The Women and The Girls
Three friends. Three marriages left behind. Life begins in earnest.
It’s 1977, and warm, bohemian Libby – stay-at-home mother, genius entertainer and gifted cook – is lonely. When she meets Carol, who has recently emigrated from London with her controlling husband and is feeling adrift, and Anna, who loves her career but not her marriage, the women form an unexpected bond.
Their husbands aren’t happy about it, and neither are their daughters.
Set against a backdrop of inner-city grunge and 70s glamour, far-out parties and ABBA songs, The Women and The Girls is a funny, questioning and moving novel about love, friendship, work, family, and freedom.
“In this light hearted novel, Laura Bloom rejects the traditional rom-com, opting instead to follow a more contemporary journey of self-reckoning.
Fans of Liane Moriarty will enjoy this friendship-driven romp.”
– Bec Kavanagh, Books+Publishing
In The Mood
It’s February 1946, and Robert Booker is just home from the war. Home is a pretty weatherboard house in Sydney, where his wife, Catherine, is waiting. They haven’t seen each for three years, yet they are separated by so much more than time.
About this book
It’s February 1946, and Robert Booker is just home from the war. Home is a pretty weatherboard house in Sydney, where his wife, Catherine, is waiting. They haven’t seen each for three years, yet they are separated by so much more than time.
Robert is haunted by the horrors of what he has seen and done, fighting in the humid jungles of New Guinea, and Catherine is carrying the guilt of her affair with a charismatic US Marine – and other secrets too painful to confront. Her heart divided between two men, she finds herself longing for all she has lost. With so much that’s changed between them, can Catherine and Robert find their way back to each other again?
“Crisply written and dramatic… In The Mood is compelling fiction…
Bloom’s novel conjures a period with great intimacy and realism, yet wears its research lightly – detail plays second fiddle to credible, deeply human characters, and the prose remains taut and evocative throughout. Comparisons to Ruth Park are inevitable – and with more novels set in the 20th century to come, it will be intriguing to see where Bloom goes next.”
– Cameron Woodhead, The Age
“Few books about war have been told from this perspective, which makes Bloom’s book both a revelation and essential reading. IN THE MOOD is a tour de force of insightful and concentrated emotional writing.”
– The Spectator
The Cleanskin
From the dark heart of The Troubles, The Cleanskin is a story of intense human relationships with a cast of flawed and entirely believable characters.
About this book
Some days, even Halley can’t find the person she once was. She’s changed her name and no one – least of all her husband and son – knows of her past. No one except Aidan, who turns up one day in her small Australian town and shatters the façade she’s built so carefully.
What the two of them discover, not only change their understanding of what happened back then, it changes everything now.
Laura Bloom deftly goes to the dark heart of The Troubles to tell a story as moving as it is surprising.
“I love a good twist and this one I didn’t see coming. Bloom has written a unique and complex story of family, love, religion, relationships, manipulation and discontent.”
– https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/30970018-the-cleanskin
“A masterpiece of drama and characterisation, destined to become a classic of its genre …. the creation of a subtle and intelligent mind.” read more
— Alan Gold, The Australian.
YOUNGER READERS
Mika & Max
A book for readers 10+
A story about a girl who meets a boy who changes everything.
Mika doesn’t want to go away with her family for the weekend. It’s lucky she does, though, because otherwise she never would have met Max, or stayed with him on the Magic Bus, or sung in public for the first time, or made a game-changing phone call, or swum through shark-infested waters, or discovered The Meaning of Life! And all on the one special day …
“Mika and Max are two of my favourite new characters of fiction, and their friendship is vivid and real. This is a lovely, riveting, important story – often heartwarming, sometimes heart-stopping – about family, friendship, growing up, taking risks and finding ourselves.”
– Jaclyn Moriarty
Frankie
Book 1 in the Dream Riders Series.
Without a saddle or bridle, all that’s left is the truth.
Frankie’s dream becomes more of a nightmare when her new horse turns out to be Zen – a shaggy, disobedient clown of a pony, who totally wrecks her chances of fitting in at Pony Club in her new town. Until magnetic horse whisperer Shannon shows Frankie how wonderful Zen could be if she’s willing to give him another chance. And when Shannon announces she’s closing down her riding centre, Frankie has a brilliant idea that could just save it. Three brilliant ideas, in fact. If only she and Zen can rise to the challenge!
“Yes it’s a series in which horses feature – but it is oh so much more. ‘Dream Riders: Frankie’ has wide appeal beyond those who enjoy horse books – in fact the horse themes are more a vehicle for looking at contemporary issues facing tweens and teens. Highly recommended for readers from 10+.”
– Megan Daley, Children’s Books Daily
Storm
Book 2 in the Dream Riders series
When a magnificent grey horse escapes and gallops straight towards Storm during an archery competition, she knows they are destined for one another. But Morning Mist’s owner Margery doesn’t agree. She thinks Storm is just a hippy wild-child who knows nothing about horses.
Determined to prove Margery wrong, Storm joins the Dream Riders and begins her quest to win Morning Mist, with unexpected help from Frankie, Kai and Violet. With destiny on her side, Storm is sure she can convince Margery to give her another chance. But can she convince Morning Mist?
OUT NOW
Kai
Book 3 in the Dream Riders series
When Shannon takes the Dream Riders on a trip to the Brumby Rescue Centre, to pick out a wild horse to train, Kai decides to go too. He’s not that interested in horses, but his best friends are going, and it’s the last weekend before he leaves. When they get to the Centre, though, Kai meets two brumbies who completely change the way he feels about horses, not to mention the place that he calls ‘home’. He’s been missing his old life in the city – especially his wise and funny older sister, Jingy – but now that he’s met Jarrah, the gentle giant, and Monty, the scrappy grey, nothing will ever be the same again.