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Sydney Morning Herald
16-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Sydney Morning Herald
Here are 10 new books to add to your must-read list
From a comic satire on the world of professional AFL to queer romances; from a study of the creative chemistry between John Lennon and Paul McCartney to a memoir of life as an elite policeman, this week's books cover wide ground. Pissants Brandon Jack Summit Books, $34.99 Former Sydney Swans player Brandon Jack penned an acclaimed memoir, 28, which exposed life in the AFL machine. Some truths can't be fully imagined in non-fiction, a defect colourfully remedied in his debut novel. Pissants is a super-sweary inside job on the world of professional football, a pitch-black comic satire that takes in rivalry and camaraderie and misdeeds. There's locker room goss, sports psychology and the creeping derangements of being steeped in a culture of toxic pressures – from ultra-competitiveness to the psychotic hypermasculinity of bonding and hazing rituals. There are plenty of jaw-dropping shenanigans tinged with narcissism, and the sense of impunity that attends fame on the field, but there's also a fair whack of misery and unacknowledged woundedness. Jack incorporates bingo cards and WhatsApp chats into more conventional narrative modes, as all the dirty laundry gets an airing. AFL fans should enjoy the fly-on-the-wall-of-the-locker-room vibe, and Jack draws out the attractions of elite team sport – and much that's repugnant about how it operates behind the scenes – with brutality and hilarity. Taylor Jenkins Reid became a global publishing phenomenon with the rise of BookTok during the pandemic. Her previous bestsellers have included Daisy Jones & The Six (loosely inspired by the story behind Fleetwood Mac) and The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo (a romantic mystery following a glamorous Hollywood star of yesteryear). Her ninth novel combines romance with adventure and disaster in space. Astrophysicist Joan Goodwin joins the NASA space program in the early 1980s. Training as an astronaut with a team of brilliant, big personalities, she must navigate institutional sexism, a growing bond with colleagues on a dangerous mission, and budding romance. Catastrophe looms, and the action and suspense of the emergency frames a love story that delves deeply into the rigours and routines of life as an astronaut, and how trailblazing women resisted the male-dominated atmosphere of NASA in the 1980s. It's a page-turner with high emotional stakes; Reid's fans are probably producing tear-streaked TikTok vids already. Author of Ghost Wall, Summerwater and The Fell, Sarah Moss is, among other things, an expert excavator of the effects of post-Brexit politics on the British psyche. In Ripeness, the politics turn to reproductive rights, migrant identities and the rights of refugees. Edith is the daughter of a French Jewish Holocaust survivor who escaped being murdered by the Nazis when she was granted asylum in the UK in 1941. Now over 70, comfortable, living in western Ireland, Edith is troubled by her friend Méabh's attitude to African refugees (and notes it doesn't apply to displaced Ukrainians), though she's drawn into her friend's family mystery. Méabh discovers she has an unknown brother, adopted by an American family, who wants to connect with his biological relatives and find out more about his roots. The novel's action flits between this contemporary strand and a trip to Italy in the 1960s, when Edith was a nerdy 17-year-old accompanying her older sister, who is enduring an unwanted pregnancy. Moss crafts a fine balance of sympathy in her portrayal of Edith, contrasting first-person and third-person narration to interrogate how social identities are forged, how rights must be fought for, and the growing cost of complacency. Ordinary Love Marie Rutkoski Virago, $34.99 Queer romance reignites in Marie Rutkoski's Ordinary Love when teenage sweethearts Emily and Gen reunite as 30-somethings. Their lives have taken different paths since their schooldays. Emily suffers through an abusive marriage to the wealthy Jack and leaves him after a frightening episode of domestic violence at the book's outset. Gen meanwhile becomes an Olympic athlete, aggressively embracing her sexuality through a string of affairs and hook-ups with other women. The story of their adolescent courtship and the homophobia it ran up against is told in flashback, revealing Emily and Gen to be old flames with old wounds that have shaped the courses of their adult lives. Rutkovski is sharp on just how difficult it can be to leave an abusive relationship, especially when the abuser seeks to isolate the victim from support networks. A subplot involving friends of Emily fighting to help her overcome Jack's influence is so full-blooded it almost becomes the main event. Yet the intimacy and vividness Rutkoski brings to her characters' sexual life is unusual – sex writing so often goes awry – and this is a romance novel that feels refreshingly grounded, written for adults. Big Feelings Amy Lovat Macmillan, $34.99 Another queer romance from Newcastle-based Amy Lovat, returning with a second novel following her debut, Mistakes and Other Lovers. This one's billed as an 'anti-romantic comedy', and it takes place in the shadow of an idealised relationship. Sadie's obsession with finding the perfect partner comes from witnessing the passion and devotion of her parents' marriage – complete with Insta-love tropes and mad romantic pursuits and the happily-ever-after that spawned her. When she meets Chase, Sadie falls wildly in love and thinks she's found the ideal woman, but it isn't long before