AustLit

'Two women separated by centuries but connected by one beautiful silk dress. A captivating novel based on a real-life shipwreck discovered off Texel Island by the bestselling author of Gulliver's Wife, Lauren Chater.

'Jo Baaker, a textiles historian and Dutch ex-pat is drawn back to the island where she was born to investigate the provenance of a 17th century silk dress. Retrieved by local divers from a sunken shipwreck, the dress offers tantalising clues about the way people lived and died during Holland's famous Golden Age.

'Jo's research leads her to Anna Tesseltje, a poor Amsterdam laundress turned ladies companion who served the artist Catharina van Shurman for one season at her property outside the Hague. The two women were said to be close, so why did Anna abandon Catharina at the height of her misfortune? And was the dress a gift or did Anna come by it through less honest means? Jo is determined to find out, but as she delves deeper into Anna's history, troubling details about her own past begin to emerge, disrupting the personal narrative she has trusted for sixteen years.

'On the small Dutch island of Texel where fortunes are lost and secrets lie buried for centuries, Jo will finally discover the truth about herself and her connection to the woman who wore the Winter Dress.'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

'A fearless Italian girl risks everything to save precious artworks from the Nazis in a gripping story of love and war from the bestselling author of The Light After the War.

'Rome, 1943: Marina Tozzi adores her father Vittorio and working together in his art gallery is her only escape from the reality of the Nazi occupation. Not only has Marina inherited her father’s passion for art but she is earning a reputation as an expert in own right.

'However, Vittorio is keeping a deadly secret from his daughter. He has been hiding a Jewish artist in their basement and one day Marina returns home to find her father has been brutally murdered by a German officer. Devastated, Marina flees to Florence to seek help from a man who owes Vittorio his life. 

'Renowned American art expert Bernard Berenson offers Marina sanctuary in his villa outside Florence and a job cataloguing his vast art library. Marina is grateful but has vowed to find a way to avenge her father. When handsome young artist Carlos proposes that Marina use her expertise to help the partisan cause against the Nazis, she has at last found her purpose. 

'In one daring and ingenious act, Marina risks her life to save a priceless painting from falling into Nazi hands and proves her worth to the partisans. But falling in love with Carlos was not part of her plan. When Carlos suddenly disappears, Marina’s dreams about building a life with him after the war turn to ash. She will have to travel halfway around the world to unravel the past – and find her future.'

Source : publisher's blurb

'"Special Circumstances": The words have sent chills down Tally's spine since her days as a repellent, rebellious ugly. Back then Specials were a sinister rumor – frighteningly beautiful, dangerously strong, breathtakingly fast. Ordinary pretties might live their whole lives without meeting a Special. But Tally's never been ordinary.

'And now, in the third book in the series, Tally's been turned into a Special: a superamped fighting machine, engineered to keep the uglies down and the pretties stupid.

'The strength, the speed, and the clarity and focus of her thinking feel better than anything Tally can remember. Most of the time. One tiny corner of her heart still remembers something more.

'Still, it's easy to tune that out – until Tally's offered a chance to stamp out the rebels of the New Smoke permanently. It all comes down to one last choice: listen to that tiny, faint heartbeat, or carry out the mission she's programmed to complete. Either way, Tally's world will never be the same.'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

'After a rough start, Sam Kerr gets into the swing of playing soccer for the Knights.

'But there’s so much to learn – new rules and positions and strategies … Lately it seems like soccer is the only thing she can think about.

'When Sam finds out she’ll have to wear a dress (gross) and dance in front of a hundred people (terrifying) at her cousin’s upcoming wedding, she feels like she’s all but had enough. So why isn’t her best friend Indi supporting her? And why is school bully Chelsea suddenly a bit … nice?

'Will Sam be able to mend her friendships – and score a few goals in the meantime – before it’s too late?' (Publication summary)

'A Type of Life is the memoir of writer/author Boti Nagy, eighth child in a migrant family fleeing post-World War II Europe for a better life in Australia.

'Growing up in the shadow of his basketball stars, award-winning siblings and prominent parents, before injury prematurely ended his burgeoning sporting career, it crystallised his path as a journalist, working for 43 years for News Ltd, now News Corp.

