Did we mention the October issue of the magazine hit our desks a couple of weeks ago? Here are the reviewers’ top picks from the reviews this time around:
Foal’s Bread (Gillian Mears, A&U, November)
‘ Mears is up there with Tim Winton and Kate Grenville,’ writes Fairfield Book’s Heather Dyer in her review of Foal’s Bread, Mear’s first novel in 16 years. The novel tells the story of two generations of the Nancarrow family, set in the horse-jumping circuit in rural NSW prior to WWII. ‘The relationships between the characters in Foal’s Bread are rich and varied, and Mears rarely takes the obvious route as she explores emotions of love, jealousy, frustration and disappointment … Foal’s Bread is a book to be read slowly and savoured.’
Forecast: Turbulence (Janette Turner Hospital, Fourth Estate, November)
‘Janette Turner Hospital’s anthology of stories gathers together a striking array of disturbed and disturbing characters—the forthright daughter of a cult leader, a young woman facing her father for the first time in years, the devastated parents of an abducted youth, and two young girls who bond though self-harm,’ writers reviewer Portia Lindsay. ‘Turner Hospital’s writing is both sharp and intimate. She doesn’t shy away from brutality, and in this—and the theme of individuals struggling among forces much larger than themselves—it contains similarities to Due Preparations for the Plague.’
Silence (Rodney Hall, Pier 9, November)
‘Silence should be approached with senses attuned to the sounds, images and emotions that are evoked so vividly by this master storyteller,’ writes reviewer Toni Whitmont of Rodney Hall’s short story collection. ‘The stories cover several continents and ages. They are told from the points of view of rulers and minions, victors and vanquished, and even, occasionally, animals (well, a dreaming bird) … I came to this book unprepared, and I was completely overwhelmed by the tapestry of its imagery and the echoes of its stillness.’
HipsterMattic: One Man’s Quest to become the Ultimate Hipster (Matt Granfield, A&U, November)
Dumped by his hipster girlfriend, Matt Granfield ‘decided to turn himself into The Ultimate Hipster … embarking on a series of sure-fire markers of Ultimate Hipness: getting a tattoo, starting a band, acquiring a fixed-gear bicycle, learning how to knit, selling organic cupcakes and scrabble jewellery at a market in a laneway, and so on,’ writes reviewer Hannah Francis. ‘While this sounds like a potentially annoying premise, Granfield writes with a light-hearted humour that is refreshing and at times laugh-out-loud funny.’
Tony Robinson’s History of Australia (Tony Robinson, Viking, November)
This book ‘is a companion book to the TV series Tony Robertson Explores Australia, which aired on the History Channel earlier this year,’ writes reviewer Jessica Broadbent. ‘As always, Robinson pokes just the right amount of fun. He unearths some interesting events from the history books, including some that may come as a surprise to many locals. For example, who knew there was a Founding Orgy? … He also covers more recent events such as the apology to the Stolen Generations, and takes a stroll with the award-winning author Anh Do.’
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The Truth about Verity Sparks is an engaging mystery for the 10-plus age group. Set in the late 1800s, it concerns Verity Sparks, a lowly hat maker in class-ridden London. Verity lives a meagre existence until she realises that she has a unique talent in finding lost objects. Before she knows it she has joined the Confidential Inquiry Agency (with its amusing acronym) and proves to be quite adept at solving mysteries. Her own past is murky, however, so she and her newfound friends set out to discover the truth. Susan Green has written a story with a strong female heroine that is sure to engage both girls and boys. At first, Verity is painted as somewhat ignorant and Green cleverly introduces ‘big’ words via other characters. Imaginations will run wild with the thrill of not knowing what is going to happen next, and The Truth about Verity Sparks certainly delivers. Let’s hope Susan Green has further adventures up her sleeve for Verity, as there is definitely scope for more. 
Novelist Richard Flanagan’s collected short pieces of nonfiction called 
Taking its inspiration from the Book of Psalms, which arguably (with Song of Songs) is the part of the Old Testament that comes closest to pure poetry, Interferon Psalms is a striking mix of ancient and modern, as indeed the title itself suggests (interferon is a protein used to treat cancer). In a feat of no mean technical achievement, Luke Davies co-opts the heightened, declamatory language of the psalms (‘O I came upon such emptiness/& it never stopped’) to deliver a sustained and dramatic modern monologue about love lost and experience gained. In 33 poems of varied length and intensity, Davies has his narrator relate both a physical and spiritual journey of recovery and discovery that is triggered by the end of a relationship. Despite the occasional use of bathos, the overall effect is deliberately epic. This is a book of big themes, encompassing musings on God, life, the universe and everything, if you will. Given this, the choice of an archaic language and form is entirely appropriate and at times quite moving. In keeping with its epic scale too is the energy of the language, which sometimes overwhelms with its noise, sudden changes of direction and mixed metaphors. It is as if Davies’ narrator is literally struggling to find the language capable of conveying the depth of his experiences. This is a maelstrom of a work.
