Window Gods (Sally Morrison, Hardie Grant)

A snapshot of life as a female artist and an investigation into the modern concept of family, Sally Morrison’s Window Gods is the sequel to her 1995 award-winning novel Mad Meg. Window Gods is an ambitious novel that tackles the challenges facing the emerging ‘sandwich generation’, who have the responsibility of caring for their ageing parents coupled with the financial burden of supporting their own children. Protagonist Isobel Coretti experiences a late surge of popularity in her artistic career as she hosts an exhibition of her work. But a dark history shadows Isobel, as the suicide of her sister, the abandonment of a father who harboured two families, and the challenges of working within a blinkered arts community weigh on her. A clear feminist perspective and scientific principles underpin the narrative, recalling Morrison’s previous works Against Gravity and The Insatiable Desire of Injured Love. Window Gods will appeal to those who like sprawling, interspersed plotlines with a distinct Australian flavour that tackle questions of gender, class and social norms.

Sonia Nair is a Melbourne-based journalist and freelance reviewer