cynicism, neurosis and self-sabotage rear their heads, and Sadie comes to question what she really desires. Big Feelings captures the relaxed flavour of its setting on the NSW North Coast, while the somewhat unreliable narrator ties herself in comic knots over a relationship we know will break up from the beginning. The mystery is how and why, and Lovat's chaotic ride into the messiness of romance should attract lovebirds of a more sardonic and streetwise disposition, fans of Fleabag or High Fidelity among them. The key contention in this absorbing study of the creative chemistry that existed between Lennon and McCartney, is that we get them 'so wrong', largely because 'we have trouble thinking about intimate male friendships.' But, do we get them so wrong? Much of what Ian Leslie documents – the intensity of the relationship, the shared early deaths of their mothers, the immediate recognition of being soulmates when they first met at the Woolton Church fete (with Paul's flawless rendition of Eddie Cochrane's Twenty Flight Rock), the competitiveness, the bitterness and the love that bound them – is common knowledge to many. Indeed, there were few times when he told me anything I didn't already know. All the same, in its comprehensiveness, the authority with which he details the collaboration (especially contested territory of who did what, Lennon claiming much of Eleanor Rigby, McCartney likewise with In My Life), and the poise and compassion with which he brings his two magicians to life, it's a compelling dissection of the repercussions of that day in 1957 when two 'damaged romantics' met and the culture of the western world shifted. This guide to how to live a more satisfying life is, at least, more informed than most. Fabian, an Associate Professor at Warwick University, begins by distinguishing between the pursuit of happiness and the more complex and fulfilling notion of wellbeing – which embraces life, existential warts and all and a more nuanced sense of self: the good, the bad and the ugly. It's divided into three parts. A Pleasant Life, in which he delves into the wisdom of the Stoics (who seem to be roaring back into public popularity), the Fulfilling Life, about self-realisation and the idea of authenticity, and the Valuable Life, about overcoming modern nihilism. Woven into this are aspects of his own story (early depression and release through rock-climbing) and, more broadly, the positives of living in a pluralistic society as apart from religious orthodoxy. Deliberately 'popular' and, like all of these guides, reads like a talk. Few sportspeople enter the playing field facing the possibility of death like Formula One drivers. In fact, in the 1958 season four drivers died. But it's not the death-defying stunts of the drivers that Reid and Sylt are concerned with here, it's the astonishing money that goes into this international business – these days generating revenue of $3.4 billion and valued at $20 billion, the top drivers receiving around $60 million in wages. The driver's seats are individually designed and the steering wheels cost $75,000. And that's just scratching the surface. In order to trace how this came about, the authors take us back to the leisurely hobbyhorse days of the 1950s when princes and barons drove their Maseratis in competitions. That didn't last long, thanks in large part to a colourful Englishman, Bernie Ecclestone, whose name is now synonymous with Formula One. The drivers and their vehicles might capture the limelight, but this takes us into the billion-dollar industry under the bonnet. When writer/journalist Daniela Torsh's father died in 1958, she was 11 years old and believed she was Christian. What she discovered in the days following his death– she writes warmly about her father, but honestly as well in detailing the fraught nature of the relationship – was the depth of her Jewish ancestry. Her parents had met in Theresienstadt, a concentration camp just north of Prague, in the 1940s. They survived, had Daniela, and eventually immigrated to Sydney in the early 1950s. Her parents were determined that the horrors they had experienced during the war would not be passed on to their child, so they kept her Jewish ancestry a secret. Torsh's tale, told simply but effectively and frequently jumping time frames, is, among other things, a record of intergenerational trauma, of how growing up in the shadow of the Holocaust played out in her life in ways she didn't understand until she put together the pieces of her family's history. A calm retrospective voice, but one that inevitably contains tragedy, anger and deep sadness. Through Fear and Fire John Taylor (with Heath O'Loughlin) Pan Macmillan, $36.99 When John Taylor was growing up in the south-east suburbs of Melbourne he was frequently in schoolyard fights, always outraged by the injustice of the actions of school bullies. It led to joining the Victoria Police Force in 1987, then the Special Operations Group (SOG) two years later, and in 2003, the Bomb Response Unit (BRU). In many ways this is a portrait of a driven individual – his description of the physical training required to get into the SOG is exhausting just to read. And while he might be matter-of-fact in his description of defusing, say, a bomb left in a bus shelter (at the same time dismissing Hollywood myths about the process), you are always in no doubt that it is a highly dangerous occupation. Likewise, his account of his first operation with SOG. At the same time, he also goes into the effect of the job on his family: Taylor, at times, while walking with his wife, imagining threats that aren't there. If you've ever wondered what kind of person is drawn to join an elite force, this will give you a good idea.
