From chilling thrillers to laugh-out-loud funny reads, from the instantly addictive to the utterly original, here are eight new and recent fiction releases by Australian authors to get lost in. The Girls From Fitzroy July 31, HarperCollins In bestselling Perth-based author Jennie Jones’ latest novel, two young women from opposite sides of the proverbial track strike up a life-altering friendship during Victory in the Pacific Day celebrations in Melbourne. Girl Falling July 30, Pan Macmillan Hayley Scrivenor follows up her breakout novel, the award-winning 2023 hit Dirt Town, with another gripping mystery set against the backdrop of country Australia.
Best friends Daphne and Finn set off on a rock-climbing trip with Finn’s new girlfriend Magdu — though only two of the women will make it home. The Oxenbridge King July 31, HarperCollins Drawing comparisons to Hilary Mantel, this surprising read by award-winning New South Wales poet Christine Paice was inspired by the real-life discovery of the skeleton of King Richard III beneath a carpark in Leicester in 2012. In it Paice imagines the late monarch trapped in the afterlife with a talking raven, before fate sets him on a collision course with the real world — 2010s London, to be exact — in the form of grieving young woman Molly Stern.
All You Took From Me August 1, Transit Lounge Speaking of page-turning psychological thrillers set in the Aussie countryside, All You Took From Me follows anaesthetist Clare Carpenter, recently widowed and struggling with memory loss as she desperately tries to piece together what really happened to her husband. Set between Sydney and the Blue Mountains, it’s the debut novel from acclaimed writer Lisa Kenway, herself a real-life anaesthetist. The Borrowed Life Of Frederick Fife July 2, Penguin In his 80s and on the verge of homelessness, Aussie battler Frederick Fife suddenly finds himself — courtesy of a case of mistaken identity — living in a nursing home and with a second chance to right the wrongs of a life not always well-lived.
The big-hearted protagonist of Anna Johnston’s charming, funny and poignant debut novel is a perfect character to spend a winter afternoon with. Woo Woo July 30, Allen & Unwin Unsettling and unflinching, funny and frightening, surreal and sinister, Ella Baxter’s (New Animal) second novel is a work of literary fiction that follows Sabine, an artist with a stalker dubbed the Rembrandt Man. The tale was inspired by Baxter’s own real-life experiences being stalked, which she recently described in a first-person piece for Guardian Australia about the ordeal as “too nuts to ever publish”.
Outrider June 25, Pan Macmillan In the Australia of a dystopian not-too-distant future, Jack Dunne and his 11-year-old son, Harry, find themselves at the centre of a deadly conflict between foreign forces occupying the country, and a small but formidable group fighting for their freedom. This action thriller is the debut novel from WA-raised Mark Wales, an SAS veteran, author, Survivor champion and actor, and it’s been compared to the likes of Cormac McCarthy classic The Road as well as the work of Matthew Reilly and Lee Child. Jade And Emerald July 16, Penguin Another tale of unlikely friendship set in the suburbs of Melbourne, Jade And Emerald explores issues of racism, class, family and growing up in the debut novel from author Michelle See-Tho, winner of the 2023 Penguin Literary Prize.
Lonely and bored 11-year-old Lei Ling struggles with the pressure placed on her by an overly strict Chinese-Malaysian mother and a demanding academic schedule — until she meets Gigi. The aunt of one of her schoolmates, the wealthy, elegant older woman opens Lei Ling’s eyes to a kind of luxury and freedom that’s entirely unfamiliar to her, before a tragic event brings a cascade of long-buried secrets to light..
