Monthly Archives: September 2017

Jarulan by the River by Lily Woodhouse – 2017

Jarulan is a crumbling mansion on a sprawling property in rural New South Wales, and Jarulan is a sprawling saga sporadically following the Jarulan residents from before the First World War to the present.  Much of the physical character of … Continue reading

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The Suicide Club by Sarah Quigley – 2017

Three young people, one mistakenly named, two self-named, have all experienced childhood trauma.  As a result they feel abandoned, are haunted by horrific memories, or experience hyper-sensitivity due to early injuries.  All three are extremely gifted: either with beauty, with … Continue reading

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The Sound of Her Voice by Nathan Blackwell – 2017

Matt Buchanan has worked on a series of horrific crimes spanning decades in an Auckland where it is always raining, and years on he is still haunted by his earliest case, the still unsolved disappearance of a school girl, Samantha.  … Continue reading

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Aukati by Michalia Arathimos – 2017

What I loved about this book was its uncompromising life-like messiness; things don’t go as planned, there are long periods in the doldrums, sex is sometimes not that great, something happens and suddenly one of the characters finds himself in … Continue reading

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Tess by Kirsten McDougall – 2017

A middle-aged man with a rifle in his car decides to pick up a young woman on the highway.  He is just wanting to help; she is about the same age as his estranged daughter.  The young woman sees accepting … Continue reading

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The Scene of the Crime by Steve Braunias – 2015

WELCOME TO THE NGAIO MARSH AWARDS BLOG TOUR 2017 There is an inevitable melange of fiction and reality that arises from piecing together ‘what happened’ in a crime: “a trial is always going to take on the literary form of … Continue reading

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