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WBN advance reviews >

Ela! Ela! (Ella Mittas, Murdoch) 

5 March 2024
Ela! Ela! means 'Come! Come!', and it’s a wonderfully fitting title for this generous, delicious and personal book of Turkish-Greek recipes, photography and essays, which documents Ella Mittas’s travels to Istanbul, Alaçatı,...

The Deed (Susannah Begbie, Hachette) 

5 March 2024
Small-town cattle farmer Tom Edwards knows he is going to die—before he does, he pays a visit to the local solicitor to change the terms of his will. Upon his...

Human? (Ziggy Ramo, Pantera) 

5 March 2024
For those familiar with the sounds of Ziggy Ramo, Human?—while his debut book—is but the latest in a collection of revolutionary literary works by the artist. Human? is Ramo’s powerful...

Work Backwards (Tim Duggan, Pantera) 

27 February 2024
If you’ve ever felt disenchanted by the daily grind or pondered the pointlessness of the eternal wheel of capitalism, then Work Backwards: How to design the life you want will...

Thunderhead (Miranda Darling, Scribe) 

27 February 2024
Set over one fever-pitched day of errand-running, child-rearing, appointment-hopping and dinner-party prep in the suburbs, Thunderhead is about Winona Dalloway’s desperate desire to be free of her domestic shackles and...

The Work (Bri Lee, A&U) 

27 February 2024
Having tackled power, privilege and sexual politics in her nonfiction books, Eggshell Skull, Beauty and Who Gets to Be Smart, Bri Lee brings the same shrewd scrutiny to her debut novel,...

Sanctuary (Garry Disher, Text) 

27 February 2024
Grace has been stealing her whole life. She is an expert thief, taught by pros and specialising in small, high-value items, such as stamps and watches. However, a life of...

Deep Water (James Bradley, Hamish Hamilton) 

27 February 2024
The first chapter of Deep Water is named ‘The Word for World Is Water’, a reference to science fiction writer Ursula K Le Guin’s novella The Word for World Is...

Those Girls (Pamela Rushby, Walker) 

27 February 2024
When Australia entered World War II, new possibilities emerged for women to enter the services, work in munitions or uniform factories, or join the Land Army to fill the workforce...

Deep Is the Fen (Lili Wilkinson, A&U Children’s) 

20 February 2024
Lili Wilkinson’s latest fantasy novel is set in the same magical world as her Victorian Premier's Literary Award–winning novel, A Hunger of Thorns. It’s a realm where all magic is...

Italian Coastal (Amber Guinness, T&H) 

20 February 2024
Amber Guinness’s Italian Coastal: Recipes and stories from where the land meets the sea takes readers on a tour of the seven Italian regions that sit on the Tyrrhenian Sea—places...

The Glass House (Anne Buist & Graeme Simsion, Hachette) 

20 February 2024
Graeme Simsion is well-known for The Rosie Project, and Anne Buist for her crime novels. Partners in real life, their new collaboration, The Glass House, showcases their talent and fields of interest where...

Jerry’s Window (Y K Willemse, Wombat Books) 

20 February 2024
In the spirit of Dennis the Menace, 10-year-old Jerry Ronden is a notorious nightmare. His parents are at a loss as he torments his school and neighbours with pranks, stink...

It Takes a Town (Aoife Clifford, Ultimo) 

20 February 2024
Aoife Clifford’s latest crime novel, It Takes a Town, is set in the fictional town of Welcome. This small town produced a superstar talent, Vanessa ‘Baby Vee’ Walton, who tap-danced...

Happy All Over (Emma Quay, ABC Books) 

20 February 2024
Happy All Over is exactly that. Emma Quay’s capacity to capture miniatures of joy, through both word and image, will bring a smile to even the most careworn and cynical...

The Most Famous Boy in Town (Bel Schenk, Espresso) 

20 February 2024
Bel Schenk’s latest work and her fourth publication, The Most Famous Boy in Town, delves into the intricate relationship dynamics in Charlotte Bay, a coastal community that unravels in the...

No Church in the Wild (Murray Middleton, Picador) 

13 February 2024
Stereotypes and bad press about the commission towers of Melbourne’s inner west are easy to come by, but Vogel winner Murray Middleton’s deeply researched and complex portrayal of this community...

The Gorgon Flower (John Richards, UQP) 

13 February 2024
John Richards’s The Gorgon Flower is a collection of six short stories (and the title novella), for fans of the macabre and peculiar. This is a collection both classic and...

Signal Erased (Adele Jones, Rhiza Edge) 

13 February 2024
Signal Erased is the latest YA near-science-fiction novel by Adele Jones. The story follows Anna Faraday, a high schooler with a remarkable singing voice and a traumatic past. While occupied with...

Audrey’s Gone AWOL (Annie de Monchaux, Ultimo) 

13 February 2024
Annie de Monchaux’s debut novel, Audrey’s Gone AWOL, is a beautifully crafted and witty coming-of-middle-age tale that explores womanhood, motherhood, life, death, marriage and betrayal. Audrey has devoted her life...