The feel-good novel of 2013, The Rosie Project is a classic screwball romance, with rights sold into more than thirty countries. Author Graeme Simsion dropped into Shearer's and spoke to Antonia about writing his debut novel and its international success.
Find out more about The Rosie Project at www.therosieproject.com.au and don't forget that we have an event with Graeme at Shearer's at 7.30pm on Wednesday February 13th. More details on our website or call (02) 9572 7766 to book your spot.
I was so looking forward to meeting Barbara Arrowsmith Young. I first became aware of Barbara after reading Norman Doidge’s The Brain That Changes Itself. Barbara was invited to Sydney Writers’ Festival and I jumped at the opportunity and quickly rang her publisher, HarperCollins. I was delighted when my request for a short interview and some book signings was granted and Barbara came to Shearer’s on Thursday.
Barbara’s strength is in her understatement of what she has achieved, which makes her feats so much more powerful. I must confess that I “lost it” at the end of the interview. I was so overcome with her story that I couldn’t speak I had such a huge lump in my throat as I was so affected by her story and her achievements.
I’m captivated by her book The Woman Who Changed Her Brain and look forward to finishing it this weekend. What a Woman! -Barbara Horgan
A new Jeffrey Eugenides book was the highlight of the publishing year in 2011 and the highlight of 2012’s Sydney Writer’s Festival is going to be an engagement with that same author.
Shearer’s Bookshop was incredibly lucky to have the author visit them in Leichhardt to sign some books, imbibe some caffeine and answer some questions from a very starstruck bookseller before his Writer’s Festival event.
The Marriage Plot cements Eugenides as a must-read author. The narrative introduces us to Madeleine, Leonard and Mitchell, three students just about to graduate from Brown University. We discover three young people all playing at Understanding Life through their college experience who then embark on life’s journey still wondering at how to use the lessons they have learnt, both in and out of the classroom.
As Madeleine, Leonard and Mitchell go about the business of responding to life’s blows - manic depression, unrequited love, unrealised potential - the reader is treated to some wonderful passages and inferences about literary theory, religious parity, elitist idealism, intellectual ennui and last, but not least, the powerful nature of love in all it’s forms.
Check out what Jeffrey Eugenides had to say when he spoke to Shearer’s yesterday afternoon.
Hannah Richell came in to the store yesterday to have a chat to Barbara about her stunning debut novel Secrets of the Tides - already a hit in nine countries.
Every family has its secrets. Some are small, like telling a white
lie or snooping through a private drawer. Others are more serious, like
infidelity and betrayal. And some secrets are so terrible they must be
hidden away in a deep, dark place, for if they ever came to light, they
would surely tear a family apart. The Tides are a family full of secrets. Returning to Clifftops, the
rambling family house perched high on the Dorset coastline, youngest
daughter Dora hopes for a fresh start, for herself and the new life she
carries. But can long-held secrets ever really be forgiven? And even if
you can forgive, can you ever really learn to love again?
Secrets of the Tides is out now in trade paperback for the RRP of $29.99.
