

It is hardly surprising. At the end of one of the most troubling years of our lives, our need for escapism has never been greater.
This year, the changes to our lives were beyond what anyone could have predicted, with one upside. Living through a pandemic forced us to stop and think about how to rewind and relax – how to remember what normal feels like.
Novels are, undoubtedly, one of the best ways to do this.
Here are five books that are all written by Australian female authors, with recommendations from the Mamamia staff along the way. So, grab some wine and cheese and settle down for this flight of fabulous yarns this summer.
The Women's Pages
The Women's Pages by Victoria Purman. Image: Supplied.
The Women's Pages begins with the end of World War II - a moment that triggered a joyous hurrah in the streets of Sydney on the historic day in 1945. But for aspiring journalist Tilly Galloway, whose husband Archie has been away at war for four long years, a new battle was only beginning as she learns of the lives of the underpaid and overworked women who live in Sydney.
The novel is expertly written by bestselling South Australian author Victoria Purman, also the acclaimed author of 2019 novel The Land Girls, who takes the reader through the emotions of food shortages, strikes, new and old romances, career upheavals and husbands who return from the battlefield.