The Age
16-07-2025
- Entertainment
- The Age
Here are 10 new books to add to your must-read list
From a comic satire on the world of professional AFL to queer romances; from a study of the creative chemistry between John Lennon and Paul McCartney to a memoir of life as an elite policeman, this week's books cover wide ground. Pissants Brandon Jack Summit Books, $34.99 Former Sydney Swans player Brandon Jack penned an acclaimed memoir, 28, which exposed life in the AFL machine. Some truths can't be fully imagined in non-fiction, a defect colourfully remedied in his debut novel. Pissants is a super-sweary inside job on the world of professional football, a pitch-black comic satire that takes in rivalry and camaraderie and misdeeds. There's locker room goss, sports psychology and the creeping derangements of being steeped in a culture of toxic pressures – from ultra-competitiveness to the psychotic hypermasculinity of bonding and hazing rituals. There are plenty of jaw-dropping shenanigans tinged with narcissism, and the sense of impunity that attends fame on the field, but there's also a fair whack of misery and unacknowledged woundedness. Jack incorporates bingo cards and WhatsApp chats into more conventional narrative modes, as all the dirty laundry gets an airing. AFL fans should enjoy the fly-on-the-wall-of-the-locker-room vibe, and Jack draws out the attractions of elite team sport – and much that's repugnant about how it operates behind the scenes – with brutality and hilarity. Taylor Jenkins Reid became a global publishing phenomenon with the rise of BookTok during the pandemic. Her previous bestsellers have included Daisy Jones & The Six (loosely inspired by the story behind Fleetwood Mac) and The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo (a romantic mystery following a glamorous Hollywood star of yesteryear). Her ninth novel combines romance with adventure and disaster in space. Astrophysicist Joan Goodwin joins the NASA space program in the early 1980s. Training as an astronaut with a team of brilliant, big personalities, she must navigate institutional sexism, a growing bond with colleagues on a dangerous mission, and budding romance. Catastrophe looms, and the action and suspense of the emergency frames a love story that delves deeply into the rigours and routines of life as an astronaut, and how trailblazing women resisted the male-dominated atmosphere of NASA in the 1980s. It's a page-turner with high emotional stakes; Reid's fans are probably producing tear-streaked TikTok vids already. Author of Ghost Wall, Summerwater and The Fell, Sarah Moss is, among other things, an expert excavator of the effects of post-Brexit politics on the British psyche. In Ripeness, the politics turn to reproductive rights, migrant identities and the rights of refugees. Edith is the daughter of a French Jewish Holocaust survivor who escaped being murdered by the Nazis when she was granted asylum in the UK in 1941. Now over 70, comfortable, living in western Ireland, Edith is troubled by her friend Méabh's attitude to African refugees (and notes it doesn't apply to displaced Ukrainians), though she's drawn into her friend's family mystery. Méabh discovers she has an unknown brother, adopted by an American family, who wants to connect with his biological relatives and find out more about his roots. The novel's action flits between this contemporary strand and a trip to Italy in the 1960s, when Edith was a nerdy 17-year-old accompanying her older sister, who is enduring an unwanted pregnancy. Moss crafts a fine balance of sympathy in her portrayal of Edith, contrasting first-person and third-person narration to interrogate how social identities are forged, how rights must be fought for, and the growing cost of complacency. Ordinary Love Marie Rutkoski Virago, $34.99 Queer romance reignites in Marie Rutkoski's Ordinary Love when teenage sweethearts Emily and Gen reunite as 30-somethings. Their lives have taken different paths since their schooldays. Emily suffers through an abusive marriage to the wealthy Jack and leaves him after a frightening episode of domestic violence at the book's outset. Gen meanwhile becomes an Olympic athlete, aggressively embracing her sexuality through a string of affairs and hook-ups with other women. The story of their adolescent courtship and the homophobia it ran up against is told in flashback, revealing Emily and Gen to be old flames with old wounds that have shaped the courses of their adult lives. Rutkovski is sharp on just how difficult it can be to leave an abusive relationship, especially when the abuser seeks to isolate the victim from support networks. A subplot involving friends of Emily fighting to help her overcome Jack's influence is so full-blooded it almost becomes the main event. Yet the intimacy and vividness Rutkoski brings to her characters' sexual life is unusual – sex writing so often goes awry – and this is a romance novel that feels refreshingly grounded, written for adults. Big Feelings Amy Lovat Macmillan, $34.99 Another queer romance from Newcastle-based Amy Lovat, returning with a second novel following her debut, Mistakes and Other Lovers. This one's billed as an 'anti-romantic comedy', and it takes place in the shadow of an idealised relationship. Sadie's obsession with finding the perfect partner comes from witnessing the passion and devotion of her parents' marriage – complete with Insta-love tropes and mad romantic pursuits and the happily-ever-after that spawned her. When she meets Chase, Sadie falls wildly in love and thinks she's found the ideal woman, but it isn't long before cynicism, neurosis and self-sabotage rear their heads, and Sadie