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.

This month’s theme seems to be ‘Ladies who have been through A Lot’ – but our choices couldn’t be more different. One, fictional, is chilling and thrilling. The other, autobiographical, is more stark and serene. Both show the inner worlds of strong women and how they respond to difficult circumstances.

Catherine Wheel by Liz Evans (Ultimo Press, August 2024) Review by Megan Tighe

Newly released this month, Catherine Wheel is a proper thriller. But, it gives greater credit to the main characters’ complex motivations and morality than most other thrillers I’ve read (appropriate, as Liz – based in Hobart – is a journalist, academic and former psychotherapist). And there’s a shifting sense of who the true villain of the piece may be.

The chapters alternate in perspective, from steely Kate/Catherine to vulnerable Vee/Valerie. Kate has the upper hand – she was with Max first, before he drove off with Vee one day. Kate infiltrates the unsuspecting Vee’s life, determined to make Vee feel the consequences of this betrayal. The novel put me on edge from the first pages from Kate’s point of view, as she mentally narrates her actions to Max. The whole story is thick with fore­boding as Valerie comes to rely on Kate’s friendship (and babysitting availability).

Take a small town, add a spooky chapel, overlay folk motifs and a mysterious death in the past, sprinkle some vicious psychologies, and top with a child alone in the woods: a perfect recipe for a tense, noirish read right to the very end (I had to stay up late to finish it). Where this novel really excels, though, is the way it balances the propulsive plot with a sensi­tive understanding of toxic relationships and the effects they can have on women and their friendships.

Graft by Maggie MacKellar (Penguin, April 2023) Review by Melanie Ross

Maggie MacKellar has been through a lot in her life – the fact that Graft is her third memoir reflects this as well her substantial skill as a memoirist. Subtitled as ‘motherhood, family and a year on the land’, Graft is a gentle reflection of a drought year on MacKellar’s merino farm located on the East Coast of Tasmania. In between long walks with her dogs and solitary swims in the ice cold ocean, we hear of the reality of a working farm pushed nearly to the brink.

MacKellar’s eldest child has left home, and her younger is at boarding school in the city. Her current husband is a stereo­typical farmer: hardworking and of few words. In fits and starts, MacKellar gives us a look into the earlier parts of her life: the difficulty of her upbringing and the relief she found on her relatives’ farm; the tragedy of losing her first husband in her 20s and, soon after, her mother. While this narrative is never self-pitying, MacKellar is honest about both the aching tragedy and the beauty that life can hold.

The sections of the book that recount the breeding season on the farm really resonated with me. MacKellar describes in detail how nature can be brutal, with ewes dying in the field having their eyes pecked out by crows, and lambs needing to be hand-reared in the house after being abandoned by their mothers. And yet, before each section, we are given a poetic, illustrated account of a particu­lar bird species that can be found on MacKellar’s farm.

This is a beautiful book (nominated for this year’s Stella Prize) from a talented writer. It’s a gorgeous meditation of life on the land, of love and loss, and the ways that both beauty and pain can reach us at the most unexpected times.

Book Chatter: Like the sound of Liz Evans’ new book? See her in conver­sation with Danielle Wood at Fullers Bookshop on 8 August. What else is on this month? Well, it’s Children’s Book Week 17-23 August: ‘Reading is Magic’! Did you know the Hobart Library runs a monthly Young Readers’ Club for children 8+ (first Friday of the month)? In southern Tasmania, there are also regular Storytime sessions for children aged 2-5 at Bridgewater, Cygnet, Glenorchy, Hobart, Huonville, Kingston, New Norfolk, Rosny and Sorell Libraries.

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