Eight new books to take you from rock ‘n' roll to the joy of nature
FICTION PICK OF THE WEEK
Out of the Woods
Gretchen Shirm
Transit Lounge, $34.99
The International Criminal Court has made headlines lately, with warrants issued for Vladimir Putin and Benjamin Netanyahu, and the recent arrest of Rodrigo Duterte. Gretchen Shirm's Out of the Woods takes us to The Hague in 2000 (just before the court was set up) and follows an Australian woman, Jess, who travels there to serve as secretary to an Australian judge hearing a war crimes trial. As Jess bears witness to proceedings – a military man has been charged with participating in the genocide at Srebrenica, Bosnia and Herzegovina, in 1995 – the enormity of the crime is revealed, and Jess reflects on guilt and doubt, and the nature of tragedy itself. Meanwhile, she strikes up a friendship with a woman watching the trial from the gallery, and embarks on an awkward, tentative sort of romance with a man who works nearby. Told largely from Jess' perspective, the novel develops an almost dissociative narrative style and becomes a literary study in how we process inhumanity.
The second Martini Club novel from Tess Gerritsen resumes the eventful retirement of a former spy, Maggie Bird. Maggie has decamped to the tiny seaside town of Purity, Maine, where she's joined by others in the intelligence community who've been put out to pasture. They meet for a regular book club – cocktails included – but villains from the espionage game emerged in the first novel to cause havoc, and this time Maggie feels bound to help a neighbour who becomes the prime suspect when a super-rich teenager goes missing near the local lake. Purity police chief Jo Thibodeau isn't thrilled about the Martini Club's involvement, but can't deny their spycraft comes in handy and can crack a case. The Summer Guests is entertaining crime fiction featuring a motley cast of retirees, and I enjoyed the way the book throws off its cosy crime disguise, twisting into dark and deadly conspiracy.
An Invisible Tattoo
Suellen Dainty
Echo, $32.99
A fictional British musical icon, James Bennett, died more than 50 years ago at a midsummer party in 1972. Only one person remains alive who knows the truth of what happened that night – the elderly Ruth Henderson, in Sydney, and she's chosen the ambitious young Kate Griffin to tell her story. Ruth was childhood friends with Adela, James Bennett's wife, and the novel unfolds as a feminist counterpoint to the typical Dionysian rock novel focused on a male star. Shifting between rural Australia, the music scene in the early 1970s and the growing bond between Kate and Ruth as the latter unburdens herself of a secret history in her twilight years, An Invisible Tattoo swirls around the mystery of a celebrity death. It doesn't skimp on sex, drugs or rock 'n' roll, yet its chief appeal lies in the exploration of the sidelined role of women in the music industry, the contours of female friendship and the touching rapport between in-depth interviewer and subject.
Love on the Air
Ash London
Allen & Unwin, $32.99
Popular music journalist and podcaster Ash London has published her debut novel, Love on the Air – a fluffy enemies-to-lovers romance set in the world of prime-time radio. A heartbroken Alex York begins the novel throwing away her career as a radio superstar and retreating to a tropical island, but it isn't long before she's lured back to the airwaves, offered a plum gig as a breakfast radio presenter. She has sworn off dating again, until she meets her hot new boss Leo – and as their working relationship develops a more affectionate side, she must decide whether to be vulnerable enough to love again. This isn't a terribly well-written affair, and Alex is impossibly shallow and brattish at the beginning. She does grow into a slightly more Austen-like heroine, however, and the author hits her comic stride. Expect celebrity melodrama, gossipy anecdote and an insider's eye on eccentric characters from radioland.
NON-FICTION PICK OF THE WEEK
Bloomer
Carol Lefevre
Affirm, $34.99
Carol Lefevre is 70, has embraced grey hair and places herself within the Young Old age bracket. But like many Boomers, she rejects stereotypical assumptions about ageing. Embracing Henri Bergson's conception of an enduring life force that is constantly evolving, she proposes we see this phase as an opportunity to savour the inner life while looking forward to the next adventure made all the more precious by a keener sense of life's transience. Set over the period of one year, she muses on the changes in her garden and in her own life as she considers society's attitudes to ageing, older bodies, loneliness, grief, the meaning of home and the inescapable reality of death. A statistic for youngsters keep in mind: a survey of 300,000 adults found that happiness peaks between 65 and 79. Bloomer is a lyrical celebration of the riches of ageing as well as a reckoning with its confronting truths.
