Haunted by the brutal murder of a local couple, David heads to his weekend shack with his new lover, Lydia, and his children from his recently crumbled marriage. Together they find escape, if only briefly, in the ocean and the bush. The Bodysurfers, the title story of Robert Drewe's classic first collection, is a vivid evocation of love, passion, terror and the beauty of the beach.
Set among the surf and sandhills of the Australian beach – and the tidal changes of three generations of the Lang family – The Bodysurfers is an Australian classic. A short-story collection which has become a bestseller and been adapted for film, television, radio and the theatre, The Bodysurfers on its first publication marked a major change in Australian literature.
Juniper, living deep in the forest with her parents, is stunned to discover that the beautiful girl living isolated in a nearby tower is her sister. When the two girls meet, what begins as a fascination and a friendship ultimately develops into something truly sinister. A story of jealousy, passion and power, Beauty's Sister is a dark and gripping reimagining of one of our oldest tales, Rapunzel, from acclaimed novelist James Bradley. 'Bradley's writing is spare and precise, his images haunting, and his plot reimagines the well-known fairy tale from the point of view of Rapunzel's darker, wilder sister... I have read many hundreds of reinventions of this tale. Beauty's Sister is one of the most powerful.' Kate Forsyth 'A perfect Penguin Special.' West Australian 'Utilising fable tropes such as sibling rivalry, childhood misadventure and sorcery, Beauty's Sister took me into its world.' Killings, the Kill Your Darlings blog
In homage to that most civilised of activities, letter writing, Marieke Hardy and Michaela McGuire created the literary afternoons of Women of Letters. Some of Australia's finest dames of stage, screen and page have delivered missives on a series of themes. Published here for the first time are Deborah Conway writing about the ups and downs of being a dog owner in A Letter to the Best Decision I Ever Made; Ita Buttrose imagining an alternative life as an opera singer in A Letter to the Life I Could Have Lived; Tracee Hutchison writing A Complaint Letter to complaint letters; Pip Lincolne describing a magical childhood afternoon in A Letter to the Moment I Knew it Was Time to Go Home; A Love Letter from Kate Miller-Heidke aged twenty-nine to Kate Miller-Heidke aged twelve; and Helen Garner looking back on a teacher both terrifying and inspiring in A Letter to the Person I Misjudged. Touching, funny and wise, this brand new collection of letters is a captivating tribute to correspondence. 'Filled with humour and heart, with tinges of melancholy or longing. As the prose delicately unfolds, each voice is clear, making the letters easy to devour.' Killings, the Kill Your Darlings blog
Feel that War and Peace went on a bit? Wish there were more laughs in Catcher in the Rye? Then A Selection of Smithereens is for you. These pieces from one of Australia's funniest men (no, not John Clarke) feature the Borgias, Winston Churchill and the history behind cornflakes – and so much more! Fresh from the updated 2011 edition of Smithereens, these six short essays are small, perfectly formed and easily digestible pieces of Shaun Micallef.
A big old Victorian terrace in Jersey Road, Woollahra, is thought to be haunted by the two Darkling sisters from the 1920s. When a young family moves in, dark images of these sisters, and of relationships closer to home, hang over them. Beautifully crafted and keenly observed, this story from Dorothy Hewett's acclaimed collection A Baker's Dozen is a stunning evocation of family, memories and neighbourhood.
When Jill Meagher went missing and was then found murdered in 2012, the city of Melbourne was shaken to the core. Emotional responses ranged from grief to guilt to rage to defensiveness, but no one was left untouched. The media coverage was unrelenting and overwhelming, constantly updating readers and viewers on the latest awful details, and friends and neighbours couldn't help but discuss it. Here acclaimed writer Michaela McGuire eloquently describes how, as the story continued to unfold, it wove itself through the fabric of the city. A Story of Grief is a deeply moving examination of the act of grief and how the death of someone we don't know personally can still consume us. 'Affecting and thought-provoking.' Newcastle Herald
Beneath its peaceful exterior, the city of Adelaide and its surrounding areas have a dark history. From the disappearance of the Beaumont children to the Snowtown killings in the 1990s, it has been home to a long series of brutal and baffling killings and abductions. In The Element of Need, acclaimed author James Bradley uses this long history of violence as the basis of a fascinating exploration not just of his own childhood and adolescence, but of the psychic landscape of this most haunted of cities.
Squeaker, a selector, is slowly clearing his piece of the Australian bush. However, lazy and shiftless, he leaves most of the work to his uncomplaining and hardworking mate. When she is crushed under a falling yellow gum, Squeaker responds only with selfish impatience. Taught to endlessly endure by her harsh surroundings, Squeaker's mate carries the burden of her injury quietly, with only her old dog for comfort. Published as part of Barbara Baynton's iconic collection Bush Studies in 1902, Squeaker's Mate is a visceral and lyrical story about the hostility faced by European settlers in the Australian bush during settlement. From an era when literature focused almost entirely on men and male experiences, Squeaker's Mate is an important depiction of the unique trials and strengths of women.
