Books

A Widow’s Story: A Memoirby Joyce Carol Oates, Fourth Estate, $35. Joyce Carol Oates is one of America’s most prolific novelists, best known forBlonde, an extraordinary fictional biography which offers a window into the soul of Marilyn Monroe. InA Widow’s Storywe catch a glimpse of Oates’ soul seen in sharp, detailed, jarring focus through her […]

The Secret Fate of Mary Watson by Judy Johnson, HarperCollins, $32.99. “Left Lizard Island September 2nd, 1881 in tank or pot in which beche de mer is boiled. Got about three miles or four from the Lizards. “September 7. Made for an island four or five miles from the one spoken of yesterday. Ashore, but […]

Bird Cloud: A Memoir by Annie Proulx, Fourth Estate, $35.95. This is a rare glimpse into the private world of Annie Proulx, 75-year-old author of The Shipping News and Brokeback Mountain. Bird Cloud — her first non-fiction publication in 20 years — deals with her building a house for herself to live in and her […]

Less Than Perfect by Ber Carroll, Pan Macmillan Australia, $25. Striving to achieve your parents’ expectations is a battle with universal resonance and is at the emotional heart of this intriguing tale of love and loss. Caitlin O’Reilly meets the love of her life at her 18th birthday party. The boy in question is a […]

MM — Personal: From the Private Archive of Marilyn Monroe by Lois Banner, Abrams, $55. It’s hard to believe there’s anything new left to see or read about Marilyn Monroe, but this slickly presented hardback tome promises to lift the veil on the private Marilyn. While it may not do that exactly, what author Lois […]

Land of Painted Caves by Jean M. Auel, Hachette, $49.99. Thirty years ago, Jean M. Auel became a literary legend with The Clan Of The Cave Bear, the first book in her Earth’s Children series. Auel made prehistory come alive with the story of Ayla, an orphaned Cro-Magnon girl with an amazing knack for survival. […]

Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier, Virago, $22.99. First love is the sweetest they say. First love of a book may last longer — and if the book is worn out by that love it can be replaced. Take a naive and penniless girl, employed by the overbearing Mrs Van Hooper. Enter Maximilian de Winter, a […]

Faces In The Clouds by Matt Nable, Viking, $29.95. This is a surprising book in so many ways. It starts as a sweet very recognisable family tale about twin brothers growing up in the relative safety of an army barracks life and the wonderfully strong family unit that binds them. It then unfolds quite rapidly […]

She trades her golf clubs for a ballroom gown in the quest for a new tournament win, on Dancing With The Stars. Australian golf great Jan Stephenson is used to turning heads on and off the course. Throughout the 70s and 80s, our queen of the fairways wielded her natural sex appeal with the same […]

The no-fuss food judge has all the ingredients to be a successful parent. From the outside, George Calombaris’s house is just like any other in the stylish Melbourne street he calls home – but once you step through the front gate it’s immediately obvious this is the home of the popular MasterChef judge. Even before […]