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eleanor catton – birnam wood
Birnam Wood
Eleanor Catton
Set in New Zealand, this inspired, character-driven thriller by Booker-Prize-winning Eleanor Catton has the flaws of human nature at its heart. However, the scope of the story stretches beyond the particular, to reflect on global issues surrounding climate change, and the human hurdles that impede meaningful progress. -
horse – geraldine brooks
horse
Geraldine Brookes
Two stories, one set in the nineteenth century, the other in the twenty-first, interleave. An oil painting of a renowned racehorse connects the two, as does ruthless racism, which governs the lives of both protagonists. Heartrending, immersive and grounded in fact, this is a stellar and poignant read. -
small things like these
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grand
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better the blood
better the blood
Michael Bennett
When Māori detective Hana Westermann connects two apparently random murders to an historical crime committed during the colonisation of NZ, she has to race against time to prevent further deaths. The challenges and tensions she faces are made all the greater for her own morally complex backstory. -
how to end a story
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all the young men
all the young men
Ruth Coker Burks & Kevin Carr O’Leary
The remarkable true story of how one young woman, a solo mother from Arkansas, tended to young men who’d been shunned by society and left alone to die of the feared and little understood “gay disease”. Advocate, educator, carer and empath, Ruth Coker Burks fought prejudice and hypocrisy at every turn to afford comfort, support and a final resting place to many victims of the AIDS crisis. -
his bloody project
his bloody project
Graeme Macrae Burnet
It is 19th-Century Scotland. Three bloody murders are committed in a small crofting community. A 17-year-old lad confesses. Is he guilty, or was he insane at the time? Based on a true crime, this Booker-nominated novel offers up a cast of convincing characters and dialogue infused with incisive wit. The novel poses interesting questions about culpability, explored in the light of the law and criminology of the era, while never once detracting from the relentless pace of the story.
