Kerrie: The Drover’s Son, a children’s book written by Leah Purcell and beautifully illustrated by Dub Leffler. It follows on from the author’s previous book The Drover’s Wife: The Legend of Molly Johnson.
Kerrie also read Kyra Geddes, The Story Thief (2024) which melds real events with a fictional character, posing the question “who has the ‘right’ to tell a story?”
This book explored a difficult mother/daughter relationship. The story touchingly describes the deep connection between a mother and her son and a relationship that grows for the boy from a spiritual connection made with a stranger.
Contemporary family themes of growing up, responsibility, loyalty and our relationship with nature are all handled with sensitivity, whilst describing a time long past.
It’s a beautiful, strong story for everyone.
Lesley: Cry of the Curlew by Peter Watt published in 2000
This fictional family saga is set in the early years of the colony of Queensland, ranging between the Gulf and Townsville. Two families, the Irish Duffy’s and the Scottish Macintoshes rage war against each other.
Both want superiority in the wild, slowly developing gulf country, for the grazing rights, the potential rich mining deposits and for emerging commercial interests.
The outback is harsh and unforgiving. Emerging towns are rough, wild and challenging and the weather is a hard task master.
The story begins with the horrific slaughter of the local Aboriginal tribe whose ancestors lived on the land of the now intolerant, cruel, murderous Macintosh clan. The rampage ends up including some members of the Duffy clan.
The bitter and deadly rivalry with the deceptions and schemes of the families all in hope of great riches and false glory, make for a story full of subplots, a fast pace and some appreciation of just how hard it was for the early pioneers.
The lives and treatment of our first nation people during this period is deeply affecting.
Lesley enjoyed this book even though it was quite uncomfortable reading in parts.
Ed: The Suspect by Michael Robotham
The book was originally published in 2004 and is the first in the Joe O’Loughlin series.
It has recently been part of the TV series adapted from several of the author’s novels.
O’Loughlin had a successful career as a clinical psychologist but is drawn into helping the police search for the killer of a young girl.
According to Ed, there were many murders, some were so gruesome it was difficult to talk about them.
Rosemary S:
Darling Girls is a gripping and emotionally layered novel written by Sally Hepworth. It centres on three women, Jessica, Norah and Alicia, who although not biological sisters, developed a sisterhood through a shared and deeply traumatic childhood. Raised together as foster children at Wild Meadows, their sisterhood has endured well into adulthood.
The story is set in motion when each woman receives a call from police: a body has been discovered beneath the former site of Wild Meadows, now being redeveloped. This revelation forces them to confront buried memories and raises unsettling questions about what happened all those years ago.
The author builds suspense, delivering twist after twist, many of which land unexpectedly close to the final pages. Despite the heavy themes, the novel ultimately offers a satisfying and hopeful resolution.
Pat also read this book, and the author has become a favourite of hers.
She also commented on the twist at the end saying it will ‘blow your mind’.
Val: Mischance Creek by Garry Disher
This is the 5th book in the series featuring Constable Paul Hirchhausen or “Hirsch” for short.
Garry Disher is a South Australian writer who was born in the northern part of the state, the setting for these books. His father was also a storyteller and from him he learnt the importance of pacing, the plot and suspense. All are very evident in his books.
Hirsch is becoming used to the pace of rural life and is visiting farmers checking gun licenses etc. He gets a call to assist a tourist whose car is in a ditch. It turns out she is a Danish tourist visiting the area seeking information about her mother who disappeared several years before.
He writes well, his characters are believable and he brings in current issues such as sovereign citizens. His strength is describing the rural area; you can feel and see it.
Jo also read this book and has enjoyed others by the author.
Pamela:
An Iron Rose by Peter Temple is a standalone novel , the first after his Jack Irish series.
The main character Mac receives a phone call informing him that his friend Ned is dead. There is an implication of suicide, but Mac doesn’t believe this, so he begins his own enquiry.
He had previously been a policeman in Melbourne but is now a blacksmith enjoying a quieter life in the country.
Pamela loved the economy of the language the author uses but still conveys so much. He has great powers of description and uses words with such finesse.
Kellie: What Rhymes with Murder by Penny Tangey
A young, exhausted mother takes her baby to ‘Rhyme Time’ at the local library and meets others in a similar situation to her.
Before the end of the session a murder has occurred, and the library becomes a crime scene. Suddenly, these people who were just recently strangers, are drawn together and eventually form an unlikely group of sleuths.
An easy read and cosy crime at its best.
Judy De la T
Judy read several books during the month including the following:
The Last Woman in the World by Inga Simpson.
This dystopian thriller is about Rachel, a reclusive glass worker hiding in the NSW bush from a deadly plague. This secluded life ends when mother Hannah and her sick baby arrive seeking help, forcing Rachel to join them on a dangerous journey to get help, through a landscape destroyed by fires and a mysterious contagion.
The Thinning also by Inga Simpson
Iluka by Cassie Stroud
This debut novel tells a story of family trauma and how childhood adversity shapes adult lives.
Trust by Chris Hammer
Trust is the third book featuring ex-journalist Martin Scarsden. On returning home he finds his partner missing and an unconscious man on the floor.
Lyn: Bill the Bastard by Roland Perry and published in 2012
This book is a story of Australian servicemen, particularly those of the Light Horse and their horses during the Gallipoli and Palestine campaigns in World War 1.
It focuses on the huge 730kg chestnut whaler, known affectionately as “Bill the Bastard’ and trooper Major Michael Shanahan, the only man who could ride him.
The pages are filled with the stories of genuine, likeable Aussie servicemen and women all striving to make the best of difficult situations.
