The novel is set amidst the heat, drought and plagues of Wycheproof, a real country Victorian town around 290 miles north west of Melbourne. Robert and Jean work together to apply Robert’s stringent and certain rules for scientific living to…
Category: Literary Fiction Reviews
A review of Last Night by James Salter
James Salter is an extraordinary writer and I envy those who are coming to him for the first time. His stories could be said to “explore character”, but that would be too pat and too simple; rather, they reveal soul.…
A review of This Blinding Absence of Light by Tahar Ben Jelloun
Jelloun’s prose is vivid and alive, whether he is describing the stench of death (“Death has a smell. A mixture of brackish water, vinegar, and pus. It’s sharp, harsh.”) or the shock of seeing your own face in a mirror…
A review of The Mysterious Flame of Queen Loana
The relationship between the opening of the novel and the ending of it are interwoven powerfully. The theme of what makes a person unique, the relationship between human identity, language, the cultural versus the personal memory, and even the relationship…
A review of The Fall of Rome by Martha Southgate
Although not an unusual narrative strategy, it demands much of an author and it is a pleasure here to see how Southgate rises beautifully to the occasion. Southgate goes beyond this to the extreme virtuosity of a narrative for the…
A review of Another Way to Dance by Martha Southgate
It is believability indeed that makes Another Way to Dance such a special book. The style is natural and, if not always grammatical, consistent with the language of an exceptionally bright teenager. I can’t think of any reader who would…
A review of The Lost Thoughts of Soldiers by Delia Falconer
This is a lovely, spare but beautifully written book full of contrast. It is a very feminine, reflective, and quiet book about a man whose life was masculine, noisy, and full of action. It takes a single point of history…
A review of About a Girl by Tony Nesca
Through the narrator’s reflections we accumulate an unusually exact understanding of his aims and character. His life is not pretty and he may waver and wobble but he is grounded in honesty. He waves illusion away and sees life with…
A review of New Beginnings
The clear bent is literary fiction, and that makes this a moving collection full of provocative and evocative work from some of the most well known and respected writers working today. This is a wonderful marketing idea, and one which…
A review of The Barbarian Parade by Kirby Gann
This is a stance with true commitment. It is evident in Our Napoleon in Rags and it flowers beautifully in The Barbarian Parade. There is indeed about the latter some virtuosity for its own sake, not at all a bad…