FICTION

One Hundred FlowersFROM THE AUTHOR OF THE JAPANESE BESTSELLER IF CATS DISAPPEARED FROM THE WORLD WHICH HAS SOLD OVER TWO MILLION COPIES

Isn't It Nice We Both Hate The Same ThingsA moving and insightful Australian novel that examines the complexities of friendship in your thirties - and celebrates the unique bond of best friends. Ideal for fans of Dolly Alderton and Zoe Foster Blake.'For so long we'd been on the same path together. But somehow, along the way, I turned around and Genevieve kept going.'Charlie, a prime-time radio producer in her early thirties, has always had a big group of friends - until she left her husband, and they all sided with him. Now she finds herself floundering in a sea of awkward run-ins and silent group chats. When her best friend Genevieve starts moving on with her life, too, Charlie realises how few significant people she has around her, and what a lonely place that can be.Dreading the prospect of returning to her childhood home for the anniversary of her father's death, she busies herself by seeking new friendships - book clubs, pub crawls, team sports, the works. But Charlie's determination to surround herself with unfamiliar people forces her to confront her insecurities. What kind of life does she want? And who does she really want to spend it with?For fans of Dolly Alderton and Zoe Foster Blake, Isn't It Nice We Both Hate the Same Things is a bitingly witty yet moving take on the struggles of maintaining relationships and creating new ones as an adult - a story that ultimately celebrates the importance and complexities of best friends.Praise for Jessica Seaborn-'Fast-paced and funny''Jess Seaborn's writing is a warm hug from the first page to the last''Compulsively readable, extremely interesting, and at times, laugh out loud funny'

Hailstones Fell Without RainFor lovers of Elizabeth Acevedo and Angie Cruz comes this extraordinary debut novel from Uruguayan-Australian author Natalia Figueroa Barroso. The power of Hailstones Fell without Rain lies in its pacy, multi-generational story and its memorable, wise and sharply funny characters.Graciela is a Uruguayan migrant struggling to raise her three daughters in Western Sydney- her life feels like just one bill after another, and she's reaching breaking point. Chula, her elderly aunt, is still waiting for justice after living through the civic-military coup of 1973 in Uruguay. And Rita, Graciela's eldest daughter, wants to escape the constraints of her family but finds herself indelibly tied to the ghosts of her mother's past.Dazzling, multilayered and often sharply funny, Hailstones Fell without Rain tells the story of these three indomitable women from one working-class family. As the novel moves across time and place, from Western Sydney to Uruguay and back again, we realise that buried secrets and family trauma will always resurface, but it's also possible for broken connections to mend.

The Golden Sister Suzanne Do is an Australian writer and former lawyer. She co-wrote the feature film, Footy Legends, as well as the award-winning children's book, The Little Refugee. Suzanne lives with her husband, four children and two dogs on the south coast of New South Wales. The Golden Sister is her first novel.

In the tradition of the acclaimed Red Dust, Where the River Runs is a brilliantly told rural story of long-held family secrets by an author at the forefront of rural fiction, Fleur McDonald.

From the International Booker Prize- shortlisted author of What I'd Rather Not Think About comes a darkly humorous novel about multigenerational family dynamics and individuality in Dutch suburbia.An unnamed narrator grows up overshadowed by her unconventional mother, an ex-Jehovah's witness and former television star with an inferiority complex. Her father is the head of a psychiatric institution, whose only form of parenting is to offer his daughter the same life advice he dispenses to his patients. Reserved and somewhat aloof, he chooses not to intervene when his wife obsesses about charisma, calorie counting, and turning their daughter into a child prodigy.Their daughter strives to meet her mother's expectations and bond with her father while secretly worrying she lacks the drive or charisma to do anything significant with her life. When her mother is diagnosed with terminal cancer, she begins to address their generational trauma, forge a new relationship with her father, and discover life on her terms. In twelve chapters - each reflecting a different phase of life - Posthuma expertly dissects a fraught family history, exposing the absurdity that often lies at the heart of life's most poignant and challenging moments.Praise for What I'd Rather Not Think About-'A unique story of a twin brother and sister, wryly funny and heartbreakingly sad. Her characters desperately try to make sense of our ever more complex world. This is a rare book. And Jente Posthuma is a treasure and a hell of a writer.'-Herman Koch, international bestselling author of The Dinner'From the opening pages of this novel I had no idea where it was going, but I trusted Posthuma completely. Tender, offbeat, and deftly drawn - I loved it.'-Allee Richards, author of The Small Joys of Real Life' An exquisitely vulnerable novel.'-Cameron Woodhead, The Sydney Morning Herald

