Fiction

Holding pattern

Donata Carrazza

Two Greeks
by John Charalambous
University of Queensland Press, $24.95 pb, 264 pp, 9780702239045

What does a young boy make of a father who carries in his pocket a knife that is used to peel fruit, behead chickens, f ... More

The redemptive power of dreams

Colin Golvan

Scenes from Village Life
by Amos Oz
Chatto & Windus, $29.95 hb, 265 pp, 9780701185503

Amos Oz, who is at the pinnacle of Israeli writing, epitomises the role of writer as a voice of hope, a moral guid ... More

Steven Carroll’s new novel

Patrick Allington

Spirit of Progress
by Steven Carroll
Fourth Estate, $29.99 pb, 347 pp, 9780732291181

At the beginning of Steven Carroll’s new novel, Spirit of Progress, Michael stands on a platform of the G ... More

Tough love

Adam Gall

Berlin Syndrome
by Melanie Joosten
Scribe, $29.95 pb, 248 pp, 9781921844140

Melanie Joosten’s first novel, Berlin Syndrome,is a compelling literary thriller. Clare, an Australian travelling alone in Europe, meets a c ... More

Unrealised dreams

Joy Lawn

Jam Dreaming
by Jan Gross
Sid Harta Publishers, $24.95 pb, 382 pp, 9781921829581

The premise of Jam Dreaming is worthwhile; three cultures and generations meet over food. Eileen is an Aboriginal girl who lives in ... More

Tale of the turf

Don Anderson

The Chase
by Christopher Kremmer
Picador, $32.99 pb, 400 pp, 9781405039932

Australians are suckers for a day at the races, and may be suckers for novels and poems about a day at the races. Consider Gerald Murnane’s m ... More

The maze within

Tim Brewer

Bearings
by Leah Swann
Affirm Press, $24.95 pb, 198 pp, 9780980790429

Leah Swann’s first fiction publication comprises a novella and seven short stories, all dealing with themes relating to the book’s title, Bearings. Each short story pr ... More

Nearly seven years ago, David Lodge had the bad luck to collide with Colm Tóibín when both writers produced a novel about Henry James. Tóibín was the first to publish; his work The Master (2004) won high praise and a Booker Prize nomination. Lodge’s Author, Author (2004), trailing six months behind, suffered in the inevitable comparisons. The ... More

Island philosophy

Christine Piper

The Vanishing Act
by Mette Jakobsen
Text Publishing, $23.95 pb, 240 pp, 9781921758195

The début novel from Danish-born, Australia-based author Mette Jakobsen resembles a riddle: a tiny island in the middle of the ... More