Cirrus@Austlit

'Approaching the wrong person with open hands can be fatal.

'Seeking escape from their small-town existence, two teenagers impulsively drive north, with no particular place to go and no particular sense of who is at the wheel.

'Adam and Teddy hope to leave boyhood behind, but as the journey progresses their friendship becomes a struggle to prove themselves. When Adam harasses a young couple they meet on the highway it lands them in trouble they cannot run from.

'In taut and stylish prose, The Passenger Seat examines how men learn and perform masculinity. Rejecting easy answers, it keeps our eyes trained on the vanishing point where vulnerability edges into violence, alienation into aggression.'  (Publication summary)

'Water, sand, hills, sky: the painter was out at sea, looking towards the shore. Impossible to say whether he was coming in or going out.

'When Sylvie, a single mother yearning for a creative spark, meets Michael, a renowned painter, she feels something she hasn’t felt in years. Impulsively she decides to uproot her life and move to Isaiah, an artists’ colony, with her teenage daughter Alice.

'To Sylvie, Isaiah seems to offer a second chance at the things she’s sacrificed—freedom, love and art—but her relationship with Michael begins to affect the closeness she once had with her daughter. Without her mother’s knowledge, Alice engages in an act of teenage defiance that will shape both their lives.

'Years later, Alice, a PhD student, is sought out by Caroline, an art historian researching Michael for a retrospective of his work. As their conversations tease out long-buried memories, Alice grapples with her past and Caroline’s hidden agenda.

'Sometimes it's all a matter of perspective.'  (Publication summary)

One will lose his mind. One will pay. One will agonise. And one will die.

'Duy, Phong, Minh, and Edmond have been best friends since childhood. Now, as young men running their families’ formidable businesses, they make up Saigon’s most powerful group of friends in 1928 Vietnam’s elite society.

'Until one of them is murdered.

'In a lavish mansion on a hill in Dalat, all four men have gathered for an evening of indulgence, but one of them won’t survive the night. Toggling between this fatal night and the six days leading up to it, told from the perspectives of the four men, their mothers, their servants, and their lovers, an intricate web of terror, loyalty, and well-kept secrets begins to unravel.

'As the story creeps closer to the murder, and as each character becomes a suspect, the true villain begins to emerge: colonialism, the French occupation of Vietnam, and the massive economic differences that catapult the wealthy into the stratosphere while the poor starve on the streets.'  (Publication summary)

'Good News: The worst has already happened.

'Bad News: Even worse is on the way.

'This is a fictional theory, a rant, a manifesto, an engagement or disengagement with the times, a record; it is bearing witness, a dramatisation of actual events, a horror-scape, either a monologue or dialogue, a testament, travel guide, handbook, textbook, potential encyclopaedia; it is five mini-novels or else five post-novels, an epic, a drop in the ocean, an homage, a reference, one long secret handshake, an agreement, a wink; it is an explosion of form, tangential, discursive, a firming of the foundations, a lament, an absurdist comedy with realism that is as realistic as it gets; it is a spectrum, shades of black from the dark to the next shade up from white, a proliferation, a step-back, a righting, a note to oneself, a line in the sand or a gust in the form of a structure-shaking gale; it is a dance (a two-footed, single-person line dance), an experiment, pure science, flicking the finger; it is, of course, backing away, crossing the street and avoiding eye contact; it is fantasy, humour, a romance without any leads, a defiance, a subdued rebellion, an anti-philosophical philosophy; it is pacifism that instigates a fight, a denouncement in the form of a laugh, an exploration, an adventure, a time-lapse, a panorama, a conclusion, you may just have to read the theory because these are just alluding-to-the-theory words.' (Publication summary)

'Meet the Jansen family.

'Since the weekend of the party – the one Liv can’t remember, the one that left her covered in bruises – there’s been a padlock on the door of her bedroom. Her parents said they found mould, and it needs to be decontaminated, but they’re behaving oddly. Her friend Leilani isn’t answering her texts, so maybe Liv did get a little out of control that night. Sharing a room with her younger brother Casper for a while isn’t the end of the world, as long as he doesn’t tell their parents that she’s started sleepwalking. They’re already acting strangely enough.

