Kathryn's Inbox

How well can you ever really know your parents? That is the premise of The Death of Noah Glass, the winner of the Prime Minister Literary Awards and Finalist of the Miles Franklin Literary Award in 2019. Shortly after Noah Glass is found dead in the swimming pool at his apartment complex, the police begin asking his two children, former addict Martin and savant Evie, some surprising questions. Noah has just returned from Italy and is accused of an art theft. Their father, an art thief? It makes no sense whatsoever. Martin travels to Italy to investigate the crime for himself, while Evie moves in to Noah's apartment to do the same. Going between duel perspectives--that of Noah and his time in Italy and that of Martin and Evie's investigation, the reader learns about lives that are shaped not so much by what is said, but by what is not said. This was an interesting read, and an interesting insight into the lives of three unusual people. The coincidence of one of the characters b...

When I found a copy of A Guide to Berlin at the beautiful Matilda Bookshop in the Adelaide Hills I was instantly intrigued. A story of six visitors to Berlin from various parts of the globe who meet in empty apartments to share their stories and to discuss their mutual appreciation for author Vladimir Nabokov, in particular his short story, A Guide to Berlin? It looked interesting. So did the hint on the back cover that there would be an act of violence and the relationship between the group would not end well. Add the fact that it was written by Gail Jones, a much respected Australian author of Literary fiction and I could not resist buying this one and reading the first few chapters in a nearby cafe.  I was immediately taken by the beautiful prose, which as I was soon to discover was the novel's greatest strength, along with its depictions of Berlin through the eyes of Cass, an Australian who had grown up in Broome, and now found herself in Berlin in mid-winter. The two places c...