For really, really good Australian young-adult (and middle-grade) historical fiction, Jackie French has always been a winner—just look at titles such as Somewhere Around the Corner, The Night They Stormed Eureka, and her recent book A Waltz for Matilda. With Nanberry: Black Brother White she delivers an excellent fictionalised account of the First Fleet’s settlement at Sydney Cove, spanning the years 1788 to 1823, and using real historical figures to do so. Nanberry is the young Indigenous boy who grew up half-English, half-Aboriginal, adopted by the chief surgeon John White when Nanberry’s entire people were killed by an outbreak of smallpox. French gives us such a rich view of the colony and its everyday workings, weaving them into the story effortlessly and without the dreaded information ‘dump’. She also doesn’t gloss over the nasty parts, such as the plight of Aboriginal people, the terrible treatment of women in the colony, the drunkenness and violence of both soldiers and convicts (they are the real ‘savages’ in this story), malnutrition and the ‘tyranny of distance’. All of the characters are well drawn, with distinct voices, and French offers two strong female characters in Rachel and Maria. Nanberry: Black Brother White is a powerful novel; it would fit excellently into the Australian school curriculum but it will also satisfy any reader aged 11 and up, including grown-ups.
Darren Lockyer’s self-titled 
Babylon is a taut and unpredictable crime novel from Stephen Sewell, who is best known as a playwright and scriptwriter and who recently adapted the film Animal Kingdom into book form. Charismatic psychopath Dan is driving a stolen black Chevrolet when he picks up Mick, a young English backpacker, seemingly by chance. Dan’s flair and immediate power over the vulnerable Mick are slowly teased out in an extended cop-chase/road-trip through a dark and mythic east-coast Australia. While Dan remains an enigma (his violent murders are revealed ‘off-camera’), Mick is exposed as a vulnerable, fatherless young man who grew up in a no-hoper housing commission in Northern England. This is a detective story turned on its head: the cops’ appearances are limited, almost klutzy cameos that allow the reader a break from the remorseless evil of Dan and the delusions of Mick, as he begins to see things he’s never seen before. The filmic nature of the book is boosted by sharp descriptions of the landscape and the unrelenting evil of Dan, which work together to build this story towards a surprising ending. This is a tightly written literary crime novel.
Anna Funder’s Stasiland was a massive hit when it was released several years ago, so it’s no surprise that her debut novel 
The contentious topic of pornography has received increased public attention recently, due to the appearance of anti-porn activist Gail Dines at the Sydney Writers’ Festival. Big Porn Inc features contributions by Dines, along with Maggie Hamilton, Helen Pringle, and many more. The essays cover a wide array of issues connected to the porn industry, including stripping and prostitution, abuse of animals and children (including a tragic victim impact statement), issues associated with judging women by pornographic standards, and misogyny in videogames. Big Porn Inc occasionally strays into didacticism; the collection includes an essay that lampoons a more pornpositive study, The Porn Report, along with criticisms of other academic and public figures, including Peter Singer, who, it is argued, do not come down firmly enough against the porn industry. Most pieces present a ghastly portrait of the pornification of mainstream culture and the commodification of sex and women’s bodies. Anyone interested in how ideas of free speech operate to defend an industry that causes serious harm to women and children will find compelling arguments and disturbing information in this book, and quite possibly be swayed towards the idea of ‘fair speech’ that the editors passionately advocate as an alternative. Big Porn Inc. will be of particular interest to those engaged in gender or cultural studies, as the authors provide many references for further reading on each topic.
Many enthusiastic readers of Alice Pung’s earlier memoir, Unpolished Gem, have been hungry for more from this virtuosic writer. In Her Father’s Daughter, the author expands on the relationship between her father (and mother) and herself, bringing to life the horrors of her parents’ struggle to survive the Pol Pot years in Cambodia, the wanton deprivation, brutality and genocide they witness all around them, and their gritty determination to survive and to make a new and better life either at home or in a new country. Eventually making their way to Melbourne, they do just that, starting very small and tenaciously building a business that will eventually give the entire family security. His shattering experiences render Alice’s father incapable of cutting his daughter loose, of allowing her to make her own way in the world. Always protective, always expecting the worst for her whenever she is away from the family home, he cannot understand her desire to live away, to visit China and Cambodia, to explore her ethnic and cultural roots. That Alice achieved her independence, travelled and practices law is testimony to a similar toughness to that of her father. This eloquent, economical memoir should reach a similar readership to that of Unpolished Gem: perhaps wider, with the power of its father-daughter focus.