comes to question what she really desires. Big Feelings captures the relaxed flavour of its setting on the NSW North Coast, while the somewhat unreliable narrator ties herself in comic knots over a relationship we know will break up from the beginning. The mystery is how and why, and Lovat's chaotic ride into the messiness of romance should attract lovebirds of a more sardonic and streetwise disposition, fans of Fleabag or High Fidelity among them. The key contention in this absorbing study of the creative chemistry that existed between Lennon and McCartney, is that we get them 'so wrong', largely because 'we have trouble thinking about intimate male friendships.' But, do we get them so wrong? Much of what Ian Leslie documents – the intensity of the relationship, the shared early deaths of their mothers, the immediate recognition of being soulmates when they first met at the Woolton Church fete (with Paul's flawless rendition of Eddie Cochrane's Twenty Flight Rock), the competitiveness, the bitterness and the love that bound them – is common knowledge to many. Indeed, there were few times when he told me anything I didn't already know. All the same, in its comprehensiveness, the authority with which he details the collaboration (especially contested territory of who did what, Lennon claiming much of Eleanor Rigby, McCartney likewise with In My Life), and the poise and compassion with which he brings his two magicians to life, it's a compelling dissection of the repercussions of that day in 1957 when two 'damaged romantics' met and the culture of the western world shifted. This guide to how to live a more satisfying life is, at least, more informed than most. Fabian, an Associate Professor at Warwick University, begins by distinguishing between the pursuit of happiness and the more complex and fulfilling notion of wellbeing – which embraces life, existential warts and all and a more nuanced sense of self: the good, the bad and the ugly. It's divided into three parts. A Pleasant Life, in which he delves into the wisdom of the Stoics (who seem to be roaring back into public popularity), the Fulfilling Life, about self-realisation and the idea of authenticity, and the Valuable Life, about overcoming modern nihilism. Woven into this are aspects of his own story (early depression and release through rock-climbing) and, more broadly, the positives of living in a pluralistic society as apart from religious orthodoxy. Deliberately 'popular' and, like all of these guides, reads like a talk. Few sportspeople enter the playing field facing the possibility of death like Formula One drivers. In fact, in the 1958 season four drivers died. But it's not the death-defying stunts of the drivers that Reid and Sylt are concerned with here, it's the astonishing money that goes into this international business – these days generating revenue of $3.4 billion and valued at $20 billion, the top drivers receiving around $60 million in wages. The driver's seats are individually designed and the steering wheels cost $75,000. And that's just scratching the surface. In order to trace how this came about, the authors take us back to the leisurely hobbyhorse days of the 1950s when princes and barons drove their Maseratis in competitions. That didn't last long, thanks in large part to a colourful Englishman, Bernie Ecclestone, whose name is now synonymous with Formula One. The drivers and their vehicles might capture the limelight, but this takes us into the billion-dollar industry under the bonnet. When writer/journalist Daniela Torsh's father died in 1958, she was 11 years old and believed she was Christian. What she discovered in the days following his death– she writes warmly about her father, but honestly as well in detailing the fraught nature of the relationship – was the depth of her Jewish ancestry. Her parents had met in Theresienstadt, a concentration camp just north of Prague, in the 1940s. They survived, had Daniela, and eventually immigrated to Sydney in the early 1950s. Her parents were determined that the horrors they had experienced during the war would not be passed on to their child, so they kept her Jewish ancestry a secret. Torsh's tale, told simply but effectively and frequently jumping time frames, is, among other things, a record of intergenerational trauma, of how growing up in the shadow of the Holocaust played out in her life in ways she didn't understand until she put together the pieces of her family's history. A calm retrospective voice, but one that inevitably contains tragedy, anger and deep sadness. Through Fear and Fire John Taylor (with Heath O'Loughlin) Pan Macmillan, $36.99 When John Taylor was growing up in the south-east suburbs of Melbourne he was frequently in schoolyard fights, always outraged by the injustice of the actions of school bullies. It led to joining the Victoria Police Force in 1987, then the Special Operations Group (SOG) two years later, and in 2003, the Bomb Response Unit (BRU). In many ways this is a portrait of a driven individual – his description of the physical training required to get into the SOG is exhausting just to read. And while he might be matter-of-fact in his description of defusing, say, a bomb left in a bus shelter (at the same time dismissing Hollywood myths about the process), you are always in no doubt that it is a highly dangerous occupation. Likewise, his account of his first operation with SOG. At the same time, he also goes into the effect of the job on his family: Taylor, at times, while walking with his wife, imagining threats that aren't there. If you've ever wondered what kind of person is drawn to join an elite force, this will give you a good idea.
