At thirteen, Lavender Jensen is headstrong and determined, bored and reckless, until one day she crosses the line … In the arcane Kumakana forest, where one wrong move means certain death, Lavender Jensen’s sudden appearance sparks tensions between two clans of cunning, voracious predators, and the enigmatic guardians of the Natural Order—the Gronups. She meets Jerramunga, a buoyant, laconic, Aboriginal youth, a complete stranger, whose actions draw her into a series of encounters that test her beliefs and bring the powers of her imagination to the fore. As a life and death struggle unfolds, the pair discover ancient lore, inner strengths and hidden talents and their involvement becomes the key to the future of the mysterious world within the forest. And, perhaps, the world outside.

People-smuggling, high-level corruption and murder test the boundaries of truth and freedom.Fremantle, early 21st century.Within the space of a few days there is a murder, the mysterious appearance of an asylum-seeker, the announcement of an impending election and a chill crawling around Art Lazaar's belly that is a feeling of a different evil.Art Lazaar is a writer with a poetic licence that ties him to a past he can't escape. He works in the shadows for an unknown government agency while doubling as an academic. In the week the election is announced, he receives a call from an enigmatic homeless man connected to that same past: he must protect a young asylum seeker running from those who murdered her brother. It's not a request he can refuse.As the situation escalates, Lazaar is threatened with arrest, kidnapped, tortured and left for dead in the street, while the suspects disappear, die, or leave the country in the nick of time until he is left with no choice, a buried truth, and the only weapon in his arsenal ?Spellbinding, suspenseful, populated by complex characters in a world deeply etched in our psyches, this thrilling, propulsive story does not let the politics of truth and freedom rest easily.

Words are messy. Love is messier. A hilarious, insightful new novel from the creators of Books on the Rail Meet Beatrix Babbage – 29-year-old dog-earer of books and accidental destroyer of weddings. After ruining her best friend's nuptials, Bea relocates to the other side of the country in search of a fresh start, including meeting new people, living life to the fullest and finally pulling off balayage. But after a few months, life is more stagnant than ever. Bea’s job is dead-end. Her romantic life? Non-existent. And her only friends are her books, her barista and her cleaning lady. ?Then Bea stumbles across a second-hand novel, inscribed with notes. Besotted with the poetic inscriptions, Bea is determined to find the author ... and along the way, she finds herself entangled in one hell of a love quadrangle. Funny, poignant and insightful, While You Were Reading reveals that there’s no such thing as perfection, the value of true friendship and, most importantly, the power of not living in fiction, but still reading it … Often. A love story for book lovers that celebrates much more than romance.

For perhaps the first time in novel form, Benevolence presents an important era in Australia’s history from an Aboriginal perspective. Benevolence is told from the perspective of Darug woman, Muraging (Mary James), born around 1813. Mary’s was one of the earliest Darug generations to experience the impact of British colonisation. At an early age Muraging is given over to the Parramatta Native School by her Darug father. From here she embarks on a journey of discovery and a search for a safe place to make her home. The novel spans the years 1816-35 and is set around the Hawkesbury River area, the home of the Darug people, Parramatta and Sydney. The author interweaves historical events and characters — she shatters stereotypes and puts a human face to this Aboriginal perspective.

Shortlisted for the Readings Prize for New Australian Fiction in 2019! The Flight of Birds is a novel in twelve stories, each of them compelled by an encounter between the human and animal worlds. The birds in these stories inhabit the same space as humans, but they are also apart, gliding above us. The Flight of Birds: A Novel in Twelve Stories explores what happens when the two worlds meet. Joshua Lobb’s stories are at once intimate and expansive, grounded in an exquisite sense of place. The birds in these stories are variously free and wild, native and exotic, friendly and hostile. Humans see some of them as pets, some of them as pests, and some of them as food. Through a series of encounters between birds and humans, the book unfolds as a meditation on grief and loss, isolation and depression, and the momentary connections that sustain us through them. Underpinning these interactions is an awareness of climate change, of the violence we do to the living beings around us, and of the possibility of transformation. The Flight of Birds will change how you think about the planet and humanity’s place in it.

, Vivian Walker is dying. This is not on her list of things to do. A darkly funny debut that proves even the most imperfect of lives is worth celebrating. 'A heartbreakingly funny, unflinching, unforgettable debut. I just loved Vivian Walker!' LIANE MORIARTY 'Will make you laugh, cry and realise that even the most ordinary life is full of extraordinary moments' MAMAMIA Vivian Walker's life is exceptionally ordinary. Average husband, check. Darling son, check. Refrigerator in a state of permanent disarray, check. Everything is thoroughly and frustratingly routine, even being terminally ill. In preparation for D-day, Viv has made a list of essential things to do. She doesn't expect to become spiritually enlightened or have any outlandish last-minute successes. All she wants is to finish her unfinished business. The Very Last List of Vivian Walker will make you want to embrace humanity in all its selfishness, beauty and awkwardness. 'This novel has humour and pathos in spades - I laughed and cried' THE SATURDAY PAPER 'Compelling. Beautifully relatable. A touching story' BOOKS+PUBLISHING 'Darkly funny and will leave you uplifted. Megan Albany blends the tragedy with the humorous' WEEKEND AUSTRALIAN 'A fun take on a tough topic' THE AUSTRALIAN WOMEN'S WEEKLY 'A fun read that gets to the meaning of life through death' SARAH L'ESTRANGE, ABC 'Remarkably talented' WHO 'Funny and heart-breaking in equal measure, a skilfully wrought study of the difficult art of dying in our society' LIVING ARTS CANBERRA 'I cried reading this debut novel. I also laughed and despaired . . . the type of novel that you'll read quickly and that will compel you to find your family and hold them tight' READINGS 'An abundance of humour, spirit and profundity . . . an accomplished debut' BETTER READING 'Uplifting and impactful' BETTER HOMES & GARDENS 'Megan Albany has written a novel that is funny, real, and never glib; it is clear she loves all her characters' QUEENSLAND REVIEWERS COLLECTIVE,

This is the second in a series of five volumes on the lexicon of Proto Oceanic, the ancestor of the Oceanic branch of the Austronesian language family. Each volume deals with a particular domain of culture and/or environment and consists of a collection of essays each of which presents and comments on lexical reconstructions of a particular semantic field within that domain. Volume 2 examines how Proto Oceanic speakers described their geophysical environment. An introductory chapter discusses linguistic and archaeological evidence that locates the Proto Oceanic language community in the Bismarck Archipelago in the late 2nd millennium BC. The next three chapters investigate terms used to denote inland, coastal, reef and open sea environments, and meteorological phenomena. A further chapter examines the lexicon for features of the heavens and navigational techniques associated with the stars. How Proto Oceanic speakers talked about their environment is also described in three further chapters which treat property terms for describing inanimate objects, locational and directional terms, and terms related to the expression of time.

During the 1870s diamond rush in southern Africa, Clementine is left to be raised by her destitute father following the death of her mother. Her care falls largely to their companion, Joseph, and the two form an unbreakable bond. When the two men uncover a large, flawless diamond, a dark bargain is struck to ensure Clementine's return to a respectable life in northern England. Her father believes he has finally secured their future, but the discovery of the gem comes at a considerable cost. Years later, Clementine must confront long-buried memories of her childhood to solve the mystery of what happened to her loved ones all those years ago. Can she find the justice she seeks?

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