From the Desk—April in Review

Dear Reader,

Welcome to Matilda Bookshop Review #11, your monthly chronicle of books and writing, where we share with you our current reads, author interviews, book club wrap ups, and other literary ephemera such as reviews, award news, and books we love. 

This (gloriously beautiful autumnal) month of April has seen Matilda Bookshop, along with nine other SA independent bookshops, launch the Global Book Crawl a few days ago. An international event, the Global Book Crawl invites people in cities across the world to discover the magic of their local indie bookshops, meet fellow readers and share their love for books. The Crawl continues until this coming Sunday, so there is still time to join in. More about GBC HERE.

Matilda Bookshop was thrilled to celebrate the publication of the fourth instalment of On The Calculation of Volume at a publication party hosted by our Matilda, Translated convenors at the Stirling Hotel. It was a stunning occasion of chat and interrogation by Calc Vol fans of Solvej Balle’s incredible evocation of time, place, memory, and storytelling. Thanks to all who came along. We also presented Shaun Micallef at the beginning of the month at the Regal Theatre to a fascinated and entertained crowd. Next month, we’re presenting Claire Thomas in the bookshop, when she talks about the richly layered and elegant novel, On Not Climbing Mountains. This novel has become a firm Matilda favourite, so we can’t wait to host Claire.

Mothers Day is fast approaching, and we have so many gorgeous delights in the shop from books (art/fiction/gardening/cooking/memoir + more) to puzzles, to stunning journals, and book lights. Stay tuned for a gift guide, or just come in and see us for recommendations and beautiful wrapping.

Our featured author in this month's Review is Gemma Parker, another fine South Australian talent, whose poetic memoir in fragments The Mother is Restless & She Doesn’t Know Why, is astonishing. The interview is as electric as her writing. Browse the complete archive of Author Q&As here.

Happy Reading,
Jo, Gavin, Molly, Kasey, Rose, Heather, Nadia & Emilie

Emilie: A Beast Slinks Towards Beijing by Alice Evelyn Yang (out now)
A woman finds no peace between her hideously surreal dreams and the reappearance of her traumatised father, who arrives baring garbled family prophecies of great misfortune! There is a lot to admire so far in this piece of modern magical realism.

Gavin: The Palm House by Gwendoline Riley
With her trademark surgeon's clarity and finesse Riley dissects the eternal vicissitudes of friends and lovers. Not a word is wasted.

Heather: Fourteen Ways of Looking by Erin Vincent (out now)
I’ve just inhaled this memoir in fragments that is forty years in the making. It maps the strange, private logic of grief and is clever and moving as heck. LOVED.

Jo: Almost Life by Karen Millwood Hargrave (out now)
Starting with a chance meeting on the steps of the Sacre-Coeur in Paris in the 70s, this novel  tells the story of Erica and Laure and their lifetime of friendship, their thwarted  love story and the heartbreak of missed opportunities.

Kasey: London Falling by Patrick Radden Keefe (out now)

At once a haunting story of a family's desperation and loss, and a scathing critique of the billionaire's playground that London has become. This is Radden Keefe at his journalistic best.

Molly: Sororicidal by Edwina Preston (out now)

Set in Edwardian Adelaide (but described as punk-gothic in style), two well-to-do-sisters provoke, inspire, and devour each other’s sense of self/desires/dreams, as the power balance constantly shifts. Incredible writing.

Nadia: The Mother is Restless & She Doesn’t Know Why by Gemma Parker (out now)
A memoir told in fragments on Nietzsche, nihilism, and a creative life. I am absolutely devouring this.

Rose: Small Comfort by Ia Genberg (out now)
Five interconnected short stories about money and the things it does to us.

Kids Book Club News

Dear book-loving young people, we run three book clubs for kids, Magical Minds, The Matilda Society, and Chapter & Ink book clubs. Newcomers are always welcome for engaged chats and snacks in our cozy bookshop setting. But be quick, sessions sell out fast.

Term Two Sessions Next Up:

Magical Minds: Nerds Vs Aliens! by Barry Jonsberg on Monday May 11 (SOLD OUT)

The Matilda Society: Oh Brother: a graphic memoir by Georgina Chadderton on Monday May 18

Chapter & Ink: A Murder is Going Down by Kate Emery on Wednesday May 27

Highlight on Authors Series

Welcome to this month's Highlight on Authors series, where we ask authors (whose books we've read and absolutely loved) questions on books and writing. 

The next author we're introducing you to is yet another exceptional South Australian author, the eloquent, witty, and smart, Gemma Parker, discussing the poetically exhilarating memoir, The Mother is Restless & She Doesn’t Know Why.

(We've provided a glimpse of the interview  below):

Further Reading

Here's the literary ephemera that we've been loving this month, from the best in LitHub, Australian Book Review, The New York Times, The London Review of Books, The Sydney Book Review, and others ...

This month saw the announcement of the International Booker Prize shortlist. We’ve got our fingers crossed for The Director, of course.

We are thrilled to share some good publishing news from one of our Deep Creek Residency Fellowship Winners, Rebecca Burton, who has had two short stories appear in literary journals: — City of Light in The Marlowe Review and Instructions for Living a Life in Peatsmoke Journal. Rebecca told us recently that the Fellowship gave her, and continues to give her, the courage and energy to keep pushing on with her writing, to keep trying new things, to be curious and brave and see where her writing takes her. Such high praise. We are so touched to know that programs such as this help to foster SA writers.

Books are how societies remember… argue… dissent… and imagine. And that is why publishing matters. But it is also why this moment matters.

‘She sounded like the cosmos breathing’ says David Byrne of Alice Coltrane, in this review of the new book about the divine jazz harpist (Alice) Coltrane, Cosmic Music.

I Speak With The Future. A poem for you by Jane Hirschfield, to end our Review.