Cirrus@Austlit

'31 ordinary people around the globe have one startling thing in common - each is a doppelganger for Vladimir Putin. Each is approached by the Russian playmakers with an offer too good to refuse - a generous monthly payment to do nothing but wait until called upon, sometimes for years...

'This story spirits us off on a playful journey into the lives of a group of individuals whose physical attributes appear to matter more than who they may be. This comedic exploration of the role of the ordinary person in the exercise of power offers a striking reminder that, whoever we are, we are captured by the systems that govern us.'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

'Tremor compellingly weaves of the author’s personal experience with our broader societal context where people with disabilities, often far more challenging than her own, try to adapt to the implicit expectations and judgements that surround them.

'With empathy and flair, Voumard helps us understand that behind the convenient illusion of normality, individual lives chart atypical, often difficult, but ultimately inspiring paths.'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

'Two young women, brought up to expect conventional lives, are thrown together in unexpected circumstances. Each has suffered a devastating loss that challenges their belief in life and themselves. It’s rare to come across a work of deep psychological insight conveyed with such verve and lightness of touch.

'Kelly sweeps the reader into the lives and passions of her two central characters and into the bustling city streets of Sydney in the 1920s. A powerfully moving book that sparkles with vitality.'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

'Adelaide. Summertime. 1985. Fourteen-year-old Frankie is struggling to make sense of her older sister Justine's admission to hospital with anorexia. But growing up is harder than it seems, and as the summer passes, Frankie has to try to make sense of her own life, too.

'Years later, looking back on her sister's illness from the perspective of adulthood, Frankie reflects on its effects on herself and Justine, and on how it shaped the women they became.

'A quiet, nuanced study of sisterhood and a portrait of the long-term effects of anorexia on a family, Ravenous Girls powerfully explores the chasms that lie between adolescence and adulthood, sickness and health, and intimacy and loneliness.'

Source: Publisher's blurb.