The quality and variety of fiction streaming out of Australia are astonishing. Over the past month I've been captivated by three very different books from Down Under: Mark Dapin's haunted Spirit House , in which a group of Jewish second World War veterans resident in Bondi try to come to terms with their bizarre, traumatic experiences on the Thai-Burma railway; Lesley Jorgensen's warmhearted, Downton-Abbey-with-Bangladeshis comedy, Cat and Fiddle ; and, most recently, Hannah Kent's historical debut, Burial Rites . Set in Iceland in 1829, it tells the story of Agnes Magnusdottir, who is condemned to death for killing her lover. The novel works on several levels, evoking a chilly northern landscape with painterly skill and peopling it with memorable characters – not least Agnes herself and the young priest charged with preparing her for death – even as it examines the viability of such no tions as compassion, justice and absolute truth. Good on ya, Aussies. Keep 'em coming.
