Half a world Away by Janet Akroyd-Stuart, is about the Second Fleet and the settlement of Sydney Cove in the 1790s. A convict sets out to prove the innocence of another convict who was hanged for pilfering food. Ms Akroyd-Stuart liked The Moon’s a Balloon by David Niven, which is a 1972 memoir of his early life. She also liked River of Gold: The Story of the Palmer River Gold Rush, by Hector Holthouse, published 1967. Other favorites included My Story by Peter Cosgrove, which is a memoir of the retired Australian army general, and current Governor-General of Australia. All the Rivers Run by Nancy Cato, published 1958, is another favorite, about a girl growing up in Australia in the early 1900s. Another favorite was A Fortunate Life by A.B. Facey is a 1981 memoir detailing the author’s experiences as a private In the Gallipoli campaign in WW1, and his return to civilian life. Phillippa Gregory’s The Black Queen and The White Queen were other favorites.
First Person Singular author Louisa Reid wrote a novel that reads like non-fiction. A woman, Toni, is raped by her friend’s husband, and then flees from Wellington in New Zealand, to Brisbane, Australia. Her friend didn’t believe her about the rape. Then Toni’s friend arrives in Brisbane, now believing Toni’s story, having experienced her husband’s brutality firsthand. Then the rapist arrives in Brisbane looking for his wife. Louisa Reid liked Ann Mcaffrey’s books on flying dragons, like Dragonflight, The White Dragon and Dragonsong. Ms Reid also liked The Holocaust : A History of the Jews of Europe during the Second World War by Martin Gilbert. This 976 page book, by the official biographer of Winston Churchill, combines historical research with survivors’ testimonies.
In A Tango with the Dragon by Graeme Goldsmith, an attack by nuclear-armed extremists leads Katie and Roger Jones to flee to a sanctuary city that has been annexed from Australia. But a mystical seer informs Katie of an evil force enslaving people in the new city. She has to battle this force, which threatens to control her mind.
Mr Goldsmith liked I, Robot by Isaac Asimov; The Railway Man by Eric Lomax; and Year of Wonders by Geraldine Brooks. He also liked Into the Darkest Corner by Elizabeth Haynes, and said he liked the different style it was written in. The story is about Catherine Bailey who meets a charismatic man who ends up being a control freak and a stalker. She plans an escape. He is jailed. But eventually she has to confront her fears when she receives a phone call.