Showing results by narrator "Tamala" in All Categories

When Alison Strange receives a debt claim she can’t afford to pay from the Australian government’s unemployment office, she’s caught completely off-balance. As she wrestles with a slippery bureaucracy, her history-loving grandfather bolsters her resolve with the story of their ancestor John Strange, an English cobbler who was banished to Australia for his part in a political movement. Drawing inspiration from John’s life, Alison finds her own unique way to demand a future that’s fair for all.

“How good it is to hear a Darug voice speaking of Darug history.”—Kate Grenville, author of The Secret River, winner of the Commonwealth Prize Blending the mythical power of Téa Obreht and the epic scope of Min Jin Lee, a searing historical novel that tells a story of colonization...

When football star Nick Harding hobbles into the Black Salt Cafe the morning after the night before, he is served by Anna, a waitress with haunted-looking eyes and no interest in footballers, famous or otherwise. Nick is instantly drawn to this exotic, intelligent girl. But a relationship between them risks shame for her conservative refugee family and backlash for Nick that could ruin his career. Meanwhile, when Nick's sister, Lily meets Toby, it seems that for the first time she is following her heart, not the expectations of others.

'It's funny how quick it happens and without you really noticing. Anton said once that it's like walking out into the sea, and you think everything's fine and the water's warm, but when you turn back you're suddenly miles from shore. I've never been much of a swimmer, but I get what he means...

Shortlisted for the 2025 Queensland Literary Awards, The Courier-Mail People's Choice Queensland Book of the Year Award 'Dirrayawadha is full of heart and hope, truth-telling and history – and shimmers with language too' Guardian 'A story from the past given vivid life for new understanding’?...

A young woman, living on the street, has to keep her wits about her. Or her friends. But when the drugs kick in that can be hard. Anton has been looking out for her. She was safe with him. But then Steve came along. He had something over Anton. Must have. But he had a flat they could crash in. And gear in his pocket. And she can't stop thinking about it. A good hit makes everything all right. But the flat smells weird. There's a lock on Steve's bedroom door. And the guy is intense. The problem is, sometimes you just don't know you are in too deep until you are drowning.

It’s 1868, and the gold rush is spreading across the wild west of New South Wales, bringing with it a new breed of colonial rogue - bushrangers. A world far removed from hardworking farm girl Annie Bird and her sleepy village on the outskirts of Sydney. But when a cruel stroke of fortune sees Annie orphaned and outcast, she is forced to head for the goldfields in search of her grandfather, a legendary tracker. Determined and dangerously naive, she sets off with little but a swag full of hope - and is promptly robbed of it on the road.

A proud Gunai/Kurnai woman, Veronica Gorrie grew up dauntless, full of cheek and a fierce sense of justice. After watching her friends and family suffer under a deeply compromised law-enforcement system, Gorrie signed up for training to become one of a rare few Aboriginal police officers in Australia. In her 10 years in the force, she witnessed appalling institutional racism and sexism and fought past those things to provide courageous and compassionate service to civilians in need, many Aboriginal themselves.

Wisecracking Kerry Salter has spent a lifetime avoiding two things - her hometown and prison. But now her Pop is dying, and she’s an inch away from the lockup, so she heads south on a stolen Harley. Kerry plans to spend 24 hours, tops, over the border. She quickly discovers, though, that Bundjalung country has a funny way of grabbing on to people. Old family wounds open as the Salters fight to stop the development of their beloved river.

Compassion is the dramatised life story of one of Julie Janson’s ancestors who went on trial for stealing livestock in New South Wales, and it is an exciting and violent story of anti-colonial revenge and roaming adventure.

In a futuristic and dystopian Australia, industrialisation and capitalism have overwhelmed and smothered human rights and sanity. Meet Mirii, a young orphan caught in a system that's hell bent on keeping her down. When she finds unexpected allies, friends and love, will it be enough to see her through this nightmarish world? Or is it only the beginning of the troubles she will have to face?

Growing Up in Country Australia is a fresh, modern look at country Australia. There are stories of joy, adventure, nostalgia, connection to nature and freedom, but also more grim tales - of drought, fires, mouse plagues and isolation. From the politics of the country school bus to the class divides between locals, from shooting foxes with Dad to giving up meat as an adult, from working on the family farm to selling up and moving to the city, the picture painted is diverse and unexpected. This is country Australia as you've never seen it before.

Frigid tells the story of the 1991 United Bank of Denver Robbery. Four guards were murdered. Six vault tellers were held at gunpoint. The book contains interviews with many people involved in the case. James W. King was tried and acquitted in 1992.

Sleeping in the Bathtub is based on a true story. Former Marine, Timothy Allen McWilliams shot three people in 1980 near West Virginia University. One young man died. After a mistrial in 1984, a conviction in 1984, and the overturning of the verdict by the West Virginia Supreme Court in 1986, Timothy Allen McWilliams came home to his parents in 1988. In March of 2018, Tim woke up one morning and stabbed to death his father.

Rita is an escort, one of the best in Australia. It all began on a whim at 18, after she rang the number on a sign looking for nude models. Always the outsider, she quickly learns the sex industry is comprised of many other people just like her and she becomes immersed in this world: the drugs, the late nights, the glamour, being an outcast, the attention and validation from men. Mostly she thrives on how taboo her life has become.

For perhaps the first time in novel form, Benevolence presents an important era in Australia’s history from an Aboriginal perspective. Told through the fictional characterisation of Darug woman Muraging (Mary James), Benevolence is a compelling story of first contact. Born around 1813, Muraging is among the earliest Darug generations to experience the impact of British colonisation - a time of cataclysmic change and violence, but also remarkable survival and resistance.

From Australia’s master storyteller comes this retrospective of his best short stories from the past two decades. Pictures of You: Collected Stories brings together the best of acclaimed writer Tony Birch’s short fiction. Cherrypicking from across his oeuvre, this anthology showcases his skills at finding the extraordinary in ordinary lives, and the often-unexpected connections and kindnesses between strangers. His work is by turns poignant, sad, profound and funny–and always powerful.

The Rot is a recalcitrant study of the decaying romances, expired hopes, and abject injustices of the world. A liturgy for girlhood in the dying days of late-stage capitalism, these poems expose the fraying nerves and tendons of a speaker refusing to avert their gaze from the death of Country, death on Country, and the bloody violence of settler colonies here and afar.

Do you know what your money story is - your personal set of beliefs and experiences around money that directly influences how you earn, save and spend? Could your story be holding you back from the financial life you dream of? Meet 25 incredible real-life Money Diarists who are digging deep...

It’s Broome, 2010. Nyikina man Wayne Bergmann has just received a death threat. His wife has watched a friend cross the road to avoid speaking with her. His children are subject to intense schoolyard bullying. Bergmann, a boilermaker by trade, and lawyer, is chief executive of the Kimberley Land Council during the controversial James Price Point gas hub negotiations. It’s an event that will tear the Broome community apart. Wayne’s story starts on Nyikina country and encompasses backbreaking station work, buried treasure, a Swedish bone thief and traditional magic love songs.