Six Aussie female fiction writers sat down with The Weekly to share their favourite summer reads but here Australia’s best storytellers add to the list those other books they just couldn’t overlook.
Picture credit: All images were shot by Corrie Bond and styling by Judith Cook.
HANNAH KENT Adelaide author Hannah Kent burst onto the literary scene with her debut Burial Rites. The novel, set in Iceland, was a runaway international hit and multi-award winner, translated into 20 languages. This Is How by M.J. Hyland: I read this novel in one sitting, which is testament to Hyland’s talent for crafting the kind of tension and ominousness that leaves you holding your breath. It’s difficult to describe the plot without revealing too much, but this story of a repressed and troubled individual will undoubtedly stay with you, as it has done with me. Jar City by Arnaldur Indridason: Summer is my preferred season for crime novels (winter is dark enough already) and this Nordic noir thriller by Icelander Indridason is one of my favourites.
ANNA FUNDER Anna was raised in Melbourne and Paris, and now lives with her family in New York. Her most recent novel All That I Am won the 2012 Miles Franklin Literary Award and her first book, Stasiland, won the 2004 Samuel Johnson Prize and was published in 20 countries in 16 languages. Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy: Tolstoy tossed this off after finishing the long labour of War And Peace and, to my mind, it’s much better. It’s totally accessible and psychologically astute about what it’s like to be a woman in a loveless marriage, who makes mistakes, and what it’s like to be in love. Tolstoy does this magic thing of being in his characters’ heads – so we see them as if they are utterly real. The Man Who Loved Children by Christina Stead: This is probably the best Australian novel – along with some of Patrick White – published in Australia in the 20th century. A big, raw, beautifully plotted masterpiece of the ugly duckling trying to break free of her very difficult (that’s an understatement!) family.
BROOKE DAVIS Perth author Brooke was the toast of the 2014 London Book Fair with her debut novel Lost & Found. Before it was even published, it had been sold into 25 countries. It received huge critical acclaim and is proving to be an international hit. Tenth Of December by George Saunders: Fiercely intelligent and fiercely funny and fiercely different from any other writer I’ve read. He makes me feel such a heightened sense of what the possibilities are in writing and in reading. Yes Please by Amy Poehler: I’m a huge fan of this wonderful woman. I admire her deep emotional intelligence and the way she uses her position to do meaningful things. Also, she’s just very, very funny.
KATE MORTON Kate lives in Brisbane and has sold almost 10 million books in 38 countries. Her most recent book The Secret Keeper came out in 2012 and her fifth novel is due out in October. The Fortnight in September by R.C. Sherriff: First published in 1931, this is a book I read for research, but fell in love with. The plot is simple – a lower middle-class family takes their annual holiday to the seaside village of Bognor. Yet this ordinary little book about nothing-in-particular turns out to be an extraordinary book about everything: family, ambition, sacrifice, growing up, acceptance, first love, disappointment, the ongoingness of life, what it is to be human. In Falling Snow by Mary-Rose MacColl: An elderly Australian widow called Iris receives a letter inviting her to the reunion of a group of nurses who operated a war hospital in France during World War I. We know immediately that something happened back then that makes Iris nervous about attending the reunion, but we don’t know what her secret is. There’s a lot to love about this book: the writing is beautiful, the characters stay with you long after you’ve finished and the story includes three of my favourite things – history, mystery and memory.
LIANE MORIARTY Sydneysider Liane is the author of six internationally best-selling novels. The Husband’s Secret sold more than two million copies, was Number 1 on the New York Times best-seller list, with film rights sold to CBS. Rights for her latest novel Big Little Lies have already been snapped up by Nicole Kidman and Reese Witherspoon. We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves by Karen Joy Fowler: An unusual story about an unusual family, it made me laugh and cry. Life After Life by Kate Atkinson: An incredible story by one of my favourite authors. I had such a sense of movement as I read this book, it was as though the author was spinning me around in circles, leaving me breathless, dizzy and awestruck.
MONICA MCINERNEY Monica was raised in South Australia and now lives in Dublin. She has written 11 novels. One of the most enduring stars of Australian fiction, Monica is an international best-seller and has just published her latest novel Hello From The Gillespies. Nine Days by Toni Jordan: A beautifully written Australian family story, criss-crossing through time, from war-time to modern day. The characters stayed with me long after I finished the book in one sitting. The Taste Of River Water by Cate Kennedy: I’m a big fan of Cate Kennedy’s short stories and also her poetry, and find holidays a perfect time to slow down my reading and find solace and wisdom in lyrical writing like hers. This is a beautiful, gentle collection, rich with meaning and warmth.
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