Spring has sprung and with it a brood of new literature to consume over the coming weeks. Some of the best new books releasing (or already released) in September 2022 have quickly become our go-to recommendations when asked for a good read. Angel of Australian crime and thriller fiction, Jane Harper is back with a new tale to keep you guessing at every turn, Peggy Frew explores the powder-keg nature of family dynamics and Katrina Marson makes us all question if we we're educated enough on consent and sexual intimacy in our formative years. To be swiftly added to your carts, please enjoy a selection of the best new books to read in September 2022.

Legitimate Sexpectations - Katrina Marson 

Katrina Marson’s Legitimate Sexpectations explores the limits of the criminal justice system and the gaps in society when it comes to providing quality, necessary sex education in childhood, adolescence and adulthood. Following Marson as she travels abroad on a Churchill Fellowship in 2019, the book dissects scenarios where grey areas or a lack of knowledge abound, with Marson’s research findings providing a backdrop for how the system can improve in educational settings. The book is a call to action to all, imploring us to all play a better part in ensuring sexual experiences are free from ambiguity, discomfort and violence.

Exiles - Jane Harper 

Cult Australian author Jane Harper knows how to write an undulating, riddling tale to keep you on your toes. Exiles is no different. In the novel, we find Aaron Falk has returned and finds himself embroiled in a mysterious disappearance in South Australian wine country, where a year prior a woman went missing and left her child alone at the local produce festival that brings the community together. While many believe she left of her own accord, her estranged brother-in-law and her daughter aren’t so sure. Unable to remove himself from their suspicions, Falk himself begins to question the legitimacy of the idea and finds himself on a quest for the truth. 

Wildflowers - Peggy Frew

One to tear at the heartstrings, Wildflowers is a truly immersive journey through the landscape of a family dynamic. In Peggy Frew’s novel, we find ourselves met by three sisters – Nina, Meg and Amber – who drive to an isolated holiday home in Far North Queensland in an attempt to reconnect and set right past wrongs. Wildflowers succinctly paints a picture of how addiction can have a ripple effect on more than just the addict, often their family capitulating in their own way. 

Daisy Darker - Alice Feeney 

At times frustratingly ambiguous, Daisy Darker is a classic whodunit read for those who like to be kept on their toes. A family gather at their matriarch’s seaside property in the South of England only to find the family reunion leads to murder. With the location of the home cut off from the mainland once the tide is in for the night, and with the only guests at the house family members, the Darker family are left wondering who and why someone has committed the crime. 

This Devastating Fever - Sophie Cunningham 

A book that took more than 15 years to write, This Devastating Fever centres on a fictional author named Alice – what we understand to be a depiction of Cunningham herself – who spends 16 years writing a book named This Devastating Fever. Meta, right? The book Alice intends to write concerns Virginia Woolf’s husband, Leonard, however her research becomes obsessive. It interrupts her deadlines and sends her on international trips to foreign archives, all to the dismay of her publisher and as her deadline gets closer, this eventually tips over into impatience. I can honestly say this isn’t like any book I have ever read before, yet couldn’t put down. 

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