by Hannah Kent

A brilliant literary debut, inspired by a true story: the final days of a young woman accused of murder in Iceland in 1829.

Set against Iceland’s stark landscape, Hannah Kent brings to vivid life the story of Agnes, who, charged with the brutal murder of her former master, is sent to an isolated farm to await execution.

Horrified at the prospect of housing a convicted murderer, the family at first avoids Agnes. Only Tóti, a priest Agnes has mysteriously chosen to be her spiritual guardian, seeks to understand her. But as Agnes’s death looms, the farmer’s wife and their daughters learn there is another side to the sensational story they’ve heard.

Riveting and rich with lyricism, Burial Rites evokes a dramatic existence in a distant time and place, and asks the question, how can one woman hope to endure when her life depends upon the stories told by others?

Amazon: Paperback $17.70, Kindle $12.99

Sutherland Library: 2 copies, also eBook, Audiobook, and Hoopla

Kmart: Doesn’t stock

Big W: Doesn’t stock

by Joanna Glen

From the author of the Costa shortlisted debut, The Other Half of Augusta Hope, comes the story of one girl’s journey to find her birth mother, and her realisation that mothers – and family – can be discovered in the most unexpected of places…

London, 1980s. Though she has a comfortable, privileged life, Eva Martínez-Green is deeply unhappy. The only child of an emotionally absent mother and a physically absent father, Eva has grown up in a cold, unloving house. But Eva is convinced that all is not as it seems. Why are there no baby pictures of her? Why do her parents avoid all questions about her early years?

When her parents’ relationship crumbles, Eva begins looking for a different, better life: a proper family, a perfect mother, and, importantly, real love. Her desire to find where she belongs leads Eva on a journey spanning years and continents – and, along the way, she meets women who challenge her idea of what a mother should be, and who will change her life forever…

Amazon: Paperback $17.70, Kindle $8.99

Booktopia: Paperback $20.35

Sutherland Library: Paperback – 3 copies, eBook (on Hoopla), eAudiobook 

Kmart: Doesn’t stock

Big W: Doesn’t stock

by Kristin Harper

Ruby rocks in her favourite chair and tries not to think about the past. This family inn, with views across the grassy dunes to the lighthouse standing against bright blue sky, is all she’s ever known. But Ruby has been keeping a secret all these years… this summer, has the time finally come to share it?

Meg Carter can’t wait to spend the summer with her great-aunt Ruby, helping renovate her charming—if a little old-fashioned—inn by the ocean. But a surprise arrival changes their plans. Simon, grandson of the former owners, is selling his land next door to a luxury resort developer. The plans are certain to ruin the beautiful view of the lighthouse, which has guided lost seafarers home for generations… and put Ruby’s inn out of business for good.

Forget sorting through Ruby’s classic book collection and spring cleaning the bedrooms: there might not ever be any new guests if the plans go ahead. Simon may be tall and handsome, with eyes like green sea glass, but he’s stubborn to boot… and Meg’s discussions with him always end in fireworks.
Then Ruby says she has a secret about Simon to share. But the elderly lady only has time to say “the lighthouse holds the key” before becoming desperately ill.
Distraught, all Meg cares about is her beloved aunt’s health. Ruby is in no state to share her secret now: but what if it could save the inn for good? A tour of the lighthouse, with its glittering glass lamp and red-and-white stripes, brings Meg no closer to the truth… and it’s against her better judgment that she takes long walks on the beach with Simon, and even grows close to his sweet children.
But is she wrong to open her heart to the one person who could hold the answers? And will Meg ever solve the secret of the lighthouse—before it’s too late for the inn, and for Ruby?

Amazon: Paperback $21.99, Kindle $4.99

Booktopia: Paperback $21.99

Sutherland Library: Doesn’t stock 

Kmart: Doesn’t stock 

Big W: Doesn’t stock