Tag: australian fiction

Book Review: ‘Kill Your Husbands’ by Jack Heath

~ melreviewsherbooks ~ Leave a comment

I did not expect to devour this book in under a week but I’m not ashamed to say that I did! What I am ashamed to say is that this is my first Jack Heath book! If the rest of his adult crime fiction are anything like this … book friends, you know what’s on my Christmas list 📕

Kill Your Husbands is a witty, stand alone crime fiction novel that takes place in a secluded, digital detox holiday house. Three couples, who are high school friends, take the opportunity to leave behind their every day life baggage and spend some time reconnecting with themselves, their partners and … other couples partners.

There are many different perspectives and characters to flick around in this book, so let me start by introducing them as outlined to us in the front of this novel:

*written by Detective Kiara*

FELICITY, stand-up comic, married to Dominic (trophy wife?)

DOMINIC (Dom), finance bro, gave $10K to Cole (gift or loan?)

COLE, gym owner, married to Clementine (but attracted to Isla?)

CLEMENTINE, fitness model, Isla’s best friend (find someone who’s done IVF, see if story is credible)

ISLA, full-time mum, married to Oscar (what ‘truth’ was he referring to?)

OSCAR, real estate agent (but didn’t rent the house?)

Just reading these I was immediately intrigued! So, we have Dom and Felicity, a very glitzy pair who show off their wealth in a new Tesla & branded clothing. Dom also forked out and rented the grand holiday house for everyone – he’s a bit of a show off really. Felicity is quite a bit younger than Dom and has an interesting background before meeting Dom. Felicity is the one to suggest the partner swap … or is she?

We have Cole and Clementine who are the ‘perfect’ couple. However for them, their seemingly wonderful relationship is not complete without a baby. They’ve been through multiple rounds of IVF and the cost is setting Cole’s gym business backwards. He is also starting to see Clementine as becoming fragile and not able to fulfil his desires. Cole is beginning to feel helpless and he has an urge that needs fulfilling … will the partner swap be just what he needs to fulfil these continuous thoughts?

Finally, we have Isla and Oscar, and they have a little one named Noah who is the light of their life but Oscar is beginning to feel twinges of jealously, like he is left behind and that his wife is only sexually attracted to him because she wants another baby. Mentally, Oscar is finding it hard to stay balanced, and a weekend away from his son, somewhat from his wife, is exactly what he needs. And also because there will be another woman there he’d like to focus on … Oscar never thought he’d be a man who would cheat on his wife, but he’s obsessed.

Snipping through each perspective, two week time period, as well as being lead through the investigation process by Kiara , Kill Your Husbands is a very quick read 📕 There is no time to put this story down because at the end of every chapter, you’re left hanging for the next.

Each character has a motive for murdering another in the group. Each character you feel sympathy for because we learn, care and understand how they feel – it’s only human. Each character is a suspect. Up to the very last pages, I promise you, you will be kept guessing as to who, when, how and why.

Kill Your Husbands was a 5/5 read for me, no doubt about it ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

If you’d like to hear Jack Heath and I discuss Kill Your Husbands, join us on Instagram Live Saturday 23 December @ 10am 🔪

BIG THANK YOU to Allen & Unwin for generously sending me this copy of Kill Your Husbands for review 💫👏🏼

WWW Wednesdays

~ melreviewsherbooks ~ Leave a comment

WWW Wednesday is hosted by Sam @ Taking on a World of Words 📚 It is a book tag to broaden the reading community and help connect avid readers!

All you have to do is answer the following three questions:

What are you currently reading?
What did you recently finish reading?
What do you think you’ll read next?

