Pile by the Bed reviews The Half Life of Valery K by Natasha Pulley, historical fiction set in the 1960s and based on the true story of a Soviet radiation research facility.
Pile by the Bed reviews The Diplomat by Chris Womersley, a character study of a recovering addict dealing with the ghosts of his past and follow up to his 2013 novel Cairo.
Pile by the Bed reviews and recommends The Perfect Golden Circle by Benjamin Myers a story which reimagines the story of the men behind a series of complex British crop circles that appeared in the late 1980s.
Pile by the Bed reviews All the Lovers in the Night by Mieko Kawakami – a deep character piece that explores a woman seeking connection in modern Japan.
Pile by the Bed reviews Elektra by Jennifer Saint, a retelling of the lead up to, events and aftermath of the Trojan Wars from the perspectives of three female players.
Pile by the Bed reviews The Coast by Eleanor Limprecht a compassionate look at the residents of a quarantine facilitity for people with leprosy in Sydney in the early twentieth century.
Pile by the Bed reviews Woman, Eating by Claire Kohda, a debut novel that uses the concept of vampirism in the context of a millennial coming of age story.
Pile by the Bed reviews Here Goes Nothing by Steve Toltz – a black comedy tackling the afterlife and a range of current social issues.
Pile by the Bed reviews Abomination by Ashley Goldberg a searing debut exploring faith and extremism that takes as its background from a notrious abuse case in the Melbourne Orthodoc Jewish community.
Pile by the Bed reviews Booth by Karen Joy Fowler an exploration of the history of the Booth family and the circumstances that led to the assassination of Abraham Lincoln
Pile by the Bed reviews and recommends The Colony by Audrey Magee a lyrical novel exploring the history of Northern Ireland that transcends its allegorical nature.
Pile by the Bed reviews Sea of Tranquility by Emily St John Mandel, a literary science fiction tale that is part auto-fiction but also wraps in characters and siutations from her last two books.
Pile by the Bed reviews The Candy House, Jennifer Egan’s companion novel to her Pulitzer Prize winner A Visit from the Goon Squad.
Pile by the Bed reviews and recommends Devil House by John Darnielle – a thematically rich and resonant series of tales of crime and murder that deconstruct the true crime genre to explore why we tell stories.
Pile by the Bed reviews The School for Good Mothers a debut by Jessamine Chan a slightly dystopian commentary on standarda of parenting and the child protection system.
Pile by the Bed reviews and recommends Hovering by Rhett Davis – a worthy winner of the Victorian Premier’s Unpublished Manuscript Award
Pile by the Bed reviews Robert Lukin’s second novel Loveland centring on an Australian woman discovering herself and her past in rural Nebraska
Pile by the Bed reviews Remember Me by Charity Norman a New Zealand set mystery wrapped around a family drama.
Pile by the Bed reviews Joan is Okay by Weike Wang, an insightful novel exploring the experience of Chinese Americans from the author of Chemistry.
Pile by the Bed reviews Burntcoat by Sarah Hall – a pandemic love story that also charts the life of its artist protagonist.
