Fiction A Solitary Walk on the Moon

Hilde Hinton: Hachette Australia, $33

This is a happy-sad-funny book about nothing and everything all at once. It’s about how the littlest things in life are so often the biggest, and how the biggest things in life often come down to the smallest. Evelyn runs a laundromat and pays attention to her community – not in a nosy way, but in a gently curious, open to putting things right if she can kind of way. That’s how she knows to guide a forgetful gentleman safely home without stealing his dignity, take the time to research a little boy’s weekly list of “why” questions over bakery treats, shore up a struggling mum beset with hidden pain, and to fill the heart of a smiling man with lonely eyes. Hinton has gifted us a tale of community, wisdom and beautiful heart.