Delightful words from Tom Keneally

Last week I was invited to Western Sydney University to be on an author panel with Victoria Brookman and Suzanne Robinson. The event was held on the Parramatta campus and the enthusiasm and energy of the staff and students took me right back to the excitement of university life. It was wonderful to see the corridors filled with students and to feel the buzz of intellectual lifeafter Covid forced so many classes online.

On Saturday, the Sydney Morning Herald and The Age published Best reads of the year: The books that writers loved in 2023. Tom Keneally was one of the writers asked to list those books that most delighted him this year and, to my great delight, he nominated my novel The Watchful Wife, together with Sunbirds by Mirandi Riwoe, Doll's Eye by Leah Kaminsky, Frank Moorhouse by Catharine Lumby and Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver.