April was a wee bit light on new titles for me, making up for it with a plethora of paperbacks to keep an eye on. In contrast May sees me spoilt for choice with a very attempting array of new novels on offer beginning with Jessica Andrews’ debut, Saltwater, which follows a young woman from her Sunderland working-class home to the seductive delights of London where she’s won a university place. Lucy finds the transition from one life to another overwhelming, never quite losing her feelings of being an outsider and eventually fleeing to her late grandfather’s cottage in Ireland. ‘Lyrical and boundary-breaking, Saltwater explores the complexities of mother-daughter relationships, the challenges of shifting class identity and the way that the strongest feelings of love can be the hardest to define’ according to the publishers. I do like the sound of this one which puts me in mind a little of Sara Baume’s A Line Made by Walking.
Rosie Price’s debut, What Red Is, seems to explore similar themes, albeit more dramatically, following the inseparable Kate and Max through their four years at university. Max’s wealthy, socially assured family are very different from Kate’s whose life is shattered by an incident in a bedroom during a party at Max’s parents’ London house just after graduation. ‘What Red Is explores the effects of trauma on mind and body, the tyrannies of memory, the sacrifices involved in staying silent, the courage of a young woman in speaking out’ say the publishers. Price’s novel has drawn comparisons with all manner of authors, from David Nicholls to Meg Wolitzer, but I’m taking my cue from a couple of people whose opinions I trust in my Twitter feed where it’s been popping up for months.
Students and their relationships, both with each other and their teachers, are the subject of 
Susan Choi’s Trust Exercise which sees Sarah and David fall obsessively in love in their first term at a performing arts school where teachers and students become dangerously close. Twenty years later, the students’ lives remain marked by what happened in the secret, enclosed world of their school. ‘Captivating and brilliant, Trust Exercise is a novel about the treacherous terrain of adolescence, how we define consent, and what we lose, gain, and never get over as we navigate our way into adulthood’s mysterious structures of sex and power’ say the publishers promisingly. I enjoyed Choi’s My Education very much and like the sound of this one.
Set in one of England’s new towns Andrew Cowan’s Your Fault takes us from the ‘60s into the ‘70s, following Peter from his first memory to his first love. Each chapter marks one year in Peter’s life, as his future self tells Peter’s story back to him. ‘It’s an untold story of British working-class experience, written with extraordinary precision and tenderness’ according to the publishers which sounds more unusual then it should. I do like the sound of that structure
Rather than telling the story of one life, Bernardine Evaristo’s Girl, Woman, Other tells the story of twelve very different characters’ lives, most of them black British women. ‘Joyfully polyphonic and vibrantly contemporary, this is a gloriously new kind of history, a novel of our times: celebratory, ever-dynamic and utterly irresistible’ promise the publishers. That structure certainly makes it irresistible to me. Evaristo’s Mr Loverman was an absolute joy raising hopes for this one.
I’m rounding off this first instalment of May’s new titles with a collection of short stories by Julia Armfield, salt slow, which sounds a little surreal. It focusses on women and their experiences in society, apparently, exploring themes of isolation, obsession and love. ‘Throughout the collection, women become insects, men turn to stone, a city becomes insomniac and bodies are picked apart to make up better ones. The mundane worlds of schools and sea-side towns are invaded and transformed, creating a landscape which is constantly shifting to hold on to the bodies of its inhabitants’ according to the publishers, bringing to mind Michael Andreasen’s The Sea Beast Takes a Lover. Like Nicole Flattery, whose Show Them a Good Time I enjoyed very much, Armfield is the winner of The White Review Short Story Prize. An award to keep an eye on, clearly.
As ever, a click on a title will take you to a more detailed synopsis should any take your fancy. More soon…
A new Bernardine Evaristo is exciting! I really liked Mr Loverman,
Oh, me too! Told with such affection and poignancy.
Lots here for someone who has spent most of her working life on university campuses. And the Everisto has just solved a birthday problem for me.
Delighted to hear that, Ann. Hope it goes down well.
These all such cool covers, can’t wait to check them out!
Lotte | http://www.lottelauv.blogspot.co.uk
I hope you find something you like, Lotte
Great selection! I dare not buy any more books at the moment but I’ve added Saltwater and What Red Is to my wish list.
Thanks, Helen. They do sound tempting, don’t they. Good luck with avoiding bookshops!
I’ve got a proof copy of the Evaristo and absolutely can’t wait. I’m also keen on Sandra Newman’s The Heavens, Mark Haddon’s The Porpoise, and a new biography of Letitia Elizabeth Landon, “the female Byron”, from Lucasta Miller.
Ah, I’m envious of you with that Evaristo proof! I’m hoping you’ll review it. I’m not a Haddon fan but the Newman’s in my next installment of new titles and I like the sound of the Miller.
Yay! (I quite like Pericles, and The Dolphin looks like a retelling, so I’m keen.)
Girl woman other sounds interesting, I wonder if it would be a good book group suggestion.
I suspect there would be lots to discuss, Ali, if Loverman is anything to judge by.
Good reviews. Saltwater is already on my tube, but I may add Girl, Woman, Other, too. Maybe Trust Exercise, too.
Thank you! Both are by writers I’ve read before and enjoyed their work.
They all sound great and almost all of them were just added to the TBR!
Delighted to hear that! Hope you enjoy them.
Girl, Woman, Other is my pick of this lot, for the same reasons as you! Salt Slow sounds good, too, and has a great cover.
Both sound great, don’t they. Mr Loverman was such a treat!