For everyone Book review: Love Objects by Emily Maguire

★★★★

Emily Maguire has long had her finger on the pulse, with a lucid understanding of the hearts and minds of those living in contemporary Australia. In her latest novel, Love Objects, Maguire takes on the growing issue of hoarding, which can develop into a serious disorder with profound implications on families.

New gender politics and matters of class feature heavily, and one of the highlights of this novel is the way, through the character of Lena, we see the world of university now, where class and family background can still greatly affect a student’s ability to thrive.

Maguire incorporates iPhones and new technology seamlessly, so that contemporary life as we are living it right now is faithfully rendered. But it is the author’s ability to illuminate the unusual ties that bind family members to each other that is the greatest feat here – particularly the ways in which families, with the best will in the world, can hinder when attempting to help.