A Catalogue of Love (Erin Hortle, S&S)

Erin Hortle’s A Catalogue of Love is a powerful work of Australian literary fiction. Set against the salt-sprayed wilderness of Bruny Island, the novel follows Neika, a surfer tracing her life from childhood into her twenties. We witness her pain growing up in a small town, first love and heartbreak, the cost of her ambition in the surfing world and her ongoing struggle to come to terms with trauma and grief. After losing her mother at a young age, Neika navigates her femininity alone in a male-dominated sport, torn between wanting to be ‘one of the boys’ and longing to be seen as a ‘normal’ girl. The surf becomes her escape, the salt water a cathartic embrace that catches her time and again. Hortle’s lyrical prose and immersive writing style fill a stormy landscape with colour, and her characters feel like people readers may have known and loved in real life. Woven throughout the novel is the complex history of Bruny Island and Tasmania, handled with careful research and sensitivity. Hortle (The Octopus and I) captures not only cultural nuance but also the raw, visceral beauty of place. Perfect for fans of Charlotte Wood (The Weekend, The Natural Way of Things) and Anne Enright, A Catalogue of Love is a poignant reflection on the echoes of trauma, womanhood and the enduring bond between people and the natural world. 

Books+Publishing reviewer: Caitie Pestrivas is a collections development librarian based in Adelaide. Books+Publishing is Australia’s number-one source of pre-publication book reviews.

Books+Publishing pre-publication reviews are supported by the Copyright Agency Cultural Fund.

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