AustLit

'The eighth book in the Grafton Everest series sees the hapless ex-President of the Republic of Australia, Dr Professor Grafton Everest, caught up in a web of international espionage and intrigue that he is hopelessly ill-equipped to handle.
'Abandoned to his own inadequate devices when his wife Janet departs on a world tour, with his home invaded by his now broke daughter and son-in-law, Grafton accepts an assignment with the United Nations to investigate electoral fraud in Russia. The reason is not only to get out of the house; an old letter from his mother, addressed to someone in the Soviet Union fifty years ago, suggests that Grafton may not be the only child that he always thought he was.
'Grafton’s mission to Moscow and his search for this mysterious sibling take him far from the Russian capital, deep into the icy wastes of Siberia and even deeper in a tangled conspiracy whose roots extend back to the Cold War and even as far back as the Russian Revolution.' (Publication summary)

'Isi Leibler has been a central player in the global Jewish arena for over six decades. The preeminent Australian Jewish leader, he was pivotal in driving the issue of Soviet Jewry onto the international agenda. And he played a crucial role in establishing diplomatic relations between Israel and China and India. As Australia emerged from Britain's shadow after WWII to punch above its diplomatic weight, so too Leibler propelled the Australian Jewish community into wielding disproportionate influence in global Jewish affairs. A key figure in the World Jewish Congress, he had no hesitation exposing corruption in its leadership or at the Holocaust Claims Conference. Pugnacious, colorful, principled, he befriended prime ministers, refuseniks, billionaires, Cold War warriors, Marxists, and diplomats to further the Jewish agenda, free Soviet Jews, support Israel, and fight antisemitism.' (Publication summary)

 'To celebrate 40 years of sobriety, Ross Fitzgerald published "My Name Is Ross" (2010) - the story of his battle with alcoholism. Although he has now succeeded in not drinking alcohol or using drugs for 50 years, in this revised and updated edition the author still calls himself an alcoholic, and pays extended tribute to the role of Alcoholics Anonymous in keeping him on the wagon. Ross Fitzgerald has been a successful academic, writer, reviewer, and commentator in the media, and acknowledges that it remains a daily battle to remain sober.' (Publication summary)

'During World War II eleven-year-old Dita was hidden in the Nazi headquarters in Hungary's capital city, Budapest. She was separated from her parents and responsible for the care of her little sister Elizabeth. During the war she nearly starved to death, living on crumbs. After the war, reunited with her parents, who had also survived, the family migrated to Australia, where her father started a business, and they were able to resettle and build a new life as migrants.' (Publication summary)

'In this 7^th book of the highly acclaimed Grafton Everest Series, our indolent hero, Professor Dr Everest, former lecturer in Lifestyles and Wellbeing at the University of Mangoland, is surprised to find himself President of the newly minted Republic of Australia. He is also concerned when he learns that, due to a drafting error, it is to be an American-style executive presidency. Luckily he manages to avoid any actual work or duties, save heading the newly created Department of Wellbeing, and leaves on a goodwill tour of the United States.

'Here, to his further surprise, he is hailed as a political guru and even a messiah by a population still reeling from the incumbency and assassination of president Ronald Thump. Adulation for his even most off-the-cuff comments leads to Grafton being courted by both Democrats and Republicans as a possible US Presidential candidate, something which seems impossible until he discovers a well-kept secret about his true citizenship. After further discoveries, including a secret society of retired spies and bionic clones, he returns to Australia to find that the Department of Wellbeing has become a ruthless dictatorship that has brought the nation to a stop. It is now up to Professor Dr Everest to save the country …'  (Publication summary)

'What threads link staring down an orphan tiger in the Lao jungle, shaking hands with Senator Ted Kennedy and being mugged in Marrakesh? ' (Publication summary)

'Bright Swallow, a young girl labelled as of ‘bad origins’ in Mao’s Cultural Revolution, becomes motherless at fifteen in 1972. Determined to live a full life like her mother had known, she seizes every chance, creates choices where there appear to be none and finally has the world open up to her. The memoir distinguishes itself from other accounts of this period in being a story of hope. It celebrates resilience, the power of literature, music and the imagination; and pays tribute to the people who retained the fundamental decency that can easily disappear in adverse circumstances. Mao’s China is now history, but similar dark regimes and mad ideologies still exist. There is much suffering from discrimination, humiliation and injustice at this moment. This is why this memoir has been written.'  (Publication summary)

'What do you do when the love you've been searching for your whole life suddenly disappears? You know you're loved, but you ask yourself, is your lover crazy? Or is it you? Searching for Sophia is a beautifully composed, wonderfully compassionate, and often laugh-out-loud story about two veterinarians operating their practice in a prestigious eastern suburb of Sydney whose lives are turned upside down when an internationally acclaimed violinist from Romania enters their surgery. This is a love story with a difference, leading the Jewish Dr Joe Franken into a dangerous search for love across the world, while his partner, the Anglo Dr Tim Wilde, finds love at home. Searching for Sophia really stands out for the quality of its writing and that all-too-rare gift for comedy that is both humorous and humane.'  (Publication summary)

