FICTION

‘The Pool is Christos Tsiolkas’s The Slap with an added whodunnit layer.’ – Books+Publishing Prince of spin and life of the party, Baz King, is missing. Nine years ago, at an innocent summer barbecue in Melbourne, everything imploded. For the Kings and the four other young families there that fateful day marriages fractured, friendships crumbled and lives were upended. Nothing would ever be the same. Now in their forties and their children teenagers, Baz King cannot be found. Has his charm finally run out? With a history of dodgy dealings and no shortage of motives, anyone could be a suspect – his ex-wife, Birdie; his colleague, Alex Turner; his lover, Jess and her husband, Richard; his friend’s nanny and new wife, Madison – who wants him out of the picture? A biting domestic noir, The Pool examines the enduring shrapnel of tragedy: if you witness the worst thing imaginable, how does it change you? Could it make you a murderer? PRAISE FOR THE POOL ‘Hannah Tunnicliffe creates a tangled web of love, betrayal and tragedy … It gripped me from start to finish.’ Anna Snoekstra, author of The Ones We Love ‘a bold and deeply intriguing story of morally ambiguous lives … it depicts a world full of domestic and corporate duplicity that could very well be the one you’re living in right now’ Lyn Yeowart, author of The Silent Listener ‘for fans of Garry Disher and Robert Gott—and anyone who loves a classic Australian mystery.’ –Books+Publishing

A powerful novel of the saving grace of language and human connection, from the celebrated author of The VegetarianIn a classroom in Seoul, a young woman watches her Greek language teacher at the blackboard. She tries to speak but has lost her voice. Her teacher finds himself drawn to the silent woman, for day by day he is losing his sight.Soon they discover a deeper pain binds them together. For her, in the space of just a few months, she has lost both her mother and the custody battle for her nine-year-old son. For him, it's the pain of growing up between Korea and Germany, being torn between two cultures and languages.Greek Lessons tells the story of two ordinary people brought together at a moment of private anguish - the fading light of a man losing his vision meeting the silence of a woman who has lost her language. Yet these are the very things that draw them to one another. Slowly the two discover a profound sense of unity - their voices intersecting with startling beauty, as they move from darkness to light, from silence to expression.Greek Lessons is a tender love letter to human intimacy and connection, a novel to awaken the senses, vividly conjuring the essence of what it means to be alive.Translated by Deborah Smith and e. yaewon.

Prepare to be bewitched by Iceland and the book that has enchanted readers for decades – and imprisoned one of them. Longlisted for the Indie Book Awards 2024 Elva loves Iceland for many reasons – the epic landscape of gods and volcanoes, weather that’s the polar opposite of her home in Australia, and the fact that it’s where her mother might have gone back to when she disappeared. Iceland is where Elva’s beloved grandfather – the famous children’s book author – lives in a remote village and where the beings that haunt her imagination reside. Elva is interested in the odd things people make – Victorian collectibles, old spells, taxidermy, fairy tales. The weird, the wonderful and the sometimes macabre. She’s got a few quirks of her own that she’s (mainly) keeping under control. Except one. Working in a shop of curiosities, studying at an Icelandic language school, Elva begins to explore her obsessions, and when her grandfather suffers a stroke, they threaten to overtake her. Then she meets Remy, a painter who’s got some secrets of his own … In her captivating debut, Rijn Collins has created a beautifully evocative portrait of an enchanted mind in an enchanting place – a story of everyday magic, both dark and light; of families and the shadows they can cast; of the delights and dangers of the imagination. Fed to Red Birds will transport you to remote corners of both the world and the human heart. ‘Intensely evocative and beautiful.’ Hannah Kent, author of Burial Rights 'Rijn Collins is a writer of great humanity and intelligence who has fashioned a vividly realised portrait of a young woman trying to make a life for herself in the shadow of familial trauma and dysfunction.' Simon McDonald, Kill Your Darlings ‘Fed to Red Birds is dreamy and immersive … both travelogue and beautifully written literary fiction. It is for readers who loved the insightful prose and armchair travel of Cold Enough for Snow by Jessica Au and the brooding, fairytale-esque feelings of Hydra by Adriane Howell.’ Books+Publishing '[T]he sense of place in this novel is spellbinding – as is Collins’s prose in describing it.' Australian Book Review '[L]ost in this book, I have only put it down for long enough to write this column, and am already missing Iceland and Elva terribly ... I feel I am typing this with frost-bitten fingers while being watched by trolls.' The Canberra Times 'Fed to Red Birds is a quietly haunting novel that leads us to ponder our histories and genealogies, and how we hold onto the past through our obsessions and compulsions.' Better Reading