Deborah Frances-White knows a thing or two about the 'us' and 'them' mentality that pervades contemporary culture. As a teenager, her parents joined the cult of the Jehovah's Witnesses and she learnt to regard 'worldly people' as dangerous. Now a comedian and host of The Guilty Feminist podcast, her professional life is spent navigating the minefield of the public square. This thoughtful book examines how these mines might be defused through respectful engagement, critical thinking and self-scrutiny. The current flashpoints she focuses on include how we regard history and historical figures now considered to be repugnant, comedy and free speech, gender non-conformity and cancel culture. 'Let us not get stuck in our 'rightness', or we will be left behind. Let us learn to change minds, starting with our own because then we have at least a chance of changing our world.'
Human/Nature
Jane Rawson
NewSouth, $34.99
Most of her life, Jane Rawson held certain staunch beliefs about nature. Humans are ruining the environment. Introduced species are bad. Biodiversity matters. Wilderness is the real nature. We are on the brink of apocalypse. Writing this book, she says, has made her challenge all these assumptions, especially the division between nature and not-nature. She comes to no neat conclusions, but her informed and probing questions about why we lament the extinction of some species but not others, or how we justify killing for conservation, are like the ripples from a stone tossed into the water. They unsettle, but in a good way, inspiring unexpected hopefulness. The more complex the picture became for Rawson, the wider her circle of compassion. 'I thought discovering more about the natural world would break my heart, but instead I keep finding myself in a state of transcendent joy.'
There are no simple solutions to the rise of misinformation and the erosion of trust in institutions, the media and society as a whole. In these essays, ethicists, journalists, scientists, business leaders and other thinkers offer diverse perspectives on how we might regain community cohesion and the ability to agree to disagree. Instead of the curated truths of 'extreme individualism', says Anglican bishop Michael Stead, we need an acceptance of something larger than ourselves whether it is God or a social compact. The importance of strengthening civil society is a recurring theme, as is learning from the example of the ancient Greeks and Romans, and of being attuned to our own biases and preconceptions, rather than simply defending them. Above all, the message is that doubt can be constructive as well as corrosive, an opportunity to rethink the very foundations of society.
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Courier-Mail
6 hours ago
- Courier-Mail
Lamar Ahchee's lawyer 'optimistic' over Bali cocaine charges
Don't miss out on the headlines from National. Followed categories will be added to My News. A despondent Australian man accused of receiving 1.8kg of cocaine hidden in Lindt Chocolate ball wrappers can avoid the death penalty in Bali, his lawyer says. Lamar Ahchee sat alone outside a Bali prosecutor's office on Tuesday while paperwork for his case was organised, covering his face in a medical mask and shielding his eyes with a grey baseball cap. His lawyer Edward Pangkahila said he was 'optimistic' Ahchee would escape capital punishment, saying he was a drug user rather than a drug dealer. But Mr Ahchee, 43, of Cairns, faces an uncertain future after police handed over paperwork to Bali prosecutors with his case to be heard within weeks. Australian Lamar Ahchee being handed over from Bali Police to the Denpasar Prosecutor's Office for the alleged importation of 1.8 kg cocaine to Bali. Picture: Lukman Mr Pangkahila said he was seeking for Mr Ahchee's case to be considered personal use, rather than dealing. 'The urine test was positive, we have the assessment from the doctor,' he said. When asked if Mr Ahchee could escape the death penalty, he replied: 'I'm optimistic, he's a good person, let's see. We're going to find out all the facts of the situation in the court.' Mr Pangkahila said Mr Ahchee was likely to face two charges of importing drugs, which carries a death penalty if convicted, as well as possession charges which carries a life sentence. Mr Ahchee's legal team have pleaded with prosecutors to only charge him under article 127 of Indonesian law, which carries a maximum sentence of four years and rehabilitation. The Australian prisoner did not speak when he boarded a bus back to Kerobokan prison after visiting the prosecutor's office. He was living in Kuta, Bali, when he received 1.8kg of cocaine in two separate packages mailed from the UK on May 20. The cocaine was wrapped in more than 200 red Lindt chocolate ball wrappers. The alleged cocaine wrapped in more than 200 red Lindt chocolate ball wrappers. Picture: Lukman S. Bintoro Indonesian police released photographs of the drugs, which were shaped like the popular chocolate treat. Mr Ahchee was allegedly offered almost $5000 to receive the drugs, which had a street value in Bali of more than $1 million. Indonesia has a history of hard line action against drug dealers, with Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukamaran executed in 2015 over their role in the importation of 8.3kg of heroin into Bali. It is not suggested that Mr Ahchee is guilty, only that he has been accused of an offence and has yet to be brought before the courts. Gede Wiraguna Wiradarma, head of the crime unit at the Denpasar Prosecutor's Office, said on Tuesday: 'Police investigators have handed over the case of Australian Lamar Ahchee to the prosecutor. 'Following this handing over, prosecutors will compile the indictment to be registered at the Denpasar Court.' The case must be presented to the court within 20 days, he added. Lamar Ahchee inside the Denpasar Prosecutor's cell. Picture: Lukman Mr Ahchee has been held in the same prison where Schapelle Corby served her time while he awaits trial. He has previously said that he started using cocaine a decade ago and continued his habit when he moved to Bali in 2017. A medical assessment found that he had been using up to four grams of cocaine per day in the lead up to his arrest. That amount would cost at least $1500 a day, based on Indonesian police estimates.
