Story, poetry and music: ‘Rivers Flow – Reflections on the Songs of Archie Roach and Ruby Hunter’.
Curated by award-winning Noongar writer Kim Scott, this anthology from First Nations writers is a beautiful tribute to the talent, heart and inspiration of two incredible music makers and storyteller, Archie Roach and Ruby Hunter.
Anyone who was lucky enough to see either or both perform would surely remember the first time. For me, it was at a very early Woodford Folk Festival in the mid 1990s. I had two CDs of Archie’s then, Charcoal Lane and Jamu Dreaming, and knew all the songs intimately. Perched on top of a grassy hill to the side of a packed festival marquee (no chance of a seat inside), all I could see was the side of the stage and the performer’s legs. Once Archie began singing, none of that mattered. His beautiful, strong voice reached me like a warm caress, soothing and uplifting at the same time.
I saw this wonderful man perform many times over subsequent years: alone with his guitar, or with a band, or with Ruby, another magic-maker with words and song. They gave shows at festivals, in small venues and at the Sydney Opera House theatre. Every single time I would come away with tears in my eyes and hope in my heart. Their strength, dignity and compassion were reflected in each song they wrote and sang.
They were Australian cultural treasures and their legacy lives on. This book is a small yet meaningful part of that. A short, heartfelt foreward by Amos Roach, Archie’s son, sets the scene, along with a reflective introduction by Kim Scott, who writes:
So I made a playlist, and revisiting songs of Archie Roach and Ruby Hunter opened me right up. Remembering where I’d heard a song, or tried to sing it. Who I was with, when, where. And then there is the very quality of the songs themselves, their big spirit.
How I wish I could sing like that, write like that.
Rivers Run p9Inside are short pieces by First Nations writers, some well known to me, others new. They each chose a song and wrote about it: a short story inspired by the feel of a song; a poem; a memory. The love and respect felt by other creatives for the duo in question shine through every single piece. In the words of Kokomini writer Graham Akhurst in his piece ‘Paradise’ inspired by the song From Paradise:
Hope is in the truths
and blood that binds us
Archie sang truths;
we sing alongArchie’s most famous song is arguably Took the Children Away, a searingly honest portrayal of the horrors of government policies and actions that resulted in the Stolen Generations. It is hard song to hear, to sing, to think about; yet hopeful. This was the genius of both Archie and Ruby: to explore difficult truths with compassion and love.
Here is Archie singing this song from decades ago; there is a beautiful suprise towards the end. Please note: the video contains images of people who have died.
It was a sad loss for this country and for Australian music when first Ruby, then Archie, passed away. I will remember them both with enormous admiration and gratitude. Their songs will remain with me always.Rivers Flow was published by Fremantle Press in 2025.
Big thank you to Blue Mountains Library for having this in its First Nations collection, which is where I came across it.Excavating a childhood: ‘The Framing’ by Fernanda Dahlstrom
For the first couple of chapters of this memoir, I felt like I was in the centre of an archaeological dig, surrounded by bits of rock and shards of broken pottery, none of which fitted together. The narrative jumps forwards and backwards in time, it is peopled by characters I found hard to sort out with odd nicknames or pseudonyms. None of it made sense.
I almost gave up. But I persevered and I am very glad I did.
I realised that, deliberately or not, the author has told the story of her remarkable, fraught childhood in a way that reflects its chaotic, mixed up nature. Through her writing, she has excavated her early life and especially the relationship with her mother, bit by bit, memory by memory, rather like an archaeological dig. What she found was often a jumbled mess…reaching clarity in adulthood as she worked through the memories, slowly dealing with the legacy of those early years.
By any measure, her trajectory was startling. Her mother Margaret was charged with multiple offences to do with fraud, theft, burglary and even stalking (of Judith Durham of The Seekers), but steadfastly maintained her innocence, insisting that she had been framed by police with a vendetta against her.
So Fernanda spent much of her childhood on the run, moving between states, cities, towns.
Super-bright, she was reading philosophers and literary novels in primary school. She began university study in her mid-teens. She spent chunks of time in boarding houses, living with foster families, even looking after herself in an isolated rural house her mother had built. She organised her own travel by plane, taxis and trains to see her mother during her periods of incarceration.
