Jesmyn Ward, Bloomsbury, $32.99. October 24<\/strong><\/p>\n
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The latest novel from the author of Salvage the Bones<\/em> (about Hurricane Katrina) and Men We Have Reaped<\/em>, a memoir of the deaths of five black men she knew (including her brother), is a strikingly written, and confronting portrayal of slavery.<\/p>\n Annis is sold by her owner (and \u201csire\u201d) and forced to walk south, Dante-like, to the slave markets in New Orleans and a new hell. This is a book suffused with grief for slavery, but never devoid of hope and love.<\/p>\n Lola in the Mirror<\/strong><\/em> In his author\u2019s note, Trent Dalton says his third novel was inspired by stories told him during his long career in social affairs journalism. At its heart is homelessness \u2013 his 17-year-old heroine is on the run from male violence with her scared and scarred mother.<\/p>\n In a mirror she finds on a Brisbane nature strip the girl seems to find an alternative self, a voice \u2013 Lola \u2013 living a life utterly different from hers.<\/p>\n But can she negotiate her precarious existence, survive and thrive?<\/p>\n Killing for Country: A Family Story How would you feel if, while doing a bit of genealogical research, you discovered that you were descended from professional killers of Aboriginal people?<\/p>\n If you\u2019re someone such as David Marr, who has \u201cbeen writing about the politics of race all my life. I know what side I\u2019m on\u201d, it prompts this confronting investigation of the Native Police and his family connections through his great-great-grandfather.<\/p>\n He describes it as \u201can act of atonement, of penance by storytelling\u201d. It\u2019s a timely, vital story.<\/p>\n Unfinished Woman<\/strong><\/em> You\u2019ve read the book, you\u2019ve seen the film \u2013 Tracks<\/em> \u2013 but here is the story of Robyn Davidson\u2019s life from childhood, largely avoiding that trip across the desert with her camels, and beyond to a life of more travel, houses, lovers and family.<\/p>\n Particularly family, and particularly her mother, who took her own life at 46 and about whom Davidson has been unable previously to write to her own satisfaction.<\/p>\n She is acutely aware that her version of the truth \u201ccan bury another\u2019s\u201d, but this one is hers.<\/p>\n Stone Yard Devotional<\/strong><\/em> Another reckoning with a mother\u2019s death, this time in a novel from the sure hands of Charlotte Wood. A woman arrives at some sort of religious community having turned her back on her husband, their life and the metropolis.<\/p>\n What is she fleeing and what are her demons? It\u2019s not all peace and tranquillity in the community, which has collective crises to deal with, while her previous life won\u2019t leave her alone. Written in a spare prose, the consistently brilliant Wood delivers yet again.<\/p>\n Will Murdoch help Trump again?<\/span>Credit: <\/span>The New York Times<\/cite><\/p>\n The Fall: The End of the Murdoch Empire<\/strong><\/em> One thing you can be sure of in a Michael Wolff book is plenty of controversial detail and quotes that are not always fully substantiated and sourced.<\/p>\n The American writer has tackled the Donald Trump White House in three books, and now turns his attention back to Rupert Murdoch, about whom he has already written a couple.<\/p>\n In this latest volume, he turns his blowtorch on Fox News and the recently retired Murdoch, two players who had massive roles in getting Trump into power. Next year? Surely not.<\/p>\n My Life as a Jew<\/strong><\/em> The former Age<\/em> editor-in-chief, a left-wing secular Jew, has written a powerful, moving and personal exploration of his roots and the meaning of his life in Australia today \u2013 \u201cthe Jew I was, the Jew I am, and the Jew I am becoming\u201d.<\/p>\n It begins with a frank account of why he ended his long friendship with former publisher Louise Adler over an essay she commissioned about the so-called Israel Lobby, and a public letter about coverage of Israel. But there is much more \u2013 memoir, history and literature \u2013 in this brave book.<\/p>\n Laura Jean McKay has written a new book of short stories.<\/span>Credit: <\/span>Brendan Lodge<\/cite><\/p>\n Gunflower: Stories<\/strong><\/em> Laura Jean McKay won the richest writing prize in the country during the pandemic for her timely novel The Animals in that Country<\/em> about a virulent virus that allowed infected people to understand what animals were saying. She was quickly called prescient, but whether that label sticks in her return to the short story remains to be seen. This collection, written over 20 years, again features plenty of animal life in stories ranging in length from one page to 20. If you haven\u2019t read her, now\u2019s the time to start.