AustLit

'After three years away, seventeen-year-old Brodie McKellon has returned to live with her eccentric grandmother above the last remaining Dead Letter Office - the place letters go when no one is left to claim them.

'But with her reputation as a troublemaker, things don't stay quiet for long, and Brodie soon reunites with her childhood best friend, Elliot, and her old sidekick-turned-nemesis, Levi, to investigate an unsolved mystery: the unclaimed letters of a group of friends who seemed to vanish without a trace nearly twenty years ago.

'As Brodie, Elliot and Levi are drawn into the riddle of the dead letter writers, they discover that the past is never truly past, and that old troubles sometimes resurface, with unexpected consequences.' (Publication summary)

'If you knew when you were going to die, what would you do differently?

'It all begins on a flight from Hobart to Sydney. The flight will be smooth. It will land safely. Everyone who gets on the plane will get off the plane.

'But almost all of them will be changed forever.

'Because on this ordinary flight, something extraordinary happens. 'A lady', unremarkable until she isn't, predicts how and when many of the passengers are going to die. For some, death is far in the future; for others, it is very close.

'A brilliantly constructed story that looks at free will and destiny, grief and love, and the endless struggle to maintain certainty and control in an uncertain world. Liane Moriarty is a modern-day Jane Austen who humorously skewers social mores while spinning a web of mystery and asking profound, universal questions.' (Publication summary)

 

'Moving from Melbourne to Rome was meant to fix Stella Chiaro's life - and it did, for a while. But destiny has other plans.

'With a one-way ticket home, artist Stella is running out of time and money. She is desperate to find stable work in the art world to keep afloat, or she will have to leave her beloved Eternal City behind. The last thing she needs right now is distractions . . .

'The arrival of the full moon brings both the sweet owner of the new local bar and a handsome new flatmate. The promise of a new job and new love suddenly beckon Stella, but she quickly finds herself repeating patterns she once vowed not to.

'In a journey stretching to enchanting Florence and across the ancient cobblestones of Rome, Stella must free herself from the mess she's in. But is it too late? Will it be arrivederci to 'Rome Sweet Home'?'' (Publication summary)

'The funniest, most thrills and spills new adventure series from the author of the bestselling, sales-smashing Treehouse series, Andy Griffiths.

'Remember when we went looking for my lost lucky rabbit's foot and we ended up getting lost ourselves in the Land of Lost Things? What? You don't remember? But that was one of our most exciting-and confusing-adventures ever! Let me remind you how it all happened . . .' (Publication summary)

'Elly and Enzo love each other.
Elly and Enzo are getting divorced.
Now, everything must go.

'When Enzo suddenly walks out on Elly after ten years together, she finds herself marooned in an expensive East London flat, surrounded by all their belongings. She is shell-shocked. Inconsolable. She can't bear to look at the objects that she and Enzo collected together, those innocuous items that define the key moments of every relationship.

'Now she's listing it all on Marketplace: the table they found in Italy. The bike he bought for her birthday. Records, luggage, a vintage velvet couch. Anything that tells a story she'd rather forget. Elly thinks that selling these items to total strangers will help her move on from Enzo and heal her devastated heart. But she's about to get a lot more than she bargained for.

'All the Beautiful Things You Love is a vivid and vibrant exploration of the things that bring us together and tear us apart, and those keepsakes that populate the wide-open spaces between where love ends and starts again.' (Publication summary)

'In the darkest hour, a blood-soaked teenager flees the rural Gerandaroo football oval.

'Eight months later, Bess, a young teacher, returns home to Gerandaroo. A childhood game of dare with her former best friend forces Bess to form a women's footy team to play against Denby, a rival town. Bess reluctantly recruits players, but the team has to contend with hostile locals - including Bess's own father. Will this help the small community to come back together - or will it be the final thing that blows everything apart?

'As tensions in the town boil over, so too do resentments and secrets and violence that have been previously held tight and close.