All this, while believing her mother was innocent and a victim of ‘the system.’
What struck me as especially sad was the chasm that opened up with family members – including grandparents – who could have stepped in to provide a loving, more stable environment for a child.
Her narrative did two things for me. I felt enormous admiration for young Fernanda, for her fierce loyalty to her mother and her resourceful approach to the many challenging situations she found herself in. She certainly presents an argument against the somewhat over-protected bubbles that children tend to live in nowdays, at least in wealthy Western countries.
I also felt enormous sadness for the little girl growing up without the guardrails and stability that we might assume are the birthright of every child.
This excavation of a childhood makes for a gripping narrative that raises many deep questions about who we trust and why; about how the systems set up to protect the vulnerable can harm as well as help; and about how each of us must decide for ourselves the value of our own experience and the things we are told about our past.
The Framing was published in 2026 by Melbourne University Press.
My thanks to the author for a copy of the book to review.Easter bilbies, mums, fun things: new picture books from Harper Collins
Easter is on the way; the shops full of soft toy bunnies, Easter buns and chocolate eggs. So an Easter-themed picture book is timely, especially as this one is all about bilbies, not bunnies.
Are you the Easter Bunny? by Janeen Brian and Lucinda Gifford features simple, rhyming text and bright, ochre-and-grey themed illustrations. Children can learn about the unique features of this endangered marsupial, and how its habits like digging tunnels for shelter actually contribute to the long-term health of the desert landscapes in which it lives. A lovely accompaniment to a chocolate Easter Bilby, perhaps?
Published in January 2026What do you call your Mum? continues one of my favourite Australian series for youngsters. Written by Ashleigh Barton and illustrated by Martina Heiduczek, it explores words for ‘mum’ used by children in a range of languages including Scottish Gaelic, Arabic, Cherokee, Gumbaynggirr, Malay and Somali (to name a few).
I love these books for their gorgeous richly detailed pictures and the way cultures and languages are celebrated along with different family roles.
Published February 2026Now for something different. Australian vet Dr Claire Stevens has written all about the weird, wacky and downright disgusting creatures of our planet. In Gross Things Animals Eat, she explains the food chain, how different foods help animals grow and stay healthy. The ‘gross things’ are just that: dirt, poop, wood, vomit, blood, rotting animals…kids will love squirming at these fun facts.
The humorous illustrations by Adele K Thomas give a chuckle along with the eeewwws.
Published in March 2026In contrast, Tiny Good Things by Gabrielle Tozer and Sophie Beer, is a picture book that encourages children and adults to look carefully, slow down, notice the little things in the world that can bring pleasure and happiness. I guess it’s aligned with the mindfulness/gratitude movement, which we certainly need more of in our world! The pastel illustrations tap into the child’s imagination as the text hints at adventures above the clouds or beneath the sea. This one celebrates tiny wonders from ordinary days.
Published March 2026These four Australian picture books all published by various imprints of HarperCollins Children’s Books.
My thanks to the publishers for copies to review.Imposter sydnrome: ‘The Writers Retreat’ by Victoria Brownlee
I admit to being a little puzzled by this novel. Described by the publishers as a ‘twisty and atmospheric thriller’, I was well into the second half wondering when the tension would begin. It’s definitely atmospheric – one of the best things about the book is its setting (a beautiful old home in the south of France, where the owners offer writing workshops and retreats for published and aspiring authors.)
The story centers around Kat, an Australian author who has a best-selling romance novel under her belt, but is catastrophically stuck on her second manuscript, with a crippling case of imposter sydrome. Perhaps she really can’t write, after all? Perhaps the success of her first book was a fluke?
On a whim she books a last-minute spot for a two week retreat in France, hoping that this will kick start her creativity and prompt her writing.
What she gets is so much more, because she begins to suspect that Helen, the retreat leader, is hiding something, which may have to do with the success of Helen’s own first novel.
Kat begins to pry and snoop, while keeping a daily journal as required by the workshop facilitators. This is where I began to lose patience, as the journal seemed to me to be repetitive and a bit whingy. It reads as journals often do – introspective, self-doubting, constantly questioning her decisions and impulses. Yet she does act impulsively, often unwisely, eventually leading herself into danger.
