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Cooktown
‘A scintillating debut — pacy, unsettling and shot through with dark truth.’ —Hugh Riminton It’s 2011 and in a remote fishing village in far north Queensland, ex special forces soldier Daniel Grey has just returned from a brutal tour of duty in Afghanistan. Unsure of what’s next, he’s sought out his old mentor and school rugby coach. He meets the coach’s beautiful wife Maria, and their daughter Remy – a strange and reclusive girl with unusual gifts. Dealing with the loss of his former life and his best friend – along with some deeper wounds – Daniel now faces his toughest battle. In doing so, he has the chance to conquer old demons once and for all – and maybe help a new friend find her way in the world. Cooktown is a confronting and tender novel which unflinchingly examines our need for human closeness via unforgettable characters set adrift from society. ‘A brave and compelling novel, addressing real and pertinent issues.’ —Steven Lang
Jim's Book
Meet the man and uncover the story behind one of Australia’s most recognised brands We all know Jim’s. Maybe you just passed a Jim’s Mowing trailer on the road; or maybe there’s a Jim’s Cleaning van parked across the street each Tuesday morning; or maybe your best mate is laughing all the way to the bank after quitting the city and starting his new Jim’s Fencing franchise, but do you know the real story behind the Jim’s Group and its founder, Jim Penman? Brutally efficient, socially awkward, and a tireless perfectionist, Jim is as complex and fascinating as the Jim’s Group. This book is a warts-and-all look at his colourful life that delves deep into how he ignored convention...
The Time of Our Lives
What’s the key to the art of growing older well? Is it an art that anyone can cultivate? How should we confront dying and death in a secular age? What about sex when we’re older? What about loneliness? (And, for that matter, what about facelifts?) At the height of his powers in this remarkable (and often witty) book, Robert Dessaix addresses these increasingly urgent questions in inimitable prose and comes up with some surprising answers. From Java to Hobart via Berlin, Dessaix invites us to eavesdrop on his intimate, no-nonsense conversations about ageing with friends and chance acquaintances. Reflecting on time, religion, painting, dancing and even grandchildren, Dessaix takes us on an enlivening journey across the landscape of growing older. Riffing on writers and thinkers from Plato to Eva Hoffman, he homes in on the crucial importance of a rich inner life. The Time of Our Lives is a wise and timely exploration of not just the challenges but also the many possibilities of old age.
We Are Speaking In Code
Winner of the Small Press Book of the Year 2021 We Are Speaking in Code explores difference and deviance in the everyday through the lenses of mental illness queerness and migrant identity. Weaving personal anecdotes with reflections on trauma psychology and contemporary relationships this collection of essays catalogues reconsiders and unravels ideas of belonging identity and the way we operate in the world. Opening with a visit 'home' to Moscow where she speaks an alphabet-soup Russian Vavilova tries to connect with her mother and grandmother. The titular essay starts one of the central conversations of the book; what does it mean to be a migrant whose identity is impossible in the land of their forebears and highly complicated in their home. Vavilova also tackles the millennial preoccupations of finding meaningful paid work navigating dating in the tech age and the perils of building a living as an artist. Bridging social emotional and geographic distances Vavilova's essays look for ways to live on the edges with grace humour and lucid rage. 'Vividly written gutsy and tender funny and shocking: this is a fabulous book about being human.' – Richard Glover
Being Shot
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We Were Never Friends
Lotti Coates lives in the shadow of a genius: her father George is a brilliant and celebrated Australian painter. When Lotti meets the outcast waif Kyla at a suburban Canberra school, two worlds are set to collide. Slowly Kyla is drawn into the orbit of the Coates family. Or is it the other way around? As Lotti and Kyla navigate their way towards adulthood, dark secrets start to unravel, with devastating consequences … We Were Never Friends is a story of friendship, the pursuit of a creative life and the legacies we leave behind. Praise for We Were Never Friends by Margaret Bearman ‘This intelligent, subtle novel is a complex study of family dynamics, class divides, adolescent pecking or...
The Brisbane Line
As WWII ravages the world and the Japanese Empire has set its sights on Australia, the Americans have come to save us. But not all soldiers are heroes and not all heroes are soldiers. Sergeant Joe Washington, a US Military Police, loves music and photography but spends his days delving into the sordid and petty crimes committed by the thousands of American troops passing through town. While trying to find stolen gasoline stores, he is sent to investigate the body of an American soldier found dumped in a cemetery. Suddenly Joe is up against notorious detective Frank Bischof. Although ordered to leave the investigation alone, Joe fears that Bischof is protecting the most likely suspect while trying to pin the crime on an innocent – and intriguing – young woman, Rose. A woman who seems to walk between the parallel worlds of black market deals and Brisbane’s high society. ‘‘a rattling good murder mystery with a well worked plot that is fast paced and complex enough to engage the reader.’ Westender ‘Beautifully textured, thoughtful and satisfying.’ Emily Maguire
Paris 1924
What was it like to visit Paris a century ago in 1924 when it was the most exciting city in the world? Where were the best places to eat? Where was the nightlife? Who might you expect to meet? And what were the fabled 'Chariots of Fire' Olympics really like? What has changed ... and indeed what is still there? Americans flocked to a city where there was no Prohibition and little inhibition. The arts flourished. Convention was challenged the new celebrated and non-conformity accepted. What did Chanel, Picasso and Hemingway and the rest get up to? All of this and more is swept up and revealed in Paris 1924 an amusing insightful and sometimes salacious guide to one of the world's greatest — and most beloved — cities.
Smart Ovens for Lonely People
Conspiracies, celebrities, and therapies underpin this beguiling short-story collection from Elizabeth Tan. A cat-shaped oven tells a depressed woman she doesn't have to be sorry anymore. A Yourtopia Bespoke Terraria employee becomes paranoid about the mounting coincidences in her life. Four girls gather to celebrate their fabulous underwear. With her trademark wit and slicing social commentary, Elizabeth Tan’s short stories are as funny as they are insightful. This collection cements her role as one of Australia’s most inventive writers ‘This utterly original book will mess with your mind and make you laugh like a drain.‘ Sydney Morning Herald ‘Elizabeth Tan can twist ordinary suburban life into the weirdest shapes.’ The Monthly ‘Tan twists a future that has already arrived with one in the process of arriving.’ The Saturday Paper ‘In a collection of consistent highlights, the brilliance of some stories is particularly blinding.’ Australian Book Review ‘Tan’s evocation of this dreamlike incongruity is playful, reminiscent of Murakami’s blasé surrealism and Coupland’s crafty wryness.’ Sydney Review of Books
Deception Bay
Deceit is usually wrong, sometimes necessary and often the best course of action DECEPTION BAY continues JP Powell’s magnificent Brisbane wartime saga. American MP Joe Washington, an investigator with the Provost Marshall’s Office, and Australian Rose McAlister are swept back together when she returns to join Central Bureau, General MacArthur’s code-breaking group of eccentrics in ‘Brisbane’s Bletchley Park’. Again and again, Joe is drawn to the Brisbane River. Reports of a man who jumped from a bridge, a code breaker allegedly drowned by suicide, and an arm with an unrecognisable tattoo fished out of the water at the submarine base. Together they follow the clues but are quickly...
