August’s first instalment progressed smartly through the twentieth century while staying in the United States but this second preview lacks any neatly cohesive thread, I’m afraid. You may have noticed that it’s the centenary year of the Bauhaus school of design, the background for Theresia Enzensberger’s Blueprint which opens at the beginning of the 1920s. Luise dreams of becoming an architect, enrolling herself in the Bauhaus university where she’s taught by Walter Gropius and Wassily Kandinksy. While her art school friends immerse themselves in their work, street fights are breaking out in Berlin. ‘From technology to art, romanticism to the avant-garde, populism to the youth movement, Luise encounters themes, utopias and ideas that still shape us to the present day’ say the publishers. I already have my eye on Naomi Wood’s The Hiding Game which shares the Bauhaus theme but I’m tempted by this one, too.
Back to the States for the next two titles beginning with Lot by Bryan Washington, set in Houston where a mixed-race boy, working in the family restaurant and fending off his brother’s blows, is coming to the realisation that he’s gay. ‘Bryan Washington’s brilliant, viscerally drawn world vibrates with energy, wit, and the infinite longing of people searching for home. With soulful insight into what makes a community, a family, and a life, Lot explores trust and love in all its unsparing and unsteady forms’ say the publishers promisingly.
Luis Alberto Urrea’s The House of Broken Angels is set in San Diego where Big Angel is about to hold what may well be his last rowdy birthday party when his mother dies. Big Angel’s half-brother is in attendance at what is now both a party and a wake, all too well aware of his mixed race. The weekend passes in a celebration of both lives and the telling of a multitude of stories. ‘Teeming with brilliance and humor, authentic at every turn, The House of Broken Angels is Luis Alberto Urrea at his best, and cements his reputation as a storyteller of the first rank’ say the publishers.
It’s its structure that attracts me to Livia Franchini’s debut, Shelf Life, which comes highly rated by Sophie Mackintosh who described it as ‘whip-smart and slyly heartbreaking’. Thirty-year-old Ruth works in a care home and has just been dumped by her fiancé. As she works her way through the week’s shopping list item by item, she tells her story which reveals a life spent looking after everyone else but herself. Sounds a bit thin, doesn’t it, but as a lover of lists I can’t resist the lure of this one.
I’m signing off August with Deborah Levy’s The Man Who Saw Everything, which begins in 1989 
when Saul Adler is hit by a car on Abbey Road. Apparently unscathed, he visits his girlfriend who insists on photographing Saul on the famous crossing then dumps him. Saul takes off to Berlin, two months before the Wall comes down. In 2016, he’s hit by a car on Abbey Road, dipping in and out of consciousness as a group of people gather at his hospital bedside, including his ex-girlfriend. ‘Slipping slyly between time zones and leaving a spiralling trail, Deborah Levy’s electrifying new novel examines what we see and what we fail to see, until we encounter the spectres of history – both the world’s and our own’ Very much like the sound of that.
That’s it for the second batch of August’s new titles. A click on a title will take you to a more detailed synopsis for any that have caught your eye, and if you’d like to catch up with the first instalment it’s here. Paperbacks soon…
Blueprint looks FABULOUS. Almost tempted to buy it immediately, without doing my usual sample-chapter-read. I have a copy of Shelf Life – looks interesting – and I’m crossing my fingers for an ARC of the new Levy.
I have a copy of The Hiding Game but that won’t stop me reading Blueprint at some point in the future. Looking forward to seeing what you make of Shelf Life.
I’m also looking forward to the Naomi Wood so I’m not sure if I shall want two books on pretty much the same subject so close together. However, they might make the basis for a Summer School grouping next year!
That would make an interesting summer school. How about a fiend trip to the Berlin museum or Dessau! I’ll be starting the Wood tomorrow and will be reviewing it shortly. I suspect I’ll wait until the paperback edition for Blueprint.
Great looking choices as usual. I’m intrigued by Shelf Life. I really shouldn’t look at lists like this as it always makes me add (more) books to my wishlist
I know what you mean. Can’t resist a list hence the attraction of Shelf Life!
Lots of deliciousness here! I love the sound of Blueprint and The Hiding Game, as well as the Levy. Yum!!
It’s a great month, isn’t it. I don’t think any of these match the weightiness of the first batch either.
Ooh! Deborah Levy… going to check that out now.
It sounds excellen, doesn’t it. That flipping backwards and forwards between timelines technique is always attractive if handled well and I’m sure Levy will do that.
I have Blueprint on my pile – it arrived just as I finished the Naomi Wood so I’ve put it aside for a while. The Hiding Game is superb, I thought. Very sophisticated.
I’ve read the Deborah Levy too and it’s exquisite. So deftly handled. You’ve a real treat there too.
Oh, that’s great to hear, Naomi. I’m going to start the Wood tomorrow.
The Deborah Levy sounds great. I haven’t read any of her books since Swimming Home, which I liked a lot. Looking forward to hearing your take on the new one in due course. 🙂
It sounds great, doesn’t it. It took me a very long time to get around to reading Hot Milk – so much hype surrounding it – but I’m pleased to say that it lived up to that for me.
Blueprint is just so tempting for the setting alone. And a new Deborah Levy is exciting news!
I’ve been reading Naomi Wood’s The Hiding Game today which is superb but I’ll be more than happy to read a second Bauhaus novel.
I also like the sound of The Man Who Saw Everything. It looks as if it plays with time in an interesting way.
It sounds intriguing, doesn’t it.
It does.
Ooh Blueprint…I just read and enjoyed Fake Like Me set in the contemporary New York art scene so I quite fancy another art related read!
That’s been popping up in my Twitter timeline. Would you recommend it, Cathy?
I like the shopping list idea, too. And Levy’s book sounds intriguing!
The list idea sounds like a good structure to hang a novel on, doesn’t it.
Having heard Theresia Enzensberger speak at a first novel festival last year in Budapest, I’ll be curious to read your opinion of the book. It certainly sounded attractive, and its author quite confident and well-spoken.
That sounds promising. You’ve whetted my appetite even more now!
I’ve just started the Levy but it hasn’t grabbed me yet. Early days though…
Oh, that’s interesting. I have seen anything on it yet. Took me ages to get around to Hot Milk but it impressed me when I did.