So, I found the novel slow moving, repetitive at times, frustrating at others.
Aspects I enjoyed were (as mentioned) the setting and some of the characters, who were well drawn. And the food! Victoria Brownlee has been a food writer and previously published light romantic novels set in France and featuring food, and she does capture the allure of the French culture, countryside and food beautifully.
So yes, this novel puzzled me. I spent some time while reading it trying to work out if it was a light escapist novel or a more serious thriller, and in the end decided on the former.
The Writers Retreat is published by Affirm Press (an imprint of Simon & Schuster) in March 2026.
My thanks to the publishers and NetGalley for an advance copy to review.Crime fiction for kids: ‘The Lost Ghosts of Lawson’ by Antony Mann
Several months ago, Blue Mountains creative Antony Mann was in my husband’s recording studio working on a new project. (Shout out to Blue Mountain Sound!) Over lunch, Antony happened to mention he was also a writer and had published a children’s book. Of course I pricked up my ears! Being an avid supporter of books for children and of local creatives, I was interested.
In one of those serendipitous moments that can sometimes occur, a little later I was having coffee at a local cafe when I spied copies of The Lost Ghosts of Lawson for sale on a counter. Bingo!
This book is aimed at middle-grade readers, from later primary school to early teens. It is perfect for readers who can handle slightly darker themes, because it is essentially a crime novel for kids.
At the centre is Lewen, who with his mum, dad and younger sister Anna, has just moved to the Blue Mountains from a Sydney beach suburb. Obviously there are many changes he has to adjust to: a very different physical environment (no beaches for a start), a new school where he struggles to fit in, missing his old friends and neighbourhood. Oh, and the ghosts that populate the old house in Lawson the family have moved into, and its surrounding streets.
These are the ghosts of youngsters who have died decades ago, and Lewen and Anna can both see and speak to them. Tricky enough, you’d think, but it gets even more complicated when Lewen begins to suspect that at least one of the children died, not from an accident, but at the hands of an adult.
So, definitely a dark-ish theme there.
This realisation begins a search for clues helped by a girl who goes to the same local school. Roxanne is a bit odd, but friendly, and she and Lewen embark on an investigation into what happened all those years ago, in their very street.
Despite the serious subject, there are moments of humour, especially from the mostly friendly ghost children, and some of the antics that they get up to.
The novel encompasses themes of friendship, right and wrong, duplicity and trust. And it was an absolute delight for a Blue Mountains resident to read a work of fiction where so many familiar places take centre stage. Most of the action takes place just up the road from me and the author has done an admirable job portraying the special nature of the physical environment, heritage and community of the Mountains.
The Lost Ghosts of Lawson will suit readers who are ready for an engrossing story that tackles grittier themes with a slight fantasy and adventure bent.
It was published by Loose Parts Press in 2023.Flipping the script: ‘Looking from the North’ by Henry Reynolds
Have you ever seen a map of the world that is not the standard Mercator-type, but which depicts the continents and their positions in a way that is more true to life? If so, you’ll know that slightly unsettling feeling of gazing at a depiction of our planet that just looks weird, or so different to what you are used to, as it challenges deep assumptions about world geography.
Reading Looking from the North felt a bit like that for me. Having been born, raised and educated (and lived the majority of my life) in the southeast of Australia, my ‘take’ on our national story was, I see now, very much from a ‘looking from the south’ perspective. This book shook that up in a mildly unsettling, but also refreshing, way.
Historian Henry Reynolds is known for his truth-telling take on Australia’s national stories, and this book continues in that vein, with his hope that this nuanced view can shift mainstream Australian thinking, to reassess our story of colonisation but also understand our distinctive variant of decolonisation. (p5) He traverses events in Australia from the British act of colonisation in 1788 through to the Uluru Statement from the Heart, and everything in between.
Some of the major themes and events he considers really made me stop and think, including:
- Colonisation happened in two distinct phases, the second of which took place largely in the vast ’empty’ centre and north and played out very differently from the earlier colonisation of the south. Because the British government had handed over control of the new colonies of Queensland (1859) and the Northern Territory (to the colony of South Australia in 1863), moral responsibility to First Nations people therein was also handed over.