<\/p>\n Going Infinite: The Rise and Fall of a New Tycoon<\/strong><\/em> This is the astonishing story of Sam Bankman-Fried, the young man who set up his cryptocurrency exchange, FTX, in 2019 and three years later was rolling in money.<\/p>\n But when the crypto world went pear-shaped, Bankman-Fried\u2019s business hit an irreversible tailspin, and now he\u2019s facing multiple charges and due in court on October 3. If anyone can be relied on to tell this story of a financial Icarus with verve and narrative flair, it\u2019s Michael Lewis, author of Liar\u2019s <\/em>Poker, Moneyball<\/em>, and The Big Short<\/em>. No doubt the updated edition will have the verdict on SBF.<\/p>\n The Woman in Me<\/strong><\/em> The huge-selling American singer has negotiated the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune in her 41 years, but at the heart of this book \u2013 said to have earned her a $US15 million ($23.3 million) advance \u2013 is the controversial \u201cconservatorship\u201d by which her father and others were given almost complete control of her life, but still failed to stop it going off the rails many times.<\/p>\n Sure to be a bestseller, the book is described as a candid account of her life \u2013 exactly what her fans want.<\/p>\n Mr Einstein\u2019s Secretary<\/strong><\/em> Hannah Fischer lived her early life in Berlin, and her next door neighbour was Albert Einstein \u2013 he seems to be having a popular culture moment. She idolised him, and she loved physics. But events intervene and the studious Hannah is forced out of Germany to a new, secretarial life in the US.<\/p>\n But this is a Matthew Reilly novel \u2013 he\u2019s a film director now as well \u2013 and Hannah becomes some sort of spy and action hero, getting involved with all the major events and players of the years between the end of World War I and II \u2013 prohibition, gangsters, Nazis, and more. It\u2019s a lot of crash-bang-wallop fun and Reilly fans will love it.<\/p>\n The Seven<\/strong><\/em> It\u2019s hard to believe that Scrublands<\/em>, Chris Hammer\u2019s first crime novel, was published only five years ago.<\/p>\n Since then, the former journo has followed the crime writer\u2019s timetable of a book a year.<\/p>\n His latest brings back Nell Buchanan and Ivan Lucie, whom we met in Treasure & Dirt<\/em> and Tilt<\/em>, for a case of murder involving one of the seven families who rule the Yuwonderie district like a fiefdom. You can expect dark secrets to emerge and herrings to be red.<\/p>\n Life as We Knew it<\/strong><\/em> This account of how the pandemic affected Australia is a timely publication coming only a few days after Daniel Andrews, the man who approved probably the world\u2019s longest cumulative lockdown, left office.<\/p>\n While many people may not want to revisit those stressful years, Aisha Dow and Melissa Cunningham, journalists with Nine newspapers, manage to make this a riveting story of discovery, dismay, and recovery.<\/p>\n Ahead of the government\u2019s impending inquiry, you might find some answers here.<\/p>\n
Trent Dalton, Fourth Estate, $32.99. October 4<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/p>\n
<\/strong><\/em><\/em>David Marr, Black Inc., $32.99. October 3<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/p>\n
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Robyn Davidson, Bloomsbury, $34.99. October 3<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Charlotte Wood, Allen & Unwin, $32.99. October 3<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Michael Wolff, The Bridge Street Press, $34.99. Out now<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Michael Gawenda, Scribe, $35. October 3<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/p>\n
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Laura Jean McKay, Scribe, $29.99. October 3<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Michael Lewis, Allen Lane, $55. October 3<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Britney Spears, Simon & Schuster, $49.99. October 25<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Matthew Reilly, Macmillan, $44.99. October 17<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Chris Hammer, Allen & Unwin, $32.99. October 3<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Aisha Dow & Melissa Cunningham, Scribe, $35. October 3<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/p>\n