Sydney Morning Herald
04-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Sydney Morning Herald
Here are 10 new books to add to your reading pile
Classic espionage, an unconventional ghost story, David Attenborough's call to action for our oceans and a globetrotting search for the world's mythical creatures – there's something for every taste in this week's reviews. FICTION PICK OF THE WEEK Wait Here Lucy Nelson Summit Books, $32.99 Lucy Nelson's Wait Here is a striking short fiction collection populated by female characters who aren't and never will be mothers. Some experience childlessness as a form of liberation, some a curse; for some it's barely worth mentioning, for others a lost echo that haunts them. In the title story, Ivy attends a psychiatrist's waiting room, which she visits weekly, the cause of her distress never openly discussed, the waiting itself becoming a kind of comfort. Other tales involve such scenarios as a dancer who learns she can never have children, and two elderly spinsters with a 'found family' making a fateful choice. Nelson brings variety and vigour to the characters in these pages, and she's mastered the finely contrasting use of emotional registers. Read together, the stories range from quirky hilarity to purgatorial grief, and it's one sign of a gifted short fiction writer that none of them are over-realised – Nelson often suggests rather than tells and resists simple resolution, reserving enough mystery to provoke the reader into imagining women in all their diversity and complexity. Aftertaste Daria Lavelle Bloomsbury, $26.99 An eccentric supernatural power has assailed Kostya Duhovny ever since he was a child. His mouth has long been invaded by strange tastes he has never experienced himself. It appears he relives other people's taste sensations, and when he visits Maura, a hot goth-girl psychic, she reveals it is 'clairgustance' – a gustatory connection to the ghosts of the dead and more specifically, their favourite meals in life. This uncanny ability allows Kostya to rise above his job as a humble dish pig and make a unique contribution to haute cuisine on the New York restaurant scene. Daria Lavelle's satire of the more pretentious side of that industry is deliciously spicy, although an insipid romantic arc does flatten its flavour for a time, even as the otherworldly consequences of Kostya's link with the world beyond add more than a hint of ghost story. It's an unusual mélange of genres, not always blended to perfection, but with an intriguing dark comic taste, nonetheless. Best Left Buried Neil A. White Echo, $32.99 The second in Neil A. White's Matt Latham series, Best Left Buried sets the reader onto a dark and desperate trail of international espionage. It's a thriller built upon the intrigues and misdeeds of the CIA in Latin America, and its anti-hero becomes entangled in a dangerous legacy when he agrees to ghostwrite the memoir of a friend, Bryant Callahan – previously a senior diplomat, soon to be a senator. Travelling to Dallas, his research uncovers unpalatable truths – Callahan's involvement with the CIA, and the troubling history (or lack of it) behind his wife Aleja, a former Miss Cuba orphaned as a child. When Aleja asks Matt to help find her birth family, a trip to Havana unearths scandalous secrets. Matt finds himself hunted by those determined to keep them from coming to light, as another figure implicated in the secret history travels from Mexico City to the US, hell-bent on revenge. The writing can sometimes be a bit too telegraphic for my taste, but it is a taut and rather well-paced thriller, dreamt up from the shadows of real historical events. Whisky Valley Joan Sauers Allen & Unwin, $32.99 In this sequel to Echo Lake, Joan Sauers returns to the Southern Highlands and her historian-cum-detective Rose McHugh. Understandably, Rose's narrow escape from becoming a murder victim in the last novel has left her on edge, but mysteries have a habit of seeking her out, and the latest begins when her son's best friend, a talented musician, disappears. Rose was never going to take the advice of friends and family and stay away from sleuthing, and as floodwaters surge, she finds herself unravelling threads of treachery – some of it close to home – as she takes on the missing person's case. Is this cosy crime? Not entirely. Sauers' heroine is likeable enough, there's a healthy dollop of romance, and the Highlands locale exudes rural charm and features a majestic natural setting. Still, the author does leave open the door to darkness in a way that builds suspense and should keep readers apprehensive about Rose's fate. Julie Chan Is Dead Liann Zhang Raven Books, $32.99 A struggling checkout chick swaps lives with her identical twin – an Insta-perfect influencer – in Julie Chan Is Dead, the debut novel from former 'skinfluencer' (skincare and beauty influencer) Liann Zhang. Discovering her estranged sister Chloe van Huusen dead in mysterious circumstances, Julie Chan wants to call 911 but can't resist stepping into her life of fame, fortune and followers and seizing it for her own. The twins were separated at a young age and their fates diverged, but Julie soon finds that Chloe did not live the enviable existence she imagined. The luxuries and labels come at a price – Julie must try to fit in with Chloe's beautiful influencer clique, the Belladonnas, and a week away with them reveals bizarre and disturbing behaviours that take on an increasingly sinister complexion. What really happened to Chloe? Will Julie be the next target? Zhang mixes mystery and horror and melodrama to capitalise on the market for stories about the toxicity of influencer culture. It's quite fun, but beyond the irresistible hook, I'm not sure that it does enough to make a lasting mark in a rapidly expanding subgenre. NON-FICTION PICK OF THE WEEK Ocean: Earth's Last Wilderness David Attenborough & Colin Butfield John Murray, $34.99 If you've seen David Attenborough's latest film Ocean, currently screening at cinemas, this book is an invitation to dive deeper. If you haven't seen it, you must. And then read this. While it spares us the film's graphic footage of the ruinous impact of industrial trawling, the dire implications for coastal communities and the health of the ocean in general are clear. The world's seas and their crucial role in sustaining life on Earth is a vast subject made intimate and accessible through the changes Attenborough has observed over the past century and the technological advances that have revolutionised our understanding of this watery realm. There are grim statistics – in his lifetime, almost half the world's coral has been lost – but there is also real reason for hope, as evidenced in the recovery of reefs, kelp forests and marine life in areas which have been declared sanctuaries. We know what needs to be done, say the authors, to fix the biggest problems we face as a species. 