The Bookshelf
The Bookshelf
ABC Australia
Siblings, secrets and shame in regional Australia in M L Stedman's A Far Flung Life and Eva Hornung's The Minstrels (REVIEWERS Michael Robotham and Roanna Gonsalves)
54 minutes Posted Mar 6, 2026 at 4:00 am.
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Show notes
Statues come alive and London is re-imagined in Francis Spufford's Nonesuch, and surprising parallels in two Australian novels of secrets, shame, land and time in M L Stedman's A Far-Flung Life and Eva Hornung's The Minstrels. Kate Evans, Cassie McCullagh, Michael Robotham and Roanna Gonsalves - to help you decide what to read next.
BOOKS
Francis Spufford, Nonesuch, Faber
Eva Hornung, The Minstrels, Text
M L Stedman, A Far-Flung Life, Penguin
 
GUESTS
Michael Robotham, internationally acclaimed crime writer – whose books include the Joe O’Loughlin series, the Cyrus Haven/ Evie Cormac series, and his latest – featuring Philomena MCcCarthy, The White Crow. His first Australian-based novel is out later this year
Roanna Gonsalves, writer whose collection of short stories is The Permanent Resident, and whose first novel (The Servants) will be published later this year. She is also one of the hosts of a monthly book club at the State Library of NSW
Other books mentioned:
Phillippa McGuiness and Richard Neville (eds) The Library that Made Me (you can write your own stories about libraries that have shaped you right here)
Anita Heiss, Bila Yarrudhanggalangdhuray: River of Dreams 
Emily St John Mandel, Station Eleven
Cormac McCarthy, The Road
Rashida Murphy’s Old Ghosts  and Karleah Olson’s Bloodwood (forthcoming)
Michelle de Kretser, The Hamilton Case
Natasha Brown, Assembly, Universality
Charlotte McConaghy, Wild Dark Shore
Don Winslow, The Power of the Dog, The Death and Life of Bobby Z,  The Final Score [stories]
Presenters: Kate Evans and Cassie McCullagh
Producer: Kate Evans
Sound engineers: Timothy Jenkins
Arts Editor: Rhiannon Brown