April Newsletter
Feature Event:
Kathryn Heyman
Kathryn Heyman is a renowned writing teacher and mentor, named as “…one of the world’s best creative writing teachers” by Harper’s Bazaar. Kathryn has taught writing all over the world, including for the University of Oxford, where she was a Royal Literary Fellow. Kathryn has coached hundreds of writers from idea to publication, and helped hundreds more recover their creative spark.
She founded the Australian Writers Mentoring Program in 2010 – writers who credit the Australian Writers Mentoring Program with their success include Pip Williams (Dictionary of Lost Words), Jane Caro (Lyrebird), Ali Lowe (The Trivia Night), Sam Guthrie (The Peak) and many many more. Sienna Brown, winner of the MUD Literary Prize, wrote, “Kathryn is a brilliant mentor, and I will always be grateful for her guidance.”
Writers who have acknowledged Kathryn’s influence include Mark Haddon, who wrote, “The structure of The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time owes a great deal to Kathryn Heyman, with whom I was teaching a course. She was talking to the students about structure… as she spoke, the heavens parted and angels sang”. As journalist Caroline Baum wrote, “Wherever you are in the process, Kathryn is a wizard at getting you unstuck… she makes it seem fun but has such a deep lasting impact..”
Circle of Wonders
Reviewed by Kate
This novel looks at the beauty and pain of end of life questions – what do we do when we know our time is coming, but do not know if we lived our life well? Considering the complex and often difficult relationships between siblings, parents and children, and friends, and how these come to the fore when we are facing a final goodbye, Heyman has crafted a bittersweet story heavily influenced by her own losses. What grace emerges when people who’ve hurt one another still choose to love.
Author Spotlight:
Tom Rob Smith
Child 44 was an international publishing sensation, translated into over thirty-five languages and selling over two million copies. Among its many honours, Child 44 won the International Thriller Writer Award for Best First Novel, the Galaxy Book Award for Best New Writer and the CWA Ian Fleming Steel Dagger Award. The book was the first thriller to be longlisted for the Man Booker Prize as well as being shortlisted for both the Costa First Novel Award and the inaugural Desmond Elliot Prize. CHILD 44 was turned into a movie starring Tom Hardy and Gary Oldman produced by Scott Free, a movie that was subsequently banned in Russia.
Smith’s following books include The Secret Speech (2009), Agent 6 (2011), The Farm (2014), which became a number 1 international bestseller and the first crime thriller to be longlisted for the Dylan Thomas Prize. His last novel was the critically acclaimed Cold People (2022) and his latest novel, a beautiful new love story Twenty Years Together (2026) is available in store now.
In addition to writing novels, his first original television show London Spy (BBC2 & BBC America) with Ben Whishaw and Charlotte Rampling has been nominated for numerous awards, including both BAFTA and an RTS nomination for best mini-series. Charlotte Rampling was nominated for a Golden Globe for her performance. For his second piece of television, he wrote all the scripts for American Crime Story: The Assassination of Gianni Versace (FX), which won him a Writer’s Guild Award for best adapted series, an Emmy and a Golden Globe for best limited series.
In store or online now
Twenty Years Together by Tom Rob Smith
TWO MEN. TWENTY YEARS. ONE PROPOSAL.
Danny and Luis have been a couple for decades. Piece by piece, they’ve built a life together. They’ve created a home. The only thing they didn’t have was a marriage. When they met, it was illegal.
But the law finally changes, and Danny decides to propose – on a Scottish hilltop, to the love of his life. Luis loves Danny, but does he love marriage? And, as the past begins to catch up to them both, everything they have worked for begins to fall apart. Can their love survive the ultimate test? And is a yes still worth fighting for after twenty years together?
Tender, romantic, and beautifully written, Twenty Years Together is a love story for the ages, by the multi-million copy bestselling author of Child 44.
Reviewed by Suzie
Many many years ago I was blown away by Child 44, a thriller by a debut author Tom Rob Smith. It really became my go to book to recommend for someone looking for a gripping read that left you on the edge of your seat. Fast track now to 2026 and Tom has written quite a different book. Twenty Years Together is the tender story of two men who have been in a relationship for twenty years but given laws regarding same-sex marriage they had been unable to legally identify their relationship. Both characters now question the need to get married after twenty years together – is it necessary and if so, why and for whom? This book is gentle and loving and reminds me of the simple beauty of Sarah Winman’s Tin Man.