Perth Now
9 hours ago
- Perth Now
Vogue Australia runway show to make Perth debut
A touch of Vogue magic will return to Karrinyup next month for a renowned weekend-long spring-summer fashion festival. The festival returns to Karrinyup Shopping Centre in partnership with Vogue Australia for an elevated four-day celebration of new season fashion trends, following its sold-out debut last year. To kick off the event, starting on September 4, customers can secure tickets to experience WA's first Vogue Fashion After Dark runway show, where the most coveted looks of the season will be showcased. It will take over Karrinyup's West Deck and is expected to set the tone for a style-filled weekend wrapping up on September 7. Some of the brands to feature on the runway, curated by Vogue's Australia fashion team, include Scanlan Theodore, Viktoria & Woods, Coach and Morrison. Vogue Australia's fashion director Kaila Matthews said she was thrilled to bring first-to-market looks to Karrinyup, giving guests the chance to experience new trends. 'The Vogue After Dark Runway will be a celebration of fashion in all its forms,' she said. 'We're bringing a breadth of statement styles – from effortless high-summer dressing to bold, head- turning evening wear – giving our guests a first look at what's next. It's an opportunity to experience the energy, creativity and glamour of the season.' The four-day festival will feature WA's first Vogue Fashion After Dark runway show. Credit: Supplied Karrinyup Centre general manager Trudy Cook said the centre was anticipating another record-breaking turnout for what is fast becoming one of WA's premier fashion events. 'Karrinyup continues to set the standard for exclusive and memorable experiences for our customers, unlike anywhere else,' she said. 'Building on last year's success, this will be a celebration of Australian fashion and showcase the true breadth of what our customers can experience in our centre.' People who miss out on tickets to the launch will have the chance to get a taste of the action in the centre's outdoor dining precinct, where the show will be projected live on the shopping centre's facade. Fashionistas can expect exclusive panels, workshops and fashion, beauty and interior styling masterclasses across the festival days. Event highlights also include in-store styling sessions, shop-and-sip experiences, matcha carts, exclusive Vogue merchandise and photo booth pop-ups. Tickets to Karrinyup's Vogue Festival events go on sale from Thursday at
Sydney Morning Herald
11 hours ago
- Sydney Morning Herald
Looking for a new book? Here are 10 new titles to try
This week's books include the fiction debut of the former 'queen of current affairs', some Australian coastal noir, two true wartime tales and shocking tales from Australia's paramedic frontlines. FICTION PICK OF THE WEEK The Far Side of the Moon Jana Wendt Text Publishing, $40 Anyone who had a nerd-crush on Jana Wendt growing up (raises hand) will be eager to read the short stories in her debut fiction collection, The Far Side of the Moon. Wendt was a fixture on Australian television for decades, establishing herself as a star reporter with Channel Nine's 60 Minutes in 1982 and going on to become – as her fictional alter ego is described in the story Fame and Nothingness – the 'queen of current affairs'. That story probes the disconnect between fame and the (often quotidian) private life of someone touched by it, with an appealing blend of wistfulness and playful bemusement. Only two of the tales are related: the final stories deliver drastically divergent perspectives from co-workers at a numismatics shop, in a fable-like illustration of the effects of cynicism and openness. It isn't Rashomon, exactly, but Wendt's keen intellect and imagination make for a strikingly plausible, humane contrast. Readers will take pleasure, too, in the volume's running themes – particularly the puzzles it constructs from the different kinds of truth, and the opposing strategies deployed to uncover them, in journalism and fiction. Billed as 'Great Ocean Road noir', Luke Johnson's King Tide is a foreboding, character-driven crime fiction set in the fictional town of Lagunes Bay on Victoria's Surf Coast. In the wake of a monster storm and king tide, a buried corpse is washed free from its sandy grave. The victim is a young woman, Hayley, who vanished from the town years before; suspicion falls widely in a community that did little to find out what happened to her. Now young adults, Hayley's peers must know something, and the gruesome secret