Cirrus@Austlit

'Dolly Maunder was born at the end of the nineteenth century, when society’s long-locked doors were finally starting to creak ajar for women. Born into a poor farming family in country New South Wales but clever, energetic and determined, she spent her restless life pushing at those doors.

'Most women like Dolly have more or less disappeared from view, remembered only in a family photo album as a remote figure in impossible clothes, and maybe for a lemon-pudding recipe. Restless Dolly Maunder brings one of them to life as a person we can recognise and whose struggles we can empathise with.

'In this novel, Kate Grenville uses family memories and research to imagine her way into the life of her grandmother. This is the story of a woman born into a world of limits and obstacles who was able—though at a cost—to make a life for herself. Her battles and triumphs helped to open doors for the women who came after.' (Publication summary)

'At twenty-four Philippa Moore is overweight, unhappily married, and still living in her hometown of Hobart, Tasmania. After a wake-up call in a department-store changing room, Phil suddenly realises that she is on the wrong path. With determination she starts to shed the kilos, and makes a confronting discovery: she is in charge of her own life.

'Starting over again in Melbourne, she launches an award-winning health and fitness blog, Skinny Latte, and finds the courage to leave her marriage. She then sets out on an international odyssey, travelling the length and breadth of North America and throwing herself into every new experience she encounters. An intuitive friend predicts that true love is in her future but, still scarred from her failed relationship, she can scarcely bring herself to believe it. When she arrives in London, though, she finds the life she has always been looking for, coming to realise that excuses for not doing the things you dream of doing are just that: excuses.

'The Latte Years is the brave story of a life restarted, of the battles still to be won once the 'after' photo has been taken. Told with humour, insight and a great deal of coffee, it shows that we have the power to change anything, and inspires us to live our best, most authentic life.'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

'Can four wounded souls find love? Iraq war veteran Dan Mitchell once disobeyed an order - and it nearly destroyed him. Now a national park ranger in the Australian outback, he's faced with another order he is unwilling to obey Photographer Rachel Quinn seeks out beauty in unlikely places. Her work comforted Dan in his darkest days. But Quinn knows darkness too - and Dan soon realises she needs his help as much as he needs hers. Carrie Bryant was a talented jockey until a racing accident broke her nerve. Now Dan and Quinn need her expertise, but can she face her fear? And could horse breeder, Justin Fraser, a man fighting to save his own heritage, be the one to help put that fear to rest? Sometimes, the wounds you can't see are the hardest to heal.' (Publication summary)

'A story of how love can break our hearts - and heal them. A year ago I met the love of my life. For two people who didn't believe in love at first sight, we came pretty close. Lilah MacDonald - beautiful, opinionated, stubborn and all kinds of wonderful in ways that words could never quite capture. The woman who taught me to live again. My Lilah, who gave me so much, and yet kept from me a secret that she knew would break my heart. My name is Callum Roberts, and this is our story. Me Without You is a book to make you smile, bring you to tears and remind you to hold on tightly to those you love.' (Publication summary)

When marine biologist, Jenny Payne, joins an Antarctic cruise ship her fellow passengers include Vera, an eccentric, elderly crime writer and Lian, a young runaway in pursuit of forbidden love. And there's also Kit Walker, a mysterious and handsome man who is occupying the most luxurious cabin on the ship.

'When seventeen-year-old Anais Butt is expelled from her fifth boarding school in three years, she expects her parents to slap her on the wrist and send her to another expensive school. However, her fed-up parents have other ideas. They decide to exile her to the isolated mountain town of Glenorie to labour for her child-hating maternal grandmother, Nanny Pam and her hostile cousin, Josephine, who operate a riding school on Pam's three thousand-acre ranch on the Turon River. However, before leaving for Glenorie, Anais spends a few days with her paternal grandmother, Nanny Bette, who has a handsome, mysterious guest staying with her in her flat. Shannon Ferguson has told Nanny Bette that he’s an out-of-work actor, but Anais, who finds herself strongly attracted to him, suspects that he’s lying. Shannon seems to be on the run from the police.

'When Shannon follows Anais to Glenorie, she’s scared of him and drawn to him in equal measure. He reveals that he’s being pursued by the police over a crime he did not commit. Anais wants to believe the man she’s in love with, but when a German backpacker goes missing and another is horribly injured near Glenorie, Anais can’t help but suspect Shannon.

'Finding herself more and more allied with her serious, goody-two-shoes cousin Josephine, Anais sets out to investigate the disappearances herself. Through a series of thrilling but dangerous events, the girls discover that the prime suspect is not Shannon, but the town’s well-respected pastor, Reverend Hobhouse and his band of ‘foster sons’.

'After an incident in the bush where Shannon is almost killed, he’s forced to face the prospect of leaving Glenorie, and Anais, forever. And Anais must make her own decisions and discoveries about her past, present and future. She may just have to grow up . . .' (Publisher's blurb)

'Now living in Melbourne, Isabelle and Dr Jack are expecting their first child. And, naturally, Isabelle is the very model of a calm Earth Mother-to-be. . .

'Or she would be if she wasn't consumed with anxiety about finding her pelvic floor, giving birth to a human-eel hybrid or the horrifying prospect of having a child named Leroy Marvin. Even worse, as Isabelle's tummy grows, so too does the distance between her and her adored Dr Jack who, it seems, has quite different priorities. . .

'But with support from a host of new mothers including her friend Fran and her sister Audrey, as well as her fellow gallerina Doug, just maybe Isabelle can make it through pregnancy and childbirth with her dignity, her relationship and some more private bits intact.

'Then again, maybe not.' (Publisher's blurb)