Vanessa McCausland Archives

Book review: The Last Illusion of Paige White by Vanessa McCausland

December 5, 20242 min read

The Last Illusion of Paige White by Vanessa McCausland is a thought-provoking read from the Aussie journalist-turned-author. I’ve read three of McCausland’s previous books and she seems to enjoy unpicking or examining relationships between friends and families. Here we meet Jane, a journalist who returns to her childhood hometown after a former best friend dies. We learn however, though the pair were once close, events from the past split them apart but also left Jane wondering if they really did have anything in common after all.

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Book review: The Beautiful Words by Vanessa McCausland

December 11, 20212 min read

The Beautiful Words is the third book I’ve read by Australian author Vanessa McCausland and probably my favourite to date.

All three books consider complex issues and draw on themes around family and friendships, around hopes and aspirations as well as discontentment and regret.

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Book review: The Valley of Lost Stories by Vanessa McCausland

December 2, 20203 min read

The Valley of Lost Stories by Vanessa McCausland arrived wrapped with a gold bow and handwritten note from the author. It was a lovely gesture from Vanessa and Harper Collins and an acknowledgement that 2020 has been pretty shitty for almost everyone and we should grasp any glimmer of light and joy we can get.

I read McCausland’s The Lost Summers of Driftwood last year and enjoyed it though took umbrage at a couple of references to the fact a character in her late 30s must have felt like a failure because she didn’t have a partner or child.

Her new novel similarly traverses women’s fiction – a group of women and the problems in their lives with parenting, relationships and their identities – but with a little suspense thrown in.

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Book review: The Lost Summers of Driftwood by Vanessa McCausland

December 14, 20194 min read

This book by journalist and Sydneysider Vanessa McCausland came as a bit of a surprise. Its cover is beautiful but implied more whimsy than is on offer in the book. Which is a good thing for me as I struggle with ‘lightness’. It’s a hard book to describe in many ways… there are elements of romance, some meaning-of-life navel gazing and certainly some suspense.

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