Miles Franklin shortlist announced
Yesterday saw the announcement of the 2012 Miles Franklin shortlist. After an impressive 13-book longlist, here are the top five in contention for Australian literature’s premier award. Tony Birch, Blood Anna Funder, All That I Am Gillian Mears, Foal’s Bread Frank Moorhouse, Cold Light Favel Parrett, Past The Shallows It’s great to note after the all-male list of last year, three out of the five shortlisted authors are female, which I’m sure has made the supporters of the Stella Prize very happy. Also congratulations to Favel Parrett who has made the shortlist with her first novel. Personally, I’ve only read All That I Am, which was one of the best books I’ve read in a long time. I think this would be a...
Read MoreThe Happiest Refugee by Anh Do
What a great country! These words are shamelessly reiterated by Anh Do, the famous Vietnamese-Australian comedian throughout the entirety of his memoir. The Happiest Refugee details his family’s journey from Vietnam in the pursuit of a better life. In 1976, sheltered by midnight’s darkness, a small fishing vessel is overloaded with fellow freedom-seekers as they silently steal out of the heavily patrolled Vietnamese waters. With so much at risk the Do family turn their back on their homeland and following multiple mishaps at sea are eventually rewarded by being able to dwell in the destination of their dreams. However, the difficult and dangerous journey is relatively smooth sailing compared to Anh’s description of life as a refugee in Australia....
Read MoreSarah Thornhill by Kate Grenville
Sarah Thornhill is a novel set in the early 1800s in colonial Australia. Sarah is the youngest daughter of William, an ex-convict who has become a wealthy man – he owns 300 acres and a fine stone house on the Hawkesbury River north of Sydney. For William, a high priority is for his children to grow as far above their history as possible. The conflict of this story comes about when Sarah and her brother’s best friend, Jack Langland fall in love. While he is the son of another landholder on the Hawkesbury, and would otherwise be a perfect match, Jack’s mother was an Aborigine. They plan to marry despite the objections of Sarah’s parents to his parentage. So determined are they to keep them apart, a secret is revealed that causes Jack to leave without...
Read MoreThe Miles Long List — who should make the short?
It was with great excitement that a great collection of Australian novels were announced for the Miles Franklin long list this week? After disappointment over the last two years of only male authors on the list, this year sees seven females out of the 13. The 13 entries in the 2012 Miles Franklin Literary Award long list are: Tony Birch - Blood (University of Queensland Press) Steven Carroll - The Spirit of Progress (Fourth Estate (HarperCollins Publishers Australia)) Mark Dapin - Spirit House (Pan Macmillan Australia) Virginia Duigan - The Precipice (Vintage (Random House Australia)) Anna Funder - All That I Am (Hamish Hamilton (Penguin Group (Australia)) Read Carody’s review Kate Grenville - Sarah Thornhill (The Text Publishing Company) Gail...
Read MoreLives chiming in tune – Five Bells by Gail Jones
One of the four novels short-listed for this year’s Indie Awards (you can read a review of the 2012 Indie Book of the Year, Anna Funder’s All That I Am, here) and on the Miles Franklin long list was Gail Jones’s critically acclaimed fifth novel, Five Bells, a lyrical and contemplative exploration of place and identity that unfolds over the course of a single summer’s day in Sydney. Five Bells follows the thoughts and experiences of four individuals whose lives all connect and converge—albeit fleetingly—one Saturday in Circular Quay. James and Ellie, who shared an awkward but tender first love at fourteen, meet again for the first time in twenty years; Pei Xing takes her weekly ferry trip to visit a figure from her past as a prisoner during China’s...
Read MoreThat Deadman Dance – Kim Scott
Last year’s Miles Franklin winner, and winner of the WA Premier’s Award in 2010, That Deadman Dance came with a swag of expectations – if you’ll forgive such a bad pun so early in the review. And in many ways it delivered on the promises; the language is beautiful, the conflicts real and the themes of Aboriginality, power, gender, ownership, identity, and all the other predictable ideas that go with a story set amidst the first years of the First Fleet. But in so many other ways, it was a disappointment. The characters are two dimensional, the plot near non-existant and the sense of narrative is very under-developed. Bobby Wabalanginy is the young Aboriginal boy whose goodwill, humour, empathy and, ultimately, naivete saw him fill the role...
Read MoreThe Devil’s Diadem
The first thing I do before borrowing from the library or buying from a bookshop is to methodically search the shelves for books by my favourite authors that I haven’t read. I love that feeling of exhilaration and anticipation on finding an unread gem. Australian Sara Warneke, a.k.a. Sara Douglass, is a writer I automatically seek out. I’ve been escaping to her intricately created fantasy worlds for many years, eagerly awaiting her offerings. It was like Christmas when I discovered each of the Axis, Wayfarer Redemption and Darkglass Mountain instalments. Looking for a new Douglass novel is a hard habit to break even after her death from ovarian cancer last year and the knowledge The Devil’s Diadem – which I thoroughly enjoyed – was her last ever book. As...
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