BOOK CLUB

IMAGINE IF HILLARY RODHAM HAD KNOCKED BACK BILL CLINTON’S MARRIAGE PROPOSAL? A NEW FICTIONAL FORAY EXPLORES AN ALTERNATE AMERICAN REALITY

RODHAM

Curtis Sittenfeld DOUBLEDAY, $33

What would have happened if Hillary Rodham had knocked back Bill Clinton’s marriage proposal? That is the premise of this wonderful new novel from Sittenfeld, author of American

Wife. Rodham takes us back to Yale Law School in the 1970s where an earnest Hillary and charismatic Bill first lay eyes on each other. Sittenfeld imagines for the couple a passionate love affair — Bill idolises Hillary, a woman in every way his intellectual equal, while Hillary can’t quite believe this handsome Southerner finds her attractive. She eventually follows him to Arkansas in 1974, where he is running for Congress. Hillary dismisses suggestions she’s giving up her own career for Bill. She goes from working on the Nixon impeachment inquiry to teaching criminal law at the University of Arkansas. But in this alternate reality, the relationship soon falls apart, Hillary deciding she can’t keep turning a blind eye to Bill’s infidelity. Sittenfeld explores just where this other Hillary’s life might have taken her. This is a book to devour, even for those who aren’t that interested in American politics. SHELLEY HADFIELD

VERDICT: Glorious

THE BIG BOOK OF AUSTRALIA’S WAR STORIES

Jim Haynes ALLEN & UNWIN, $33

In another lifetime this book would have been called The Boy’s Own Book of Thrilling War

Stories, and the cover would have shown a determined young Aussie lad charging up the beach at Gallipoli, brandishing his rifle and ready to sacrifice his life for King and Country. Nowadays of course, the enemy is no longer described in the same racial terms as he once was, but there is still a gung-ho feel about the stories that fill this 580-page volume. From the Boer War to Vietnam, we read first-hand accounts from the battlefields, letters home and soldiers’ poems. In between these, Haynes gives brief summaries of people such as Ross Smith, Nancy Wake and Albert Jacka, along with stories of the Kokoda Trail, the Light Horse Charge at Beersheba, the Rats of Tobruk, and many other iconic events. While serious students of our military history won’t find much they don’t already know, the real value is in the way Haynes provides an easily accessible overview of such a wide variety of topics.

JEFF MAYNARD

VERDICT: Anzac anthology

THE LIZARD

Dugald Bruce-Lockhart MUSWELL PRESS, $30

A novel about a young man’s adventures in the Greek Islands may just be the perfect escape during these times of travel restrictions. However, if you’re expecting a slow, languid pace, think again. This debut crime novel quickly turns the promise of a coming-of-age holiday into a nightmare. Along the way it has plenty of youthful, boy’s own fantasy, alcohol and hedonistic lifestyle scenes, however, the story quickly turns deadly. The setting is a standout, the heat, the colours, the culture but the sparkling waters of the turquoise seas surrounding the Greek Islands are both haven and menace. Set in the 1980s, the story wouldn’t be complete without an Australian influence but the main character is a nerdy and gullible British graduate, which helps somewhat to understand some of his naive decisions. A lot happens in this book, not just murders, guntotting and boat escapes but also partying, sex and violence — too much for me to suspend my disbelief.

KARINA KILMORE-BARRYMORE

VERDICT: Action-packed

THE RAIN HERON

Robbie Arnott TEXT, $30

Destruction and mayhem are just a couple of the consequences we can expect when we go messing with nature for monetary profit — as we’ve been finding out for the past couple of decades. Unpredictability is another one. In his second book (after the award-winning Flames, published in 2018), Arnott takes us on a journey into a world not too far from our own, where the army has staged a coup and people live in a state somewhere between apprehension and panic. In this land are two creatures, one with which humans have learned to live in harmony, and one that has the ability to change entire ecosystems if provoked. As with our own times, there are always those who want to make a quick fortune and those who are content to live simply on what is offered. This would be a cautionary tale if the characters and the situations weren’t so close to our own. As it is, this just may be a history lesson in man’s stupidity.

BARRY REYNOLDS

VERDICT: A wing and a prayer