John le Carre, A Legacy of Spies, $32.99
Reviewed by Heather O’Connor
December 2017
A close friend who is a Le Carre fan told me I should not read this unless I had read The Spy Who Came in from the Cold first. However, I did and really enjoyed it, although I can imagine it would have been easier if I had known the characters from the earlier books.
The central character is Peter Guillam, colleague of the famous George Smiley, co-worker and spy from the Cold … Read more »
Josephine Rowe, A loving, faithful animal, $23.95
Reviewed by Heather O’Connor
November 2017
Rodney Hall, well-known author and friend to many in Bermagui, recommended this author as one of the most exciting he had read for years—a great boost for an emerging writer. She has previously published a book of short stories, which were strongly acclaimed. As a fellow at Stanford University in California, … Read more »
Robert Wainwright, Miss Muriel Matters, $32.99
Reviewed by Heather O’Connor
October 2017
Here is yet another woman I had never heard of! Muriel Matters was born in Adelaide, spent time in Perth where she began her life as an actress before moving to London to further her career at the beginning of the 20th century. Before long, she was caught up in the struggles for women’s right to vote. The book traces her commitment and her involvement up to and after the First World War.
She … Read more »
Sebastian Barry, Days Without End, $32.99
Reviewed by Heather O’Connor
September 2017
This is the second book of Sebastian Barry that I have reviewed this year, but it is so completely different from all his others that I gave myself permission to indulge in this most favorite of authors.
All the other books of his that I have read have been set in … Read more »
Colm Toibin, House of Names, $29.99
Reviewed by Heather O’Connor
August 2017
I must have been one of the first people in Australia to buy this recent release, such is my obsession with this terrific writer. I was a bit daunted by the reviews I had read, and it was much harder to get into than other books of his, mainly because my knowledge of … Read more »
Mohsin Hamid, Exit West, $32.99
Reviewed by Heather O’Connor
Many of you will have read The Reluctant Fundamentalist (or seen the film), an earlier work of the author. In Exit West, he brings a really interesting take on the refugee experience, writing with a mix of stark reality and a touch of magical realism which you don’t expect in books dealing with displacement and incredible hardship.
You don’t know the identity of the city about … Read more »