Books of the Month
FICTION
Reviewed by Suzie
This series is planned to be a 7-book series and is really quite intriguing. The premise behind someone being stuck in a ‘ground hog’ day situation, re-living the same day endlessly, is a concept which has been used in books and movies many times before. At the end of the first book in this series I was unsure where the story could develop further, but now, with the fourth volume released, I fall deeper into the character and the story and what unfolds. Each book leaves you questioning things and makes you eager to keep the story going with the next book. Bring on Volume V!
On the Calculation of Volume IV by Solvey Balle
Tara Selter is one of many.
In a sprawling villa on the outskirts of Bremen, Tara Selter is starting to settle into a new kind of eighteenth of November. Her days with Henry, Ralf and Olga revolve around the daily routines of practical chores: gathering provisions, splitting firewood. But one morning, there are five new arrivals at their wrought-iron gate.
Now the villa is full of people. As their community grows, their search for answers about the eighteenth of November becomes more urgent.
NON FICTION
Reviewed by Juz
I picked up Look After Your Feet because I adored Molly by Rosalie Ham. I’d probably read anything Rosalie Ham writes.
This one is funny, a little cheeky, and so real about getting older. All the awkward, unexpected moments that sneak up on you. It’s full of those “wait… that is so true” moments, mixed with plenty of laughs. It’s for all of us. Some of us have a long way to go before noticing the changes, but for those of us who don’t, it’s incredibly relatable. It’s full of the same warmth that Rosalie Ham is know for.
A fun, easy read that’ll make you laugh, nod along, and maybe even whisper, “yep… that’s me”. With Mother’s Day coming up, it also makes a thoughtful and hilarious gift for Mum.
Look After Your Feet by Rosalie Ham
This book is dedicated to feet, much maligned and underappreciated, but without which we would travel far less.
Rosalie Ham, the international bestselling author, burst onto the literary scene in 2000 with her novel The Dressmaker. After years of entertaining us with weird and wonderful older women characters adored by her readers, Rosalie now turns her trademark wit and shrewd observations to life itself.
Peppered with practical advice about all manner of things – cheese and wine for dinner is welcome and acceptable – Look After Your Feet is a brilliantly funny, painfully honest and insightful celebration of the wisdom that seems to accelerate as body parts deteriorate, and life* falls into place.
* Often just a little bit too late.
KIDS & YA
Reviewed by Indy
A fantastic read that is one I would throw at both adults and teenagers alike. Part thriller, part survival story, this journey of a boy and his dog, is one of the most thought provoking, chilling, funny, sad and meaningful stories I have ever had the pleasure of reading. There are so many themes that are explored within that you would be seriously missing out if you don’t at least give it a try. I am beyond excited to know that Patrick is adding more to the world of Chaos Walking, and we start this new chapter, set 20 years after the conclusion of book 3, with Piper at the Gates of Dusk.
Piper at the Gates of Dusk by Patrick Ness
Now, almost twenty years on, Patrick Ness makes a momentous return to New World.
Something has been spotted in the night sky. Something that’s bringing back dreams of Noise, dreams of terror. Brothers Ben and Max have never really gotten on, each being more like one of their parents – Todd and Viola.
But now they will have to come together.
SOMETHING IS COMING.
Blending sci-fi, speculative fiction and adventure with themes of power, division and hope.
April New Release Highlights
Fiction
Non-Fiction
Kids & YA
Events:
Author Talks:
School Holidays:
Global Book Crawl:
Book Club:
For full information and booking links, click the images below. More titles will be released soon. But don’t hesitate to book, sessions fill up fast! Get more out of your reading this year, by joining in and meeting some new bookish friends.
Kids’ Story Writing Competition:
What our staff are reading this month:
Belinda: Theo of Golden by Allen Levi
Indy: Of Blood and Fire by Ryan Cahill
Juz: Kin by Tayari Jones
Kate: Circle of Wonders by Kathryn Heyman
Mahli: The Shock of the Light by Lori Inglis Hall
Suzie: The Long Game by Rachel Reid
Tenniell: Eight Million Ways to Happiness by Hiroko Yoda
Jemma: Heat of the Raven Prince by Tessonja Odette
Jacq: A Better Life by Lionel Shriver
Chloe: Theo of Golden by Allen Levi
Jamie: The Last Poem by Courtney Peppernell
Sarge: The Cursed Road by Laura McCluskey
Other Services:
