Literary
The Conversion by Amanda Lohrey, Text
The distinctive depth of characterisation shines in this tightly knitted story of therapist Nick and retired solicitor wife Zoe, as they decide to view a deconsecrated Victorian church which is for sale. It’s “even more picturesque than it looked online”. Breathe deep, as Amanda Lohrey sets the scene – the sight of a coiled snake on the worn sandstone steps of the porch causing Zoe to suggest “we could throw a rock it”; Nick emphatic: “we leave it”. Nick has renovated so many properties, their son dubbed him “the great renovator”, but when he dies suddenly, griefstricken Zoe takes on the project as his tribute. Outside the church a plaque reads “Oh Lord, deliver us from our present fallen life.”
The In-Between by Christos Tsiolkas, A&U
There’s a gentle tenderness coupled with a deep candour that immediately pulls you into Christos Tsiolkas’s new novel, a love story set in Melbourne just after the COVID lockdowns have lifted. As the book opens, Ivan and Perry meet on an internet date, both are older and carry the complex baggage of previous relationships. Both have been scarred by love and fear the pain it brings, so when a spark slowly turns into much more, there’s a lot to navigate. The narrative is told through both men’s eyes. It is at times confronting but ultimately a soulful story about the power of transformation.
Days of Innocence and Wonder by Lucy Treloar, Macmillan
Brunswick, 2004. A man walked up the kindergarten path and talked to two girls playing on the other side of the fence. When he left, he took one away. The outside-the-fence girl was skipping at his side into darkness. Brunswick, 2021. Now Till, 23, is tormented she didn’t save her friend. Taking greyhound dog Birdie with her, she sleeps in the car and in the company of other women who share tins of baked beans in a clearing or at the back of a service station. She then moves on to
