Book news, reviews and recommendations
As regular readers will know, I can’t resist a novel with an art theme which is why I put up my hand for a copy of Howard Cunnell’s The Painter’s Friend. That and the memory of the praise heaped upon his memoir, Fathers and Sons, which explored his own relationship with his father as his …
The Painter’s Friend by Howard Cunnell: ‘The Source of Art is the Life of a People’ Read More »
I’m incapable of resisting a novel with a Cape Cod summer setting. Something about families thrust together in unaccustomed closeness, brought face to face with their pasts, usually with a few dark secrets thrown in, plus lovely descriptions of the New England coast. There’s usually one every year and this year’s is Miranda Cowley Heller’s …
The Paper Palace by Miranda Cowley Heller: ‘This is the end of a long story’ Read More »
Only enough August paperbacks to fill one post, I’m afraid, half of which I’ve read including one reissue from quite some time ago. I’ll start with Jenni Fagan’s wonderful slice of feminist gothic, Luckenbooth, which spins the stories of the inhabitants of a many-floored Edinburgh tenement over nine decades, beginning with the arrival of the …
I seem to have been on a novella roll this year: Wherabouts, Blue Highway, Assembly and Stella to name but four outstanding ones. Jo Hamya’s Three Rooms looked like a possible addition to that list with its premise of a young woman who passes through the titular three rooms, barely scraping a living over the …
When I first started this year’s Booker Prize wish list, I found it a bit of a struggle. Several of the books I’ve loved most this year have been translations – Jhumpa Lahiri’s Wherabouts, for instance – and obviously those don’t qualify. Then I read a novel I wanted to include at the last minute …
Not unexpectedly in a month when publishers’ sights are firmly set on summer reading, I’ve only come across enough titles for a single preview post although it’s a pleasingly mixed bag, several of which I’ve already read. I’m starting with John Boyne’s The Echo Chamber which I practically inhaled as soon as it arrived. It …
There was the hint of a state-of-the-nation novel about the blurb for Jonathan Crane’s We Need to Talk, a theme I find hard to resist whether it’s mine or someone else’s nation. It’s also published by small indie Eye/Lightning Books whose Good Riddance and An Isolated Incident I enjoyed very much. Crane’s novel is set …
We Need to Talk by Jonathan Crane: Mustn’t grumble Read More »
I wasn’t at all sure I’d read Samira Sedira’s People Like Them. It’s published under Bloomsbury’s crime imprint and I’m a crime watcher rather than a crime reader but it was the quote from Leila Slimani about its exploration of racism which made me think again. Based on a true story, Sedira’s novella is about …
People Like Them by Samira Sedira (transl. Lara Vergnaud): An unthinkable crime Read More »
I’d booked the lovely Cottage in the Garden back in January, calculating that summer self-catering was a safe bet whatever happened with Covid. It’s a delightful rustic cottage full of generous, thoughtful touches: fresh flowers from the garden and the table laid with a welcoming cream tea. It also comes complete with its own wildflower …
Seven Days in Sussex and Kent plus One and a Half Books Read More »
Back from Sussex (more of that next week) with Stacey Swann’s reworking of Classical myth, Olympus, Texas, which came with a persuasively thumping endorsement from Richard Russo. Set in the titular small town, Swann’s debut sees the supremely dysfunctional Briscoes brought face-to-face with some harsh facts when two of its members are caught up in …
Olympus, Texas by Stacey Swann: Divinely dysfunctional Read More »
I couldn’t resist its clever proof jacket, whose wine stain hinted at hedonism (sadly ditched in the final version), and intriguing title so I put up my hand for a copy of Mikaella Clements’ and Onjuli Datta’s The View Was Exhausting. I was also fascinated by the idea of two authors, who turn out to …
The View Was Exhausting by Mikaella Clements and Onjuli Datta: The high price of fame Read More »