Alice Campion is the pseudonym for five members of a Sydney book club who challenged themselves to write a ‘21st Century Thorn Birds'. The result is The Painted Sky, a novel brimming with romance, mystery and suspense.
Each member of the book club has selected their most influential book.
Kate Grenville’s The Secret River changed my life. Firstly, there’s the subject matter – fiction based on truth - around the white invasion of Australia and the frontier wars that followed. It is fascinating that the settler family on which the story is based is the author’s. What terrible moral dilemmas they faced and it is only now that this side of Australian history is being explored in fiction. As a white Australian, with family lines stretching back into the early 19th century rural history of NSW and Victoria, it prompts me to wonder what role my own ancestors may well have played.
And then there’s Grenville’s beautiful literary style. I’ve learned much from her clean, evocative prose. Though she uses dialogue sparingly, the characters and action leap from the pages. Thanks Kate Grenville for this moving and controversial book!
We are delighted that Jemma Wayne, author of Chains of Sand, was able to share with us her favourite books from childhood.
On June 30, 2016
[caption id="attachment_15842" align="alignright" width="1892"] The Mountain Shadow by Gregory David Roberts
On October 2, 2015
Myfanwy Jones is the author of The Rainy Season, shortlisted for The Melbourne Prize for Literature's Best Writing Award 2009, and co-author of the bestselling Parlour Games for Modern Families,...
On June 3, 2015
Amity Gaige is the author of O My Darling, The Folded World and most recently Schroder. Her essays, articles and stories have appeared in various publications including the Yale Review, The Literary Review, Los Angeles...
On April 16, 2013
[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="214"] The Luminaries by Eleanor Catton[/caption]
On December 23, 2013
With the release of Star Wars: The Force Awakens just one day away, interest has reached fever pitch. Reviews are out and have been positive with The Guardian calling it...
On December 16, 2015