'The question is whether we also have the will and foresight to do so.' Monsterland Nicholas Jubber Scribe, $37.99 In the days when parts of the globe were still a mystery, cartographers marked uncharted regions with the phrase 'Here be monsters'. Since childhood, Nicholas Jubber has been drawn to the mythical creatures said to inhabit these margins. In this enchanting work, he travels to the shadowlands still haunted by such folk tales: to Cornwall searching for giants, Bavarian forests on the trail of dragons, Morocco in pursuit of supernatural beings known as genies or jinn, to Haiti where the story of the zombie took on chilling real life resonance as slaves, like 'living cadavers labour[ed] for their overlords'. Jubber focuses on four kinds of monster – the shapeshifter, the undead, the wild and creatures of the modern imagination – to explore the origins of these tales, what they tell us about the human psyche and how they live on in the present. With humour and flair, he probes how monsters register the 'emotional states of their epochs' and bind communities together. Michela Marzano Gazebo Books, $29.99 Michela Marzano had always thought of her grandfather as a refined, cultivated man. Then, in her 40s, she discovered that he'd also been a Fascist, a devotee of Benito Mussolini and member of his squadrista. 'Those thugs who beat up communists with their truncheons.' Marzano's parents were proudly left-wing, and her father never spoke of his father's politics. After her discovery, she is gripped by the thought that 'my grandfather must have been a monster'. What she learns about his experience as a soldier and a prisoner during the First World War helps her better understand his embrace of Fascism. As she delves into his personal archive, she also finds herself wrestling with the legacy of her father's domineering behaviour and its impact on her life. In this intense and unsettling memoir, Marzano constantly questions whether she should be exposing these family secrets, including her own mental health struggles. But the reader can only be grateful that she has braved her demons for the light they shed on how a nation's violent history reverberates down through the generations. Australia's Agricultural Identity Joshua Gilbert Penguin, $36.99 The marriage of Joshua Gilbert's convict forebear to a Worimi woman fused agriculture and culture, new and ancient ways, symbolising the aspirations of this forward-looking history-cum-memoir. From farming stock himself, Gilbert longs for the world to see that Indigenous people can thrive on the land, 'selling cattle at top prices, and golden fleece to make thousand-dollar suits'. And to recognise that their relationship with Country can evolve with new enterprises. Gilbert is a gifted yarn-spinner whose life story spans the divide between Indigenous and settler histories; a traditional rural upbringing with deeper roots. When he was a boy, his family didn't speak much of their Indigenous history. His adulthood has been a process of awakening to what it means to be an Indigenous person whose white ancestors worked for the Australian Agricultural Company that drove the Worimi people off their land. Through this personal lens, Gilbert offers a vision of what farming in Australia might become. Pilgrims have been making their way to sacred sites for millennia. These days, in the West, the destinations are more likely to be linked with the secular religion of sport. This guide to Australia's most celebrated venues is inevitably weighted in favour of team, rather than individual, sports with cricket grounds and AFL and rugby fields dominating, many of which are iconic and have international reputations. The absence of venues that host basketball, netball and soccer, however, might leave a few fans feeling miffed. Although numerous sites are products of the establishment – the MCG, SCG, Royal Melbourne Golf Club, Flemington Racecourse – the stories featured here are often the opposite. The SCG's renowned heckler known as Yabba is a prime example. At the more informal end of the spectrum are the surf breaks of Bells Beach and Snapper Rocks, and the Henley on Todd Regatta in Alice Springs, the famous waterless boat race. This is a bible for those seeking places of worship that align with their sporting values or that are of interest simply because of their legendary status.
The Age
04-06-2025
- Entertainment
- The Age
Here are 10 new books to add to your reading pile
Classic espionage, an unconventional ghost story, David Attenborough's call to action for our oceans and a globetrotting search for the world's mythical creatures – there's something for every taste in this week's reviews. FICTION PICK OF THE WEEK Wait Here Lucy Nelson Summit Books, $32.99 Lucy Nelson's Wait Here is a striking short fiction collection populated by female characters who aren't and never will be mothers. Some experience childlessness as a form of liberation, some a curse; for some it's barely worth mentioning, for others a lost echo that haunts them. In the title story, Ivy attends a psychiatrist's waiting room, which she visits weekly, the cause of her distress never openly discussed, the waiting itself becoming a kind of comfort. Other tales involve such scenarios as a dancer who learns she can never have children, and two elderly spinsters with a 'found family' making a fateful choice. Nelson brings variety and vigour to the characters in these pages, and she's mastered the finely contrasting use of emotional registers. Read together, the stories range from quirky hilarity to purgatorial grief, and it's one sign of a gifted short fiction writer that none of them are over-realised – Nelson often suggests rather than tells and resists simple resolution, reserving enough mystery to provoke