When a car veers off the road with devastating consequences, the small wheatbelt town of Garringarup is left reeling, but no one's worlds are more shattered than those of Hannah and Freya, the partners of the passengers. On a day when wedding bells should have been ringing, their lives are torn apart by the web of lies the accident has exposed.

Think Jodi Picoult meets Liane Moriarty and you have an idea of the fast-paced, page turning ethical dilemmas explored by Fiona Lowe in “The Accident”.

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Dumped by her husband of twenty-five years, Jo Peck—smart, successful and sixty—is totally floored. She’s hurt, angry and devastated…but not for long! In this candid memoir Jo discovers the comfort and support of friends, newly forged connections with extended family, good therapy…and internet dating!

Annie loved Jo’s raunchy rediscovery of self because, as Jo explained, “The unvarnished truth is very compelling”.

Guests

Fiona Lowe, author of 37 books. Her latest is “The Accident”

Jo Peck author of “Suddenly Single at Sixty”

Our random reader is Sameer

Other books that get a mention

Samir mentions “Master of the Game” by Sidney Sheldon, “Le Miserables” by Victor Hugo, “Cultural Heritage of India” six volumes gathered under the guidance of the Ramakrishna Institute of Culture.

Sarah mentions “The Animals in that Country” by Laura Jean McKay.Annie mentions “Long Island” by Colm Toibin. He is the author of 7 books, including “Brooklyn”.

INSTAGRAM

@fionaloweaustralianauthor

@text_publishing

@goyougoodthing57

@harpercollinsaustralia

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The outwardly comfortable life of mother and wife, Winona Dalloway, has dark currents running beneath. "Thunderhead" is her interior monologue as she navigates the everyday acts of collecting the children from school, shopping and preparing for a dinner party when in fact she is a woman in peril. A homage to Virginia Woolf’s "Mrs Dalloway", "Thunderhead" is a reminder of the terror that can lurk unseen in the lives of others.

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Bet Schenk brings a poet’s pared-down style and awareness of the power of language to this story set in a small country town where the local teen hero is actually anything but - and his brother knows the truth. "The Most Famous Boy in Town" is billed as teen fiction but it’s a story for all ages.

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Our regular leading literary light Kylie Cardell reviews "Lioness" by Emily Perkins, winner of the 2024 New Zealand Ockham Book Awards.

Guests

Miranda Darling, author and poet

Bel Schenk, author and poet

Kylie Cardell, Associate Professor , English and Creative Writing, Flinders University

INSTAGRAM

@mirandadarling13

@belschenk

@kyliecardell

@scribepub

Spineless Wonders Press https://shortaustralianstories.com.au/

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In a move away from investigative journalism and her previous deep diving non-fiction
titles, Louise Milligan delves into crime fiction with debut novel, Pheasants Nest.
It tells the story of Kate Delaney, a journalist who finds herself bound and gagged and
being driven somewhere by a strange man. As someone haunted by the crimes she has
had to report on, Kate knows her chances of survival are slight.

Guest:
Louise Milligan

INSTAGRAM
@milliganreports

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Miles Franklin Award winner, Shankari Chandran takes Cath to Cinnamon Gardens, an aged care home established by Tamil refugees and now run by their daughter. It’s run with love and dignity and has become an oasis for its culturally diverse residents…but the tensions of past wars and the prejudices of present day Australia which have long remained at a simmer ultimately boil over.

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Associate Professor Lisa Bennett shares her passion for stories soaked in mist and old magic with “Storyland”; a masterful, unique and utterly compelling illustrated mythology of Britain. Be transported to a time when England was considered the furthest outpost on any map and half remembered characters such as Brutus, Albina, Scota and Bladud roamed the earth …and our imaginations.

Guests

Shankari Chandran, author of “Chai Time at Cinnamon Gardens” which won the 2023 Miles Franklin Award. She’s also the author of “Song of the Sun God” and “The Barrier”.

Associate Professor Lisa Bennett, from the College of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences at Flinders University discusses “Storyland; A new mythology of Britain” by Amy Jeffs.

Other books that get a mention

“Wild; Tales from Early Medieval Britain” by Amy Jeffs, “The Shadow of the Wind” by Carlos Ruiz Zafon, “The Thursday Murder Club” by Richard Osman and “Pheasant’s Nest” by Louise Milligan.