'Fiercely told and breathlessly compelling, Darkness Runs Deep is a striking new Australian crime novel about the best and worst of who we are.' (Publication summary)

'Never, ever look directly into the eyes of a ghost. Because once you see it, once you see her, once you acknowledge her impossible existence, you can never un-see it. And that's how she gets you.

'When Sophia Galich was twelve, she starred in her older sister Layla’s amateur horror movie Vermillion, which recorded raw footage of her very real reactions to scenes her sister concocted in their old Californian house on the coast – Cashore House.

'In the years after the film’s release, Sophia’s memories of the now-infamous house fueled her nightmares. Vermillion amassed an army of fanatical fans who speculated about the film’s hidden messages, and it was rumored that Layla made a pact with the devil – her soul in exchange for fame and arcane knowledge. Sophia dismissed this as gossip . . . until Layla disappeared.

'Now, Sophia must study the trail of clues Layla has left behind, returning to the very place where it all began. As she gets closer and closer to Cashore House’s haunted heart, she must once again confront the ghosts of her childhood. But the house won’t reveal its secrets without a fight.'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

''The heir to the D'Adamo Family Trust must be the youngest, legal-aged, married male.' - fifteenth-century inheritance clause

'The time has come. In order to secure the future of his family estate and fix his broken relationship with his father, workaholic lawyer Matthew D'Adamo needs a wife.

'Enter Sarah Browne, a free-spirited event manager, who is looking for an escape from the emotional and physical toll of her endometriosis, and the incessant buzzer of her biological clock. With an ironclad prenuptial agreement, Matthew and his 'wife', Sarah, are moving to Florence to fulfil the D'Adamo inheritance clause.

'There are just two problems.: they've never met. And there's another claimant on the D'Adamo estate.

'Matthew and the other potential heir will have to compete for the inheritance. 'Faking it' from their first meeting at Sydney airport, Matthew and Sarah's resolve will be tested at every turn. Will they have what it takes? And who said anything about love?' (Publication summary)

'Gabriel is a global tennis superstar and heartthrob. As he eyes his first Grand Slam title at the Australian Open, the pressure is getting to him. After an intense practice session, Gabriel finds refuge in a bar, where he meets Noah.

'Oblivious to sports, Noah doesn't recognise Gabriel, but there is an instant connection. The more time they spend together in the blazing heat of a Melbourne summer, the more their feelings and attraction grow.

'Both Gabriel and Noah have their reasons for wanting to keep their romance private. With the stakes so high, will they be willing to risk everything for love all?

'Serving up a swoonworthy romance full of twists and turns, Love and Other Scores is a bright and entertaining story from a new Australian voice.' (Publication summary)

'Rosie Royce is trying to live her best life. Really, she is.

'But it seems like life hasn't gotten the memo. It's been six years since childhood sweetheart Wes Preston jumped on a plane and never looked back, and Rosie spends most nights spooning her laptop. If she has to swipe on one more bloke posing with a sedated tiger, she'll scream.

'An impulse move to the idyllic country town of Mudgee is the fresh start Rosie needs, as she trades in her high-pressure marketing career for a laidback gig in local radio. Hell, she may even meet one of those dreamy farmers she's seen on TV.

'But the universe isn't done messing with Rosie just yet. Her new job comes with a handsome but infuriating co-host, Dr Markus Abrahams, while a school reunion brings Wes back into her orbit.

'When Rosie's work whisks her to vibrant, chaotic India - well and truly out of her comfort zone - a world of possibility opens up.

'Does 'never ever' really have to be forever? Or is Rosie finally ready to risk everything for a second shot at love?' (Publication summary)

''We never talked about what happened in 1992. Did it quietly haunt him the way it did me?'

'In the small seaside town of Queenscliff, two boys from opposite sides of the world forge a friendship over a summer of sun, adventure and brotherhood. Until a catastrophic event shatters their idyllic childhoods. 

