
Book Review: Lucy by the Sea
Lucy Barton is one of my favourite characters of all time. From the first page she chats to you like an old friend…

Lucy Barton is one of my favourite characters of all time. From the first page she chats to you like an old friend…

I couldn’t resist being drawn into the rhythms of the relatively unremarkable but unrelenting lives of Jane and Duncan in small town Michigan

This is a fascinating and tightly-controlled story about domestic life, tragedy, and things slowly spiralling out of control.

This nuanced and empathetic portrait of a hoarder and her family is made up of complicated, yet beautiful relationships…

A fabulously funny book about sad things. I laughed out loud, despite the heart-wrenching moments – the dialogue just sparkles.

…Uniquely encapsulates the experiences of Senegalese soldier Alfa as his exposure to violence amplifies his psychological deterioration.

Written in true Winton form, it’s gritty, character-driven, and rich, with beautiful but threatening images of the natural world.

You’ll feel for these characters as though they were you’re own family; with equal amounts of love and disdain.

Through the lens of a future pandemic, Mandel articulates the way our current Covid experience is shifting our expectations of time and travel

Quick, gripping, full of intense feeling. A celebration of art, friendship and the natural world. Completely unique.

This is a formidable novel that provides important historical context to help readers understand the current events in Ukraine.

At the centre, two women, separated by time and connected by circumstance, carve paths for themselves and their dreams, often at great cost.

Set in Oxford during WWI, a book binding company finds that most young men’s jobs are now given to the women who stayed behind.

A cutesy enemies-to-lovers, Heartstopper meets Young Royals type novel with forbidden love and excellent queer representation.

I was fascinated by the richly imagined days of these extraordinary women, and their astonishing interior worlds.

A deeply personal novel of lockdowns and haunting and breakdowns from renowned Australian author Sophie Cunningham.

This book is about art, creativity, and the intensity of adolescence. Set in the suffocating heat & boredom of small-town Tennessee in 1996.

It strikes the perfect balance between mythological history and adventure story, with a strong cast of characters so vividly brought to life.

Towles weaves themes of coming of age, morality, responsibility, friendship and, of course, love, without dropping a single strand.

This dark little novel is charged with incredible energy, sensuous prose and an erotic sort of madness that held me captive.