I definitely second the recommendation for Slow River. I think you'll really enjoy the psychology of it. Trouble is, I only managed to track it down by ordering it off Amazon. GRAR. Still, I hear the Melb. library system is excellent, so you may well have some luck.

All things being equal, I prefer female authors too. I mean, women can write absolute tripe, but they have to be trying quite hard for it to be offensive (to me) tripe.