Three Australian nine-year olds from different immigrant backgrounds form a Secret Society they call The Threefold Cord, to do good such as helping an old lady. When they rescue a tortured cat, they stumble on a crime gang that traffics costly cats and smuggles rare red diamonds, led by the enigmatic and quite monstrously fearsome Dr Vandersluys, the tall, pale stranger who always wears sunglasses and dresses in black.Through their unity, courage and resourcefulness (and helped by ...

Every year for over a decade Goldenberg, a white middle-aged doctor, has spent numerous periods working as a relieving doctor for Aboriginal communities in remote places.On these visits he has observed and recorded Aboriginal Australians lives without resorting to simplification or glib solutions. Among his true stories we meet psychotic Elijah who believes he is Satan's boss and cannot die; a dehydrated baby whose mother gambles away money for food; an old lady who receives a gash...

Lights ... Camera ... Action! One night, Max is watching his favorite movie for the trillionth time when a spotlight goes on in his head: he could make a brilliant movie and all his dreams of fame and fortune would be solved! After borrowing his father's video equipment, he convinces Sid to be his leading lady, and his dreams of a box office hit seem not too far off ... until Sid walks off the set. But things take a happy turn when Max gets the chance to use his camera to ensure that the bad ...

Carrots and Jaffas tells the story of two red-headed identical twins whose oneness is ruptured when one of them is kidnapped. Their startling intimacy is both a strength and a fault line in their being, and once separated, their individuality emerges. In the course of this exhilarating domestic tale set in Melbourne and the Flinders Ranges, the reader encounters the twins' parents - emotional, scripture-quoting Luisa and calm Bernard - as well as two remarkable storytellers, Doc,...

Urban Fantasy meets Future NoirOnce people have messed with a man's DNA, what can he do but become a private eye? And when a gorgeous thing like Elizabeth Savoy comes gliding into his office and blinks her big baby blues, what can PI Mike Heller do but say sure—even though he sees just what she is, and knows what a bad idea it could be? Not that Heller has a clue just how bad. But by the time he suspects that Lizzie's troubles might bring the end of life as he knows it, he's already...

A new short story from Australia's queen of hard-hitting family drama.A short story for fans of Jodi Picoult and Anita Shreve.Step into the fragile domestic world of Roar and discover the unforgettable voice of Nicole Trope, bestselling author of The Secrets in Silence, Three Hours Late and The Boy Under the Table.*The baby sleeps peacefully, filled with milk and contentment. The man on the bed breathes his way into the da...

This is the compelling story of how the skull of an Aboriginal man, found on the banks of the Murray River over 40 years ago, came to be returned to his Wamba Wamba descendants. It is a story of awakening, atonement, forgiveness and friendship. 'It is as if a whole window into Indigenous culture has blown open, not just the window, but every door in the house,' says John Danalis. Part history, part detective story, part cultural discovery and emotional journey, this is a book for young and...

Will Self possesses one of the greatest literary imaginations of any writer working today. How the Dead Live is his most extraordinary book yet—a novel that will challenge, entertain, and truly astonish.Lily Bloom is an aging American transplanted to England who has lost her battle with cancer and lies wasting away at the Royal Ear Hospital. As her two daughters—lumpy Charlotte, who runs a hugely successful chain of stationery stores called Waste of Paper, and beautiful Natasha, a ...

Exploring grief, yet neither bleak nor overwrought, this powerful short story won the 2013 Sunday Star-Times Short Story Competition. The judge, Carl Nixon, commended its 'seemingly effortless artistry' and its skilful and well-sustained handling of demanding narrative techniques: 'the author does not miss a beat', he said. Cleverly juxtaposing the past and present, the narrator draws the reader into her life. The judge concluded: 'Beautifully controlled use of simile and ...

Seven years, and finally he had found her. He knew every curve of her body. From inside the bar he watches Jasmine spin and shimmy to the throb of the music. Her blue skirt swirls like water around her. He touches the cold silver of the bracelet in his pocket, Carla’s bracelet. After the dance he will give it to her, she will wear it and she will dance for him, just for him….Musician and belly dancer Diana Taylor performs several times a week at a friend’s Kitsilano restaurant. One...

"Mothering" contains three heart-warming, true stories that will appeal to women of all ages whether they are mothers or only thinking about becoming a mother.The first story is told from the perspective of a mother who is accompanying her daughter in the labor room as her grandchild is being born. This touching moment by moment account ends with one of the most gratifying experiences a mother can have...the birth of her child.The second story is an account of a woman who com...

A young bridge painter is awakened from the hum of daily routine by a face-to-face encounter with a woman in free fall."The Bridge" is a story from Daniel Orozco's critically acclaimed collection Orientation, which leads the reader through the hidden lives and moral philosophies of bridge painters, men housebound by obesity, office temps, and warehouse workers. He reveals the secret pleasures of late-night supermarket trips for cookie binges, exceptional data entry, and an...