A haunting exploration of female friendship, desire, and memory set against the sultry backdrop of Florida's swamplands.It's been years since Ingrid has heard from her childhood best friend, Mayra, a fearless rebel who fled their hometown of Hialeah, a Cuban neighbourhood just west of Miami, for college in the Northeast. But when Mayra calls out of the blue to invite Ingrid to a weekend getaway at a house in the Everglades, she impulsively accepts.From the moment Ingrid sets out for the house, danger looms- the directions are difficult, she's out of reach of cell service, and as she drives deeper into the Everglades, the wet maw of the swamp threatens to swallow her whole. But once Ingrid arrives, Mayra is, in many ways, just as she remembers - with her sharp tongue and effortless, seductive beauty, still thumbing her nose at the world.Before they can fully settle into the familiar intimacy of each other's company, their reunion is spoiled by the reemergence of past disagreements and the unexpected presence of Mayra's new boyfriend, Benji. The trio spend their hours eating lavish meals and exploring the labyrinthine house, which holds as much mystery and danger as the swamp itself. Indoors and on the grounds, time itself seems to expand, and Ingrid begins to lose a sense of the outside world, and herself.Against this disquieting setting, where lizards dart in and out of porches and alligators peek up from dark waters, Gonzalez weaves a propulsive, unforgettable story about the dizzying power of early friendship and the lengths we'll go to earn love and acceptance - even at the risk of losing ourselves entirely.'Nicky Gonzalez channels Shirley Jackson (something I do not say lightly) in this disquieting, mesmerising 21st century southern gothic. In Mayra, the hazy borders of friendship and identity are blurred, made uncanny and dangerous, and I was hooked from paragraph one.'-Paul Tremblay, New York Times bestselling author of Horror Movie and A Head Full of Ghosts'I ate this greedily; I swallowed it whole. Beguiling and moody and strange, Mayra shimmers with supernatural eeriness and the mercuriality of memory ... Gonzalez unspools all the disorienting, lonely-making work of getting unstuck and finding home and bliss - then, she terrifies you, has you turning pages while you're reaching for your keys, checking the locks, wishing you could text Ingrid and urge her to get a grip. This is a mesmerising, hallucinatory adrenaline rush of a novel, and Gonzalez is the future of horror writing.'-Claire Luchette, author of Agatha of Little Neon'The story that unfolds between Mayra and Ingrid lovingly embodies the vibrant beauty of Hialeah and the Florida Everglades ... Mayra is a haunting testament to the literal terror of being consumed by the very thing you're trying to escape.'-Jennine Capo Crucet, author of Say Hello to My Little Friend

From the author of The River Mouth and Vertigo, comes a mustread medical thriller.From the author of The River Mouth and Vertigo, comes a must-read medical thriller.Did anyone know Dr Gabriel Beaufort better than Ruby Rose Gillespie? They were friends at high school. They are secret lovers now. And because he is also the lung-transplant surgeon who saved her life, Ruby will forever be in his debt.But then the body of Dr Beaufort is found in the wetlands next to the hospital, on the same day Ruby is readmitted with a sudden fever.As the crime scene investigation begins beneath her hospital window, Ruby starts to gather her own clues about her lover's last movements. But with each new discovery, she is haunted by the question of whether she really knew Gabriel Beaufort at all.