CR: Love and Other Scores by Abra Pressler is my current read, and I am devouring it! This easy to follow romance fiction is set on our very own Australian shores at the Australian Open (tennis glam slam – for those who don’t follow sports). Gabi is is professional tennis player seeking a moment of solice from the pressure, overwhelm and commitment that is tennis ruling your life. He wanders into a basement bar only to come across Noah. Noah is working out his days in this bar with it’s new owner. He feels connected to this place even now when it’s going down hill. He remembers what it used to be – jazzy, fun, inclusive, alive. Noah has no idea who Gabi is and to Gabi, this is a breath of fresh air. Will Noah be the perfect yin to Gabi’s yan? You’d better read and find out! Grab a copy here if you like 🎾

RF: Kill Your Husbands by Jack Health is a suspenseful, crime fiction novel I powered through in under a week! I was trying my best to read this non-stop because every chapter ended on a cliff hanger and by the end, as the reader we’re left trying to piece together what happened in a frantic mess of webs! Kill Your Husbands follows 3 couples as they venture on a digital detox holiday in the Australian bush. The holiday house they’ve rented is isolated, beautiful and the perfect place for things to go wrong. Que the suggestion of partner swapping, one person murdered and an unknown squatter on the property – things start to go very wrong, very fast. Full book review for Kill Your Husbands coming this weekend ✅

RN: Wreck the Halls by Tessa Bailey is next up on my TBR and she’s going to be glorious – I can already feel it! Every time I pick up a novel by Tessa Bailey I think to myself, ‘Why have I left it so long before picking up another one of her books!’. I always adore them and how I could I say no to this; it’s Christmas; it’s giving cozy vibes; AND it’s romance. Yes, yes, yes from me 💖 + it’s our December pick for our online Romance book club called ‘THE ROMANTICS’. If you’d like to join, click this link: Join Here!

Author Talks with Emma Grey

~ melreviewsherbooks ~ Leave a comment
📸 Australian Author, Emma Grey, holding her most recent novel The Last Love Note

Emma is a novelist, feature writer, photographer, professional speaker and accountability coach. She is also 100% fabulous, of which I can confirm because we’ve now met twice in person 💖 Emma has such a kind soul and her clever, compassionate and open ability to connect with readers really does makes her one of a kind.

Welcome Emma, to Mel Reviews Her Books 💫

Emma, you have created a uniquely beautiful romantic novel. Grief is a topic and emotion that you bravely speak openly about in person and on your social media streams. Was it daunting for you to send The Last Love Note into the world?

It was very daunting. I think I spent the two weeks leading up to the January release in a ball of anxiety, wanting to hide from the world. It was all the usual doubts authors have – what if people don’t like the story or the writing? But it was also, ‘What if people criticise the portrayal of grief?’ Because that part was very real. I even worried my character, Kate, would be criticised for falling in love again after losing her husband. While the new love story was fictional, real life judgement in grief is unfortunately very real.

In addition to all of that, I also felt an element of ’survivor guilt’. This book exists because my husband died. And here I am, being published here and overseas, going on book tours, meeting amazing Wagga booksellers and bloggers … none of that would have happened if my real-life story had been different. I’ve had to remind myself that Jeff would have thoroughly embraced all of this for me, and that it was my own hard work that led to these things – not just the circumstances that inspired the novel. 

Gosh, what a complicated answer! I was also really excited about launching the book, once I ploughed through those other emotions 😊

You’ve just been to the USA on an author journey ahead of the November launch! What are you most excited about, seeing The Last Love Note on American bookshelves and in the hands of American readers? 

The story has a strong connection to New York. I’m from Australia, but my husband was president of the Society of Military History, based in the US. Six years ago, I was flown there for a memorial conference, just a few months after he died. 

It was while I was away that I had my ‘Byron Bay moment’ – the space to really let my grief unravel without my little boy around. I plunged to the depths of grief in an American hotel room … but then I visited New York. 

That’s a city that has experienced grief en masse. Yet the show goes on. The city is so endlessly vibrant and lit up. While I was there, I caught a glimpse of that vibrance for my own future. I believed for the first time that perhaps I, too, still had a life ahead of me. 

That’s when I decided to start writing this book. I took myself to the New York Public Library and wrote some paragraphs, just to make a symbolic start. They appear in the novel as the excerpt from my character Kate’s book. 

It’s why it feels so ‘full circle’ for me to be returning to the US now with a New York publisher, Zibby Owens. I feel like I’m on the way to creating the exciting future that city promised me all those years ago…

What’s next for you Emma? In your author life, in your writing life, in your journey?

I’m excited about touring America at the end of the year, including speaking at the Miami Book Fair, and celebrating my first Thanksgiving ever in the Hamptons. 

