🔥🔥Sizzling 🔥🔥New Australian Books Coming in 2025
Which debuts are publishers excited about in 2025? Here's a round up of some of the hottest books coming our way next year! Plus, we chat with C.A. Wright, fantasy writer, about her novel, Skysong
Well hello!
And welcome to the final issue for 2024. What a year it’s been. I’ve reviewed 19 titles, met 8 authors and given away over 30 copies of these books! I’m so looking forward to doing it all again in 2025.
Whatever your reading preference, this issue is dedicated to some super exciting new Australian releases coming our way in 2025. Whether you like a particular genre, such as historical fiction, crime, literary or commercial fiction, we’ve got you covered. Or if you don’t care what it is, as long as it’s good, then fear not. There will be plenty for you to choose from.
Of course, it wouldn’t be a New Voices Down Under newsletter without a giveaway. Welcome to C.A. Wright, who I interviewed for our final Meet the Author slot about her debut novel, Skysong and there are copies for you to win!
PS: This newsletter is way longer than usual. If you’re reading this in your email app, click on the link "View entire message" and you’ll be able to view the entire post.
This list is compiled in publication date order. All the blurbs come from the publishers’ websites and are not a review. (Some have been shortened to fit in as many titles as possible.) They may not be my words but these are the titles I’m looking forward to in the first half of 2025. Enjoy!
1 January The Inheritance by Kate Horan (HarperCollins Publishers)
What if everyone in your family was given a DNA test at Christmas: would there be any surprise results? For two women the answers are shocking, and dangerous.
Isobel Ashworth breezes through life, blissfully accustomed to the privilege which comes with her family name. But that changes when she arrives in the exclusive town of Hartwell. Sent there by her father to complete a controversial property development - and prove herself a serious player in the succession plan - her perfect life is unravelling. Isobel's fiance is telling lies, the project is a disaster and the locals hate her; could her father be setting her up to fail?
Buzzing with the promise of a big story, journalist Meg Hunter arrives in Hartwell to expose the Ashworth family dealings, and transform her faltering career. As she follows the trail of corruption, she uncovers clues about her mother's mysterious past.
When the next-gen Ashworths each receive an anonymous Christmas gift of a DNA testing kit, Isobel questions everything she knows about her family. Isobel is drawn to Meg and her pursuit of the truth ... but someone out there will stop at nothing to hide the secrets of both families. Perfect for readers of Liane Moriarty and Sally Hepworth.
Preorder the book here
28 January Last Shot by Emma Pignatiello (Penguin Australia)
Solving a murder that hasn’t happened yet should be easy, right? But when Maxella Conrad barges her way onto the illustrious Barbarani Estate to warn them about a murder plot, her life becomes anything but easy.
For one thing, there’s Greyson Hawke, the Barbarani family’s ‘fixer’ who’s lived and worked with the wine dynasty his whole life. He refuses to believe Max, especially when he realises who she is: a disgraced ex-cop who’s just spent the last six months behind bars. But when it seems that Max might be telling the truth, Grey is forced to team up with her to save the Barbaranis.
But nothing is as it seems on the Barbarani Estate, and it soon becomes clear that they won’t be able to stop this murder unless they solve the secrets of the past – and learn to trust each other. Can Max and Grey confront their own demons before the last shot fires and they both lose everything?
Perfect for fans of Lucy Score, Devney Perry and Catherine Cowles, Last Shot is a gripping enemies-to-lovers romantic suspense that is guaranteed to get your heart racing.
Preorder the book or take a sneak peek here
4 February Half Truth by Nadia Mahjouri (Penguin Australia)
A daughter searches for her father; a mother for her son. From isolated Tasmania to vibrant Morocco, two women seek the truth about what happened to the same man.
Khadija is packing up her home of fifty years. In her box of special belongings are the last reminders she has of her son Ahmed, missing for more than twenty years. Her belongings take her back to her village childhood, her marriage and move to Marrakech, and the birth of Ahmed when she was just thirteen.
In Cloudy Bay, Tasmania, Zahra is in the throes of new motherhood and desperate for answers about her own identity. She decides to take her baby to Morocco and search for the father she has never known. There she finds an extensive loving family and a culture ready to embrace her, but no father.
Zahra and Khadija’s stories collide – giving Khadija the power to move on, and Zahra the courage to reshape herself into a mother and Moroccan Australian woman, ready to create a fulfilling life for her son and herself. A moving drama charting families, motherhood and loss, identity and belonging.