the reader into imagining women in all their diversity and complexity. Aftertaste Daria Lavelle Bloomsbury, $26.99 An eccentric supernatural power has assailed Kostya Duhovny ever since he was a child. His mouth has long been invaded by strange tastes he has never experienced himself. It appears he relives other people's taste sensations, and when he visits Maura, a hot goth-girl psychic, she reveals it is 'clairgustance' – a gustatory connection to the ghosts of the dead and more specifically, their favourite meals in life. This uncanny ability allows Kostya to rise above his job as a humble dish pig and make a unique contribution to haute cuisine on the New York restaurant scene. Daria Lavelle's satire of the more pretentious side of that industry is deliciously spicy, although an insipid romantic arc does flatten its flavour for a time, even as the otherworldly consequences of Kostya's link with the world beyond add more than a hint of ghost story. It's an unusual mélange of genres, not always blended to perfection, but with an intriguing dark comic taste, nonetheless. Best Left Buried Neil A. White Echo, $32.99 The second in Neil A. White's Matt Latham series, Best Left Buried sets the reader onto a dark and desperate trail of international espionage. It's a thriller built upon the intrigues and misdeeds of the CIA in Latin America, and its anti-hero becomes entangled in a dangerous legacy when he agrees to ghostwrite the memoir of a friend, Bryant Callahan – previously a senior diplomat, soon to be a senator. Travelling to Dallas, his research uncovers unpalatable truths – Callahan's involvement with the CIA, and the troubling history (or lack of it) behind his wife Aleja, a former Miss Cuba orphaned as a child. When Aleja asks Matt to help find her birth family, a trip to Havana unearths scandalous secrets. Matt finds himself hunted by those determined to keep them from coming to light, as another figure implicated in the secret history travels from Mexico City to the US, hell-bent on revenge. The writing can sometimes be a bit too telegraphic for my taste, but it is a taut and rather well-paced thriller, dreamt up from the shadows of real historical events. Whisky Valley Joan Sauers Allen & Unwin, $32.99 In this sequel to Echo Lake, Joan Sauers returns to the Southern Highlands and her historian-cum-detective Rose McHugh. Understandably, Rose's narrow escape from becoming a murder victim in the last novel has left her on edge, but mysteries have a habit of seeking her out, and the latest begins when her son's best friend, a talented musician, disappears. Rose was never going to take the advice of friends and family and stay away from sleuthing, and as floodwaters surge, she finds herself unravelling threads of treachery – some of it close to home – as she takes on the missing person's case. Is this cosy crime? Not entirely. Sauers' heroine is likeable enough, there's a healthy dollop of romance, and the Highlands locale exudes rural charm and features a majestic natural setting. Still, the author does leave open the door to darkness in a way that builds suspense and should keep readers apprehensive about Rose's fate. Julie Chan Is Dead Liann Zhang Raven Books, $32.99 A struggling checkout chick swaps lives with her identical twin – an Insta-perfect influencer – in Julie Chan Is Dead, the debut novel from former 'skinfluencer' (skincare and beauty influencer) Liann Zhang. Discovering her estranged sister Chloe van Huusen dead in mysterious circumstances, Julie Chan wants to call 911 but can't resist stepping into her life of fame, fortune and followers and seizing it for her own. The twins were separated at a young age and their fates diverged, but Julie soon finds that Chloe did not live the enviable existence she imagined. The luxuries and labels come at a price – Julie must try to fit in with Chloe's beautiful influencer clique, the Belladonnas, and a week away with them reveals bizarre and disturbing behaviours that take on an increasingly sinister complexion. What really happened to Chloe? Will Julie be the next target? Zhang mixes mystery and horror and melodrama to capitalise on the market for stories about the toxicity of influencer culture. It's quite fun, but beyond the irresistible hook, I'm not sure that it does enough to make a lasting mark in a rapidly expanding subgenre. NON-FICTION PICK OF THE WEEK Ocean: Earth's Last Wilderness David Attenborough & Colin Butfield John Murray, $34.99 If you've seen David Attenborough's latest film Ocean, currently screening at cinemas, this book is an invitation to dive deeper. If you haven't seen it, you must. And then read this. While it spares us the film's graphic footage of the ruinous impact of industrial trawling, the dire implications for coastal communities and the health of the ocean in general are clear. The world's seas and their crucial role in sustaining life on Earth is a vast subject made intimate and accessible through the changes Attenborough has observed over the past century and the technological advances that have revolutionised our understanding of this watery realm. There are grim statistics – in his lifetime, almost half the world's coral has been lost – but there is also real reason for hope, as evidenced in the recovery of reefs, kelp forests and marine life in areas which have been declared sanctuaries. We know what needs to be done, say the authors, to fix the biggest problems we face as a species. 'The question is whether we also have the will and foresight to do so.' Monsterland Nicholas Jubber Scribe, $37.99 In the days when parts of the globe were still a mystery, cartographers marked uncharted regions with the phrase 'Here be monsters'. Since childhood, Nicholas Jubber has been drawn to the mythical creatures said to inhabit these margins. In this enchanting work, he travels to the shadowlands still haunted by such folk tales: to Cornwall searching for giants, Bavarian forests on the trail of dragons, Morocco in pursuit of supernatural beings known as genies or jinn, to Haiti where the story of the zombie took on chilling real life resonance as slaves, like 'living cadavers labour[ed] for their overlords'. Jubber focuses on four kinds of monster – the shapeshifter, the undead, the wild and creatures of the modern imagination – to explore the origins of these tales, what they tell us about the human psyche and how they live on in the present. With humour and flair, he probes how monsters register the 'emotional states of their epochs' and bind communities together. Michela Marzano Gazebo Books, $29.99 Michela Marzano had always thought of her grandfather as a refined, cultivated man. Then, in her 40s, she discovered that he'd also been a Fascist, a devotee of Benito Mussolini and member of his squadrista. 