So glad I finally had a chance to read Hannah Kent's haunting story set in Iceland, far from the shores and climate of Australia where the author lives. Burial Rites is based on a true story and tells of Agnes Magnusdottir's plight as she waits to be executed for her part in the murder of ...
Finding Jasper by Lynne Leonhardt
Set in Western Australia between 1945 and 1962, Finding Jasper is the story of three generations of women waiting for the return of the man in their lives. Son, twin brother, new husband and father, Jasper is at times the only gel that holds these very different women together. That and the fact that they ...
The Plantation by Di Morrissey
Courtesy of Pan Macmillan Australian author Di Morrissey’s novel The Plantation is a family saga set amongst the rubber plantations of Malaysia pre- and post-World War II. Morrissey is well-renown for writing about Australians at home in their native country and abroad, and in true Morrissey style, The Plantation crisscrosses between modern-day Malaysia, the time before and during the war and independence when the ...
In the Mood by Laura Bloom
Courtesy of Penguin Inspired by the legendary music of Glenn Miller and the big band jazz of the 1940s, In the Mood by Laura Bloom tackles love and life in post-war Sydney. In the Mood The novel opens in 1946 with Robert Brooker returning home from the battlefields of New Guinea to a wife he hasn’t see for ...
Cold Comfort Farm by Stella Gibbons
What a hoot this British classic is! First published in 1932, I can’t believe it has taken me so long to discover. If you love things like the “Vicar of Dibley” then you will love this novel. First published in 1932, Cold Comfort Farm is a tongue-in-cheek portrayal of a city girl’s visit to her quirky ...