INSTAGRAM

@Ultimopress

@Hachetteaus

@lisalhannett

@amyjeffs_author

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Poetry seems a solitary pursuit but not for well knownAustralian poets Peter Bakowski and Ken Bolton - they recently released two new collections ‘On Luck Street’ and ‘Waldo’s Game’ in which they have collaborated from afar, co-telling stories using a ’call and respond’ writing technique.

And former ABC broadcaster Mike Ladd has made a career as a poet and also helped put poetry on the map with the long running radio program ‘Poetica’ - he makes the case for why poetry should matter to us all.

Guests

Peter Bakowski

Ken Bolton

Mike Ladd

Annie mentions the poems ‘Funeral Blues’ by WH Auden and ‘The Second Coming’ by WB Yeats

Peter and Ken read selections from ‘On Luck Street” and ‘Waldo’s Game’

Mike Ladd reads “The End and the Beginning” by Polish poet Wisława Szymborska and his own recently penned poem ‘Prove that You’re a Human’ .

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Molly Schmidt’s Salt River Road is a searing account of grief and redemption set in the big sky/small town landscapes of south west WA..
Racism, poverty and country town politics are all part of life in country Western Australia in the 1970’s. But for the Tetley family all that matters is that they have lost their beloved mother Elena, and they are all falling apart…and in danger of losing the farm that is their livelihood.
Through the eyes of teenage siblings Rose and Frank the reader experiences the
dangerously deep grief of losing a parent. Then comes a slow redemption through their connection with two local Noongar elders, and a reconciliation with events from the past.

Guest:
Molly Schmidt, author and recipient of the 2022 City of Fremantle Hungerford Award

INSTAGRAM
@molly.elizabeth.schmidt
@fremantlepress

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Celia appears to have it all and her life is running like clockwork - and so it should because she has it planned down to the very last minute - but then along comes a challenge that could be her undoing! Celia is thrust into a process equal parts amusing and heartbreaking as she shakily charts a new path.

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From falling for the boy next door to romancing a minotaur - occupational therapist turned successful romance novelist Davina Stone talks us through the many forms that modern romance takes. The only proviso is, no matter how serious the story, the ending must be happy!

Guests

Emma Young, author of “The Disorganisation of Celia Stone”. Her debut novel was “The Last Bookshop”.

Davina Stone, author of ‘The Felix Factor’, the sixth novel in her series The Laws of Love . She also writes monster romance under the name Lilith Stone

Other books that get a mention

Emma loves the diary format and she recalls the young adult books that first inspired her: The Adrian Mole series by Sue Townsend, “So Much to Tell You” by John Marsden, “I Capture the Castle” by Dodie Smith and “Bridget Jones’ Diary” by Helen Fielding.

Emma is donating half her royalties to Beyond Zero Emissions (www.bze.org.au).

Michaela mentions “The Tao of Pooh” by Benjamin Hoff

Annie mentions “Don’t Sweat the Small Stuff…and “it’s all small stuff” by Richard Carlson

Davina mentions Romance Writers of Australia, a community of over 700 aspiring, emerging, and established indie and traditionally published romance authors.

INSTAGRAM

@emma_young_book_fiend

@fremantlepress

@davinastone_

@rwaaus

https://davinastone.com/

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Cath has admired the work of Paddy O’Reilly for some time but with her shortlisting for the Prime Minister’s Literary Award, “Other Houses” looks sure to win O’Reilly many new admirers. It’s a tale of class, aspiration and the boundaries we will cross for love.

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Michaela has an Anne of Green Gables doll that her mother bought on a pilgrimage to Prince Edward Island in the ‘80s. She asks Associate Professors Lisa Bennett and Kylie Cardell to reveal their ‘Green’ credentials and discuss LM Montgomery’s perennial appeal.

Guests
Paddy O’Reilly, author of “Other Houses”

Associate Professor Kylie Cardell and Associate Professor Lisa Bennett, both from the College of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences at Flinders University

The Tsundoku team’s Christmas reading list:

Sarah - “The Remains of the Day” by Kazuo Ishiguro & “The Thursday Murder Club” by Richard Osmon

Michaela - “A Net for Small Fishes” by Lucy Jago

Annie - “Ghosts of Spain” by Giles Tremlett, “The Bee Sting” by Paul Murray & “Before the Coffee Gets Cold” by Toshikazu Kawaguchi

Cath - “The Tea Ladies” by Amanda Hampson, “Stoneyard Devotional” by Charlotte Wood & “Less than Angels” by Barbara Pym

INSTAGRAM

@paddyoreilly.writer
@affirmpress

@lisalhannett

@kyliesays

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