Bernadette Brennan has published five books. Leaping Into Waterfalls: The Enigmatic Gillian Mears (2021) is a meticulous and moving literary biography of Gillian Mears. A Writing Life: Helen Garner and Her Work (2017) and Brian Castro's Fiction: The Seductive Play of Language (2008) offer in-depth readings of Garner's and Castro's work in accessible and illuminating prose.  Her two edited collections offer powerful insights into some of Australia's most important authors and their published writing.