Three women, one girl, and the tie that binds them.Alice and her daughter Zoe have been a team of two all their lives. They've never needed anyone else - until Alice gets sick.Alice reaches out to two near-strangers: Kate, her oncology nurse, and Sonja, her social worker. As the lives of the three women become inextricably tied, a chain of events is set into motion, forcing them to confront their deepest fears and secrets.Imbued with heart and humour in even the darkest moments, The Mother's Promise is an unforgettable novel about the strength of a mother's love.Praise for The Mother's Promise'Heart-rending yet life-affirming' - Sunday Age' Hepworth skilfully uses each woman's voice to tell this engrossing, warm and gently humorous story' - Courier Mail' Conveys with sympathy and depth the stories of four . . . women who face important issues not typically found in fiction' - New York Journal of Books

A panoramic novel of European history, by an internationally bestselling writer.The whole truth, as the name implies, is the collective knowledge of all those involved. Which is why you can never really piece it together again afterwards. Because some of those who possessed a part of it will already be dead. Or they're lying, or their memories are bad.It's 1989, and in a small town on the Austria-Hungary border, nobody talks about the war; the older residents pretend not to remember, and the younger ones are too busy making plans to leave. The walls are thin, the curtains twitch, there is a face at every window, and everyone knows what they are not supposed to say.But as thousands of East German refugees mass at the border, it seems that the past is knocking on Darkenbloom's door.Still, though, nobody talks about the war.Until a mysterious visitor shows up asking questions.Until townspeople start receiving threatening letters and even disappearing.Until a body is found.Darkenbloom is a sweeping novel of exiled counts, Nazis-turned-Soviet-enforcers, secret marriages, mislabelled graves, remembrance, guilt, and the devastating power of silence, by one of Austria's most significant contemporary writers.'In Eva Menasse's historical novel Darkenbloom, the wartime secrets of a small Austrian town are compromised by the urgent demands of the present ... disturbing events are tempered by rich, omniscient knowledge of the characters, whose quirky humour and humanity amid an impeccable backdrop of clandestine forests and "undulating, dappled" mountain views captivate. Heralding the expansive disruptions of social change, the intricate novel Darkenbloom muses through an Austrian town's troubled past.'-Foreword Reviews, starred review'Journalism is quick, but literary art takes time. I have often wondered where it is, the great epic of complicity. Now it's finally here. Darkenbloom is a nice idyllic small town, but we gradually find out what each of its inhabitants did back then and what they subsequently deleted from their memories. Darkenbloom is truly one of the great European novels of our time, one that sets standards for how fiction can treat history.'-Daniel Kehlmann, author of Tyll'Eva Menasse has produced a masterpiece ... While none of these motifs that Eva Menasse invokes are new, it feels like you're experiencing them here for the first time in Technicolor and Dolby Stereo. How does she do this? Entirely through language. And that is why Darkenbloom is a novel that will last ... As a novel, Darkenbloom is both a gripping linguistic thrill and a thriller - a thriller about coming to terms with the past. Until the very end, you want to know who knew what, and what they covered up or hushed up. The way Eva Menasse spreads this information throughout the novel in such a way that every word dropped at the beginning is resolved at the end and the suspense grows page after page is absolutely masterful ... Eva Menasse's novel is a stroke of genius.'-DIE ZEIT

