Cirrus@Austlit

'Friendship is a slippery notion. We lose friends as we change and our friends don't, or as we form other alliances, or as we betray our friends or are ourselves betrayed ...

'Alice, Hartley, Mitsy and Jamie are kids growing up in Broome before the Second World War. Their lives, although very different, are bound by friendship. Hartley and Alice Penrose are the children of an uneducated pearling master and a cultivated, disgruntled mother. Mitsy Sennosuke is Japanese, the daughter of Zeke, a diver working for Hartley and Alice's father, and Sadako, who makes soy sauce in a tin shed factory. Jamie Kilian is the son of a local magistrate, recently moved north from the city. Together, they unconsciously cross the boundaries of class and race, as they swim, joke and watch films in the cinema in Sheba Lane.

'But these happy, untroubled times end when lives are lost in a terrible cyclone, Alice falls for a wealthy cattleman pilot, a young woman is assaulted, and Hartley and Jamie compete for the love of Mitsy. The Second World War brings further strain into their lives. The four friends are no longer children but old enough to fight for their country. As Japanese bombs begin to fall like silver rain on northern Australia, loyalties are divided and friendships take on an altogether different form …

'This thrilling and beautifully written new novel from Garry Disher evokes an era of Australia caught up in the events of war and its effects on people torn apart from all they know and hold dear in childhood.' (Source: Publisher's website)

'A gripping, beautifully observed novel by the author of the award-winning, bestselling, The Divine Wind.

'Eva Hicks has come to Italy for love and art. What she finds in the shifting light of Tuscany are gunshots along the terraced hillsides, the enigmatic painter Nye and a sense of her own misplaced faith.

'Another student, Matt, is deeply suspicious of their mentor. Is Nye inappropriately involved with one of his students, and connected with the murders of tourists in the region? As Matt and Eva's relationship develops, they decide to find the truth, and discover much more than they bargained for. ' (Publication summary)

'We always hurt the ones we love...

'When Louis’s parents decide to move from the city to a small coastal town, Louis finds himself at odds with everything around him. He’s an outsider at school where he’s at the mercy of the two school bullies, and misses the city and his friends. The only person he can talk to is the ‘windmill man’, Mr Chatters.

'Then Mr Chatters’ niece, Tilly, arrives in town and, unexpectedly, Louis discovers he has much in common with her. But are the rumours surrounding Tilly true? Instead of relying on his own judgement, Louis listens to the gossip around him…

'A gentle and moving story by the author of The Apostle Bird and Moondyne Kate.' (Publication summary)

'It's not easy moving house and making new friends. Especially not when the neighbours think you're weird.

'And not when Ermyntrude, your grand piano, sends wolfhounds and comets after the man next door. And sirens, and horses and roosters, and barn owls

'It's not easy when you know you'll never see your father again. Will you ever be able to play the grand piano without him? And will Ermyntrude let you play music any more anyway?'

Source: Publisher's blurb (2019 reprint).

'Six stories of suspense and the supernatural from one of Australia's favourite writers, Garry Disher.

'It's a great feeling to break away from home, school and the restrictions of your childhood years, to test yourself in the world at last.

'First flight, first love, first job, first holiday alone, first place to call your own. You feel as if anything could happen, and you're prepared for it. You're no longer restless, you're flying free.

'But wait, there's a final test - if you can survive it.

'Can you outlast the walking dead, the stair creak at night, the ghosts of the past, the treachery of those you trust and love?'

Source: Publisher's blurb (2019 republication).

'An edgy thriller that hits the road, from bestselling author and crime writer, Garry Disher.

'Leah Flood is on the run. The cops are after her and she has to keep one step ahead. The irony is that Leah is a cop too. But she's a cop who made a mistake. Leah knows she's in the right, but that doesn't seem to matter to the guys who are chasing her. Then somewhere along a lonely road in the middle of nowhere, Leah meets Tess, who also has something to hide. Soon the two young women are being tracked by a ruthless killer.

'But who is the intended target?

'And why? '  (Publication summary)

'Rick's cousins are two specks floating on the horizon, leaving him far behind on the treacherous bush track. He looks at his punctured tyres in dismay. Ten kilometres. If he walks, he'll be too late to save them. If he runs, he'll expire in the heat.

'Somewhere across the flats, in between the red-dirt back roads, there's real trouble happening. Rick has never felt so alone; the land around him feels as alien as the moon - nothing like the city.

'But now is no time to hesitate... Ian and Nita are depending on him.

'Then the voice of his dead father comes ringing: 'Don't use up all your energy at once. Walk twenty, run twenty.''

Source: Publisher's blurb (2019 republication).

'Max and Christina are the adopted children of a cult called the White League. They have been indoctrinated for most of their lives by their parents, and by the man they call Ratface, a high-ranking cult official. When Ratface kidnaps another child, Max and Christina find the courage to plan their escape.'  (Publication summary)