopped for hair products with Booker Prize winner Paul Lynch
Booker Prize winner 2023 Paul Lynch is in Australia to talk about his award-winning book Prophet Song.
- by Helen Pitt