My new book, PICTURES OF YOU, will be published by Penguin Random House and Zibby Books in April 2024. It’s a romance, with a dash of psychological thriller. 

I’ve got some exciting plans to stage the musical I co-wrote with composer Sally Whitwell, based on my teen novel UNREQUITED. Our show, DEADPAN ANTI-FAN, is a story written for my then 14-year-old non-reader, who loved Harry Styles, to show her reading could be fun! 

A widowed friend who is a comedian has floated the idea of working together on WIDOWED: THE MUSICAL, which would be an amazing project. I’m also keen to work with a producer and composer on a TV documentary about the dementia choir my parents belonged to before my mum’s death. 

In less glamorous, but important news, I’m working with a colleague to put together some awareness-raising programs to help companies and services deal more kindly and sensibly with grieving customers. 

Then there are the new book ideas … I’m hoping to keep up with the release a book each year. 

Of course, I squeeze all of this around my copywriting work for government departments and other clients, and I’m also an accountability coach, so there’s always a lot happening.

Emma, thank you so much for your time and answers! It has been an absolute pleasure to have you on the blog and a chat over on Mel Reviews Her Books Instagram 🎤

Author Talks with Clare Fletcher

~ melreviewsherbooks ~ Leave a comment
Australian Country Romance Author, Clare Fletcher 📸 by James Alcock

Clare Fletcher is an Australian novelist who has studied journalism, spent time freelancing and discovering different parts of the world. Yet, her stories continue to come back to the wonderful setting of rural Australia.

Clare and I had the pleasure of meeting in person this past July, to talk about Five Bush Weddings, her first novel, on a panel with talented romance/love authors.

Love Match is Clare’s second novel. It follows Sarah as she navigates dating in the small rural town of South Star after a recent breakup & Mabel, as she reminisces on her pieces of beautiful wardrobe, remembering the loving stories that come with each stunning outfit

What and where inspired you to set both of your books, Five Bush Weddings and Love Match in small rural towns?

I grew up in regional Queensland, in a town called St George. Even though I’ve lived away from there for many years – I went to boarding school, then uni in Brisbane, moved to Sydney to work, and even lived in New York for a while – my writing has often returned to those small town roots.

In Five Bush Weddings I wove in a lot of experiences of the country parties and weddings my friends and I would drive vast distances for. I hadn’t seen that part of Queensland on the page before, and so it felt right to keep real place names as a little gift to people from home. So many of the rural-set books published today are dark crime stories, so I wanted to celebrate the joy and resilience and creativity and complexity of regional Australia.

South Star is entirely fictional. With Love Match I wanted to get deep into small town dynamics, the richness and claustrophobia of a place where everyone knows everyone’s business, so I couldn’t use a real town. I didn’t want readers to be distracted by errors in geographic detail or by trying to guess who characters are based on. It’s all made up!

Love Match follows the dual storylines of Mabel and Sarah, which is so fun and funny to read! When writing Five Bush Weddings, did you know that Mabel and Sarah would reappear in Love Match? And what do you feel made these two connecting characters?

I wish I had been smart enough to plan ahead, but I had finished 5BW when I decided to write a second book around Mabel and Sarah. My mentor Emily Maguire asked what happened to Sarah after 5BW, and the idea came to me pretty quickly – I wanted to explore someone discovering their queer identity under the small town microscope. I thought it would be powerful to mirror that journey with someone in an earlier time, and Mabel was so much fun to write. Once I started researching the period when she would have been a coming of age (1960s deb balls, country dances, the Miss Queensland Quest) I knew there was something special there.

Sport was another thing I wanted to incorporate. I think women often write off sport as something that’s not for them, but my own experience playing footy as an adult was really special. There’s a lot for women to gain from community sport, not just physically but socially, psychologically. And as a storyteller sport offers a lot of rich territory to mine.

After Love Match, I thought I was done with South Star. But now there are more stories I want to tell and I’m just using my own books as elaborate writing prompts! It’s all the side characters I have the most fun writing, so it’s quite fun thinking about how to use people in new ways in new stories.

Love, dating and connection are such strong themes in both your novels! Is this an element of writing that you always knew you’d incorporate or did it happen by chance?  

