FICTION

A Catalogue Of Love A young woman surfer’s coming of age in Tasmania, where the natural world helps her find herself and navigate grief and trauma. Echoes of Love and Virtue, Breath and H is for Hawk.‘Did I still love him? No, probably not. Just the memory of him. Except it wasn’t even that. It was probably that I was in love with the memory of the me who’d loved him before.’Neika learned to surf in the sometimes crystal-clear, sometimes opaque green barrels of Cloudy Bay, under the guidance of her father and stepfather. Bruny Island, surfing and the natural world are as much a part of her as her blood and breath.In her twenties now, she has made her way in the world without her mother, who died when Neika was only two. Her path to adulthood was shaped by the love of two adoring fathers, but sitting alongside their love was always a mother-shaped hole. How different would she be if she’d had her mother there to guide her? Would she have dodged the mistakes that seem to define her life?Neika watches the world around her like the scientist she has become, seeking to understand what it means to be a woman in a culture that does not always treat women kindly. In navigating her catalogue of experiences – desire, loss, love and power – she comes to see how each has made her who she is.A moving and thrilling novel from the acclaimed author of The Octopus and I.

Life, And Death, And GiantsRon Rindo taught English and creative writing for many years at the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh. He has previously published one novel, Breathing Lake Superior, and three short story collections. He lives in Pickett, Wisconsin.

Hollow Air Isolation can be hard on a person. It can be hard on the mind, especially when the bush closes in on you in the darkness of night.In the tin fields of Far North Queensland, Sarah, a fly-in-fly-out geologist, is working alone at a remote mine site. She spends her time in a sort of limbo, never quite fitting into her life at site or back home in Sydney with her fiancé.Strange things keep happening at the mine site, and Sarah can try to explain them away as the ramblings of a lonely mind, but there are dead bodies from a mining accident a century ago at the old Dulcie Ada mine, still buried beneath more than a hundred metres of rock.A deeply moving novel that explores the friction that comes with the desire to understand the secrets of the Earth coupled with the knowledge that this can exact a toll.PRAISE FOR HOLLOW AIR‘Layered with suspense, subterfuge, and the fractures that absence can cause, Hollow Air moves seamlessly from life above ground to the value of what lies beneath. Verity Borthwick’s female FIFO geologist, Sarah, is tough-as-titanium and a total joy to read. A superb debut.’ – Eleanor Limprecht, author of The Coast‘The remote mining setting of Hollow Air infuses this novel with mystery and drama right from the start as we anxiously watch its protagonist Sarah confront isolation and uncertainty, both professional and personal. Meanwhile, haunting events from a hundred years before slowly emerge to remind her – and us – that when the earth is violated it will inevitably seek revenge. In a beautifully paced story that never falters, Verity Borthwick explores the tensions between women and men, and the abrasive truth that the past is somehow never behind us.’ – Debra Adelaide, author of The Women’s Pages‘As starkly disarming and beautiful as its setting, Hollow Air is at once a thriller, rural gothic mystery and love story. This is a sensory wonder that both suffocates and enraptures, with all the hallmarks of an Australian classic. Borthwick’s storytelling will haunt me.’ – Anna Spargo-Ryan, author of The Gulf

In this mesmerizing and profound novel, Ruth's life in a devout, insular community challenges assumptions about what gives life meaning.Ruth is raised in a world of Christian communism without private property, television, or tolerance for idle questions. Each day, she follows the same routine, wearing the same costume and braiding her hair, singing a familiar breakfast song in a family room identical to others in the community. These moments, meant to be prayers, puzzle Ruth. Through glimpses of her childhood, marriage, and motherhood, we see her struggle to navigate her curiosity in a community shrouded in mystery. As we follow Ruth's journey, we are forced to question our own beliefs and notions of happiness. The novel immerses us in an experience that challenges our deepest assumptions.

Discontent An audacious, darkly funny novel and perfect summer read about a young woman in Madrid whose carefully crafted office persona threatens to crack when she's forced to attend her company's annual retreatLife can't go on like this - can it? This book is for everyone who has ever wanted more- more time, more meaning, more connection.On the surface, Marisa's life looks enviable. She lives in a nice apartment in the heart of Madrid, her friendly neighbour and lover Pablo lives downstairs, and she's risen quickly through the ranks at a successful advertising agency.And yet Marisa hates her job and everything about it. Over one hot summer, she spends her working hours locked in her office, bingeing on YouTube videos and getting high on tranquilizers, wondering if everyone cries when their alarm goes off in the morning. When she can, she escapes to the air-conditioned basement of the Prado Museum.But Marisa's fa ade of success is in danger of being exposed as she's forced to deliver a talk on creativity at her company's horrendous annual team-building retreat. Surrounded by psychopathic bosses, annoyingly overzealous colleagues, flirty facilitators, and an excess of drugs, Marisa is pushed to the brink of a complete spiral.Told with acid humour to explosive consequences, Discontent is a dazzling tale of modern angst and finally acting on our wilder impulses to reclaim our lives from work.

Albion shakes the country house novel to its foundations, in a story of family, inheritance and accountabilityThe Brooke family are gathering in their eighteenth-century ancestral home - twenty bedrooms of carved Sussex sandstone - to bury Philip- husband, father and the blinding sun around which they have all orbited for as long as they can remember.Frannie, inheritor of a thousand acres of English countryside, has dreams of rewilding and returning the estate to nature- a last line of defence against the coming climate catastrophe. Milo envisages a treetop haven for the super-rich where, under the influence of psychedelic drugs, a new ruling class will be reborn. Each believes their father has given them his blessing, setting them on a collision course with each other.Isa has long suspected that her father thought only of himself, and hopes to seek out her childhood love, who still lives on the estate, to discover whether it is her feelings for him that are creating the fault lines in her marriage.And then there is Clara, who arrives in their midst from America, shrouded in secrets and bearing a truth that will fracture all the dreams on which they've built their lives.

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