On its US release, Alison McCulloch reviewed The Life and Loves of Lena Gaunt for the New York Times Book Review, Sunday 26 June 2016 (in print 26 June, online 24 June). What’s immediately intriguing about Lena Gaunt isn’t Lena Gaunt but the fact that she plays a theremin…And Lena Gaunt isn’t just any theremin player. She’s … Read more…
review
The merry month of May
O, the month of May, the merry month of May, So frolic, so gay, and so green, so green, so green! ‘The Merry Month of May’ by Thomas Dekker (1599) The month just past (So frolic. Much gay. Many green. Wow.) would’ve warranted a celebratory skip around the maypole, if it hadn’t been a bit chilly … Read more…
Foreword reviews The Life and Loves of Lena Gaunt
On its US release, Stephanie Bucklin reviewed The Life and Loves of Lena Gaunt for the Summer 2016 issue of Foreword Reviews, a quarterly magazine featuring reviews of books from independent and university presses. From reflections on technology and art, to questions of addiction and control, the novel moves expertly from a portrait of Lena’s life to … Read more…
Lee Randall reviews The Life and Loves of Lena Gaunt
Edinburgh-based writer and journalist Lee Randall wrote a lovely review of The Life and Loves of Lena Gaunt on her Randall Writes / A History of my Life in 100 Objects blog early in the new year. Lena is the third of three novels Lee reviews in the post Book Reviews: Three for January. Farr’s exploring whether or not we can reproduce … Read more…
Lonesome Reader reviews The Life and Loves of Lena Gaunt
Eric Anderson reviews and writes about books on his blog Lonesome Reader. His review of The Life and Loves of Lena Gaunt appeared in January. I was thrilled that my novel reminded Eric of Anna Smaill’s The Chimes, a novel I love (see my best reads of 2015 post for Aardvark Bureau/Gallic Books). For [Lena], the rumblings of life … Read more…
Early reviews of Lena Gaunt ahead of UK publication
The official UK publication date of The Life and Loves of Lena Gaunt (Aardvark Bureau) is 9 January 2016, but – thanks largely to advance copies made available by Gallic Books for Aardvark Bureau via NetGalley – there’s been a steady stream of early reviews appearing on NetGalley, GoodReads and blogs. Thanks so much to everyone who’s … Read more…
Liz Byrski: In Love and War, and Lena
Liz Byrski was interviewed recently on WritingWA‘s Cover to Cover, about her most recent book, In Love and War: Nursing Heroes. Cover to Cover host Meri Fatin described the process of writing In Love and War as “as almost like a piece of plastic surgery in itself”. In this short excerpt from the 40-minute interview, Liz talks about what she learned from … Read more…
New Zealand Books reviews The Life and Loves of Lena Gaunt
Elizabeth Heritage reviewed The Life and Loves of Lena Gaunt for New Zealand Books (Issue 109, Autumn 2015) as one of ‘a trio of historical novels that, with varying degrees of success, bring characters and environments from our past (real and imagined to life)’. In her review, titled ‘Characters from the past’, Heritage describes The Life and Loves of … Read more…
Newtown Review of Books reviews The Life and Loves of Lena Gaunt
Jeanette Delamoir has written a terrific long review of The Life and Loves of Lena Gaunt for The Newtown Review of Books (21 October 2014). Like its narrator, [this novel] is unconventional, sometimes irritating, but always intelligent, intriguing and very closely controlled. Read the full review online at Newtown Review of Books, but be aware … Read more…
Tracy Farr on Helen Garner’s Postcards from Surfers
Perth writer Annabel Smith invited me to write about a favourite book – and what it means to me – for the Friday Faves feature on her website. I chose Helen Garner’s 1985 collection of short stories, Postcards from Surfers. This book reminds me why I go back to Helen Garner’s writing, why I love … Read more…