Emily Paull

The Historian's Daughter Rashida Murphy UWA Publishing 2016  I first met Rashida Murphy when we were both featured on Amanda Curtin's blog as WA Writers to watch. Not long after this, Rashida's book, which she had been working on as part of her PhD, was accepted for publication by UWA Publishing.   The Historian's Daughter came out in September of this year, and I was so excited to read it. I was not disappointed. The Historian's Daughter  is the story of Hannah, a young girl growing up in India with a colonialist father whom she calls the Historian, and a Persian mother whom she adores, and calls the Magician.  She idolises her older sister Gloria, loves to read about 'the conquistadors', Englishmen who travelled to the Indian colony, and collects words.  Hannah's family life is crowded and not always satisfying to her, with numerous Aunties living under their roof such as Meher Aunty who is a greedy and selfish presence in Hannah's li...

The Good People Hannah Kent Picador, 2016 (I own a copy, courtesy of the publisher) When I read Hannah Kent's 2013 debut, I was supposed to be vacuuming my room.  But I was reading instead, and I was reading about dark, cold, Iceland, and by the time I had finished the book, I had climbed into my bed and pulled the covers up because my whole body felt frozen.  That was the power of that book.  Hannah Kent's writing had taken me to a place I had never even been. Since reading it, and since it became a global phenomenon, I have seen Hannah Kent speak at the Perth Writers' Festival, and seen her give interviews on television.  There is no doubting that she is a thoughtful, intelligent writer who takes her subject matter seriously.  It should not be a surprise to anyone who has read Burial Rites that her new book, The Good People , is just as moving. The novel tells the story of three women who set about trying to banish a fairy changeling which they bel...