'The guilt over that weekend is getting to her father Janus. He’s forever looking over his shoulder. Janus, a horror author, is on a deadline to adapt his book into a screenplay. Now he’s now finding it hard to stomach the violence of his own stories. But Janus brought his whole family from Australia to LA to chase his dream, and he can’t let them down. Not again.

'Kay wasn’t sure she wanted to be a mother when she got pregnant with Liv, but she gave up everything for her daughter and then her son, Casper. She’ll do whatever she has to do to take care of her kids. Her marriage, though, is a different story. And the neighbours – well, she’ll just have to be more careful.

'Casper was away that weekend, but he knows something isn’t right. His parents don’t look each other in the eye anymore. His father’s hands tremble for no reason. And where does Liv keep disappearing to in the middle of the night? Casper decides to find out what no one will tell him about that weekend and what lies behind the padlocked door.'  (Publication summary)

'It was as if the present and the past were linked: a spider’s web, wherein a shock to one strand could make the whole structure shake.

'The Kelly family's idyllic holiday in the South of France is disturbed when Cass, a thirteen-year-old girl, goes missing. She's discovered several hours later with no visible signs of injury. Everyone present dismisses the incident as a close brush with tragedy. 
 
'Sixteen years later, at a funeral for a member of the Kelly family, Cass collapses. The present and the past start to collide as buried secrets come to light and old doubts resurface. What really happened to Cass in the South of France? And what's wrong with her now?' (Publication summary) 

'Fleeing Melbourne for a village in the Yorkshire Dales had felt right. Sanctuary, I’d thought.

'But nowhere is as straightforward as it first appears.

'When Giselle flees to the north Yorkshire village of Hollydale, she doesn’t give much thought to what she might find there. She's more concerned with what she's leaving behind – a toxic marriage, the loss of her beloved sister, Lina, and the cloud of suspicion over the circumstances of Lina's death.

'But in this small community she makes new and fascinating friends, chief among them Margaret, a wealthy elderly local who lives in Chatswood Hall, the mansion perched on a hill above the village, and Tom, the local handyman. Giselle hopes to start life over, but the past cannot be outrun and her husband will not be cut loose, threatening to arrive in Hollydale at any moment.

'When a bomb explodes on the one road that leads to her cottage, Giselle realises that her Hollydale life is larger and more complicated than she’d understood.

'A story about intergenerational friendship between women, coercive relationships and power, and the endless possibilities new connections can bring'  (Publication summary)

'When you can fake anything, how do you know what’s real?

'Harlow Close has made a career as an influencer uncovering the secrets of Winnipeg, dubbed ‘North America's strangest city’. The region is renowned for its sub-zero temperatures, dropping to minus 40 degrees – sometimes for months at a time. Yet, it’s not just the frigid winters and geographic seclusion that render Winnipeg peculiar.

'When Harlow’s father mysteriously disappears amid a particularly brutal cold snap, suspicions of foul play arise. It’s not like Scott to miss phone calls – and he’s been even more cautious since that time he was catfished by a romance scammer. Unhappy with the pace of the police investigation, Harlow launches her own search, enlisting her sister Blaise’s reluctant help.' (Publication summary) 

''This is about three deaths. Actually more, if you go back far enough. I say deaths but perhaps all of them were murders. It's a grey area. Murder, like beauty, is in the eye of the beholder. So let's just call them deaths and say I was involved. This story could be told a hundred different ways.'

'For Penelope Sheppard, university offers an escape from her troubled past. Running from a life weighed down with scandal and tragedy, Pen sees this as the ideal place to reinvent herself among perfect strangers. Life in her new halls of residence feels like a wonderland of sex, drugs, and maybe even love. But all too soon Pen realises you never can run far or fast enough. And when Pen's secrets are revealed, the consequences are deadly...Little by little, through Pen's flawed narration and tantalising diary entries, secrets, truths and lies come to light and a dangerous dilemma unfolds, twisting and turning until the very last page.' (Publication summary)

'Prince of spin and life of the party, Baz King, is missing. Nine years ago, at an innocent summer barbecue in Melbourne, everything imploded. For the Kings and the four other young families there that fateful day marriages fractured, friendships crumbled and lives were upended.

