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What Members Thought

Clare Snow
"As a child, trapped in the savage act of growing up, Olive had sensed she was at the middle of something."

Olive's story of finding who she is at twelve, as her childhood slips away, broke me over and over.

A baby's death reverberates down the years, and is interwoven with the complexities of the Lovelock family; small town gossip and innuendo; the hardship of drought for the farmers of the Mallee; and the consequences of forced removal of babies from unwed mothers for adoption to "good" families
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jeniwren
Mar 12, 2018 marked it as to-read
Received an ARC edition courtesy of Allen and Unwin.
Michael Livingston
Jan 26, 2019 rated it really liked it
Ackland has created a wonderful set of characters - Olive and Thistle in particular - and set them in a rural Victorian 1970s that felt deeply familiar. The plot didn't always feel entirely believable to me, but the unfurling of family secrets was mostly well handled. Definitely worth a read! ...more
Ely
Mar 04, 2019 marked it as did-not-finish  ·  review of another edition
It finally happened. I had to DNF a Stella Prize book. Every year there’s at least one book that I don’t gel with, and unfortunately, Little Gods is the first one this year. I say first because I have a feeling there’s at least one other I’ll struggle with.

Little Gods is a bit of a weird situation here. Usually, I end up DNfing Stella Prize books because I don’t like the writing. A lot of the books that get nominated are literary fiction, and I’ll be the first to admit that it’s not a genre I us
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Ellen McMahon
Dec 20, 2022 rated it it was ok
Gorgeous writing, characterisation and descriptions of insular family life in Australia, but failed to capture my interest in any substantial way.
Toni
Nov 10, 2018 rated it really liked it
Sanch Writes
Dec 14, 2018 marked it as to-read
Julia Durie
Feb 07, 2019 marked it as to-read
Jess
Feb 07, 2019 marked it as to-read
Kaz Kershaw
Feb 08, 2019 marked it as to-read
My Reading Days
Feb 08, 2019 marked it as to-read
Sandra
Mar 29, 2019 rated it really liked it
Shelves: stella-project
Emily (booksellersdiary)
Mar 04, 2019 rated it really liked it
Amy Polyreader
Mar 02, 2019 rated it it was ok
Anna
Feb 28, 2019 marked it as dnf
Kim
Mar 10, 2019 marked it as to-read
Shelves: stella-longlist
Georgina
Mar 12, 2019 marked it as to-read
Jade
Mar 30, 2019 marked it as to-read
Tanya
May 13, 2019 rated it really liked it
Sarah
Aug 24, 2019 rated it it was ok  ·  review of another edition
Sally
Jan 05, 2020 marked it as to-read
Georgia
Apr 16, 2020 marked it as to-read
Tracy
Aug 16, 2021 marked it as to-read