Have you had the chance to catch Nicole Kidman in her weirdest role yet? I mean, to be fair she’s been in a fair few doozies, but the TV adaptation of Liane Moriarty’s bestseller Nine Perfect Strangers streaming on Amazon Prime right now, is definitely right up there.
This week, I’m also looking Emily Maguire’s new book, Love Objects, a wonderful and powerful emerging new talent, Sara El Sayed’s memoir, Muddy People, and digging into Netflix’s charming new fantasy drama, Sweet Tooth.
Thanks to our partner, Scribd for supporting this feature.
Listen: Love Objects, Emily Maguire
I have always loved Emily Maguire’s writing. Her book, Taming the Beast is one of my favourite Australian reads. Her characters are sweeping in their contradictions — their complexities are genuine and real.
Maguire has a way of writing the female experience in a sharp, definitive tone.
Her latest book, Love Objects, is no different. Here, in her sixth novel, we meet the trivia buff, amateur nail artist and cat-lover, Nic. She’s 45 and hordes a lot of things in her humble home. This is a family drama like no other.
The person she’s closest to in the world is her 20-year old niece Lena, who she meets for lunch every Sunday.
One day Nic fails to show up to their Sunday catch-up. When Lena decides to go to Nic’s house, she is met with a very discomforting reality. What follows is a deeply tender psychological drama about the lengths we go to for those we love.
This novel is a clear-eyed story about love and family, betrayal and forgiveness, and the things we do to fill our empty spaces.
Listen to it here, on Scribd.
Read: Muddy People – Sara El Sayed
Ever wonder how difficult it is to grow up as a girl? What if you weren’t allowed to wear bikinis, or date boys, or stay out till late?
One of Australia’s most brilliant new voices has penned a beautiful memoir about growing up in a Muslim household in Brisbane.
Sara El Sayed is a fierce new writer. In her memoir, she details the number of strict rules she had to live under while she was growing up in Brisbane in the noughties. Her language is sharp and poignant – she depicts the conflicts she feels having conservative parents while wanting an ‘Australian’ life hanging out at the beach with friends and staying out late with boys.
This is a tale of growing up and learning to become who you truly are. It’s an inspiring, fresh new story that you change the way you see your own family.
Read it here, on Scribd.
Watch: Nine Perfect Strangers (Streaming on Amazon Prime)
We all loved Big Little Lies. Now, strap yourselves in for the next explosive Liane Moriarty adaptation, in Amazon Prime’s Nine Perfect Strangers. In this intriguing mystery, Moriarty brings us another tale of twists, turns and scintillating mystery, set in the Byron Bay hinterlands.
We follow nine strangers as they navigate a ten-day wellness retreat with a cult-like figure, Masha, played by the ineffable Nicole Kidman. The cast is even more impressive, including Michael Shannon, Luke Evans, Bobby Cannavale, Regina Hall, Samara Weaving, Melvin Gregg, Asher Keddie, Grace Van Patten, Tiffany Boone and Melissa McCarthy.
All the participants are dealing in some way or other, with grief, trauma and pain. Carve out a few hours in your weekend to binge all of it.
Stream it now on Amazon Prime.
Watch: Sweet Tooth (streaming on Netflix)
During lockdown, we’re all fishing for something magical, otherworldly and transporting. We want something to take us away from our daily lives, and let us imagine a different world — if only for a few hours each day.
Look no further than Sweet Tooth, a gorgeous new, 8-part series about Gus, a half-deer, half-human hybrid, who lives in the wilderness with his father. When Gus is 9, his father tragically passes away.
Ten years ago “The Great Crumble”, a strange pandemic wiped out most of the world’s human population and led to the emergence of hybrid babies born part human, part animal.
After his father passes, Gus discovers a box buried by his father beneath a tree; the box contains what the little boy believes to be a photograph of his mother, with the word “Colorado” written on it.
Gus decides to embark on a journey to find his mother. This wondrous series is unlike anything I’ve ever seen. Dive in and discover this magical world.
Watch on Netflix.