Preorder the book or take a sneak peek here
25 February Eat Your Heart Out by Victoria Brownlee (Affirm Press)
Chloe Bridgers, Australian food blogger in Paris, has landed an interview to write the tell-all memoir of controversial celebrity chef Carla Duris. The only catch? To nab the role, she has to compete against a group of cut-throat, world-class food writers during a weekend-long job interview at the Duris family villa on the glistening Côte d'Azur.
Already feeling like a fish out of water, Chloe starts to worry that old-school French journalist Henri de la Fontaine is sabotaging her from the get-go. But is winning the only thing he has in mind?
As the weekend unfolds, interviewees are seemingly sent packing at random and tensions among those remaining boil over. Does Chloe have what it takes to land the job, or will she become the next casualty in the fight to write for Madame Duris?
Preorder the book here
5 March The Wolf Tree by Laura McCluskey (HarperCollinsPublishers)
"There's always someone whispering about something."
On a small island off the coast of Scotland, an isolated community is grieving. Eighteen-year-old Alan Ferguson was found at the foot of the lighthouse - an apparent suicide. DIs Georgina Lennox and Richard Stewart are sent to investigate. A raging storm keeps them trapped on the island for five days. And the locals don't take kindly to mainlanders.
As George and Ritchie question the island's inhabitants, they discover a village filled with superstition and shrouded in secrets. But someone wants those secrets to stay buried. At any cost.
Derval McTiernan describes it as, 'Absorbing, unsettling, and deeply accomplished' and Hayley Scrivenor says, 'Smart, deliciously creepy and simply pitch-perfect - I tore this through this spectacular debut!'
Preorder the book here
29 April The Butterfly Women by Madeleine Cleary (Affirm Press)
It's 1863, and Melbourne is transitioning from a fledgling colony to a thriving, gold-fuelled metropolis. But behind its shiny new façade, the real Melbourne can be found in the notorious red-light district of Little Lon, full of brothels where rich and poor alike can revel all night. The most glamorous among them is Papillon, home to the most alluring women in the city.
For poor Irishwoman Johanna Callaghan, a job at Papillon could be her ticket to success, but in a time when women's lives are cheap, it also brings great danger. Meanwhile, for respectable women like journalist Harriett Gardiner, Papillon is strictly off-limits, but when a murderer begins stalking the streets of Little Lon, she becomes determined to visit it and find the truth.
As both women are drawn into the hunt for the killer, a long-hidden side of old Melbourne is revealed. Lush, dark and meticulously researched, The Butterfly Women weaves romance and mystery into an unforgettable tale of Australian history, and the women so often erased from it.
Preorder the book here
Meet the Author
C.A. (Claire) Wright is a fantasy author from Newcastle, NSW. When she’s not writing, reading or working as a freelance editor, she can be found spending time with her husband, baking, birdwatching, and eating/drinking delicious things. Her debut novel Skysong is out now with Pantera Press.
A little bit about the book …
Oriane is the skylark, and the sun only rises if she wills it.
Every morning, she transforms from woman to bird, calling the dawn with her song. Seclusion has kept her safe her whole life – but it has also left her lonely, and craving freedom. When Oriane finally succumbs to the lure of the wild unknown, she is discovered in the gardens of the royal palace, where she is taken in by the king and treated like a goddess – and a prisoner.
Embroiled in a battle of faith and politics, Oriane yearns to return to her safe, simple life. A growing danger surrounds the palace, and the skylark and her gift are at its centre. But within the whispers, Oriane learns something she never expected: she may not be as alone as she thought. There may be another like her.
The nightingale.
Can you tell us a little about the inspiration behind this story?
Skysong was inspired by the Hans Christian Andersen fairytale ‘The Nightingale’. I wanted to write a standalone reimagining of a classic tale, and since I love birds, ‘The Nightingale’ seemed like the perfect choice (#BirdNerdsForever). I took the central image/character of a bird with a magical song and began to ask myself questions: what if the bird wasn’t just a bird, but a woman who transformed into a bird? What if there wasn’t just one of these magical bird-women, but two? What if nobody knew they existed – and what if people began to find out? And so on, until I had a novel-length story to tell.
I’m always interested in what attracts writers to retelling myths, legends and fairytales. What is that reason for you?
I’ve always loved those kinds of stories – both the original tales themselves and the retold/reimagined versions that modern writers create. There’s something so compelling to me about merging the classic storytelling sensibilities of myth, folklore or fairytales with modern themes, compelling characters and carefully considered prose.
