Alas, I had not yet read most of the books when the Miles Franklin Shortlist was announced, but they were all on the TBR, and I am belatedly working my way through them and will update links to my reviews as I finish them (updated 2.5.09, see links below).
- The Pages by Murray Bail (previous winner, with Eucalyptus in 1999).
- Wanting by Richard Flanagan
- Ice by Louis Nowra
- The Slap by Christos Tsiolkas
- Breath by Tim Winton (previous winner, with Dirt Music in 2000, Cloudstreet in 1992 and Shallows in 1984).
According to the ABC News report, the judges say that all of them in some way ‘scutinise extreme behaviour. Well. that’s not the criteria I used when I predicted 4 of the 5 in our ANZLL discussions, but obviously I’m not too bad at second-guessing the judges!
I had read some of the titles from the longlist which missed out: Addition by Toni Jordan, (which I journalled last May before starting this blog in July); Fugitive Blue by Claire Thomas, (which I have just finished and will blog shortly) and A Fraction of the Whole by Steve Toltz. One Foot Wrong by Sophie Laguna is on our ANZLL schedule for this year (which just goes to show how discerning we are in our nominations, eh? and The Devil’s Eye by Ian Townsend has been getting rave reviews from ANZLL members so these are treats in store.
And so is the biography Stella Miles Franklin, by Jill Roe, which has been on my TBR for too long. I’d really like to have it read by the time this year’s winner is announced on June 18th.
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