This is why the settlement of northern Australia is different. It was an Australian, not a British venture. For better or worse it is our responsiblity. We cannot escape from it or from its latter-day consequences with which we still live. (p15) - ‘Opening up’ land in the north for white settlers carried with it the same devastating consquences for the First Nations there. The hunger of Europeans – for land, gold, ownership – was the same as it had been half a century before, but the way it was assuaged sometimes differed from the south.
In both cases, though, The insouciance of both government and settlers was staggering. So too was their ignorance. They knew so little about the country itself and the people they were so ruthlessly usurping. (p23) - There were killing times (sometimes known as ‘frontier wars’ or appropriately, the ‘Australian wars’) in both north and south, though the environments, the demographics and the trajectories differed. But the litany of resistance, violent reprisals, and hideous atrocities are depressingly similar. In some places peaceful resolution, of sorts, did eventuate, though they tend to be less well-known: The attempt by both settler and First Nations communities to manage the process of reconciliation as the era of open warfare came to an end has rarely been studied by Australian historians. (p39)
- The pastoral industry in the tropical north was completely dependent on the resident First Nations workforce. (p62) Though this fact did not translate into decent payment or working conditions.
- Readers of David Marr’s forensic and harrowing work Killing for Country (2023) (my review) will no doubt agree with Reynold’s view that the story of the Native Police represents one of the most egregious, shameless chapters in the history of Australian colonisation. (p69)
- When Australia became a federated nation, a growing national obsession with racial purity led to the disgracefully long-lived policy of White Australia, under which people of Asian, Pacific Islander, and other ‘non-white’ backgrounds were ruthlessly expelled or barred from the country. This included many who had made their homes and had families in northern centres like Cairns, Darwin, Thursday Island, and Mackay. It also included labourers who had been brought here (some willingly, some less so) in the so-called ‘Blackbirding’ era, to work on sugar plantations. Not surprisingly, the expulsions and bans also had devastating effects on the economies and communities involved.
- This period also coincided with a convenient sort of amnesia about even the recent past, because The new nation hungered for worthy foundation stories to nurture collective pride. Peaceful conquest of country was a far more appealing story than bloody conquest for the land. (pp77-78)
- The White Australia policy did not die a much-deserved death until 1973. By then world opinion on issues of race was shifting and moves in international spaces, such as the United Nations’ International Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Racial Discrimination (1965) pushed national governments to enact laws to protect citizens from discrimination.
- Meanwhile, the Indigenous land rights movements were gathering force in Australia. A rocky road; but the book outlines the Yirrkala Bark Petitions (discussed in Clare Wright’s wonderful 2024 Naku Dharuk (my review), the Mabo and the Wik cases as significant in the gains made in the second half of the twentieth century.
I have listed so many points here to show just how much Reynolds includes in this book, which is nevertheless a slim and easy-to-read publication. If you enjoy a book that will teach you something new, give a different perspective on familar events, and continue the important work of truth-telling about our nation’s history, you will enjoy Looking from the North.
Looking from the North was published by NewSouth in 2025.
- Colonisation happened in two distinct phases, the second of which took place largely in the vast ’empty’ centre and north and played out very differently from the earlier colonisation of the south. Because the British government had handed over control of the new colonies of Queensland (1859) and the Northern Territory (to the colony of South Australia in 1863), moral responsibility to First Nations people therein was also handed over.
The beautiful & the broken: ‘The Chateau on Sunset’ by Natasha Lester
Epic Love. Tragic Loss. Beautiful Friendship. The entrancing story of an orphan who grows up surrounded by the beautiful and the broken in the world’s most infamous hotel.
Australian author Natasha Lester writes lush, epic novels, mostly in historical settings. I’ve enjoyed several of these, especially the ones featuring stories from WWII. Her novels are always focused on women from the past who face seemingly insurmountable obstacles, but who nevertheless triumph. The Paris Photographer is a good example of this, about the photographer Lee Miller whose wartime work in Europe was famous, for a while, but who faded into self-imposed obscurity after the war ended.