implicates Tate, the town's golden boy who may have been Hayley's final boyfriend, and his 'bad boy' best friend Luther. Meanwhile, Brylie and her Anglican vicar father have returned to Lagunes Bay – the former still resentful and clueless about why they left town in the first place – setting everyone further on edge. King Tide leans into its rugged setting to amplify the sense of danger and deliverson genre tropes. Johnson has written a mystery laden with dark secrets, suspense, and small-town menace, while crafting young adult characters realistic and complex enough for a coming-of-age novel to infiltrate by stealth. Eva Reddy's Trip of a Lifetime Fiona McKenzie Kekic HQ, $32.99 Eva wakes up to the 50th birthday from hell. She receives an anonymous Facebook message informing her that her husband is having an affair. And she loses her job. As if that's not enough, her elderly parents have gone missing in India, Bollywood dancing their way to some obscure fate with only a trail of very weird TikTok videos as clues to their whereabouts. Eva decides to put miles between herself and her faithless husband and embarks on an epic rescue mission. What's disguised as a search for lost parents is, of course, a quest of self-discovery, as Eva steps outside her humdrum existence into a larger-than-life subcontinental adventure. Eva Reddy's Trip of a Lifetime is strongly reminiscent of The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, though it'll also remind readers of the feelgood classic Shirley Valentine in its main arc – a middle-aged woman liberating herself from the weight of social expectation and reckoning with middle age, love, and second chances in an exotic locale. Luke Harris returns to Melbourne and appears to be an ordinary university student, but his past life won't leave him alone. As a teenager, Luke was an underworld enforcer, and his skills – from street smarts to how to bury a body – remain of value to Gus Alberici, the brutal crime boss he worked for. It was only a matter of time before Gus resurfaced, and when he does, it's to coerce Luke into finding a few things that have vanished – Luke's father, for one, and a large pile of Gus's cash, for another. Pressured to resume his old life, Luke seems to have no choice but to resort to nefarious skills to stay alive, track down his dad, and discover what happened to the missing loot. Stillwater is a gritty Australian crime thriller with plenty of action and suspense. It's artfully paced, written in a muscular style, and the fortunes of its flawed (anti)hero should keep readers on the edge of their seats. Land of Hope Cate Baum Indigo Press, $29.99 Land of Hope folds a dystopian fable into an Emily Bronte-like gothic novel. It's a fascinating idea for a crossover, and the central character, Hope Gleason, seems to emanate from the wild and windswept moors as if she were a ghost already. Rumours and myths about Hope – and her role in her husband's brutality – swirl long before an indescribable sound annihilates a nearby village. A weapon of some kind has been unleashed, and Hope takes an orphaned lad under her wing, as the two survivors embark on a grim quest for a serial killer amid the apocalypse. Like Bronte, Cate Baum uses the brooding, elemental landscape to expressionistic effect, and she channels the spirit of Cormac McCarthy in the mercilessness and extremity of the novel's examination of evil. The orphan is irritating, it must be said, but the passions at play and Baum's morbid imagination should have you hooked regardless, especially if you're a fan of Wuthering Heights, gothic sensibility, serial killer chillers, or all three. Survival in Singapore Tom Trumble Penguin, $36.99 In September 1943, Australian commandos – after having sailed from Australia in a craft disguised as an Asian fishing boat – entered Singapore Harbour and sank a reputed seven Japanese ships. The somewhat surprised Japanese assumed it was a local operation and arrested large numbers of suspects, including detainees in Changi prison. It's the repercussions of the raid that are the main focus of Tom Trumble's evocative study of extraordinary fortitude and inner strength. Elizabeth Choy, for example, who became known as the Heroine of Singapore, endured intense torture and brutal beatings, her ordeal (via a variety of primary sources) presented here in vivid, grim detail. Likewise, British diplomat Robert Heatlie Scott, who drew strength from a volume of the complete work of Keats given to him by an interrogating member of the Japanese military police. Both