A Nigerian Catcher in the Rye by a major new literary talent.Fifteen-year-old Dimkpa dreams of the day his father will be made village head. He will return to school and maybe even go on to university; his mother will no longer have to break her back foraging wild food to sell at market; they will have the money to build a fine tomb for his aunt Okike; and his family's status as ohu ma, the lowest Igbo caste, won't matter anymore. But when his father is passed over for a younger man, breaking tradition, Dimkpa realises that he must make his own fate.Journeying from his small village in rural Nigeria, to Lagos, Awka, and home again, Dimkpa learns that no money is easy money, that superstition runs deep, that knowledge is power, and that sometimes it is better to live in the present than always be chasing a future just out of reach.The Liquid Eye of a Moon is by turns hilarious and poignant, capturing all the messiness of adolescence, and the difficulty of making your own way in the world.'Intriguing and moving ... a fascinating work of fiction ... Awoke's writing is peppered with stunning images and these vivid descriptions sparkle in the bleakness of Dimkpa's situation ... Through Awoke's poetically-charged and touching scenes, readers will cheer for Dimkpa and hope for a triumph ... The strength in this novel lies in Awoke's extraordinary ability to describe the relationships between the characters ... Dive into this absorbing and well-written debut novel by an author who has much to offer to the world with his fresh take on the caste system and the hope that a single person can make a huge difference to his family and community.'-Sonia Saikaley, The New York Journal of Books'After reading only the first paragraph of The Liquid Eye of a Moon, I knew this story was special. Awoke's prose is immersive and alive, and you sink into it without effort. I had to blink a few times whenever I stopped reading, and I always looked forward to sinking back in. A beautiful coming-of-age story I will not forget.'-Mary Adkins, author of Palm Beach'In The Liquid Eye of a Moon, Uchenna Awoke casts a spell that is at once enchanting and haunting. An important story full of love and wonder, family and culture, strife and tribulation - this is not your typical debut novel. You are in the hands of a masterful storyteller, one whose grace and lyricism will win you over and then burrow deep inside the muck and marrow of your soul where it will remain for a long time.'-Robert Lopez, author of Dispatches From Puerto Nowhere

From award-winning crime writer Margaret Hickey comes a collection of captivating short stories celebrating the Australian countryside.Margaret Hickey's Rural Dreams takes a look at life outside the big smoke, featuring the kind of characters you might expect in the country - as well as some you might not. A football coach ponders obsession . . . a mouse plague dictates school yard politics . . . a failed playwright asks 'who gets the farm?' . . . and a young woman returns to her fire-ravaged town. People we know. People we grew up with. Some of them might even be us . . .Funny, heartbreaking and true, Rural Dreams highlights the richness of life on the land and showcases the beauty of lives lived outside city walls.'Each story brings a richness of character and experience, unexpected and utterly authentic.' Marian Matta, author of Life, Bound'Stories that are lively, entertaining and authentic.' Martin Flanagan'There's a beauty in these stories that feels reminiscent of fairy tales - not all with happy endings - but all leaving you feeling like you've understood something of what it is to be human.' Westerly Magazine'It's a cliche to say that there's something for everyone in this book but there just is.' Books+Publishing

A simmering age gap romance from the author of The Brightest Light of Sunshine about a graduate student and a university professor who will do anything to keep their relationship professional…until their attraction for each other becomes too strong to deny. She’s a rule follower. He’s a man who could ruin her reputation. Lila Callaghan has two big problems. She’s been caught in an act of revenge she isn’t proud of, and the man she’s been avoiding for two years is the one who saw everything. Reed Abner is more than a hotshot professor at Lila’s university. He’s a family friend, and Lila is only too happy to pretend he never saw her slash her cheating ex-boyfriend’s tire. Before this colossal lapse in judgment, Lila didn’t want to be associated with Reed at all, in fact, at the risk of other students and faculty thinking the popular professor was playing favorites. Avoiding Reed is easy enough…until it isn’t. When Lila is suddenly desperate for an internship, he offers her a dream opportunity at the youth center he coordinates. This close to finishing her Master’s degree, she’d be foolish to turn it down. The only issue? Reed’s her supervisor. Working in such close proximity to each other poses an even bigger problem. Reed proves to be an excellent mentor, but he’s awakened feelings in Lila she shouldn’t have. Reed is her superior. He’s twelve years her senior. And as the burning desire between them grows, Lila wonders if falling for him will be her worst mistake yet.

A forbidden romance between an injured ballerina and her physical therapist, who thinks he’s too broken to deserve her. Perfect for readers who enjoy slow-burn stories with scorching tension, and happy endings. Forbidden. That's what they are to each other. Maddie Stevens has never felt good enough. Not good enough to keep her parents’ love. Not good enough to be independent and stop being her brother’s problem. Not good enough to build the future she wants. When she injures her ankle before a ballet audition that could change her career forever, she’s convinced her life is over at twenty-one. What’s the point of having dreams when they can go down the drain at any moment? And because the universe has a cruel sense of humor, her physical therapist turns out to be a tank-shaped grouch who doesn’t even seem to like her that much. It’s totally unfair that, for six weeks, she’s forced to look at that handsome beard and listen to that deep voice that makes her head all dizzy. Top that with the fact that he’s ten years her senior, and falling for James Simmons is a recipe for disaster. But when their forced proximity makes the lines start blurring, the forbidden temptation becomes impossible to resist.