'Nothing would ever be the same.

'Now in their forties and their children teenagers, Baz King cannot be found. Has his charm finally run out? With a history of dodgy dealings and no shortage of motives anyone could be a suspect – his ex-wife Birdie, his work colleague Alex Turner, his lover Jess and lover’s husband Richard, his friend’s nanny and new wife, Madison – who wants him out of the picture? ' (Publication summary)

'In a city gripped by recession and shattered by violent bank robberies, three lives collide in a web of corruption, ambition, and revenge.

'Detective Bruno Karras, haunted by past secrets, receives mysterious photos of a blood-stained house. Amy Owens, a reluctant investigator entangled with the underworld, digs into the dark dealings of a wealthy businessman. Mike Nichols, a backroom player with big dreams, finds himself caught in the crossfire.

'As the glittering façade of the Gold Coast crumbles during the 1982 Commonwealth Games, Bruno, Amy, and Mike uncover a sinister plot that threatens to consume them all. In a world where power and deception reign supreme, they must confront their own demons while navigating a labyrinth of danger and betrayal.'  (Publication summary)

'Spring in Paris … the perfect time to turn over a new leaf

'In the heart of a city blooming with flowers, three women face life-changing challenges. Driven by grief over the sudden death of her mother, Corinne, Sydneysider Emma Taylor has taken refuge with her Parisian grandmother, Mattie, in her house with its secret garden. Determined to unlock the mysteries of Corinne’s past, Emma’s only clue is an enigmatic photograph.

'Celebrated garden designer Charlotte Marigny believed she had a happy marriage, until her husband, Tom, inexplicably started to withdraw from her. Needing time to think about the future, she has fled their home in London for her native Paris.

'Meanwhile, widowed Parisian florist Arielle Lunel had finally managed to get her life together, after her husband’s death and the discovery of his crippling debts three years earlier changed everything for her and their young twins. Now, her world is again turned upside down when her controlling parents-in-law arrive with a disturbing proposal...

'Drawn together by loss and the romantic gardens of Paris, the paths of the three women begin to intersect as they develop an unexpected friendship that will transform their lives.'  (Publication summary)

'Sri Lanka, 2009. Decades of civil war and bloodshed are being brought to an end at last – by any means necessary. In the capital, Colombo, tenacious journalist Ameena Fernando is murdered, execution-style, on a busy street near her home, with no witnesses.

'With pressure growing to find Ameena’s killers, CIA agent Ellie Harper is sent to seek justice for the journalist’s death with strict instructions: Find something, but not too much. It’s her first time returning to the island after her last mission went tragically awry four years prior, and Ellie has more than one ghost to lay to rest. Amidst the international scheming and jostling for stakes in post-war Sri Lanka, Ellie follows the trail of secrets on a mission to uncover a truth worth killing for.' (Publication summary)

'Three friends travel to Marcoy, a regional town for a weekend away from family life. One year ago, a tragic incident splintered the group, and the women have seen little of each other since.

'Melissa has slept much of the past twelve months away, and she hopes this weekend will help her re-emerge from the depression she’s been living with. Bridie worries that she is not a good enough mother. She worries about most things, really, but she’s dealing with things just fine. At least that’s what she tells herself. In fact, she only agreed to this weekend away out of a sense of duty.

'What Cassandra really needs is a break, so she’s come away to forget it all, to enjoy a cab-sav and an open fire and the company of her long lost friends.

'This weekend is about reconnecting, about enjoying their friendship the way they used to, while not—at any cost—having to address the reason for the distance between them. But when they witness a young girl being coerced into a car by a man she fears, they are forced to reckon with the chasm of grief and trauma that’s kept them apart.

'Everywhere We Look explores domestic abuse, the dynamics of female friendship, and the danger that can hide in plain sight.'  (Publication summary)

'Inspired by a real person, In the Margins is the story of spirited book-collector Frances Wolfreston—the woman who uniquely preserved the earliest part of Shakespeare’s legacy.  

'England, 1647. As civil war gives way to an uneasy peace and Puritanism becomes the letter of the law, Frances Wolfreston, a rector's wife, is charged with enforcing religious compliance by informing on her parishioners. This awful task triggers memories of her mother, Alice, who inspired Frances’ love of books and secretly practised Catholicism at great risk. Conflicted, she doesn’t report a reclusive and mysterious midwife to delay her going to gaol.

