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WBN advance reviews >

Darkness Runs Deep (Claire McNeel, Macmillan) 

Tuesday, 21 November 2023
Gerandaroo, 1993: population 723, winner of 24 football premierships since 1899. A place where AFL is a non-negotiable part of life and where everyone is a friend—until an act of...

Monument (Bonny Cassidy, Giramondo) 

Monument Tuesday, 21 November 2023
In an author’s note, Bonny Cassidy explains that Monument, her genre-bending literary memoir, structured around the branches of her White Australian family, began as a private project, but in clarifying her...

The Roadmap of Loss (Liam Murphy, Echo) 

Tuesday, 14 November 2023
Liam Murphy’s debut novel, The Roadmap of Loss, has all the hallmarks of sad girl (or, in this case, sad boy) literature: a self-destructive 20-something narrator and a vitriolic rage...

Life Skills for a Broken World (Ahona Guha, Scribe) 

Tuesday, 14 November 2023
Like having a therapist in your pocket, Life Skills for a Broken World is a guide to positive mental health, leading readers through potential pitfalls and prevention strategies. Ahona Guha,...

A Dance with Murder (Elizabeth Coleman, Pantera) 

Tuesday, 14 November 2023
A Dance with Murder is the second outing for private investigator Edwina ‘Ted’ Bristol and her sidekick, Miss Marple, an intelligent and perceptive miniature schnauzer, following A Routine Infidelity (February,...

The Strip (Iain Ryan, Ultimo) 

Tuesday, 7 November 2023
Iain Ryan plunges readers into the gritty, seedy underbelly of the 1980s Gold Coast in his latest noir crime novel, The Strip. Brimming with corruption and seduction, illicit meetings held...

The Long Lede Anthology (Judith Neilson Institute, Vintage) 

Tuesday, 7 November 2023
The Long Lede Initiative, a partnership between the Judith Neilson Institute, Penguin Random House, and Copyright Agency, pairs experienced Australian journalists with emerging writers to mentor them in crafting impactful...

Politica (Yumna Kassab, Ultimo) 

Tuesday, 31 October 2023
Politica is set in an unnamed Middle Eastern country. It explores the impact of war on those directly involved—as well as those indirectly impacted, but whose lives war forever changes....

The Fires Next Time (ed by Peter Christoff, MUP) 

Tuesday, 31 October 2023
The world watched in horror from July 2019 to February 2020 as bushfires raged across Australia. The Black Summer fires directly killed 33 people, while hundreds more died from fire-...

The Italian Marriage (Jenna Lo Bianco, Macmillan) 

Tuesday, 31 October 2023
In Jenna Lo Bianco’s debut romance novel, The Italian Marriage, Sarah and Matthew marry over Zoom so that Matthew can fulfil the requirements of a 15th-century inheritance clause. In return,...

Never Ever Forever (Karina May, Macmillan) 

Tuesday, 24 October 2023
A charming contemporary Australian romance novel, Never Ever Forever by Karina May is a heartfelt tale of love, second chances and self-discovery. The story revolves around Rosie Royce, an endearing protagonist...

The Broken Wave (Matthew Ryan Davies, Macmillan) 

Tuesday, 24 October 2023
In 1992, 12-year-old Andrew moves from the US to the coastal town of Queenscliff, Australia, with his mother and stepdad. That summer, he meets Tom, an easygoing Aussie boy who...

Frank Moorhouse: Strange paths (Matthew Lamb, Knopf) 

Tuesday, 17 October 2023
Frank Moorhouse worked relentlessly to refine both his writing and his understanding of himself. The first volume of Matthew Lamb’s biography of Moorhouse—who passed away last year at 83—is a valuable...

Deep in the Forest (Erina Reddan, Pantera) 

Tuesday, 10 October 2023
The Trenthen family’s revered reputation in Stone Lake crumbles when a damaging bushfire uncovers an item that appears to belong to Charli, a bookbinder and the family’s last surviving member, right...

Secret Sparrow (Jackie French, HarperCollins) 

Tuesday, 10 October 2023
Jackie French’s latest middle-grade novel, Secret Sparrow, focuses on the unheralded work of women in World War I. This exciting adventure story is told with dual timelines and begins in...

The Wiregrass (Adrian Hyland, Ultimo) 

Tuesday, 10 October 2023
With wild weather, swollen rivers, falling trees, a disgraced cop, a cult and a dead man, Adrian Hyland’s The Wiregrass is a thrilling mix of wry humour and page-turning crime....

The Drowning (Bryan Brown, A&U) 

Tuesday, 3 October 2023
The accidental drowning death of a local Gumbaynggirr boy—David, from whose viewpoint the book opens—brings a shadow of sadness over a small NSW coastal town. Then a backpacker doesn't turn up...