Laurie Steed
Love, Dad: Confessions of an Anxious Father
Fremantle Press
$32.99
Memoir
You don’t have to be a father, or a son, to enjoy Laurie Steed’s witty, self-deprecating memoir of love, family and contemporary masculinity. I was especially taken by the parts of the narrative that speak of the creative process—made particularly challenging, in Laurie’s case, by the competing demands of fatherhood and the need to earn a living. Having said that, I think Love, Dad would be an exceptionally welcome gift for fathers and sons alike—infinitely more stimulating than socks and barbecue tongs.
A must-read for all new parents, Love, Dad explores what it means to be a father in the twenty-first century.
The father of two young boys, Laurie reflects on how his own experiences have defined the kind of man he is and the kind of parent he would like to become. His stories—triumphant, funny and sad—draw on Laurie’s own childhood experiences and important relationships with family and mates, alongside the challenges of trauma and mental health shared by many men. This memoir openly shares how Laurie strives to overcome challenges—from breaking generational cycles to maintaining joy in work and parenthood—and how others fresh to parenting can learn from this authentic story of a new dad and his family.
Molly Schmidt
Salt River Road
Fremantle Press
$32.99
Novel
Coming soon (October) from Fremantle Press, Salt River Road is the most recent winner of the City of Fremantle Hungerford Award, again showing the value of this longstanding unpublished manuscript award in introducing fine new writers and exciting new books. Molly Schmidt consulted with Elders of the Menang and Goreng people in developing a story—both authentic and ambitious—that reaches far beyond its premise of a family whose grief is tearing them apart, bringing in a wider view of careless, systemic racism in a rural town in 1970s Australia. Once again I’m struck by the way a work set in the past can have so much to say about the present.
Introducing an exciting new voice in Australian fiction: Molly Schmidt, winner of the 2022 City of Fremantle Hungerford Award. Salt River Road is a compelling coming-of-age novel about grief and healing set in a small town in the 1970s.
In the aftermath of their mother’s death, the Tetley siblings’ lives are falling apart. Left to fend for themselves as their family farm goes to ruins, Rose sets out to escape the grief and mess of home. When she meets Noongar Elders Patsy and Herbert, she finds herself drawn into a home where she has the chance to discover the strength of community, and to heal a wound her family has carried for a generation.
A.J. Betts
One Song
Pan Macmillan
$19.99
YA fiction
Good YA fiction written for young adults may equally be enjoyed by those a bit (or a lot) older—and A.J. Betts always writes good YA fiction. It’s easy to be drawn into the story of Eva’s obsessive quest to win Triple J Unearthed High, and the perils of having to rely on a band of teenage musos yet to gel as a band. The action takes place over a single weekend, in a single setting, and you can feel the tension, smell the aromas of sweat, angst and pepperoni. An engaging, well-paced read about friendship, desire, creativity and resilience.
Aspiring singer-songwriter Eva has one last chance to enter Triple J Unearthed High and break into the music industry.
But after three failed attempts, she needs some help.
Cue the band: perfectionist Eva, charismatic Cooper, easy-going Ant and moody Ruby. Plus fly-on-the-wall Mim, who’s filming them for her school Media project.
Five people who have nothing in common but music. One emotionally and creatively charged weekend.
Can they record the most important song of their lives?
looking up/looking down 