The Chateau on Sunset seems, at first glance, to be a different beast altogether. The first part of the book is set firmly in the USA in the late 1950s and early 1960s, and is about a teenage girl who is sent to live with her reclusive aunt when her parents are killed in an accident.
This takes her from her home in New York to Los Angeles – or more precisely, Hollywood. Her aunt is a ‘washed up’ star of the silver screen, and her new home is the Chateau Marmont, a famous (notorious?) hotel where the rich, famous and wanna-be stars gravitate around movie moguls and film icons.
Aria is young and naive and grieving terribly for her parents. She is helped to adjust to this very new environment by two aspiring actresses, Calliope and Flitter (their ‘stage names’, I was relieved to find out). The three become firm friends, sisters of a kind, despite the age difference between Aria and the other two.
But the world of Hollywood starlets and burned-out stars is not a safe place for a youngster and Aria has to quickly learn the rules of survival. She becomes a reluctant party to a secret that haunts her and makes her potential prey to at least one of the Hollywood sharks that swim in the murky waters of the hotel.
She realises that she must leave the hotel to find her own way in the world and live life on her own terms. How she eventually does so is the crux of this story.
The author references Charlotte Bronte’s Jane Eyre, a favourite childhood book, for the inspiration for this novel. In a way, it is a re-imagining of this classic story, but one in which Jane, not Rochester, is the character with agency and control over her destiny, despite her shaky start. There is a passionate romance with accompanying doubts and troubles, but by the end of the novel Aria is steering her own ship towards a future she has chosen.
The darker elements of this book concern the behaviours of characters we might think of as ‘Harvey Weinsteins.’ The author channels her rage at the predatory behaviour of that man and others like him, and the destructive Hollywood studio system, into a gripping novel that has us cheering for those who defy the unfairness of the place and time.
You get the future you give in to, or the one you fight for.
It’s time for me to be the star of my own goddamn life.
The Chateau on Sunset ebook loc 86%Hollywood’s famous Chateau Marmont is brought to life in the characteristic style of this author, with attention to the details, large and small, that made up this iconic building and those who lived there, in the mid-twentieth century.
The Chateau on Sunset is published by Hachette Australia in March 2026.
My thanks to the publishers and to NetGalley for an advanced review copy.
For the adventurous ones: ‘The Cherayroos: Underground Rules’ by S.P.Doran
The Cherayroos: Underground Rules is all about an adventurous explorer from a little community beneath our feet.
Chie lives in CherayrooVille, beneath the WhisperDeep forest. The village is enclosed in the ancient winding roots of the Tree of Solace, where little fluffy creatures with twiggy legs and arms and big, saucer eyes (and very strange noses) dwell happily.
They obey the Rootscript of Rules which define how they are to live, study, and work. The most important one is that they are never to leave the village – which is okay for most, but not for Chie, as he is keen to explore the Above and prove his bravery.
What follows is a series of adventures as Chie sets off to find the way out of CherayrooVille and see what lies Above. He meets other creatures, some helpful, some grumpy and some plain scary, but in the end he realises that, while adventures are exciting, the rules are there to protect him and others, and really, all he had to do was ask to make his dream come true.
This is a lovely book for very early readers or to be read aloud. The text is nice and big, on pages that resemble parchment or an old manuscript, complimenting the detailed, richly coloured illustrations. The chapters are short and the narrative moves along at a brisk pace to keep youngsters involved.
Perhaps in homage to Tolkein, there is a terrific map (reminiscent of The Hobbit) and snippets of Cherayroo words and phrases used, with a glossary at the back. I confess I found these a bit confusing due to them all starting with ‘ch’ – but that’s probably just me. At the back the author has included some interesting questions for children to consider about the story and its world.
The book is all about exploring, being curious and adventurous, and encouraging youngsters to observe and ask questions about the world around them. I admire writers who work to get their ideas out there and I hope this one continues with this world and the characters he has created, in future books.
I could also see a fabulous animated adaption of this story appealing to young fans!The Cherayroos: Underground Rules is available in ebook and print versions on Amazon, and via the author’s website.