Particularly moving was learning of the fate of the horses after the war.
Lyn described it as an interesting, entertaining and informative read.
Judy J:
Having seen the musical version of My Brilliant Career Judy needed to read the book again.
It is a semi-autobiographical novel, and not strictly a true story. Written by Miles Franklin when she was 16 and published in 1901 when she was still only 21 years old.
But it heavily mirrors her own life experiences during those early years of her life.
Her real name was Stella Maria Sarah Miles Franklin and through her life she was very involved in feminist and literary circles both here and in USA.
But what stood out after rereading the book was how young she was and yet how she adapted to living the different experiences she had in so few years.
In her short life all she wanted to do was learn, to write and be free spirited. She never wavered from her determination not to marry.
When the book and musical end, there isn’t any indication of the brilliant career she was to have.
Tam: Those Other Women by Nicola Moriarty
The story follows two groups of women, a mother’s online group and a non-mother’s group which end up pitting against each other, often with disastrous results.
Most of this is played out through social media.
The book offers a real insight to the way women often judge each other cruelly and unnecessarily.
Tam though there were many real-life situations that you could relate to.
An easy but very good read with fortunately a heart-warming conclusion.
Judy A: Discipline by Randa Abdel-Fattah
This is a short novel, set in Sydney over a couple of weeks and centred around the lives of mainly two characters. The triggering incident is the arrest and charging with terrorism of Nabil, a year 12 student from a local Islamic college. He was protesting a university’s ties to an Israeli weapons manufacturer.
The student, Nabil is just a catalyst for how the main characters are dealing with the institutions they work for.
Ashraf is a secular Muslim academic whose career and personal life are in freefall. His wife became increasingly fundamentalist and they divorced. She’s taken their two teenage daughters and gone with her new husband to Yemen.
Hannah is a young journalist, trying to juggle the demands of new motherhood and the trauma of her husband’s family being bombed back in Gazza and fighting racism in the newsroom
Judy described the writing as clear and concise and very hard hitting. This is highlighted in the way the author contrasts what institutions like newspapers and universities say what they believe, especially about freedom of speech and in what they actually practice and tolerate.
Margaret: The Glass House and The Oasis both books by Anne Buist and Graeme Simsion
The Glass House
Psychiatry registrar, Dr Hannah Wright, a country girl with a chaotic history, thought she had seen it all while working in the emergency room of a city hospital. But nothing compared to the psychiatric ward of the Menzies Hospital.
Hannah must learn on the job in a strained medical system as she and her colleagues deal with the common, the bizarre, the hilarious, the tragic, the treatable and the confronting.
In The Oasis, Hannah continues her training in the outpatient’s section of the Menzies Hospital dealing with OCD, ice addiction, the mental impact of ageing and a myriad of other issues.
Both books are written with great humanity and touches of humour showing compassion and offering insights into the issues that people are dealing with.
The third book in the series is to be published later in 2026.
Dimity: Khaki Town by Judy Nunn
Set in Queensland during World War 11 this historical novel is based on a true wartime story.
In 1942 Singapore had fallen and a small Queensland city is transformed into a transit place for soldiers.
The Australian troops begrudge the US soldiers for being overpaid and very loud. There are incidences of racial tension often leading to violence in the tropical heat.
Dimity enjoyed it as the author keeps you interested through the book.
Helen: Damascus by Christos Tsiolkas
Winner of the Victorian Premier’s Fiction Literary Award.
A haunting, moving and fictional narrative of Saul/Paul’s (plus other characters Lydia, Timothy) against the backdrop of no-holds barred depiction of the violent, cruel and brutal Grecko-Roman world of the first century.
Helen found the structure of the book very difficult to follow, it was a difficult read which unfortunately she couldn’t finish.
Joan: Limberlost by Robbie Arnott published in 2022.
The book follows Ned living on an apple orchard Tasmanian farm from childhood to adulthood.
At 15 he lives there with his moody and reserved father, and his bossy sister. His 2 brothers are away at war and his mother died when he was very young.
He traps rabbits for the skins that he sells, eventually saving enough money to buy a boat. This he uses to explore the river.
Gloomy and underlying tensions playout through the story along with Ned’s defeatist attitude.
Joan was disappointed with the book.
Debra: The Wolf Tree by Laura McClusky
With a family connection to Scotland and memories of spooky stories, the author has written this mystery set in an isolated island community. They have little connection to the mainland, no phones except in the post office, and generations of secrets. Its dark, windy, stormy and remote.
Two police officers are sent to confirm the suicide of one of the young residents. But the evidence doesn’t confirm this. Bad weather means they are cut off from the mainland, and they are there alone without backup at all.
Debra enjoyed the story so much that she read the author’s next book The Cursed Road featuring the same detectives.
Theresa: My Brother Jack by George Johnston published in 1964
Theresa described the book as an absolute treasure, an Australian classic and written with just beautiful language.
The two brothers grew up in Melbourne after their father returned from World War 1 and their mother had been nursing and continued to care for returned soldiers.
The book describes the changes in the brothers’ relationship over the years.
Jack, the elder, was originally the tough fighter who drinks and swears while David lives a quiet existence, preferring the company of books.
During the Depression years, the fortune of the brothers starts to change. David earns a good income and status as a writer but yearned for the simplicity of Jack’s life. Jack was the practical one who could fix anything.
As World War 11 began, the brothers grow further apart as David’s status as a war correspondent increases. But eventually, Jack looks up to his younger brother, showing the type of admiration that as youngsters, David felt towards Jack.
The book was a good reminder of how tough those war years were on everyone. War does terrible things to people.
