Episode 54: “Chinese Postman” by Brian Castro + “Reunion” by Bronwyn Rivers

Brian Castro's “The Chinese Postman” is a meditation on old age with a central character whose life mirrors his own. The story strays into fiction when the protagonist, Abe Quin, begins a correspondence with a woman seeking refuge from the war in Ukraine. This acclaimed work of autofiction is short-listed for this year’s Miles Franklin Award.

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In Bronwyn Rivers’ menacing thriller “The Reunion” five friends meet for a weekend on a lonely property in the Blue Mountains. Ten years earlier they were amongst a group of six who went hiking in the area …only five returned. Now the survivors are being stalked by someone who wants to know what really happened to their friend Ed – it seems everyone has something to hide.

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Our very assiduous random reader, Lesley, is currently reading “Pompeii” by Robert Harris and “Under the Banner of Heaven” by Jon Krakauer. She’s listening to the audio version of “Limberlost” by Robbie Arnott. Piled on her tsundoku are “The Island of Sea Women” by Lisa See, “The Wedding People” by Alison Espach, The Shardlake Series by CJ Sansom and “Kairos” by Jenny Erpenbeck.

 

Guests

Brain Castro, author of “Chinese Postman”

Bronwyn Rivers, author of “The Reunion”

 

Other books that get a mention:

Brian mentions a poem by TS Eliot, “The Waste Land”

Bronwyn mentions inspirational crime writers Agatha Christie and PD James

Sarah mentions the DS Walker series of thrillers by Patricia Wolf

Annie is reading Charlotte McConaghy’s “Wild Dark Shore”

 

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