'Two lives are lost. A lie is told.

'Years later, when Tom dies in suspicious circumstances, Drew flies from the US back to Australia for his friend's funeral. Still haunted by that night in 1992, he's about to find out if Tom ever told anyone the truth, if the two events are connected, and if their friendship was worth the price they paid.

'Told with Davies' trademark emotional depth and sensitivity, The Broken Wave is a compelling mystery about the long tentacles of childhood trauma, finding connection in the least expected places and the unbreakable bond of friendship.' (Publication summary)

'Wayne Bennett is the greatest rugby league coach Australia has ever had. He has won seven premierships and is the greatest man manager the game has known.

'He is a living contradiction: a self-professed introvert who can hold an audience in the palm of his hand; an autocrat on a humanitarian mission to make good men of his young charges; a devoted husband (and father of the year) who left his wife after 42 years of marriage. Other coaches decry his tactics then attempt to imitate them. Players are desperate to work with him but are left feeling deceived when he cuts them loose. The media disparages him then lavishes him with praise.

'So who is the real Wayne Bennett?

'Celebrated sports journalist Andrew Webster has been on a mission to find out. For two years, he has interviewed family, close friends, sworn enemies, colleagues, coaches and players, as well as Bennett himself, and trawled through acres of print and recordings.

'Webster shows us a complex, brilliant and difficult man. We come to admire the good wolf of Bennett's nature - the genius who transforms young unformed players into titans of the game. And the bad wolf - the wrangler who plays the dark arts of football politics with obsessive determination.

'Expertly written and compulsively readable, Webster's account of Bennett is not unlike the man himself: controversial, combative, and impossible to ignore.' (Publication summary)

'Explore the vast, surprising and silly world of the Treehouse with your expert tour guides, Andy and Terry.

'There are so many things to know. And so many things you didn't know you didn't know! This guide to the Treehouse is full of trivia, fun facts and behind-the-scenes details about all 169 levels, all the characters Andy and Terry have met, the places they've visited, and all the amazing gadgets and machines they've invented.' (Publication summary)

'This is the story of Dujuan Hoosan, a 10-year-old Arrernte and Garawa boy. A wise, funny, cheeky boy. A healer.

'Out bush, his healing power (Ngangkere) is calm and straight. But in town, it's wobbly and wild, like a snake.

'He's in trouble at school, and with the police. He thinks there's something wrong with him.

'Dujuan's family knows what to do: they send him to live out bush, to learn the ways of the old people, and the history that runs straight into all Aboriginal people.

'So he can be proud of himself.' (Publication summary)

'Adella is facing the dawn of a new year and the end of her twenties - and she's in a psychiatric unit recovering from a mental breakdown. A decade earlier, her life held such promise; she had every option in her hand. How did it come to this?

'As we go back and walk with Adella through her twenties, she searches for her grand purpose through love, career and travel. At her side through the tumultuous highs and lows is her best friend, Jake, facing his own challenges and opportunities. They both know the future must have something better to offer - but why does it also always feel, in the bottom of their stomachs, as though something bad is going to happen?

'Raw and revelatory, Something Bad is Going to Happen is a heart-stopping new work from one of Australia's most exciting writers. Dealing with the weight young women bear through pressure, anxiety, rejection, this is a generation-defining novel - wise, witty, deeply compelling.' (Publication summary)

'It's not just secrets buried at Wild Meadows.

'For as long as they can remember, Jessica, Norah and Alicia have been told how lucky they are. Rescued from family tragedies and raised by a loving foster mother on an idyllic farming estate, they were given an elusive second chance of a happy family life.

'But their childhood wasn't the fairy tale everyone thinks it was. And when a body is discovered under the home they grew up in, the foster sisters find themselves thrust into the spotlight as key witnesses. Or are they prime suspects?

'A thrilling page-turner by New York Times bestselling author Sally Hepworth of sisterhood, secrets, love and murder.' (Publication summary)