Fiction & Fantasy

The Shelly Bay Ladies Swimming Circle by Sophie Green, Hachette

This quintessentially Aussie tale sees four women dive into the ocean every morning together, each in search of something different. It’s 1982 with Paul Hogan on TV and The Man from Snowy River making faint hearts quiver, but for these women their swimming circle provides a unique companionship. Theresa is after fitness and some me-time, widowed Marie a new routine to help process her loss, Elaine newly arrived from England wants to stave her loneliness, while nurse Leanne is running from a desperate situation. The traumas and triumphs of these four women are supremely recognisable and as we feel we are in the ocean with them as their stories unfold.

THE HARP OF KINGS by Juliet Marillier, Pan Macmillan

This is the first in a promising new series from fantasy queen Juliet Marillier, and fans of her Sevenwaters Trilogy won’t be disappointed. Eighteen-year-old Liobhan is a girl power heroine, a beautiful singer, expert whistler and superb fighter. She aches to be one of Swan Island’s elite warriors, and with her brother is training hard. But then they are called on a special mission which involves them posing as wandering minstrels as they seek out a precious harp which has mysteriously disappeared. What follows involves troublesome druids, an evil prince, magical myths and a slow-burn romance.

The 28th in Wilbur Smith’s Courtney Series is an epic. It opens in 1754 in Madras, India, where English siblings Constance and Theo are enjoying a privileged life until their parents are killed in an attack on the fort in the Seven Years’ War with the French. This tears them apart as Theo joins the Brits and Connie becomes the victim of cruel guardians. What follows is an at times violent adventure story with endless twists and turns.