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'Ned Kelly is our most heavily mythologised outlaw, but what about his mother, Ellen Kelly? Grantlee Kieza’s new biography, Mrs Kelly: The Astonishing Life of Ned Kelly’s Mother, contends that the woman who gave birth to the celebrated yet polarising bandit has largely been overlooked, despite her eventful life.' (Introduction)
'Activist Yassmin Abdel-Magied contradicted her own statement that Islam is “the most feminist religion” in her book in which she quotes the Koran as commanding women to wear a head covering so that they would be “decent”.' (Introduction)
'As Joyce Morgan points out in her spirited and incisive biography of Martin Sharp, “biography does not take shape without great generosity, surprising encounters, memorable conversations and a dash of good luck”. She might have added ‘‘coincidence’’.' (Introduction)
'Nova Weetman has audaciously structured her story about two 15-year-olds who have killed a man in Everything is Changed (UQP, 272pp, $19.95) by telling it backwards. Clues unfurl about what happened in this tightly written psychological drama, culminating in the night everything changed.' (Introduction)