As a child protection worker, psychologist Ariane Beeston had taken babies away from their mothers. Then she had a baby, experiencing bouts of mental illness. Her memoir of this time is compelling.
John Tenniel, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
A psychiatrist and revolutionary, Frantz Fanon wrote fiercely against racism and colonialism. His ideas continue to inform political movements yet his misogyny and embrace of violence are problematic.
In Splinters, Leslie Jamison confronts the expectations placed on women, especially mothers – including the dangers of making art, and being more successful at it than the man in their life.
Saoirse Ronan as Eilis Lacey in the 2015 film adaptation of Brooklyn.
Photo by Kerry Brown. Courtesy of Mongrel Media.
In her new memoir Hope, Rosie Batty reflects on her ‘absolute despair’ at our failure to protect women and children from gendered violence – and the personal toll of becoming an unlikely campaigner.
An 8000-km hitchhiking trip is at the heart of Anna Broinowski’s Datsun Angel. Dominic Gordon, in contrast, kicks his young self around Melbourne’s alleys like a half-squashed can of energy drink.
Rainbow Lorikeet (Trichoglossus moluccanus).
Bernard Dupont, via Wikimedia Commons
Rushdie feared until he dealt with the attempt on his life, he ‘wouldn’t be able to write anything else’. The book is a clearly cathartic story of courage and resilience, but it’s curiously one-eyed.