Devils, Lusts and Strange Desires: The Life of Patricia Highsmith by Richard Bradford Bloomsbury Publishing Born in Texas in 1921 at a time when sexuality was, in varying degrees, hidden and fluid, Patricia Highsmith became famous for writing dark psychological thrillers. Notably, many have been made into unforgettable films – including The Talented Mr Ripley, […]
The Beauty of Living Twice By Sharon Stone Allen & Unwin Sharon Stone made a name for herself in Hollywood, not just for her beauty and talent, but for her candour and her refusal to “play nice”. Then in September 2001, a stroke and bleeding on her brain that led to major surgery made her […]
The Girls Are All So Nice Here by Laurie Elizabeth Flynn HarperCollins Living in New York with husband Adrian, thirty-one year old Ambrosia Wellington (Amb) receives an email invitation to attend a weekend of celebrations for the class of 2007 to commemorate 10 years since graduating from Wesleyan University in Connecticut. Even though she did […]
Something to Hide by Fleur McDonald Allen & Unwin This is the fourth novel in the crime series featuring Detective Dave Burrows and the sequel to Red Dirt Country (2019). McDonald describes her character as being tough, loyal, full of integrity, who doesn’t mind bending the rules to get the ‘right-justice’ outcome. McDonald says that […]
The Breaking by Irma Gold Midnight Sun Publishing Hannah Bird was sitting in the hostel lobby, “a shabby affair, ripe with the smell of mould”, fumbling with some touristy brochures and trying to act like she wasn’t panicking about what she was doing in Chaing Mai by herself. Sitting next to her, another Australian ex-pat […]
Kate Kelly: The True Story of Ned Kelly’s Little Sister by Rebecca Wilson Allen & Unwin Ned Kelly and his gang are probably Australia’s best known bush rangers and the legend of Ned Kelly lives on 140 years after his execution. But what do you know about Ned’s younger sister Kate? Rebecca Wilson grew up […]
Loud by Tana Douglas ABC Books Tana Douglas was 16 years old when she took her first job as a roadie with AC/DC after running away from her home at the age of 15. Tana worked alongside some of the music industry’s biggest names in three countries during her career of more than 30 years, […]
As Far As You’ll Take Me by Phil Stamper Bloomsbury Marty is almost 18 and he is sick of living a lie. He has graduated early from high school, earned money working at a ‘shit diner’ and has a one-way ticket to London. Away from his small Kentucky town and his bible-thumping parents who think […]
Fracture: How Great Lives Take Root In Trauma by Matthew Parris Profile Books For over a decade, Matthew Parris has presented a program called Great Lives on BBC Radio. The series has covered the stories of over 400 people from all walks of life who are no longer alive and he noticed that a high […]
The Spiral by Iain Ryan Echo Publishing Twenty eight year old Emma Bridges is an academic at Queensland University writing a PhD analysing Choose Your Own Adventure novels. Set in 2004, her friend and fellow researcher in the neighbouring office Kanika has had her life taken over by her investigation of missing Queensland women, including […]