'Those thugs who beat up communists with their truncheons.' Marzano's parents were proudly left-wing, and her father never spoke of his father's politics. After her discovery, she is gripped by the thought that 'my grandfather must have been a monster'. What she learns about his experience as a soldier and a prisoner during the First World War helps her better understand his embrace of Fascism. As she delves into his personal archive, she also finds herself wrestling with the legacy of her father's domineering behaviour and its impact on her life. In this intense and unsettling memoir, Marzano constantly questions whether she should be exposing these family secrets, including her own mental health struggles. But the reader can only be grateful that she has braved her demons for the light they shed on how a nation's violent history reverberates down through the generations. Australia's Agricultural Identity Joshua Gilbert Penguin, $36.99 The marriage of Joshua Gilbert's convict forebear to a Worimi woman fused agriculture and culture, new and ancient ways, symbolising the aspirations of this forward-looking history-cum-memoir. From farming stock himself, Gilbert longs for the world to see that Indigenous people can thrive on the land, 'selling cattle at top prices, and golden fleece to make thousand-dollar suits'. And to recognise that their relationship with Country can evolve with new enterprises. Gilbert is a gifted yarn-spinner whose life story spans the divide between Indigenous and settler histories; a traditional rural upbringing with deeper roots. When he was a boy, his family didn't speak much of their Indigenous history. His adulthood has been a process of awakening to what it means to be an Indigenous person whose white ancestors worked for the Australian Agricultural Company that drove the Worimi people off their land. Through this personal lens, Gilbert offers a vision of what farming in Australia might become. Pilgrims have been making their way to sacred sites for millennia. These days, in the West, the destinations are more likely to be linked with the secular religion of sport. This guide to Australia's most celebrated venues is inevitably weighted in favour of team, rather than individual, sports with cricket grounds and AFL and rugby fields dominating, many of which are iconic and have international reputations. The absence of venues that host basketball, netball and soccer, however, might leave a few fans feeling miffed. Although numerous sites are products of the establishment – the MCG, SCG, Royal Melbourne Golf Club, Flemington Racecourse – the stories featured here are often the opposite. The SCG's renowned heckler known as Yabba is a prime example. At the more informal end of the spectrum are the surf breaks of Bells Beach and Snapper Rocks, and the Henley on Todd Regatta in Alice Springs, the famous waterless boat race. This is a bible for those seeking places of worship that align with their sporting values or that are of interest simply because of their legendary status.
Sydney Morning Herald
30-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Sydney Morning Herald
Bust out the popcorn: What to watch at Sydney Film Festival
This story is part of the May 31 edition of Good Weekend. See all 14 stories. WATCH / Scene stealers Cinephiles, it's time to get those corn kernels a-poppin'. Over 12 days (June 4-15) and 13 venues, the Sydney Film Festival will be raising the curtain on 201 films from 70 countries, more than half of them Australian premieres (17 of them world debuts), many still wreathed in glory from recent screenings at Toronto, Sundance and Cannes. These include Kelly Reichardt's The Mastermind ('70s art heist), starring Josh O'Connor, It Was Just an Accident (Iranian Jafar Panahi's reimagining of the road movie) and Cherien Dabis's All That's Left of You (sweeping Palestinian family saga). Expect a heavy sprinkling of stardust, too, namely Mike Flanagan's The Life of Chuck (Stephen King adaptation, starring Tom Hiddleston) and On Swift Horses (sizzling '50s love pickle with Daisy Edgar-Jones and leading man-of-the-hour Jacob Elordi). Other Aussies will be out in force, too; don't miss Slanted, by newbie filmmaker Amy Wang, and the jewel in the opening-night crown, Together (starring real-life double act Alison Brie and Dave Franco), by Michael Shanks. (Fret not, Victorians: the Melbourne International Film Festival kicks off on August 7; watch this space.) READ / The write stuff Deception, misappropriation, ethical dilemmas, ambition – I Want Everything, the debut novel from Australian writer Dominic Amerena (Summit Books; $35), has it all. When a down-on-his-luck writer spots an iconic literary recluse at his local pool, he can't believe his luck. He worms his way into her affections, persuading her to spill the beans on the true stories behind her two celebrated novels and let him write her biography, convinced it will make his name as a writer. First, though, he must put aside his moral scruples. A literary thriller as well as a takedown of book-industry pretensions, with a cracker of an ending. Nicole Abadee LISTEN / Back to life Jacob Haendel was handed a death sentence in 2017. Due to complications from his heroin addiction, he contracted a rare, progressive brain disease that kills anyone who gets it within six months. He deteriorated to the point where doctors thought he was brain-dead but, in fact, he was trapped in his body, fully conscious, despite the inability to speak, eat or move a muscle. He was in hell. And he became aware that his wife, who outwardly played the fiercely protective caregiver, was separating him from his family, planning to divorce him; she even announced his death on social media. Spoiler alert: he miraculously survives. In the podcast Blink, host Corinne Vien helps Haendel tell the remarkable tale of someone who lost his life and then clawed his way back. Barry Divola
