Author Archives: gretchenshirm

Review of Elizabeth Strout’s ‘My Name is Lucy Barton’

I reviewed Elizabeth Strout’s superb short novel My Name is Lucy Barton for the Sydney Morning Herald, here. Olive Kitteridge is one of my all time favourite books and what I love about Strout is that she is such a devastatingly honest writer; every time I read her I remember why I write.

Review of Colum McCann’s Thirteen Ways of Looking

I reviewed Colum McCann’s Thirteen Ways of Looking for the Sydney Morning Herald,  here. I was intrigued by the premise for the book, which has as its centrepiece a novella in which the main character is fatally assaulted in an apparently random attack. McCann himself was attacked on the streets of New York around theContinue reading “Review of Colum McCann’s Thirteen Ways of Looking”

Review of Lauren Groff’s Fates & Furies

I reviewed Lauren Groff’s Fates and Furies for the Sydney Morning Herald and The Age here. As I say in the review, I was so impressed by Groff’s use of language and the structural feat she pulls off in telling essentially two different stories about one marriage. But in a way it’s not really about aContinue reading “Review of Lauren Groff’s Fates & Furies”

Review of Margaret Atwood’s The Heart Goes Last

I reviewed Margaret Atwood’s most recent novel The Heart Goes Last for the Sydney Morning Herald, which you can read here. To be honest, it was a difficult review for me to write; I was disappointed with the book although I fully expected to love it. Margaret Atwood is actually one of the writers whoContinue reading “Review of Margaret Atwood’s The Heart Goes Last”

Sonja Dechian’s An Astronaut’s Life

I reviewed Sonja Dechian’s An Astronaut’s Life for The Australian, which you can read here. It was an interesting book to review, because I found as I started reading that I was somehow failing Dechian’s stories. Her stories don’t follow the traditional short story structure and because of this, it took some time for me toContinue reading “Sonja Dechian’s An Astronaut’s Life”

Review of Annah Faulkner’s The Last Day in the Dynamite Factory

I reviewed Annah Faulkner’s novel, the exquisitely titled The Last Day in the Dynamite Factory, for the Sydney Morning Herald, which you can read here. The novel was impressively well narrated and plotted. The premise was also an interesting one, the way that family silences and the tacit lies we are told as children can shape usContinue reading “Review of Annah Faulkner’s The Last Day in the Dynamite Factory”

Review of Kate Atkinson’s A God in Ruins in the Sydney Morning Herald

I’ve long admired Kate Atkinson’s writing, since the time of her Jackson Brodie crime novels (I think I started with Case Histories). I know Life After Life was universally loved, but I actually found A God in Ruins to be a more compelling novel – I think I’m in the minority here though. You canContinue reading “Review of Kate Atkinson’s A God in Ruins in the Sydney Morning Herald”

Review of Laura van den Berg’s Find me in The Sydney Morning Herald

I was deeply impressed by Laura van den Berg’s use of language in her debut novel Find Me, and the concept for the novel was deliciously intriguing, but found that the second half of the novel misfired in terms of structure. You can read my review in the Sydney Morning Herald, here.