'A deserted picnic ground. The killer, horrified and frozen with indecision, falls asleep at the scene until he mistakes a firetruck for authorities and bolts. Kate wakes from a dream holiday to discover her husband Matt is leaving for a younger woman, Bridie. Matt shares his initial joy with his friends; Paul, a womaniser; Lewis, a computer nerd struggling with relationships and Jason, a professional family man married to Angela, who travels interstate regularly on business. But not all is as it seems. Paul keeps a childhood secret of drowning his schoolmate Aaron's younger brother, and attempts to seduce Kate. He runs into Aaron, who confronts him. Jason meets Julie whilst away and begins an affair. Julie idolises him and tracks his movements. Jason flies to WA where he is revealed as Will who runs a profitable drug business with his brother. In Sydney, a couple's marriage is souring. Ryan works shifts on a rig in WA, but his wife Indio learns he travels elsewhere. She discovers a large stash of money and two passports in their apartment. When Jason returns home, his son is injured, Indio investigates him and Julie pursues him. Lewis takes Julie to his apartment intoxicated and she wakes alongside, aghast. Later, picnickers find her body in a local park. Police do door-to-door checks and Paul deflects the enquiries onto his mates. Jason makes a sudden return interstate and when Angela phones, Ryan receives it and his true identity as Will is learned. Bridie wounds Paul whilst fighting with Matt, and Aaron reluctantly provides medical assistance. Indio confronts her husband at a restaurant. She accuses Angela and she and Jason are taken into custody, where the police reveal they have Jason's full history of false identities, drugs and bigamy. They suspect murder too until Lewis confesses.' (Publication summary)

'Mitchell Grady is the new boy at Sandhurst School. Every year, the students compete to be the school's Sporting Legend - the best out of eight sports. The first round was surfing, then cricket, tennis, and football - now the kids are ready for a new round!' (Publication summary)

'The Sandhurst Legend of Sport is on again and the competition is hot. Surfing, cricket, tennis, football, soccer, basketball, athletics and swimming. Read the series and see who can take the heat. The Legends Cup is really hotting up. Fisk is boasting that he will take home the Legends Soccer Cup. Mitchell has other ideas. Off the field, there is a mystery unfolding. Bryce is determined to uncover the truth. But no one is prepared for what he discovers. ' (Publication summary)

'What happens when the keynote speaker at an important arts festival is found dead?

'Welcome to modern Melbourne, UNESCO City of Literature, home to arts festivals galore as well as the internationally famous Melbourne Cup horse race. But the Imagine Festival, held in late August, has more surprises in store than the Festival Director planned when he discovers Deborah Dangerfield's lifeless body upstairs at the Malthouse Theatre.

'Join Senior Sergeant Brendan O'Leary, a family man who's struggling to keep up with life's changes and Ange Micelli, fourth daughter of Italian migrants, who's fit, fiery and ready to go. Together they make a formidable team in this fast-moving thriller that uncovers much more than just the identity of the murderer.

'Through Simpson's spare and gritty prose, threads of political intrigue, society gossip and secret adoption are woven together, capturing the essence of urban Australia.'  (Publication summary)

'This is a collection of selections from the finest of Timoshenko Aslanides’ poetry. In a lifetime dedicated to writing and publishing Australian poetry, Timoshenko Aslanides has produced fifteen books of poems.

'In celebrating Australia’s people, landscape and history, Aslanides has also defined Australian mythologies in national culture. These are the poems by which he will be best remembered. They are also poems that will be read with pleasure by anyone wishing to enjoy evocations of the people and places in Australia’s past, appreciate the immediacy of a poet’s life and share his optimism and aspirations for the country’s future.'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

'Blue Milonga is Edward Caruso’s second collection of poetry. It is a companion volume to Di alture ed altre utopie (Of heights and other utopias, written in Italian), a further exploration of intercultural meeting points, both books written during a series of visits to Latin America. The language of Blue Milonga – moods, colours and landscapes – captures emotions and deepening connections with countries such as Argentina and Chile.

'This collection opens with impressionistic perspectives of Buenos Aires and takes the reader through to the ruins of the 2010 earthquake in central Chile. Edward Caruso’s evocative poetry brings to life places and people. It transports the reader to the sites where his verses were conceived.'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

'A portrait-painter discovers a terrifying side-effect of his talent. A professor of medicine finds himself romantically involved with a dying patient. The lives of two young people are changed forever by a performance of the Mozart Requiem. A self-styled Messiah tries desperately to persuade a writer that he alone can avert a catastrophe about to engulf the city.

'Liberman’s sinewy, intensely evocative and poignant style, unique in Australian letters, takes us deep into particular lives but always with reference to universal issues of fate, free will, and the moral landscapes of good and evil. His post-Holocaust humanism is passionately committed to the power of storytelling, and enters with special power art’s plea for love, compassion, inner freedom, and redemption.

'This collection of some of Liberman’s finest and most characteristic stories draws upon all six of his published volumes of short fiction. It is offered not only as a summation and a tribute, but as a valuable contribution to the diverse field of Australian multicultural writing.'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

'A collection of poems redacted from letters written by Victorian soldiers during WWI.  These poems were researched and written under a State Library of Victoria Creative Fellowship (2016-17).  The collection is a kind of literary mosaic of individual experiences on the way to, from, or at the Front, with correspondents ranging from the Officer, Chaplain and Flying Ace to the humble (and often semi-literate) Private, Gunner and Sapper.  Each poem is titled for its particular soldier and is based on one or more missives penned by that individual.'  (Publication summary)

'Stephanie Conner is sixteen when she learns that her mother is in urgent need of a heart transplant. The waiting triggers a chain of events that threatens her sanity, the love of her boyfriend and her friendship with her best friend. 

'Richard, a computer geek, sets out to help her by developing an interactive social media website for teens, www.livingvoice.com.au to create organ donation awareness that might lead to Steph's mother receiving a heart transplant before her heart fails altogether.'  (Publication summary)