The Woman Booker Prize Club is a local Hobart book club. Here they share their thoughts on books by Tasmanian authors, set in Tasmania, or about Tassie topics. Over to the club!

Happy New Year dear readers! We’re reviewing two powerhouse writers with impressive back catalogues to keep you busy over the summer reading months. One non-fiction defying the boundaries of traditional memoir, and the other a twisty, mystery thriller.

Question 7 by Richard Flanagan (Penguin Random House, October 2023) Review by Kathryn Montgomery

Question 7 is masterful, sharp, and a deeply reflective memoir that pushes the boundaries. It weaves in personal, historical, and some novel events that Flanagan suggests lead to his existence today. The mastery lies partly in his ability to reflect on seemingly small and incredibly significant moments over his lifetime whilst considering events decades prior that had a butterfly effect.

Beginning in the site of Ohama Camp, Japan, where his father had once been interned, it soon turns to the Checkov’s titular ‘question 7’ and then sharply down the rabbit hole of HG Wells and inspiration for the atomic bomb. Not in any other book has it been so obvious that Flanagan has read widely and cogitated for years, culminating in this book.

Flanagan reflects lovingly on a vast array of memories and stories from across his life; he also highlights the fallibility of memory. He recites one such enduring memory as “something that might never have happened”. To explain this book and the huge consideration just doesn’t do it justice. Flanagan won the highly prestigious Baillie Gifford prize for non-fiction for Question 7, making him the first person to have won both this award and the Booker Prize for fiction (for 2014’s The Narrow Road to the Deep North, which also drew on his father’s wartime experiences). They are both well worth picking up – and work well as companion reads to see what all the deserved praise is for.

Prize Catch by Alan Carter (Fremantle Press, October 2024) Review by Melanie Ross

Beginning with the hit-and-run death of Niamh, an everywoman going for her morning cycle in Margate, this mystery- thriller quickly hooks you into its complex and twisty plot. Niamh’s downand- out wife Roz, menopausal detective constable Jill Wilkie, and ex-SAS man Sam Willard quickly round out the protagonists – although finding out how each of their stories interrelate is delayed gratification of the best kind.

Author Carter, who now calls Tasmania home after relocating from Western Australia some years ago, has done an admirable job incorporating the realities of Tasmania – both geographical and political – into this novel that somehow weaves together salmon farming, environmental activism and war crime allegations (with plenty of corruption to boot). Locals will certainly appreciate the detailed and realistic descriptions of the Tasmanian landscape – although your evaluation of the realism of the political storylines might depend a bit on your preconceived notions! Unbeknownst to me, Carter has an impressive back-catalogue of similarly twisty thrillers, and this is unlikely to disappoint fans. Perfect for lovers of complex, original plotlines and flawed protagonists (as long as you can tolerate a not-so-neat ending)!

Book Chatter: The longlists for the Tasmanian Literary Awards were announced recently. Congratulations to all the nominated writers! See the full list at www.arts.tas.gov.au.

Also, remember the Bedroom Philosopher (comedian and musician Justin Heazlewood)? He’s had two songs in Triple J’s Hottest 100, which is pretty cool. But he’s not the only cool artist from Burnie! Justin’s new book Dream Burnie (presented by Burnie Arts Council and supported by Burnie City Council) is all about Burnie and its successful artists. It looks fabulous, and it’s being launched early next month: in Launceston on the 6 February (5:30pm Assembly 197) and Hobart on the 8th (4pm Moonah Arts Centre) and of course, Burnie on 1 March.

Keen to chat books with us? Find us on Instagram @thewomanbookerprizeclub or email thewbpc@gmail.com.