Autumn reading

Literary reads

Agatha by Anne Cathrine Bomann, Hachette

A charming novel about a ready-to-retire Paris psychiatrist, who is counting the hours until his final session. Our protagonist has never spoken to his next-door neighbour, although he hears the old gent rattling around at night. He has never enquired about the welfare of his secretary of 30 years, Madame Surrugue. He shovels down creamed potatoes and ham at the same café, and has never been in love. Then one day Agatha walks into his office, demanding to become a new client. He protests, dreading another gloomy story looming ahead of him. But the girl, whose hair smells of apples and cinnamon, turns his world upside down. As their sessions progress, our doc bakes a cake for his neighbour, takes flowers to his secretary when her husband is sick and remembers that he once loved his job. Not surprisingly, this feel-good read has become a global bestseller.

PARIS SAVAGES by Katherine Johnson, Ventura Press

There’s a horrific moment in this important novel, which is a testament to the mistreatment of First Australians. Bonangera, one of three Aborigines who sailed to Europe to be put on display, is subjected to full body casting in one sitting. Using cut-price, lime-contaminated plaster, the suffocating cast burns his body;