For a long time, I was a bit of a literary snob. Only when I realised I was writing a rom-com did I start reading a lot more in the genre; but of course I had always loved reading and watching rom-coms, I just didn’t think they were as ‘important’ as more high brow culture. It felt liberating, energising and so joyful to realise there were so many talented women writing romance and rom-coms, and that I wanted to be one of them! I was a very romantic kid (in my head – no one wanted to kiss me until I was almost finished high school) so it feels inevitable in a way.

Sometimes I think dating men from Queensland trained me to be a good romance writer. With these blokes who are often quite reticent, if not emotionally constipated, you have to get quite good at finding romance and tenderness in small gestures! Being able to dial up the romance in a perfectly-made cup of tea or a dropped pie I think is more relatable than grand declarations of love from a bush bloke. That said, I love writing male characters and I find giving them strong women in their life helps shape them into realistic men who respect and treasure the women they fall for.Five Bush Weddings was very much about the fact that people falling in love is critical to bush communities surviving and thriving. Love Match goes deeper into the relationships and institutions that hold small towns together and, I hope, makes a case for building a beautiful life there even if sometimes the gossip and lack of privacy might be challenging. I poke a bit of fun at small towns, but it comes from a place of love.

Clare, thank you so much for joining me on Author Talks and spending the time chatting on our Instagram Live. It has been an absolute pleasure to host you and meet in person! You’re now a staple in my growing library and I cannot wait to fill a shelf with your novels one day 📚⭐️

Click on the titles of Five Bush Weddings & Love Match throughout this interview, to purchase your own copies from Booktopia 💚

Sundays in bed with ‘The Hummingbird Effect’

~ melreviewsherbooks ~ Leave a comment

This book has got me in with both hands and I’ve been immediately immerse.

Kate Mildenhall’s writing has taken me by surprise, I must admit. I was definitely not expecting to be reading a novel that has me physically cringing, squirming and churning my stomach as I’m reading. And I cannot stop!

Last night while I was inhaling this novel, I had the thought “I don’t think a novel has ever made me feel like this.” And by ‘this’, I mean such physical reactions.

To give some reference, The Hummingbird Effect is set in 4 different times in our society. Those being; 1933; 2020; 2031; and 2181. As you move through the book, you’re seeing little snippets of how our society is changing and becoming more reliant on mechanical, technological and alternative devices to limit our man power & skillsets. It is eery. It is scary. And it is real. Even though this is a work of fiction, you can feel so much history and research in its pages.

Kate’s ability to describe all aspects of an environment in which she places the reader, such as sound, smell and texture that all interconnects to the scene we’re reading – is just phenomenal!

I am looking forward to spending more time reading this afternoon & hopefully having this book finished before next weekend, where I’m listening to Kate in person at Write Around the Murray book festival ⭐️📚🎤

A visit to Two Brown Cats Bookshop

~ melreviewsherbooks ~ Leave a comment

My heart sings each and every time I set foot in Two Brown Cats Bookshop 💖

Kate, owner of this hidden gem of preloved books, is one of the most knowledgeable bookaholic’s I know! Kate’s passion for preloved books started back in 2004 and her ability to source quality, perfectly curated and selective books has only grown with time.

Walking into Two Brown Cats Bookshop, located inside Little Triffads Florist, is like walking into a warm home library. As you look up towards the back of the shop, you’re greeted with the vision of timber top bookshelves, covered in plants and collectable books. The level of care and love is immediately evident, I can assure you.

As you wander down (because how can you not?!) you will find a variety of genres that are cleverly placed for your movement around the shelves. Kate’s fiction section, cooking and gardening sections cease to amaze me. It’s as if you’re looking at all the books you have on your wishlist that you’ve continually told yourself ‘one day’. Kate holds classic modern fictions from authors such as; Trent Dalton; Kate Grenville; Helen Garner; Garry Disher; Zadie Smith; and Jane Harper. She also hold beautiful children’s classics, both modern and collectable editions of; Winnie the Pooh; Peter Pan; Enid Blyton; and more.

Upon this visit, Kate recommended a gritty, rock and roll read in Lily Brett’s Lola Bensky. It was also incredibly hard not to walk away with this special edition of Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaiden’s Tale. It is a hardback edition with red edges and an awesome indented dust jacket.