A powerful and poignant rural family story told by the acclaimed Fleur McDonald, bestselling author of Broad River Station and Into the Night.

A haunting novel about the ghosts we can't outrun, from the bestselling author of The Imitator.

A beautiful novel of self-discovery and new beginnings set against the backdrop of Paris and the isolated French coast, from the multi million-copy bestselling author of The Little Paris BookshopClaire Cousteau is one of France's most esteemed biologists, with a seemingly perfect family life, but she has become increasingly frustrated by her marriage and her husband's affairs.As the Cousteaus prepare for a summer in Brittany, Claire's son Nico asks if his new girlfriend, Julie, can join them? Julie has conundrums of her own - she is an ambitious woman, and unsure if Nico really is her match. But what the family don't realise is that Julie and Claire have met before, in a Parisian hotel during a night that Claire thought was her secret.Beneath the Breton sun, could their surprising bond alter the course of their lives for all time?

The brilliant and explosive novel from the author of the award-winning The Museum of Modern Love.

They say it takes 28 Questions to fall in love. Then what? 'Funny, clever, sad without self-pity, and with an uplift that is the writing itself' Jeanette Winterson 'If it's an addictive read you're after, consider this your next stop.' Stylist 'An intensely beautiful cleverly layered story of young queer love. An intense but entertaining read. Highly recommend.’ Juno Roche 'An intense, utterly believable queer coming-of-age novel - lyrical, sexy and beautifully written." Kate Davies, author of Polari-Prize winning In At The Deep End‘Reader, imagine yielding to someone with a power so strong she has the ability to slice time. Before. Her. After.’ When first-year music student Amalia stumbles into her Oxford college bar, she has no idea that everything is about to change. Seated across from her is Alex, a velvety-voiced fellow Australian with eyes the colour of her native sky. They strike up a friendship that is immediate - its intensity both thrilling and terrifying. As the days and weeks go by, they spend more and more time together: philosophising, hypothesising, questioning everything. There is nothing they cannot talk about, except the one thing that matters most. Dare they risk a romantic entanglement if it threatens this most perfect of friendships? Set across four years and five cities, and suffused with music, literature, art, dance, sex, and the exquisite pain and pleasure of first love, 28 Questions is a passionate and unforgettable first novel about love in all its guises, growing up, and figuring out who you are along the way.

From legendary Australian feminist writer Barbara Hanrahan, Annie Magdalene is a quietly moving, funny and perfectly formed novel of a beautifully ordinary life. With a new introduction from Farrin Foster. Born at the turn of the century, Annie Magdalene grows up in a suburban cottage in Adelaide. She is devoted to her family but makes up her mind when she is sixteen that she doesn’t want a husband or children, instead prioritising friendship, work, independence and a sense of self. In a style that is both simple and full of wonder, legendary Australian feminist artist and author Barbara Hanrahan creates a full portrait of life – its small pleasures, its beautiful flaws, and its inevitable intersections with death. First published in 1985, Annie Magdalene still feels entirely fresh, capturing sleepy war-era Australia as well as many universally enduring truths. With a new introduction from Farrin Foster, this is a moving, funny and perfectly formed novel of a beautifully ordinary life. ‘Quietly and gleefully challenging.’ – Farrin Foster ‘Hanrahan’s tour de force.’ – The Canberra Times ‘A small treasure.’ – Los Angeles Times

Arborescence Rhett Davis is from the Wadawurrung Country of Geelong and its nearby coastal towns. His debut novel, Hovering, won the Victorian Premier's Literary Award for an Unpublished Manuscript in 2020, and was shortlisted for the Readings Prize for New Australian Fiction and the Aurealis Award for Best Science Fiction. Rhett lives in Geelong with his partner and two talkative cats.