Good Reading Podcast

Jessica Mansour-Nahra on her first novel, an eerie gothic psychological thriller, 'The Farm'

Good Reading Podcast

Show Notes

When 37-year-old Leila suffers a health tragedy, she doesn't recover as quickly as she expected. Her partner, James, suggests a year away from the city - they'll stay on his family farm, where the wide, open spaces and clean country air will help her come to terms with her grief.But the property is remote and the house oppressive. Leila is disturbed by strange noises, fleeting visions and intrusive dreams. James worries that her medication is causing hallucinations.As Leila's isolation grows ...

More from Good Reading Podcast

Oct 20, 2026

In 1892, New South Wales' most promising writer and least promising teetotaller, Henry Lawson, is banished to Bourke to 'find the real bush'. The goal: sober up, gather fresh material, and stop being such a disappointment. But what Australia's favourite literary son discovers in the river town is less a glorious national frontier than a collective nervous breakdown. History records this as the trip that defined his career. Wayne Marshall records it as a surrealist action movie where Lawson m...

Oct 15, 2026

Cornwall, 1628. Steeped in herbal lore, a woman with no name guards a dangerous secret, while across the land whispers of witchcraft turn deadly. When a witch hunter sets out to track down the woman, their meeting will change the course of history. Can she survive in a world that burns what it does not understand? In this episode Gregory Dobbs chats to Bernice Barry about exploring her own historical connection to the Cornwall landscape of times past, the dangers of being an intelligent, educ...

Oct 15, 2026

1899, Fremantle Asylum, Western Australia. For three years now, Gilberta Brady has kept quiet and stayed out of trouble, hoping to soon be released. But when Norah Devaney screams into the ward with revenge in her heart and a story no-one believes, Brady’s carefully guarded peace is shattered. On the run and out of options, they collide with Malkar and Kedalak, Nyungar brothers on their own journey home. They form an unlikely gang of bushrangers and embark on a dangerous mission: track down ...

Sep 29, 2026

An elderly couple are driving to the pound. At last, the old lady is getting a dog. The dog is driven through a gate in the fence to its new home. It goes to sleep in front of the black stove, but when it wakes, the old lady is confused. Doesn’t she already have a dog? The old lady slips a pair of pantyhose through the dog’s collar and walks it along the fence. For some reason the gate has disappeared. In the dog’s new home objects are uncoupling from their meaning. Is the dog still a dog? Wh...

Sep 15, 2026

They say your life flashes before your eyes just before you die. For Dan Milligan it isn't his life ... it's memories of his dad. Dan has spent his whole life chasing something. Fast cars, leggy blondes, the rush of making a lot of money and the cocaine high to celebrate. But as the stock market plummets in 1987, his world comes crashing down. A new life on the South Coast isn't too bad. Mowing lawns is good, honest work. Most days. But other days, he tells himself he'll get back in the game...

See all episodes →