Kate has also encouraged me to add The Spare Room by Helen Garner to my TBR! Her recommendations are always spot on ⭐️

Make sure you visit this hidden gem sometime soon 💎

Author Talks with Michael Thompson

~ melreviewsherbooks ~ Leave a comment
Debut Australian Author, Michael Thompson 📸 by Sally Flegg Photography

Michael Thompson has been a journalist, producer and media executive for the last fifteen years. He is a savvy business podcaster and digital talent! Michael was one of the most humble, genuinely connecting and open authors I’ve met in person. How to be Remembered is Michael’s debut novel 💫

Michael, your debut novel ‘How to be Remembered’ is so unique, heartfelt and perfectly-paced. I loved Tommy as the main character! How did the idea of Tommy’s diverse life come to you?

The idea for the novel – this concept of a boy being forgotten every year on his birthday – came from two places. The first was social media, and the sometimes stupid things people post online. Those posts usually end up deleted, but it forms part of their digital footprint – it’s probably still there, somewhere, floating around in cyberspace. It made me wonder how many people would like to just have that footprint wiped, to be forgotten entirely. And I went from that to the opposite – what about somebody who just wanted to be remembered, and something was preventing that. The other inspiration for the novel came from the situation I found myself in when I started to write. I’d just finished at one company, having worked there for more than a decade. When I left, I was sure I’d be missed. But the business moved on, somebody replaced me, and I was forgotten (in a professional sense, at least).
With that basic idea, I then started writing about Tommy – and the rest of his life just seemed to flow. I really wanted to focus on the ordinary things that we take for granted – having friends, relationships, a job. Because a year is long enough to build those relationships and those connections, and then to lose them on his birthday every year seemed like it had plenty of potential.

I feel like I’ll never forget the date of January 5th because of Tommy! Why in particular did you choose the date of January 5th? Why not any other date?

Good question! I needed a date that was in the school holidays (when Tommy was a child). I thought the Reset (which is what Tommy calls it) would be a lot easier to write around if he wasn’t at school. I also wanted it to be in that dead zone around Christmas / New Year, where all the days start to blend together. I landed on January 5, and stuck with it!

Every time I explain the premise of How to be Remembered to friends, SO many say, ‘I hope that it becomes a movie!”. If you could choose a main character to play Tommy on screen, who would it be and why? 

Fingers crossed it becomes a movie! The film rights have been picked up by a Hollywood production company, so there’s a chance, but a lot of books get optioned and that’s as far as they go. If it was to make it to the big screen, I think I’d be okay with pretty much anyone playing Tommy – it would just be such a thrill to see it happen. Having said all that, Tom Holland would be terrific, or Austen Butler (who played Elvis). Tommy’s story covers quite a broad age range, up to his mid/late 30s, and I think either of these actors have the right look for Tommy. Tommy is kind, naive, optimistic, resilient – and I think either of these actors could do it well. Clearly I’m aiming high here, just picking out A-list names!

Michael, thank you so much for joining me on Author Talks 🎤 It has been an absolute pleasure to host you and meet in person! I cannot wait to see what your writing future holds, oh and watch How to be Remembered on the big screen someday 😉💫

You can find Michael’s novel, How to be Remembered via this link: https://booktopia.kh4ffx.net/q4m2Kq

Book Review: ‘How to be Remembered’ by Michael Thompson

~ melreviewsherbooks ~ Leave a comment

Tommy Llewellyn is like no other character I’ve read before and I can honestly say that his story is one that has stuck with me.

How to be Remembered starts off much like Harry Potter (stay with me here!) and funnily enough, when I actually posed this to Michael upon our meeting at Collins Booksellers Wagga, where I hosted him for some of our local readers, he admitted that nobody had ever recognised that before.

Now I’m not saying Tommy is a wizard, that is not where this is going BUT Tommy is special. He is born with the unfortunate gift of not being remembered by those around him, the world, the universe.

On the 5th of January, Tommy’s Birthday, he is forgotten. All evidence of his life; who he was; a birth certificate; any clothing that is not on his body; a memory; pictures with him in it; they either disappear or alter to not have Tommy in them. So like Harry Potter, he’s a little bit alone in the world and figuring out how to navigate his life without a parent because (heart wrenchingly 💔) they don’t remember him.

