I’ve read none of the paperbacks in this second part of April’s preview which I’m kicking off with Patrick Gale’s Take Nothing with You set in 1970s Weston-Super-Mare where ten-year-old Eustace finds a passion for the cello when his mother signs him up for lessons with a glamorous teacher. Lessons of another kind are learned when Eustace enrols on a holiday course in Scotland, apparently. ‘Drawing in part on his own boyhood, Patrick Gale’s new novel explores a collision between childish hero-worship and extremely messy adult love lives’ according to the blurb. I’ve long been a fan of Gale’s writing, going right back to The Aerodynamics of Pork in the ‘80s.
S. K. Perry’s Let Me Be Like Water is also set in a British seaside town, this time Brighton where Holly is hoping to escape the loss of her boyfriend. There she meets Frank, a retired magician with his own grief to bear. ‘A moving and powerful debut, Let Me Be Like Water is a book about the humdrum and extraordinariness of everyday life; of lost and new connections; of loneliness and friendship’ say the publishers which may not sound particularly original but Perry’s a poet so I’m hoping for some lyrical writing.
Death is also the theme of Laura Lindstedt’s Oneiron but from the other side of the divide. Seven women meet in an undefined, timeless white space. None of them are known to each other, none of them remember what has happened to them. Together they try to fathom who they are and what they did in their past lives. ‘Deftly playing with genres from essay to poetry, Oneiron is an astonishing work that explores the question of what follows death and delves deep into the lives and experiences of seven unforgettable women’ say the publishers. This one’s here purely out of curiosity. Could be wonderful, could be dire but definitely worth investigating.
Ceridwen Dovey’s In the Garden of the Fugitives examines a past life, too, as Vita is catapulted back twenty years when she answers an email from the man who funded her university scholarship. ‘Profoundly addictive and unsettling, In the Garden of the Fugitives examines the complex power structures between men and women, between the powerful and the voiceless. Ceridwen Dovey takes us deep into the heart of a dangerous game, where there are always two sides to every story’ say the publishers promisingly although I’m much more persuaded by Kate’s review at Books Are My Favourite and Best.
My final paperback choice for April is The Penguin Book of Japanese Short Stories edited by Jay Rubin, known to many as one of Haruki Murakami’s translators. ‘Ranging over myth, horror, love, nature, modern life, a diabolical painting, a cow with a human face and a woman who turns into sugar, The Penguin Book of Japanese Short Stories is filled with fear, charm, beauty and comedy’ according to the blurb which promises to include stories from names unfamiliar to many of us as well as well-known Japanese writers such as Akutagawa, Murakami, Mishima and Kawabata. I’m looking forward to exploring this one.
That’s it for April. As ever, a click on a title will take you to a more detailed synopsis should you be interested. If you’d like to catch up with the first part of the month’s paperback preview it’s here, and new titles are here.
How did you miss the Gale when it first came out? I think he simply gets better with each book and this is very special.
A simple case of overload, I suspect, but very pleased to hear that you rate it so highly. I know you’re a fan.
These both sound super interesting, will have to check them out!
Lotte | http://www.lottelauv.blogspot.co.uk
I remember Kate’s review of the Dovey; I love epistolary novels, so I’ll certainly look out for that one.
It had already caught my eye but Kate sold me on it completely.
Patrick Gale was not on my radar at all until last year then it seemed like everyone was talking about him. This book sounds right up my street.
It was Notes From an Exhibition that put him on the literary map, courtesy of Richard and Judy who chose it for their book club, but he’d been quietly writing away quite for quite some time before that. Hope you enjoy it, Cathy.
Ah I see. He definitely seems like a writer whose work I would like.
I’ve enjoyed everything I’ve read by him.
I do love a British seaside setting so the first two definitely appeal!
You’ve got me thinking about other novels set by the sea, now.
In the Garden of the Fugitives sounds interesting, but the one that really takes my fancy is the Japanese short stories. I always find Japanese writing a bit discombobulating, as if their society is in a state of flux, not quite knowing where it’s going (Ha! Mind you, I feel that way about Britain at the moment too!) but it fascinates me…
I agree about Japan (and Britain!). It’s that odd mix of incredibly modern yet very conservative in many ways. There’s a great documentary series on Japanese art and culture, recently repeated on BBC4, which explores that dichotomy. It’s on iPlayer if you’re didn’t catch it and are interested.
Oh, thanks! I’ll check it out. 🙂
I really must read Patrick Gale, I’m sure I’d like him and I know he’s buried in the TBR somewhere!
I have a vision of you diving into the TBR, never to surface again! I hope you enjoy Gale’s writing when you get around to him.
I don’t how much of my love for Fugitives was based on having just visited Pompeii but I found it to be one of those books with beautifully embedded themes that were revealed in all sorts of ways.
Thanks for the link and I hope you enjoy it!
You’re welcome, Kate. Always good to have a reliable review to link to rather than snippets from publishers’ ecsatatic blurbs.