Emily Paull

This review was originally published by The AU Review on March 24, 2022. “They are having sex when the wind starts up, whispering and sighing outside.” So opens the first story in  Fiona Robertson ‘s Glendower Award-winning collection,  If You’re Happy . The University of Queensland Press team are no strangers to publishing powerful short fiction that challenges the conventions of the form in this country; counting among their authors Stella Prize longlisted  SJ Norman , national treasure  Tony Birch  and 2021 Steele Rudd Award recipient  Laura Elvery . Robertson easily takes her place among these literary heavy hitters with her debut collection, a catalogue of people reaching their breaking points and deciding whether to fight on or to give in. The collection opens with “Tempest”, an impactful snapshot of a marriage that takes place during a Texan Hurricane. At first, all seems well between Shelley and Jay. But, as Shelley stands facing down the eye of th...

This review was originally published on The AU Review on March 4, 2022.  Kerri Maher’ s latest novel,   The Paris Bookseller ,  is bound to appeal to fans of bestselling author,  Natasha Lester.   Not only does it take as its setting Paris during the 1920s, but it features at its core the little known history behind the setting up of the iconic Shakespeare and Co bookshop. Readers may be interested to know, as I was, that the Shakespeare and Co bookshop as we know it today is actually the second iteration of the store; the first having been set up in 1919 by Sylvia Beach and closed during the Second World War. Legend has it that the shop was ordered to be closed down after Beach refused to sell a copy of  Finnegan’s Wake  to a Nazi officer; but when the officers returned later there was no trace of the store to be found. Friends of Beach’s (among them, perhaps,  Ernest Hemingway ) had helped her to hide all traces that there had ever been a booksh...

For Emma and Elvis  is the second novel from Australian author and musician, Charles Hall. In the summer of 1977, Michael Byrne returns to London after a trip to Spain with his wife Emma and her young son, Declan. They are greeted by the news that Elvis Presley is dead. But when Michael goes to the local newsagent to read the paper, he discovers some even more shocking news which will have personal ramifications for his and Emma's life together. Emma's ex-husband- and Declan's father- Paul Hegarty, has been injured while working on a story in Tanzania. Though Michael wants nothing more than to erase Paul from their lives, he has no choice but to tell Emma what has happened.  From there, the book jumps back in time to 1968, Australia, when Emma and Michael first met. Michael, a dogsbody for a local music agency, has a talent for photography, and is an all about nice guy. His best mate, Johnny, is full of surprises. The two of them strike up a friendship with two young women ...

This review was originally published by The AU Review on January 20, 2022.  It is easy to imagine  Chai Time at Cinnamon Gardens,  the new novel by   Shankari Chandran  becoming an amazing television miniseries. On first glance at its beautiful green cover, the reader might be forgiven for thinking that they are in for a sweet, gentle, heartwarming novel about relatively harmless retirees living in a nursing home. Instead, they are treated to a powerful, compassionate novel about friendship, family, community-building, and the racism faced by members of diasporic communities in this country. Chai Time at Cinnamon Gardens  centres around the Cinnamon Gardens Nursing Home in Westgrove, Sydney, owned by Maya Ali and her daughter, Dr Anjali Ali. Maya and her husband Zakhir invested in the refurbishment of the home in the early 1980s after moving to Australia from Sri Lanka during the Civil War. The couple put thought and care into making Cinnamon Gardens a com...