THE KINDNESS OF YOUR NATURE
Linda Olsson
Marion Flint lives alone on the wild west coast of New Zealand's North Island. One day she meets a small boy, Ika, on the empty, rugged beach, and an unlikely friendship begins between the Swedish doctor and the solemn child with webbed feet and a fear of being touched. As Marion's involvement with Ika deepens she is forced to revisit her own lonely childhood in Sweden, where neglect and a destructive home environment had deadly consequences. But Marion's most deeply buried hurt is that she had to lose the love of her life twice over.
Set on the desolate, moody coastline near Kawhia, this beautifully written and insightful novel paints a warm and sensitive portrait of the many forms love takes—the destructive, the forbidden and, ultimately, the healing.
Penguin NZ, paperback, 9780143566069 (October)
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HOUSE OF STICKS
Peggy Frew
Bonnie has given up her life as a musician to become a stay-at-home mum. She tells herself she has no regrets, but sometimes the isolation and the relentless demands of three small children threaten to swamp the love between Bonnie and her partner, Pete. Then an old mate of Pete's arrives. Doug is eccentric and intrusive, and his unsettling presence disrupts Bonnie's world further. Yet as the cracks really start to show in the life Bonnie and Pete have built together, it seems the dangers might also come from within. House of Sticks is a revealing portrait of contemporary family life, its joys and compromises, and how quickly things can unravel. It's about trying to stay connected in our disconnected society; a story of identity and community, loyalty and love.
Peggy Frew's debut novel, House of Sticks, won the 2010 Victorian Premier's Literary Award for an unpublished manuscript. Her story 'Home Visit' won The Age short story competition in 2008. She has been published in New Australian Stories 2, Kill Your Darlings, and Meanjin. Peggy is also a member of the critically acclaimed and award-winning Melbourne band "Art of Fighting".
Scribe Publications, paperback, 9781921844270 (September)
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YOU LOSE THESE AND OTHER STORIES
Goldie Goldbloom
Short stories from Goldie Goldbloom, award-winning author of The Paperbark Shoe. Dark. Delicious. Superb.
'Prepare to encounter startling epiphanies, wonderfully eccentric conceits, and standout instances of wit and observation begging to be re-read. Among its well-pitched moments of vulnerability are further surprises: much that's dark and sly, and—better still—twisted and bent.' — Tom Cho
Freemantle Press, paperback, 9781921696879
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ANIMAL PEOPLE
Charlotte Wood
Acclaimed novelist Charlotte Wood takes a character from her bestselling book The Children and turns her unflinching gaze on him and his world in her extraordinary novel, Animal People. Set in Sydney over a single day, Animal People traces a watershed day in the life of Stephen, aimless, unhappy, unfulfilled - and without a clue as to how to make his life better. His dead-end job, his demanding family, his oppressive feelings for Fiona and the pitiless city itself ... the great weight of it all threatens to come crashing down on him. The day will bring untold surprises and disasters, but will also show him - perhaps too late - that only love can set him free.Sharply observed, hilarious, tender and heartbreaking, Animal People is a portrait of urban life, a meditation on the conflicted nature of human-animal relationships, and a masterpiece of storytelling. Filled with shocks of recognition and revelation, it shows a writer of great depth and compassion at work.
Allen & Unwin, paperback, 9781742376851 (October)
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FAIR COP
Christine Nixon with Jo Chandler
Christine Nixon became the first female Chief Commissioner of Police in Australia, appointed to head Victoria Police, at a most crucial time—the underworld was in the midst of a bloody war, the spectre of terrorism was emerging as a powerful new threat, and there was a stench of internal corruption. In this frank and engaging memoir, Christine Nixon reflects on the journey of a woman deep into a man's world, describing the experiences that shaped her commitment to a model of policing as a community service, committed to caring for society's most vulnerable. She explores the challenges of managing a police force through a period of profound social and cultural change, explains the hidden tensions at the front line of politics and policing and exposes the poisonous culture war within police ranks.
Fair Cop candidly shares the public and private stories of Christine Nixon—woman, spouse, citizen, constable—on a journey that encounters tragedy, corruption, ambition and humility. In its final chapters, it takes readers inside the events of Black Saturday, the disaster that would so cruelly scar the state of Victoria, claim so many lives, and test Christine Nixon as nothing before. It tracks the intimate story of her days before the Bushfires Royal Commission and recounts her efforts, as head of the Victorian Bushfires Reconstruction and Recovery Authority, to renew ravaged communities.
Melbourne Univ, Press, paperback, 9780522856859
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THE SIREN'S STING
Miranda Darling
Stevie is back at her discreet and dangerous best as the minder of the world's greatest—and most temperamental—opera star and the terrified wife of a shipping tycoon whose son has been kidnapped. The action swings from Sardinia in summer to diva season in Venice and to the billionaire's playgrounds of Morocco and the Mediterranean as Somali pirates target and stalk cruising mega-yachts and their impossibly rich and glamorous passengers.
Miranda Darling began her career as a fashion model in Paris and London, then went on to read English and Modern Languages at Oxford University. She travelled widely before returning to Australia to complete a Masters in Strategic Studies and Defence. She analysed new security threats for a think tank, where she published widely in newspapers and journals. She retains an interest in international intrigue and now writes full-time.
Allen & Unwin, paperback, 9781741759204
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RANGATIRA
Paula Morris
Auckland, New Zealand; June 1886: Ngati Wai chief Paratene Te Manu spends long sessions, over three long days, having his portrait painted by the Bohemian painter Gottfried Lindauer. Hearing of Lindauer's planned trip to England reminds him of his own journey there, twenty years earlier, with a party of northern rangatira. As he sits for Lindauer, Paratene retreats deeper and deeper into the past, from the triumphs in London and their meetings with royalty to the disintegration of the visit into poverty, mistrust and humiliation.
Paula Morris is a New Zealand fiction writer of English and Ngati Wai descent. Rangatira is based on a true story.
Penguin Books, paperback, 9780143565758 (October)
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