kim westwood – press
The Courier's New Bicycle I The Daughters of Moab
reviews of The Courier's New Bicycle
“In this excellent and not wholly despairing dystopian novel, Kim Westwood has combined a number of possible disasters and political developments whose beginning are clearly visible in real life … Westwood is particularly good on the psychology of hostility and tribalism hiding behind a religious mask in a Melbourne made strange by the renaming of its familiar streets and landmarks … the whole book has a brilliantly evoked atmosphere of secrecy and threat, amplified by a landscape in which the city is dark and neglected and the urban infrastructure has all but broken down.”
“…along with the political relevance and the genre mash-ups, Westwood also gives us atmosphere—she turns the red lights back on in the city, resurrecting Little Lon, the vice district of the 19th century—as well as emotionally vivid characters.”
“This is a disturbingly credible and darkly noir post-cyberpunk tale. It is set in a world characterised by want, both material and emotional, and built from the deep fears, anxieties and prejudices of the 21st century. While this book will definitely appeal to science-fiction readers, I would sneak a few copies into the literary-fiction section as well, or at least recommend it to your more adventurous literary fiction readers.”
“Melbourne is almost an isolated microcosm, created by Westwood, to reflect concerns as varied as religious fundamentalism, climate change, economic downturn, animal rights, sexual polymorphism and genetic manipulation. What ultimately carries the day, however, is Westwood’s strong, empathetic central character, Salisbury, and the darkly humorous, fast-paced narrative.”
reviews of The Daughters of Moab
“… mixes ecological disaster with religious cults, Mad Max with feminism … Westwood is a stylist, with a line in lyricism, and a nice sense of humour … The Daughters of Moab is a richly peopled canvas, of which perhaps the real star is the ravaged landscape, so intensely depicted as to be almost a presence.”
“This is the best debut novel I have seen in many years … where the world-building has been so completely developed, the often startling plot twists are supported effortlessly in its web. It also contains the most beautiful and precise use of language … a rich world and magical tale that unfolds on its own terms.”
“Quality speculative fiction with something to say about where our world is heading … written so cleverly that while you feel like you’re reading literature, it moves along with the pace of an action movie.”
“The prose is beautiful … a gorgeous journey, a strong declaration of the arrival of a distinctive voice in Australian literature.”
“The narrative is riddled, haunted with nostalgia and regrets. It jumps between fascinating points of view, transforming and folding in on itself unexpectedly, like a surrealist film.”
“This is an intelligent, fast-paced, and haunting look at one possible future for Australia. That future may be bleak, but I see only bright things for Kim Westwood.”
“A great read.”