'Initially at The News and Sunday Mail newspapers in Adelaide, Nagy cut his teeth on the tough Courts round during the Truro serial murder trials and several other major cases which shaped South Australia. Ultimately specialising as a basketball writer, he was present at the formation of the National Basketball League in 1979 and Women’s National Basketball League in 1981, growing to national prominence as the sport’s most respected “must-read” journalist.

'This is a coming-of-age story, of assimilating into a foreign culture and becoming a multiple award-winner as a writer, an insider account of a sport’s growth and written with humour and the joy of many wonderful recollections featuring the biggest names in the game.' (Publication summary)
 
 

'The celebrated, Walkley Award-winning author on how global warming is changing not only our climate but our culture. Beautifully observed, brilliantly argued and deeply felt, these essays show that our emotions, our art, our relationships with the generations around us – all the delicate networks that make us who we are – have already been transformed.

'In Signs and Wonders, Falconer explores how it feels to live as a reader, a writer, a lover of nature and a mother of small children in an era of profound ecological change.

'Building on Falconer’s two acclaimed essays, ‘Signs and Wonders’ and the Walkley Award-winning ‘The Opposite of Glamour’, Signs and Wonders is a pioneering examination of how we are changing our culture, language and imaginations along with our climate. Is a mammoth emerging from the permafrost beautiful or terrifying? How is our imagination affected when something that used to be ordinary – like a car windscreen smeared with insects – becomes unimaginable? What can the disappearance of the paragraph from much contemporary writing tell us about what’s happening in the modern mind?

'Scientists write about a 'great acceleration' in human impact on the natural world. Signs and Wonders shows that we are also in a period of profound cultural acceleration, which is just as dynamic, strange, extreme and, sometimes, beautiful. Ranging from an ‘unnatural’ history of coal to the effect of a large fur seal turning up in the park below her apartment, this book is a searching and poetic examination of the ways we are thinking about how, and why, to live now.' (Publication summary)

'When Damien Cave brought his young family to Sydney to set up the New York Times’ Australian Bureau, they encountered the local pursuits of Nippers and surfing – and a completely different approach to risk that changed the way they lived their lives.

'When Damien Cave brought his young family to Sydney to set up the New York Times’ Australian Bureau, they encountered the local pursuits of Nippers and surfing – and a completely different approach to risk that changed the way they lived their lives.

'Damien Cave has always been fascinated by risk. Having covered the war in Iraq and moved to Mexico City with two babies in nappies, he and his wife Diana thought they understood something about the subject.

'But when they arrived in Sydney so that Cave could establish The New York Times’s Australia Bureau, life near the ocean confronted them with new ideas and questions, at odds with their American mindset that risk was a matter of individual choices. Surf-lifesaving and Nippers showed that perhaps it could be managed together, by communities. And instead of being either eliminated or romanticised, it might instead be respected and even embraced.

'And so Cave set out to understand how our current attitude to risk developed – and why it’s not necessarily good for us.

'Into the Rip is partly the story of this New York family learning to live better by living with the sea and it is partly the story of how humans manage the idea of risk. Interviewing experts and everyday heroes, Cave asks critical questions like: Is safety overrated? Why do we miscalculate risk so often and how can we improve? Is it selfish to take risks or can more exposure make for stronger families, citizens and nations? And how do we factor in legitimate fears and major disasters like Cave has covered in his time here: the Black Summer fires; the Christchurch massacre; and, of course, Covid?

'The result is Grit meets Phosphorescence and Any Ordinary Day – a book that will change the way you and your family think about facing the world’s hazards.' (Publication summary)

'Kate Langbroek’s deliciously funny, irreverent and inspiring memoir about moving to Bologna with her family to seek la dolce vita is a glorious reminder of what we can learn from the Italians about living life to the full – and what really matters when the world goes to hell in a handbasket.  

'‘I wasn’t looking to fall in love. It just happened. There were moments, encounters as fleeting as feelings. Sometimes – tellingly – they emerged from chaos.’

'When Kate Langbroek first dreamed of moving to Italy, she imagined a magnificent sun-drenched pastiche of long lunches and wandering through cobbled laneways clutching a loaf of crusty bread and a bottle of wine, Sophia Loren-style, while handsome men called out ‘Ciao Bella!’

