Number 3 chiller
‘Disher has drawn both a vivid and visceral picture of a backblocks bush town, its inhabitants ground down by the stresses of isolation, hard work and irregular, relentlessly shrinking incomes.’ The Guardian reviews Garry Disher’s latest standalone novel, Bitter Wash Road.
‘This book positively domesticates the goldrush.’ Alison Bartlett reviews Clare Wright’s The Forgotten Rebels of Eureka in the Guardian.
Is this the year’s best literary Halloween costume? Probably, but these pets give it a run for its money.
‘Women are not marginal. Women are not a minority. And the narrative of struggle—with its implied denouement of failure—perpetuates the myth that women have only ever been knocking at the door of Australia’s story. Struggling, not angry.
Garry Disher talks to Linda Herrick at the New Zealand Herald about crime writing, growing up in South Australia, and the time he taught Chopper Read in a creative-writing class. Garry’s new novel, Bitter Wash Road, is available now in bookshops and online.
‘The best stories in The Double can be brutal yet remain achingly moving and painfully poignant; there are some outstanding, even breathtaking sentences and scenes in this book. Takolander is fluent in capturing moments of sudden grief, shame, intimacy and melancholy.’ Read more
The 10 most dramatic deaths in fiction.
Some fantastic tattoos inspired by children’s books. Red Riding Hood is my favourite.
The best parties in literature (to which you weren’t invited).
Rebecca Stead’s Liar & Spy has won the Guardian children’s fiction prize.
Julia Eccleshare, Guardian children’s books editor and chair of the judging panel for the prize, called Liar & Spy ‘an incredibly sensitive book.
Today is the November pub date! Check out all the new books here. Missed today’s newsletter? Never fear. (But you should probably subscribe so this doesn’t happen again.)
On unusable words: auto-antonyms, profanity and other tricksy language problems.
A brief history of publishing, from 40,000 BC to the present day.
Do you have writer’s block? Here, have some writer’s block soup.
An interesting thought experiment: Read more
‘With its intricate narrative structure, use of multiple points of view and flashbacks, this is Savage’s most ambitious and accomplished crime novel to date.’ Sue Turnbull reviews Angela Savage’s The Dying Beach in the Age.