Iluka

Publication date 28 January 2026

'Knife sharp perception ... fiction that is an absolute pleasure to read,' Emily Maguire,

Cassie Stroud’s Iluka is an absorbing and emotionally perceptive debut that explores the fractures and loyalties of a family forced to confront long buried truths. Set in a fibro beach house on the south coast — the childhood home of siblings Helen, Sylvie and Brendan — the story begins after their grandfather’s death, when the trio reunite to clean the house for sale alongside Helen’s daughter, Tig, whose ever present camera captures the subtle glances and tensions that words leave unsaid. As they sift through the remnants of their upbringing, the siblings discover letters from their mother, Marguerite — letters dated long after they were told she had died, shattering the foundation of their shared past.

Stroud structures the novel in four shifting perspectives, tracing not only the siblings’ memories but also the concealed histories of their mother and grandmother, Iris. Reviewers highlight how this adds depth but also tension: the family’s pain, misunderstandings and unresolved grief ripple across generations. The narrative captures the small, human details — a shrug, a grimace, a half spoken accusation — and gives equal weight to the moments of implosion and those of quiet repair. These layers create a portrait of a family caught between hurt and hope, and of adult children trying to make sense of the stories they inherited and the truths withheld. 

What emerges is a powerful, beautifully crafted contemporary family drama that balances emotional complexity with luminous clarity. Stroud writes with what early reviewers call “knife sharp perception,” turning the ordinary — a cleared out bedroom, a box of letters, a camera left running — into catalysts for profound emotional shifts. As the siblings begin to rebuild their connections in the aftermath of painful revelations, Iluka becomes as much about reconciliation as it is about loss. For readers of Emily Maguire, Charlotte Wood or Anne Tyler, this debut offers a deeply satisfying blend of truth seeking, tenderness and the hard, necessary work of facing one’s past.