And does that make it more or less difficult. Do you feel compelled to stick to the original story, as if there is an accepted version and you can’t stray from the path. Or do you see it as a leaping off point for you to explore creatively?
For me, it was absolutely the latter. Skysong is a very loose reimagining, and while it does incorporate elements of the original tale throughout, I did take a lot of liberties (sorry Hans)! ‘The Nightingale’ was very much a leaping-off point from which a whole new story unravelled and flowed, fitting loosely into the original tale’s framework but adding a bunch more characters, plot points and themes.
The setting for this story feels very real. Did you base it on an actual place you had been to?
I’m so pleased to hear that! But in fact, the setting wasn’t based upon anywhere I’ve been, or any real place at all. I really just wanted to capture some of those classic fairytale settings that I personally love – a cottage tucked away deep in the woods; a grand palace with gorgeous gardens and glittering ballrooms; a bustling royal city – and incorporate them into a world that felt simultaneously magical and real.
Oriane and Andala are wonderful complex characters. Their plight and their fight for freedom felt resonant with many of the struggles women still face today. What gifts did these characters give you as a writer.
This is such a great question. I really adore both Oriane and Andala and felt very close to both of them by the time I had finished writing the book!
I think Oriane gave me the gift of centring a gentler, softer kind of character – I like a strong, badass warrior woman protagonist as much as the next reader, but I do feel like sometimes (particularly in fantasy) there is too much emphasis on that tough-as-nails, no-one-can-hurt-me-I’ll-just-stab-them type of character as the epitomised representation of female strength. Oriane’s character allowed me to explore other things that I love to see in fictional women – warmth and openness and vulnerability, and the different kinds of strength and bravery that are inherent in those qualities.
Through Andala, on the other hand, I was able to explore another side of women in fiction: the potentially ‘unlikeable’ female protagonist (and those air quotes around ‘unlikeable’ are very strong). Andala is prickly and guarded and reticent; she isn’t the easiest person to get to know or to befriend, and she has done things in her life that she’s not proud of. But unravelling the reasons behind all of that – and, in the process, uncovering another side of Andala and exploring the duality/complexity all humans have the capacity to embody – made her such a rewarding character to write.
To WIN a copy of Skysong, scroll down to Freebies
Find C.A. Wright
Website and to subscribe to her newsletter: www.cawrightbooks.com
Australia: Order a copy of the book here
Freebies!
Many thanks to the folks at Pantera Press, it’s such a great pleasure to be able to offer **three** lucky readers the chance to win a copy of C.A. Wright’s Skysong. To win, all you have to do is send a reply email with the answer to this question.
What story inspired the novel Skysong?
The fine print: Giveaways are currently only open to subscribers and you must reside within Australia to be eligible to win (postage!) The winners will be picked at random and will be emailed on Tuesday 17 December 2024. Good luck!
Newbie News
For the writers amongst you, the 2025 Penguin Literary Prize is now officially open for submissions. it’s one of the richest prizes for an unpublished manuscript in Australia and a brilliant opportunity for emerging writers. The details are:
The prize: $20,000 and the opportunity to publish with PRH AU
Eligibility: Submissions open to all Australian residents aged 18+, more T&C here
Submitting: Entries can be submitted here or at penguin.com.au/penguinliteraryprize
Important dates:
Submissions close on 16 December 2024 at 11:59 PM AEDT
Shortlist announced 13 March 2025, 10 AM AEDT
Winner announced 12 June 2025, 10 AM AEDT
Previous winners include Kathryn Hind for Hitch, Imbi Neeme for The Spill and most recently in 2024, Chloe Adams for her soon to be published novel. Just image, this could be YOU!!!
The End
And here we are at the end of the final issue of New Voices Down Under for 2024. Have a wonderful summer and I will be in your inbox again on 26 January 2025. I love hearing your feedback, so please leave a comment, follow along on socials and come back next year for more bookish news, reviews, interviews and freebies. See you on the other side!
Don’t forget, you can always catch up with New Voices on Instagram @newvoicesdownunder
And, if you’d like to subscribe to Meredith’s author newsletter, (and why on earth wouldn’t you, we have so much fun) you can subscribe to A Cuppa With Meredith here
Thank you so much for including Half Truth on this list!!!! So excited to read all these amazing debuts!
So many good books coming out next year. Thanks for sharing them all and another great newsletter!