I’m a fairly patriotic reader, for two reasons – firstly, I really think there is such great literature coming out of Australia, and secondly, because Australian authors are the ones I’m most likely to be able to see in the flesh. Make that Western Australian and I’m even more patriotic, so this post is a little like one big advertisement for West Aussie writer Craig Silvey.

First off, I should tell you the thing that bugs me the most about Silvey. He’s younger than me (by six years). And he’s already had two novels published (and a children’s book, but let’s just stick to the novels for now). What’s more, they’re both great. I was overseas when his first, Rhubarb, was published, but I picked it up a couple of years later at a second-hand sale and recently devoured it. Set in Fremantle, my hometown’s port, and full of interesting characters, it’s a great read – but the next one’s better.

This year, Jasper Jones was published and it’s one of the best books I’ve read in ages. I read a bunch of reviews suggesting this novel is like the Australian version of To Kill a Mockingbird, and I’d have to agree; it’s delightful and devourable, with a great narrator and characters which really inspire me to improve the characters in my own fiction. A coming-of-age story set in a small Australian country town during the time of the Vietnam war, Jasper Jones covers the events of one (pretty eventful) summer in a teenager’s life. It’s so good that I’m not going to say much more about it, because you should read it first; after you have, go and read what Silvey himself said about the writing of this novel. Meanwhile, I’m looking forward to what he produces next.