'As Frances takes increasingly bold steps to help the women and children of the parish, she attracts the ire of a patron of the church who questions why Frances collects books that she charges are entertainment. When her mother is gaoled for religious crimes, the secrets Frances hides from her husband begin to surface, and she is faced with an impossible choice: comply with the strict dictates of the new laws, or risk everything to free the women she cares for. 

'In this tender and powerful work of imagination, the life of a remarkable woman who wrote and lived in the margins in a time where women's voices went unheard is restored to history. Beautifully written and deeply moving, In the Margins is a testament to the way literature can illuminate our inner lives and set us free when the world around us is covered in darkness.' (Publication summary)

'Your future is not guaranteed. And isn’t that fucking freeing? If you found out you had less time to live than the average bear, how might you spend it?

'That’s a question comedian Michelle Brasier has been asking herself since her dad died of cancer, then her brother, and she was told there’s a high chance she’ll get it too. She’s only young (oh my god so young, and such great skin) but she has been through a lot and it’s taught her to live each day like it’s her last – because it just might be.

'From teenage fumblings in the back of a car in Wagga Wagga (teen pregnancy capital of Australia), to performing with Aunty Donna and her own sell-out comedy shows, Michelle invites you into the highs (seeing Jason Momoa drinking a Guinness next a classic car in SoHo) and the lows (getting dumped ¾ of the way through Pirates of the Caribbean).

'It’s an examination of the tiny things and the big things – how much it hurts to be a woman and a person, and how funny it is to try and get into shapewear and how funerals are silly. It’s self help for those of us who hate self help. A bit of a laugh and a bit of a cry. Balance. Yoga in the morning, whisky in the evening.

'Heartbreaking and hilarious, My Brother’s Ashes are in a Sandwich Bag moves between grief and joy, reminding us that life’s too short to be taken seriously.' (Publication summary)

'From poet Courtney Peppernell comes the story of a very long winter, a month of dark and unforgiving Sundays, that will make you question your strength and the purpose of living. 

'Bestselling poet and author of the acclaimed Pillow Thoughts series, Courtney Peppernell returns with a story of uncovering the light that resides deep within us all, should we only be brave enough to search the darkness to find it. A Month of Sundays is a tribute to surviving a long winter and a promise that, despite the darkness, the light will undoubtedly return.' (Publication summary)

'Where did she come from? And how far will she go?

'Five years ago, Kate’s partner, Max, abandoned her for his pregnant lover. The affair has long since crumbled, but Kate has become fixated with Vee, her ‘replacement’. In a bid to find out what compelled Max to leave, she moves to Bridgewell, which stands in the shadow of St Catherine's Chapel, where Vee is now raising her four-year-old daughter, Iona. 

'Warm and trusting, Vee is juggling work, single parenthood and a controlling ex-partner, Max, with whom she is still secretly sexually involved. Glad of Kate’s friendship, she nevertheless wonders what has brought this glamorous, but brittle woman to such a quiet corner of middle England.

'When Vee meets charismatic artist, Tom, she is hopeful of establishing her first meaningful attachment since Max. But Kate has her own plans...

'Against a backdrop of ancient ghosts, mystical forces and long-buried tragedy, Vee unwittingly yields to Kate’s cruel agenda, until the past and present collide with devastating consequences.'  (Publication summary)

'A murder. A disappearance. A sinister network.

 'Steels Creek is an idyllic retreat in the Sunshine Coast hinterland. It’s a place where everyone knows their neighbours and no one locks their doors. Investigative journalist Lars Nilsson has moved to the settlement for a quiet life, leaving behind a public fall from grace and the crime reporting he was once feted for. 

'But when a body is found floating in a nearby waterhole and hours later his best friend’s daughter is reported missing, Lars is compelled to investigate, putting him back in the crosshairs of police. What he finds may not only destroy his tight-knit community but also the life he has worked so hard to rebuild.

'Fast-paced and thrilling, The Community is also about fatherhood, family ties and redemption, told through the eyes of a man struggling to make peace with his past.' (Publication summary)