'In the stark light of day the dream Kate shared with her husband Peter after an idyllic holiday in Italy seemed like madness. They didn’t speak Italian. They knew no one in Italy. They had four children. Kate also had the best job in the world on a top-rating radio show with her longtime friend, Dave Hughes.

'But the siren song of Italy was irresistible. This would be the adventure of a lifetime, a precious opportunity to spend more time with their children – Lewis, Sunday, Artie and Jannie – and it came from a deep well inside to seize life after they almost lost Lewis to leukaemia.

'Ciao Bella! is about having a dream and living it as Kate shares the sublime joys and utter chaos of adapting to a new life in Bologna, what you discover about yourself when you are a stranger in a strange land, and how she fell in love.

'With a country.

'Deliciously funny, irreverent, inspiring and often deeply moving, Ciao Bella! is Kate’s love letter to Italy and her family. It is also a glorious reminder of what Italians can teach us about living life to the full – and what really matters when the world goes to hell in a handbasket.' (Publication summary)
 

'Mat Rogers is an Aussie footy legend and TV star who has triumphed over hardship, loss and heartache. He is finally ready to share his powerful life story.

'He is one of the most talented footballers of the modern era and a dual international in rugby league and rugby union. But for a long time, Mat Rogers lived in both the shadow and the thrall of his famous father, and their complex relationship shaped him in ways he couldn’t fathom. Craving paternal acceptance while determined to carve out his own identity and, later, to avoid repeating the sins of the father, he veered between periods of jubilation and depression, fulfilment and despair. Now, in his majestic, evocative autobiography, Rogers tells the story of a life framed by triumph and tragedy, a life in which, ultimately, he finds purpose and contentment in a harsh world.

'With its cracking pace and unvarnished frankness, A Father’s Son will be widely read and difficult to forget. Though by and about a celebrated footballer, it is so much more than another athlete’s memoirs. In spare, vivid prose, Rogers reveals how his teenage years were marked by periods of rebellion and self-destructive behaviour. Then, at age 20, he became a father to son Jack before he had finished his own journey into adulthood. By 22, he was married to first wife Michelle with another child, daughter Skyla, following shortly after. As well as discussing the experience of having a family while still a young man, Rogers also recounts the challenges that have defined his life off the sports field – the impact of losing both his parents in tragic circumstances and the experimental neck surgery he underwent in 2007, ending years of debilitating pain.

'Rogers’ story is one of a man who rises to the difficulties life sends his way. The discovery that his son Max is autistic prompted him and second wife Chloe to co-found charity 4 ASD – and he talks passionately about the work he has done to raise awareness of a subject so close to home. That fighting spirit introduced Rogers to an even greater number of Australians who watched the sporting legend thrive on Australian Survivor. Across two memorable appearances on the reality TV series, he impressed viewers with his ability to combine his competitive spirit with his desire to play with heart. That duality, which defines Rogers' life, shines through in A Father’s Son. (Publication summary)

'The most celebrated science fiction short story editor of our time, multi-award-winning editor and Locus Magazine critic Jonathan Strahan presents the definitive collection of best short science fiction of 2020.

'With short works from some of the most lauded science fiction authors, as well as rising stars, this science fiction collection displays the top talent and cutting-edge cultural moments that affect our lives, dreams, and stories. These brilliant authors examine the way we live now, our hopes, and struggles, all through the lens of the future.

'An assemblage of future classics, this star-studded anthology is a must-read for anyone who enjoys the vast and exciting world of science fiction.' (Publication summary)

'It’s a long, hard road from the Nullarbor to the MCG.

'How does a self-described ‘skinny Aboriginal kid’ overcome a legacy of family tragedy to become an AFL legend? One thing’s for sure: it’s not easy. But then, there’s always been something special about Eddie Betts.

'Betts grew up in Port Lincoln and Kalgoorlie, in environments where the destructive legacies of colonialism – racism, police targeting of Aboriginal people, drug and alcohol misuse, family violence – were sadly normalised. His childhood was defined by family closeness as well as family strife, plus a wonderful freedom that he and his cousins exploited to the full – for better and for worse.