I loved the fact that we didn’t miss one part of Tommy’s childhood. We really saw it all, year by year and written perfectly so we felt so utterly helpless knowing that nobody will remember Tommy’s first steps in a foster home, his tender relationship with Miss Michelle, making friends, learning skills, attending school and of course, meeting Carey.

Carey is a young girl living in the foster home as well. Of course, she like everyone else, doesn’t remember Tommy reappearing every year having only been there less than 24 hours before the 5th of January. Carey is troubled and has a history of events in her young life that have shaped the way she sees the world, people and relationships. Most children in this particular environment are, which is particularly why I think Tommy also found a place here.

Carey and Tommy’s friendship was sweet from the beginning and I just adored watching the two of their lives intertwine year, after year, after year. The persistent drive in Tommy to find a loop in the ‘Reset’ as he called in, was incredibly intriguing and had me guessing. I had no idea how or where this story would end (and I must say, I adored the ending!)

Tommy’s story isn’t one just about love, its about resilience, knowledge, not giving up on your friends, courage and compassion. Tommy is also just so genuinely sweet and empathetic that he even though he knows people won’t remember him in the future, what he does right now will benefit someone else in the long run. And in some ways, I think that’s a beautiful way to live.

Join Michael Thompson and I to discuss How to be Remembered over on my Instagram for a LIVE book chat this Saturday the 2nd of September @ 10am AEST. AND … keep you eyes peeled over on the Author Talks tab for an interview with Michael Thompson 🎤

Book Review: ‘The Last Love Note’ by Emma Grey

~ melreviewsherbooks ~ Leave a comment

Oh Hugh, you have my heart!! *calling on somebody to find me a Hugh*

I would describe The Last Love Note by Emma Grey in 3 simple ways; heart-wrenching; a direct but warm portrayal of grief; & from the heart. Let’s break these down shall we …

Heart-wrenching is the perfect way to describe Kate, Cam and Hugh’s story. At the beginning of the novel, we’re in the present and Kate is living with the grief of losing her once in a lifetime love, Cam. Cam was diagnosed with early onset dementia and his deterioration was rapid. Kate lost Cam over 2 years ago and living with that grief has been raw, brutal and hard. It smears a smog over each everyday action, conversation & decision. We learn to live with this grief as the reader just as Kate is, because we move through past and present watching how this horrible disease changed Cam and alter’s their lives forever.

I think Emma Grey has created a direct and warm portrayal of grief through her ability to make this novel a romance, incorporate humour AND take us on the hard, stressful and uncertain journey of Kate finding love again – all in one!

Hugh, Kate’s boss and workplace colleague, has always been a fixture in Kate’s life since her meeting him. And by ‘meeting him’ I mean falling off a treadmill in a hot sweaty gym, and then feeling very exposed when her breastmilk makes an entry, and Hugh, ever caring Hugh, hands over a spare shirt to help Kate cover up her chest and her embarrassment. The moment Kate enters her new job interview, all while Cam is sick and they’re needing income to support their small family, Hugh is taken with her. The grief she is living with is something he has experienced himself in a way we didn’t expect. He understands Kate’s grief process and gives her all the time, energy and support she needs. His silent yet reassuring manner is not what Kate realised she needed during the deterioration of Cam’s health and after his passing … until now. That’s right, Kate and Hugh are on an unexpected holiday together!

This novel is truely from the heart. Hugh’s grumpy personality (which we know is just his attempt to stay away from Kate, give her space and grieve) is just the reason we love him. But there is a challenge and reason for Kate and Hugh not exploring what could be … Hugh & Cam had a friendship and in this friendship there was a secret passed between the two of them that Kate was not allowed to know. This secret really keeps us guessing until the end of the book and when you find it out, my GOSH , my HEART!! I’m not usually one to shed a tear while reading but let me tell you, my eyes were brimming 🥺

The Last Love Note has been one of my favourite novels this year and to be honest, I may not have ever found it in the endless bookshelves until Emma walked into the shop, introduced herself and signed a few copies. I’m so grateful she did because we have now connected over books, met multiple times and had an awesome time in July with weekend of romance together 💖

Author Talks with Zoë Coyle

~ melreviewsherbooks ~ Leave a comment
Zoë Coyle 📸 David Levenson via Getty Images at Oxford Literary Festival

Zoë Coyle is a natural born storyteller. Her career in corporate speaking and presenting has taught many around the world how to communicate choice and improved strategy. Her two novels, Where the Light Gets In & The Dangers of Female Provocation have brought her writing and creative industry talent, feminist power and years of experience to the page.