survived the war. It's not just the characters, though – Trumble is adept at describing the city itself at this time with eerie details like hooded Japanese informants cruising the streets. A comprehensive, dramatic (sometimes novelistic) re-creation of dramatic times. As F. Scott Fitzgerald wrote, 'The very rich are different from you and me'. Indeed! One measure of it can be found in the things they consume – such as the world's most expensive spirit, a US$44 million Limoncello. Coleman has fun delving into the obscenities of the rich and famous throughout history, which he divides into seven parts, one for each of the deadly sins. There's no shortage of rogues for the gallery, be it the aptly named Roman general Marcus Licinius Crassus, whose wealth equated to the yearly incomes of 32,000 citizens – or the almost universally detested Belgian king Leopold II, whose genocidal greed bled the Congo dry. From papal orgies hosted by the Borgias to exorbitant modern weddings, this is a chronicle of fantastical sounding but true excess. And, as much as we might think ordinary punters admire them, Coleman highlights the case of Luigi Mangione, who murdered multi-millionaire Brian Thompson and became something of a cult hero on social media. In the spirit of Boccaccio, funny and sobering. The Last Tour Ann Curthoys MUP, $39.99 When Paul Robeson sang to workers on the construction site of the Sydney Opera House, it became famous as the first concert on the site, but was one of many in the tour of Australia and New Zealand by Robeson and his wife, feminist and activist, Eslanda. This may be an academic study of what proved to be Robeson's last tour, but it's a very engaging one: Robeson is the subject of the book, but it's also a window into post-war, Cold War Australia. In what amounts to a portrait of the tour, Curthoys emphasises its many facets, especially its political side, Robeson being a Marxist who made his support of the USSR well known; a political stance that led to his and his wife's passports being revoked. Apart from the music, the Robesons were deeply interested in Indigenous and women's rights movements in Australia and New Zealand. Along the way, we learn about Robeson's studies and reading, Robeson being the only African American at Rutgers in 1915. First-rate cultural, political and social history. This series of dispatches from the battlefront of ambulance duty comes layered with grim humour, but as former journalist and ambo driver Tim Booth explains, it's a way of coping with the drama and sheer absurdity that can come with the job. Take Darlene and Fluffy. After being called by a neighbour, Tim and a workmate enter the stench of Darlene's flat and find her, barely conscious, cradling the rotting Fluffy. It's clear Darlene's not going anywhere without the pet, and so they wind up taking a dead cat to emergency. Other cases are just plain gripping, such as a car crashing through a clothing shop window, leaving a teenage girl critically injured. But, even here, the absurd is not far away – the site strewn with confusing, life-like mannequins. Other anecdotes include the time a young woman called 000 for a broken toenail. Collectively, they paint a darkly comic picture of a system stretched to its limit (in this case, NSW), that is also dealing with the absurdities of all-too-human foibles. Blamey Brent D. Taylor ABC Books, $36.99 In what became something of a controversial address, General Blamey (commander-in-chief of Australian military forces in WWII) spoke to troops who had just seen action in New Guinea in 1942, the rumour spreading afterwards that he had said they ran like 'rabbits'. It's part of the mythology surrounding the 'flawed' figure of Blamey that Taylor examines in this no-nonsense biographical assessment. He cuts through the innuendo, the quirks and the public image, and Blamey emerges as the country's greatest general. He coolly examines the facts of Blamey's career and concludes that, by any reasonable standard, he was an outstanding leader. Pivotal to this is the death rates of Australian troops in WWII, which were very low. He may or may not have been popular among the troops, but he was efficient and diplomatically successful in dealing with our allies in arguing for control of Australian troops. Taylor takes us back to a tough rural upbringing in NSW, his invaluable time under Monash in WWI (especially the groundbreaking significance of the Battle of Hamel), his civic life and sometimes controversial private life. A bit like Blamey himself, no fuss, and to the point.
