Our Kind of Traitor by John le Carré, Viking, $32.95 The key question whenever a new Le Carré comes out is: is it a good one? He’s the master of the spy thriller but, as even fans concede, he can be patchy. The good news: yes, novel number 22 is a very good one. A […]

Vivian Rising by Daniella Brodsky, Simon & Schuster, $29.99 She has a dead end job, a dead boring boyfriend, and a deadbeat mother. Vivian Sklar’s one true joy is her feisty grandmother, who dies in her hospital bed, as poor Viv cowers in the loo. Lost and bereft, she’s cared for, and constantly fed, by […]

We Had It So Good, by Linda Grant, Virago, $29.99 The title sums it all up, We Had It So Good, and oh yes they did. This is the familiar but fascinating story of the baby boomers, and their journey from sweet self-absorbed hippies to a lost self-absorbed middle age. It’s 1968 and Californian Stephen […]

Mennonite In A Little Black Dress by Rhoda Janzen, Allen & Unwin, $29.99 Rhoda Janzen writes with wit and fondness of growing up in a “painfully uncool”, but happy and supportive community of Mennonites; they’re the less picturesque cousins of the better-known Amish people. Years later her glamorous and sophisticated life in the city falls […]

Lyrics Alley by Leila Aboulela, Weidenfeld & Nicolson, $32.99 Nur Abuzeid has it all, he’s the heir to his father’s business empire, and he’s betrothed to Soraya, the girl he loves. He’s a gentle, optimistic soul, and this is a gentle story of love and growth. When poor Nur is badly injured in an accident, […]

In Bligh’s Hand by Jennifer Gall, National Library of Australia, $34.95 William Bligh’s water-stained pocket notebook, kept by the sea captain following the mutiny on The Bounty, when he was cast adrift with 18 crew in a 7-metre open boat, is one of our most important historical documents. For years the Bligh family retained the […]

Anne Frank’s Tales From The Secret Annex, Cassell Reference, $27.99 The posthumously published diary of Anne Frank is world famous; 40 million copies published in 70 languages, ranking the inner thoughts of the 13-year-old Jewish chatterbox and would-be journalist, kept in captivity with her family during Nazi occupation of Amsterdam. What this latest collection of […]

The Lightkeeper’s Wife by Karen Viggers, Allen & Unwin, $29.99 Nature can both isolate and enlighten; inspire and depress. Battling the elements can be as much about battling the storms within yourself. In The Lightkeeper’s Wife, there are characters who find nature healing and those who are desperate to escape it. The novel’s eye of […]

The Discovery of Jeanne Baret by Glynis Ridley, Fourth Estate, $29.99 An extraordinary true-life tale of a remarkable “herb woman” from an impoverished peasant family in the Loire Valley region of France, destined to become the first woman to circumnavigate the world — and more importantly to fight eighteenth century moral codes, to blossom as […]

A Guide to Australian Etiquette by Ita Buttrose, Viking, $29.95 “There are those who claim manners no longer matter, but I don’t agree,” writes Ita Buttrose. “Times may have changed but good manners never go out of fashion.” Neither does Ita Buttrose. Many may remember Ita’s original The Guide to Modern Etiquette published in 1985, […]