Welcome Zoë, to Mel Reviews Her Books 🌸🎙

Zoë WOW – what an edgy, powerful and fierce novel you’ve created. Tell us, what was the turning point for you to start putting pen to paper?

Thank you, that’s a lovely thing to say. The book sprang from several tributaries, one being an acquaintance’s husband had an affair. He was absolved with astonishing totality and speed – I wondered what would need to happen for him to actually repent and evolve. Another source was growing up female. Another is being the mother to two teenaged daughters and two little boys, observing how the world they navigate is so different due to their genders. I also wanted to pour some petrol on the conversation around marriage and like so many before me, set a match to the bullshit of patriarchy.

Was there a particular reason for picking 6 couples to span Odessa’s female rage and educational methods?

I like balance and I thought that 6 was the right number of characters for Odessa to unleash her mission of reeducation. Anymore would have been confusing and any less would have offered fewer computations. Each relationship shows another dimension of Odessa’s love, hurt, bravery and rage.

The central question of the novel is not monogamy or non-monogamy (weirdly some men have reflected back to me that they think it is), but to intentionally explore how is it we can turn up for love, platonic, familial and sexual in whatever shape we courageously co-create to live beautiful, purposeful and compassionate lives. Then, if that love comes to an end or changes shape, it is a powerful teacher for us if we are brave enough to learn. In the book as in life, good people do bad things, why is that? Though more interesting to me is when people have the courage to stand in accountability – what beauty can grow from that?

Paloma! What a companion! Did Paloma represent anything in particular within The Dangers of Female Provocation for you? Do you have your own Paloma in real life?

I don’t have a Paloma because in truth, I’m quite afraid of cats. I do however have a beloved miniature dachshund named Solace, but I loved the idea of a cat as Odessa’s companion. Cats always strike me as complicated, calculated, independent and elegant – much how Odessa is. Paloma ended up being one of my favourite characters I’ve ever written.

Odessa’s marriage, familial relationship breakdown and grief have such influence over the decisions she makes in this period of her life. Did you always plan on making Odessa such a complex and layered character? Additionally, was Odessa always your lead voice in the story?

Yes, Odessa was always the central voice. I aim to write characters that I would like to read; complex, contradictory, valiant, weak, love filled, damaged, learning, all the things. What The Dangers of Female Provocation explores is how dishonesty to self and others, erodes belonging, and our sense of selves. That when we do the hard work of garnering self awareness, integrating our trauma and family of origin story, we don’t lash out and damage. Hurt people hurt people.

That moving towards clarity is the sacred integration that Odessa the main character undertakes. She is propelled by traumatic events, and is painfully waking up to her actualised adult self. All the wealth, brands and conventional power were a mirage. What is truth is the art of loving and being loved. Where there is courage, there is vulnerability and we must resolve our demons or they own us.

Describe to us how different the writing and publishing experience was for you with The Dangers of Female Provocation, compared to your first novel, Where the Light Gets In.

My first novel was a labour of love. Exploring issues that I have thought about deeply and that have upended my life. I found The Dangers of Female Provocation much easier all round. From the writing, which was so much fun, through to the editing as I had two amazing women editing me. Alex Craig from Ultimo Press and Nadine Davidoff. It fulfilled every hope I’d ever had of being edited. As for the process of being published, it is surreal and so vulnerable. I have a dear writer friend who says that the writing is the thing, the rest is just crazy making. Of course we write and publish to find readers, and that has mostly been really beautiful.

Thank you Zoë for your time, thoughts and responses on the blog! I look forward to seeing your next novel 😊💫🌸

You can find Zoë’s books available via this link & my review for The Dangers of Female Provocation here.