AustLit

'Meet Mercy Blain, whose house has just burnt down. Unfortunately for Mercy, this goes beyond the disaster it would be for most people: she hasn't been outside that house for two years now.

'Flung out into the world she's been studiously ignoring, Mercy goes to the only place she can. Her not-quite-ex-husband Eugene's house. But it turns out she can't stay there, either.

'And so begins Mercy's unwilling journey. After the chance purchase of a cult classic campervan (read tiny, old and smelly), with the company of her sausage dog, Wasabi, and a mysterious box of cremated remains, Mercy heads north from Adelaide to Darwin.

'On the road, through badly timed breakdowns, gregarious troupes of grey nomads, and run-ins with a rogue adversary, Mercy's carefully constructed walls start crumbling. But what was Mercy hiding from in her house? And why is Eugene desperate to have her back in the city? They say you can't run forever...'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

'Have you ever had a secret?

'In a small suburb of Gawler, South Australia, the tang of cut grass and eucalyptus seem to mingle perpetually on the warm air.

'The neat houses perched under the big gum on Church Street have seen many things over the long years. Years of sprinklers stuttering over clipped lawns, children playing behind low brick walls. The milkie, coming and going, leaving out bottles, or blocks of butter and cheese. A seemingly endless stream of youthful paperboys. Couples tending their veggies and chasing chooks. Family barbecues. Gossipy neighbours hanging out washing or drinking sundowners on their verandahs. Arguments. Accidents. Births, deaths, marriages. The street has seen it all.

'Until the arrival of Thomas, Elsie and Aida.

'In this, Kim Lock's third novel of what really goes on behind closed doors, she weaves the tale of three ordinary people with big secrets; a story of forty years of betrayal, marriage, loss and laughter. It is a joyous story, a rich tapestry of Australian life as well as a heartwarming depiction of love against the odds.' (Publication summary)

'On a hot January afternoon, Fairlie Winter receives a phone call. Her best friend has just taken her own life.

'Jenna Rudolph, 26 years old, has left behind a devoted husband, an adorable young son and a stunning vineyard. But Fairlie knows she should have seen this coming.

'Yet Fairlie doesn't know what Jenna's husband Ark is hiding, nor does she know what Jenna's mother Evelyn did to drive mother and daughter apart all those years ago.

'Until Fairlie opens her mail and finds a letter. In Jenna's handwriting. Along with a key.

'Driven to search for answers, Fairlie uncovers a horrifying past, a desperate mother, and a devastating secret kept by those she loves the most.

'Heartbreaking and terrifying, Like I Can Love explores love in all its forms - from the most fragile to the most dangerous - and the unthinkable things we do in its name.' (Publication summary)

'One sultry October morning in Darwin, hemp-wearing army wife Amy Silva grips a trembling fist around two pink lines on a plastic stick. Struggling to come to terms with her rampant fertility, disillusioned with a haughty obstetrician, and infuriated by an inordinate amount of peeing, Amy finds solace in a decision to homebirth. After all, it worked for the cavewomen, right? But as a tropical cyclone threatens to whip down the main street, Amy finds herself facing more than biology.

'Peace, Love and Khaki Socks explores what it is to be a woman, an expectant mother, a lover and a friend in a patriarchy. Sometimes horrifying, sometimes hilarious and always honest, this unforgettable story is one woman’s struggle to turn the ordinary into something extraordinary.' (Publication summary)