HQ: Where Great Stories Begin
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Eva Reddy’s Trip of a Lifetimeby Fiona McKenzie Kekic Mrs Winterbottom Takes a Gap Year meets The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel and Where’d You Go Bernadette in this witty novel about coming of (middle) age and discovering that you don’t have to be who you’ve become. When Eva Moore wakes up on her fiftieth birthday, her drab middle-class life immediately starts to unravel. First, she receives an anonymous Facebook message claiming her husband is having an affair. Next, she is restructured out of her job by her obnoxiously young boss. Then, just when she thinks her life can’t get any worse, her elderly parents wilfully go missing from their group tour of India. All they’ve left behind is an increasingly bizarre series of TikTok videos. Eager to put some distance between herself and her failing marriage, Eva undertakes a rescue mission, determined to save her parents from certain disaster. She wants to find them. But what Eva really needs is to find herself. If she can do that, she might get a second chance at life and love – and, along the way, become an inspiration to anyone who fears their best days are behind them … Witty, warm and acutely observed – a book club book from an extraordinary new Australian voice about taking life, and adventure, by the horns. A funny, defiant shout into the face of society’s expectations around ageing. |
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Better Than The Real Thingby Brooke Crawford Notting Hill meets Bridget Jones Baby in this whip-smart, funny, emotionally charged contemporary fiction about messy pasts, second chances and future families from a sparkling new voice. Melbourne teacher Netta Phillips is staring down the barrel of her fortieth birthday with months’ worth of negative pregnancy tests behind her, her relationship in the bin, and a mortgage she can’t afford. Things really aren’t going to plan. When she unexpectedly finds the childhood diary of notoriously private celebrity musician Morrison ‘Mo’ Maplestone, things get even messier. Mo’s desperate to keep the diary’s dark contents hidden from the tabloids and well away from his beloved younger brother, and he’s willing to pay Netta handsomely to personally return it to him in London. The financial reward he offers would mean Netta could keep her apartment and try assisted conception treatments; after all, the clock’s ticking. Loudly. But she can’t go. After what happened there twenty years ago, she vowed never to return to the UK. Not for anything. When necessity bites, Netta reluctantly accepts Mo’s offer and life quickly becomes even more complicated. There’s paparazzi to contend with, a fake date that feels all-too-real and a Christmas Day confession that changes everything. Amongst the chaos, Netta and Mo forge a rare connection, and discover that facing up to the past might be the only way to find the real thing. Or maybe something even better. |
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Home to the Heart Countryby Libby Iriks A heartfelt small-town romance exploring themes of belonging, social anxiety and neurodivergence from a delightful new Australian voice. Perfect for readers of Rachael Johns and Mandy Magro. Beth dreams of putting down roots and finding a place to belong, and with a steady job in Townsville, she’s on her way to achieving that dream. But when the cute little cottage she’s rented for the past four years is put on the market, the stability she’s always craved is threatened. News of a life-changing inheritance takes her across the country to a small town in Western Australia, where she discovers that the rundown old house her aunt left her might just be her saving grace. With plans to sell it so she can buy her beloved cottage, she hires Noah, a farmer-slash-wannabe-renovator, to help fix it up. But thanks to her self-preserving tendencies, she’s otherwise determined to keep her distance from everyone in town. Despite her best efforts, Beth starts to form meaningful connections, and in Noah, she discovers a man who sees beyond her awkward shyness to the woman she is on the inside. Then, just as she finally feels at home in Karlup, she uncovers a shocking family truth that unravels her sense of identify and forces her to re-evaluate her biggest dreams and deepest desires. |