{"product_id":"august-2026-book-club","title":"August 2026 Book Club","description":"\u003cp\u003eAugust's book club - two Aussie debut authors, both historical fictions with a twist \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eBook 1: Billie King by Shannon Kelly-White \u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eblisteringly fast, fresh, funny and hugely entertaining novel of mothers, daughters and one gutsy wild colonial girl who gets caught up in Australia's last female bushranger's quest for revenge. Think Leah Purcell's \u003cem\u003eThe Drover's Wife \u003c\/em\u003emeets Trent Dalton.\u003cem\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e1918: Australia's last bushranger, Dulcie James, holds up Anna King's falling-down farmhouse. There's a scrawny unloved infant on the floor, Anna seems more furious than frightened, and it's the bushranger who's left shaken. And the next day, Anna disappears.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eTwelve years later, Anna's daughter, Billie King, is a girl ready to explode. With a missing mother, the rent in arrears and her alcoholic father's gambling debts to cover, she has no time for school. But when child services threaten to remove Billie from her father, she must decide between continuing her search for her missing mother and keeping what's left of her family together. If she fails to hold onto her father, she'll be taken away and placed in a children's home, but if she doesn't find her missing mother, who will?\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e'This blazing novel had me gripped from first page to last. Wildly original, utterly tender, fiercely feminist and astoundingly good storytelling, I inhaled it.' Tess Woods, \u003cem\u003eThe Venice Hotel\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e'If Quentin Tarantino had set \u003cem\u003eKill Bill\u003c\/em\u003e in the 1930's Aussie bush with a gun-slinging 12 year old, it would be something like Shannon Kelly White's debut novel, \u003cem\u003eBillie King\u003c\/em\u003e. This fast-paced, funny and brazen debut novel kicks ass. An irrepressible story about determination, friendship and of being a woman. May we all have some of the spirit and tenacity of Billie King.' Kerryn Mayne, \u003cem\u003eLenny Marks Gets Away With Murder\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eBook 2: Daughters of the Tide by Arianne James \u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eWeaving historical fiction with folklore and Tasmanian gothic, this is a gorgeously atmospheric debut that explores memory and self, the resilience of women and a dangerous longing for the sea\u003c\/strong\u003e.\u003cspan\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe Findlay family history has long been steeped in secrets, tragedy and dark rumours of madness. Generations of its women have been haunted by a dangerous luring melody and an insatiable longing for the sea.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIt's 1923 and Isla Findlay lives with her parents on the edge of the ocean in Tasmania, in a rambling mansion full of whispers of this cursed legacy. When Isla discovers her estranged aunt is finally coming home, long-repressed memories of the selkie stories of her childhood start to resurface, along with disturbing dreams of seals and an eerie song that Isla starts to hear even in her waking hours.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAs the line between what's real and imagined starts to blur, Isla and her aunt and mother must reckon with long-held secrets and ghosts who have not been properly laid to rest. The closer they get to the truths of the past, the louder they hear the seductive call of the ocean. Does it sing of freedom, or only more tragedy?\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eA tale of madness and miracles, secrets and sins, myth and reality, and the tenacity and resilience of women in the face of impossible choices.\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Fiction Over Reality","offers":[{"title":"Billie King","offer_id":53200038691132,"sku":null,"price":34.99,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":true},{"title":"Daughters of the Tide","offer_id":53200038723900,"sku":null,"price":32.99,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0946\/9820\/9596\/files\/1_de80c120-ead4-430d-97bc-47162d374160.png?v=1783656447","url":"https:\/\/fictionoverreality.com.au\/products\/august-2026-book-club","provider":"Fiction Over Reality","version":"1.0","type":"link"}