Books

Cleopatra: A Life by Stacy Schiff, Virgin, $45. The richest woman in the world, queen of an enlightened empire, and the lover of two great Roman leaders, Cleopatra made such an impact in her lifetime that she has never been forgotten. From Plutarch to Shakespeare, through to Elizabeth Taylor, there’s always room for another Cleopatra, […]

Empire Day by Diane Armstrong, HarperCollins, $32.99. “It’s strange,” muses one of Armstrong’s struggling-to-settle Eastern European immigrees to Sydney in Australia’s post-war melting pot. “A huge country with hardly any people, an empty centre and no history.” “That’s exactly why I love it,” responds her husband. “A country without a past, but with a big […]

Surviving Maggie by John Fingleton, HarperCollins, $29.99. Surviving his drunken mother, Maggie, ultimately meant that Harold Fingleton was destroyed, in this despairingly bleak tale of history repeating. What Harold, the author’s father, achieved was to halt the descent into a third generation, protecting his five children to a greater degree from his own alcoholism, although […]

Smut by Alan Bennett, Faber & Faber, $24.95. British master Alan Bennett subtitles his latest Two Unseemly Stories, perfectly summing up these short peeks behind the suburban blind at the unconventional sexual lives of two apparently conventional, middle-aged women. For the widowed Mrs Donaldson, taking in lodgers to help make ends meet, it’s the offer […]

The Hare With Amber Eyes by Edmund de Waal, Vintage $24.95. The book that sold itself is how I think of Hare. A word-of-mouth sensation, published last year but still selling strongly and dazzling readers wherever it goes. It’s a true but scarcely grabby plot: the author, a noted ceramicist, inherits his great uncle Iggy’s […]

All that I Am by Anna Funder, Hamish Hamilton, $32.95. Anna Funder’s long-awaited first novel has one of the great opening lines: When Hitler came to power I was in the bath. The place, Berlin; the year, 1933, and this homely image is a reminder of how mighty historical events can twist and destroy individual […]

Animal People by Charlotte Wood, Allen & Unwin, $29.99. Stephen is having a bad day. Another argument with his mum, a run-in with the neighbour’s dog, he skittles a pedestrian, then his bus seems to have a bomb on board. All this while tossing up which of the 50 ways he’ll choose to leave his […]

Far To Go By Alison Pick, Headline Fiction, $29.99 Even in retrospect, it’s almost impossible to comprehend evil on such a massive scale as Hitler’s Nazi Party. That inability explains a lot about why Jewish families such as Alison Pick’s fictional Bauers didn’t try to flee until it was much too late. Secular and wealthy, […]

Bertie Plays the BluesBy Alexander McCall Smith, NewSouthBooks, $29.95 If Precious Ramotswe of the No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency is the Alexander McCall Smith character I most admire, six-year-old Bertie Pollack is the one I most want to help. The latest of McCall Smith’s popular Scotland Street novels finally gives us a sliver of hope […]

The Cut By George Pelecanos, Orion, $32.99 Stephen King and Barack Obama are just two of George Pelecanos’ legion of fans. If you haven’t read him before, you might still know his work from the cult television hit The Wire — a gritty, understated, crime drama set in the gang-ridden streets of Baltimore. The Cut […]