Iluka: the brilliant 2026 debut for readers of Emily Maguire, Charlotte Wood and Anne Tyler cover art

Iluka: the brilliant 2026 debut for readers of Emily Maguire, Charlotte Wood and Anne Tyler

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Iluka: the brilliant 2026 debut for readers of Emily Maguire, Charlotte Wood and Anne Tyler

By: Cassie Stroud
Narrated by: Hannah Fredericksen
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About this listen

'Knife sharp perception ... fiction that is an absolute pleasure to read,' Emily Maguire, author
This vivid, engrossing, beautifully crafted family drama from an exciting debut author charts the hurtful messes, complicated relationships and profound loves of three siblings.


After their grandfather's death, siblings Helen, Sylvie and Brendan, and Helen's daughter, film student Tig, are gathered together at Iluka, a typical fibro beach house in a small town on the south coast. Iluka is the house they grew up in when their troubled mother ran away to the bright lights of the city, leaving their grandparents to raise them.

As they slowly clear the house for sale and relive various memories, they find a bundle of letters addressed to each of them from their missing mother, Marguerite, that were sent long after they'd been told she died.

Their world shifts on its axis, as the siblings begin to question everything they have been told. Why did their grandmother hide these letters? Was their grandfather complicit? And could the mother they thought they had lost still be alive?

Viewed through the unsparing eye of Tig's camera, we watch a family first implode then reform around a new reality, a reality that brings with it profound change in the way they view themselves and each other.

Family Life Genre Fiction Psychological Women's Fiction World Literature
All stars
Most relevant
I find many Australian books rather kitsch and cliche these days but this lovely novel avoids those traps. The characters are realistic, interesting and well developed. The story involves a complicated family dynamic and an ensuing mystery. I really enjoyed both the story and the performance.

Great characters

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