Kim, Juhea (2024) City of Night Birds. HarperCollins.
World-famous prima ballerina Natalia Leonova, after a two-year hiatus that saw her lost in pills and alcohol, is in crisis. Her life and career has unravelled. When she is given the opportunity to rehabilitate herself by dancing her signature role of Giselle, with the Mariinsky Ballet in St Petersburg, she finds that in returning home she must also face the ghosts of her past – her heart-broken mother, long-lost father, dance partner lover, and arch nemesis. This is an opulent tale of the ruthless and competitive world of contemporary Russian ballet and of a flawed and obsessive diva. Delightful and immersive page-turner. Loved it.
Rating: 4/5
Merkel, Angela (2024) Freedom: Memoirs 1954-2021. St Martin’s Press.
This is the memoir of a remarkable woman, scientist and diplomat. A pastor’s daughter from East Germany (GDR). A modest, astute and determined leader who served as the German Chancellor from 2005-2021. This book reads like the understated no-nonsense author herself – “never explain, never complain”. There are few personal anecdotes. Rather it is a treatise on Merkel’s hectic political life, from geopolitics and her relationships with world leaders, to the global crises that marked her career, including the breakup of the Eurozone, Nord Stream pipeline, Russian aggression, the influx of one million Syrian refugees, and Covid. Merkel forever the rationalist has had her say and is now consigned to history, whilst many of her antagonists continue to wreck havoc. A big read.
Rating: 3/5
Bohannon, Cat (2023) Eve: How the Female Body Drove 200 Million Years of Human Evolution. Hutchinson Heinemann.
Does one-size fit all? Modern medicine, despite evidence, has yet to acknowledge that treatments and medicines may affect the sexes differently. Women’s bodies have been considered just bodies in general. Indeed the study of biological female bodies has lagged behind that of men – the ‘male norm’. Men, unaffected by periods and pregnancy, produce “clean” data, but these studies ignore the evolutionary learnings of the ‘Eves’. Each chapter in Eve is dedicated to one key aspect of human evolution, from milk to voice. Academic Bohannon is in the business of myth-busting in her revisionist human history focussing on the female body. Epic and spirited paradigm shift.
Rating: 4/5
Heath, Rebecca (2025) The Wedding Party. Head of Zeus.
Adele and Jason are getting married. They have been friends since they shared their childhood beach shack summers at Refuge Bay. Jason is now a wealthy developer and Adele craves security. But they have a dark past. Twelve years ago Ollie, Adele’s boyfriend and Jason’s best friend, met with a tragic accident, or was it? Someone in the wedding party is lying and set to die. The story is narrated from the perspectives of the bride Adele, Ollie’s sister and bridesmaid Sophie and his grieving mother Melanie. Escapist and twisty but a long-winded tale.
Rating: 3/5
Hickey, Margaret (2021) Cutters End. Bantam.
In the first DS Mark Ariti story he is seconded to reinvestigate a cold case. Thirty years ago a burnt out car and a body was found off the Stuart Highway, in South Australia, near Cutters End. It was ruled an accident. Now a high-profile media star, with a link to the victim, is making waves as she is convinced it was murder. As Mark interviews witnesses he finds connections to his past and a series of unsolved disappearances. This crime novel was Hickey’s debut. Atmospheric, intimate and unpredictable.
Rating: 4/5
La Plante, Lynda (2024) Getting Away with Murder. Zaffre.
The now octogenarian crime storyteller of Widows and Prime Suspect fame is an actor, award winning TV writer and producer, and bestselling author. She tells her story on her own terms, from the entrenched misogyny of the entertainment industry, the appropriating of her work and vision, to researching dark themes and creating memorable characters. La Plante has broken all stereotypes with her talent and ambition. With a career that began when she was just fifteen, she shows no sign of retiring. Moving, funny no-holds barred memoir.
Rating: 4/5
Foster-Blake, Zoe (2024) Things Will Calm Down Soon. Atlantic Books.
Kit, a renowned hairstylist, grows a highly successful haircare company from an original product idea for second-day hair. Success has its downside though. Kit has lots of business balls in the air – an enthusiastic team, ardent shareholders, a young daughter, an unreliable ex, a wayward sister, and an estranged father. She is sure things will calm down one day soon, but then big-time investors start to hover. This relatable, yet frenetic, tale of beauty entrepreneurship may wear you out!
Rating: 3/5
7:30 Bookclub 