'When he made the decision to take his talents across the Nullarbor to Melbourne to chase his footballing dreams – homesickness be damned – everything changed. Over the ensuing years, Betts became a true giant of the sport: 300-plus games, 600-plus goals, multiple All-Australian nods and Goal of the Year awards, and a league-wide popularity rarely seen in the hyper-tribal AFL.

'Along the way, he battled his demons before his turbulent youth settled into responsible maturity. Today, the man the Melbourne tabloids once dubbed ‘bad boy Betts’ is a dedicated husband and father, a respected community leader and an increasingly outspoken social activist.

'Sometimes funny, sometimes tragic and always honest – often laceratingly so – My Journey is the inspirational life story of a champion, in his own words. Whether he’s narrating one of his trademark gravity-defying goals from the pocket, the discrimination he’s faced as an Aboriginal person or the birth of his first child, Betts’s voice – intelligent, soulful, unpretentious – rings through on every page.

'The very human story behind the plaudits is one that will surprise, move and inspire.' (Publication summary)

'A coming-of-age memoir of addiction, ambition and redemption in the high-stakes world of Michelin star kitchens.

'From reckless drug addict to one of Australia’s top chefs and television stars: MasterChef judge Jock Zonfrillo's powerful life story will shock and inspire.

'Jock’s life spiralled out of control when he tried heroin for the first time as a teenager while growing up in 1980s Glasgow. For years he balanced a career as a rising star amongst legendary chefs with a crippling drug addiction that took him down many dark paths.

'Fired from his job at a Michelin star restaurant in Chester, England, after a foul-mouthed rant, Jock made his way to London looking for work and found himself in front of the legendary Marco Pierre White. He credits White for saving his life, but Jock continued to struggle with addiction in a world of excess, celebrity, and cut-throat ambition.

'On New Year’s Eve 1999, Jock shot up his last shot of heroin before boarding a plane to Sydney, where he would find passion and new meaning in life in the most unexpected places. There would be more struggles ahead, including two failed marriages, the closure of his prized restaurant during COVID-19, his time on-country, and some very public battles.

'This is his unforgettable story.' (Publication summary)

'As the resourceful, relentless Li tracks her lost daughter across a disintegrating country, the journey will test the limits of her trust, her hope and her love. Unsheltered will leave you wrung out and gasping.

'Relentlessly propulsive and profoundly moving, Unsheltered taps into some of our worst fears and most implacable motivations, marking the emergence of a fully-formed and urgent literary voice.

'Against a background of social breakdown and destructive weather, Unsheltered tells the story of a woman’s search for her daughter. Li never wanted to bring a child into a world like this but now that eight-year-old Matti is missing, she will stop at nothing to find her.

'As she crosses the great barren country alone and on foot, living on what she can find and fuelled by visions of her daughter just out of sight ahead, Li will have every instinct tested. She knows the odds against her: an uncompromising landscape, an indifferent system, time running out, and the risks of any encounters on the road. But the greatest obstacles of all might be her own uncertainty and the ghosts of her past. Because even if she finds her, how can she hope to shield Matti from what is to come?

'At times tender, at times terrifying, Unsheltered is an engrossing, unpredictable novel that keeps the reader in suspense all the way to the end. A brilliant feat of imagination that asks if our humanity is the only protection we have left, Unsheltered will affect you in ways a book hasn’t done in years.'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

'The emotional stories behind Delta Goodrem’s sixth studio album.

'In her first-ever book, Australian singer-songwriter Delta Goodrem shares the intimate stories behind each of the tracks on her sixth studio album, Bridge Over Troubled Dreams, taking readers on a deep dive into her inspiration for each song and revealing the truth behind the lyrics. From the touching account of her birth – two months premature – to battling bouts of missing home and many incredible self-discoveries along the way, Bridge Over Troubled Dreams is truly the book of the artist’s life. She speaks candidly about love, family, highs and lows, patience, freedom, faith, hope and survival, and how she uses lessons learned to drive herself forward. Delta’s heartfelt stories are accompanied by never-before-seen pictures from her personal collection: candid behind-the-scenes shots, unreleased tour photos and even personal snaps from her childhood.' (Publication summary)