My thanks to the author for a review copy.Library treasures: ‘A Waltz for Matilda’ by Jackie French
I’ve had this one on my shelf for several years now, picked up at a street library, and finally had a chance to read it. So glad I did! First published in 2010, it is an imaginative re-telling of the origin story of arguably Australia’s most famous (and certainly beloved) folk song, Waltzing Matilda.
Once a jolly swagman camped by a billabong
Under the shade of a coolabah tree,
And he sang as he watched and waited till his billy boiled
‘You’ll come a’waltzing Matilda with me.’In this story, Matilda is a girl living with her very sick mother in an inner-city slum, working long hours in a jam factory to try to make ends meet. When her mother dies, she is left alone to fend for herself in an unkind world.
She goes in search of her long-lost father, a man her mother described as a ‘golden man’, though the couple had separated years earlier. The quest takes her to a drought-stricken isolated sheep farm on the outskirts of a small town, neighbouring a large run established by a squatter, Mr Drinkwater.
Her father welcomes her into his life but because of the drought, is about to leave his farm and go ‘on the track’ as a swagman, searching for work as he travels. He agrees that Matilda can accompany him, because where else is she to go?
Their journey together is cut short, though. Mr Drinkwater traps her father as they camped by a billabong, with troopers arriving to arrest him on a trumped-up charge of sheep stealing. He drowns (no spoiler here, the song says it all) and Matilda is once again on her own.
She decides to go back to her father’s farm and try to make a go of it, with the help of several others who come to help in honour of her father’s memory. He was a man much admired by the shearers and other workers in the district, because of his activism around shearer’s rights and the movement towards a national federated nation, able to pass laws to protect the rights of the more vulnerable in the community.
As always with a Jackie French novel, the story weaves in several important historical events and themes: the crippling1890s drought and subsequent economic depression; movements for better working conditions, women’s suffrage and temperance; conflict between wealthy squatters and the indigenous people of the land they stole.
It also deals unblinkingly with the racism of the time, the way that the move towards a united nation of Australia was motivated by ideals but also by self -interest and racist attitides, especially towards Aboriginal people and the Chinese. I love how this author does not shy away from the more difficult parts of our nation’s history.
A Waltz for Matilda is a big story, and book one of the ‘Matilda’ series. It’s very readable, with moments of both humour and sadness, and characters you can care about. Matilda is an admirable figure and it is a delight to watch her growth from orphaned girl to capable young woman. Best of all, it’s a wonderful way to introduce some important history to young Australian readers. Perfect for middle grade to young adult readers, this (no longer young) reader recommends it highly!
A Waltz for Matilda was published by Angus & Robertson in 2010.
Whale sharks and autism: ‘Western Steps’ by Brian Sherlock
What brings whale sharks, itchy backpacker hostel sheets, and autism together?
Western Steps, a short ebook by an indie writer from Melbourne.
In a few short chapters of vivid, lively writing, Brian Sherlock shares his first-ever solo travel experience to Western Australia: the grimy backpacker hostel in Broome where he began his adventure; the fifteen-hour-long ‘murder run’ bus ride south to the famous Mingaloo Reef; his sharp anxiety at entering the water from a boat into the endless-looking Indian Ocean; swimming near whale sharks, the largest fish in that ocean; the kindness he receives from others; strange encounters in yet another hostel…all of which he experiences while also having the (then undiagnosed) condition of autism spectrum disorder.
This journey in 2010 was a bucket list one for the author and which, because of his anxiety attacks, required quite a bit of courage and determination, along with a dollop of humour. I’m happy that he reports in his author’s note that it was certainly not his last trip. He has since travelled widely in Australia and overseas and enjoys writing about his experiences.
The tone of his story is chatty, very personal, and definitely amusing at times. It offers an insight into the experience of travel, from someone living with what might today be described as an ‘invisible disability’. Sherlock states that he hopes his story encourages other ‘neurospicy’ folk who harbour a longing to travel, to get out there and explore the world.
While there are aspects of writing craft that need development, this is a good start to what could well become a series of short travel stories drawn from his own experience.
Western Steps was published by the author in 2025 and is available on Amazon or from the author’s website.
Thank you to the author for a copy to review.
