March is full to bursting with potential treats. Hard to know where to start although the title I’ve chosen isn’t one I’m eager to read but I know vast numbers of others are, not that they can have failed to notice its appearance on the publishing horizon. Hilary Mantel’s The Mirror & the Light is the third in her trilogy which charts the rise of Thomas Cromwell, ‘portrayed with passion, pathos and energy as politician, fixer, husband, father, subject and as a man who both defied and defined his age’ according to the publishers. I’m not saying I’ve no intention of reading it – H has popped his copy of Wolf Hall on my TBR pile – but I’m not champing at the bit. Don’t @ me as we say on Twitter.
My eager anticipation was saved for Coming Up for Air by Sarah Leipciger, whose debut I loved, which I read pretty well as soon as it turned up. Inspired by a true story, this new one is very different from The Mountain Can Wait, taking us from a young French girl’s suicide in 1899 to a toymaker in 1950s Norway to a present-day journalist in Canada, all of whom share a connection which becomes clear at the novel’s end. The blurb calls it ‘a bold, richly imagined novel about the transcendent power of storytelling and the immeasurable impact of every human life’ and I have to agree. Review to follow soon.
Evie Wyld’s third novel, The Bass Rock follows three women whose lives are linked to the eponymous rock in Scotland. In the early eighteenth-century Sarah flees accusations of witchcraft; newly-married Ruth arrives just after the Second World War and Viv makes a discovery about Ruth’s past while clearing out her parents’ house in the present day. ‘Each woman’s choices are circumscribed, in ways big and small, by the men in their lives. But in sisterhood there is the hope of survival and new life. Intricately crafted and compulsively readable, The Bass Rock burns bright with anger and love’ say the publishers. I’ve yet to get around to reading All the Birds Singing but I remember being struck by the writing in Wyld’s first novel, After the Fire, A Still Small Voice.
If The Bass Rock has much to say about women, James Scudamore’s English Monsters seems to be about men, specifically those who’ve endured boarding school, something H has described as
preparing you well for prison. Max is sent away aged ten, plunged into a world of arcane rules and punishments compensated for by the companionship of new friends. Several decades later, a long-buried secret surfaces bringing them back together. ‘Spanning several decades, English Monsters is a story of bonds between men – some nurturing, others devastating. It explores what happens when care is outsourced in the name of building resilience and character, and presents a beautiful and moving portrait of friendship’ according to the publishers. It’s an unusual subject and an interesting one for me.
Last year, two titles by Israeli authors made it on to my books of the year lists – Aylet Gundar-Goshen’s Liar and Etgar Keret’s Fly Already – which is what drew me to Emuna Elon’s House of Endless Waters in the hope of another interesting piece of Israeli fiction. After his mother dies, Yoel begins a search for the truth after seeing footage of her in Amsterdam’s Jewish Historical Museum with a small child that’s not him. His quest reveals a dark history of the city they both fled where Jewish children were hidden from the Nazis often at great cost. Much acclaimed in Israel, apparently.
Marieke Lucas Rijneveld’s The Discomfort of Evening is about a much smaller domestic tragedy and its aftermath. A Dutch family is devasted with grief at the loss of their son, draining his ten-year-old sister’s world of curiosity and delight as she becomes caught up in disturbing fantasies. ‘A bestselling sensation in the Netherlands, Marieke Lucas Rijneveld’s radical debut novel is studded with images of wild, violent beauty: a world of language unlike any other’ according to the publishers. Harrowing, I’m sure, but it does sound remarkable.
Lightening the tone, Janos Szekely’s Temptation follows Bela, left at birth in a Dickensian children’s home by his mother who takes herself off to Budapest. Aged fourteen, Bela is caught stealing shoes and his mother is forced to reclaim him. He finds himself a job in a grand hotel, manning the lift and meeting all manner of people from revolutionaries to beautiful heiresses. ‘A picaresque classic with a rich vein of bawdy humour, Temptation is an under-appreciated masterpiece of twentieth-century fiction. Rich, varied and endlessly entertaining, the novel creates a stunning panorama of Hungarian society through the travails of its singularly charming hero’ according to the publishers which sounds just the ticket to me, bringing to mind Wes Anderson’s wonderful movie, The Grand Budapest Hotel.
I was delighted when Percival Everett’s I Am Not Sidney Poitier popped up on my Twitter timeline. I’ve enjoyed everything I’ve read by Everett who has a prolific backlist, most of it not published here in the UK. His writing is often very funny, more than a little off the wall as seems to be the case with this one. The death of Not Sydney Poitier’s mother leaves him orphaned at eleven but with lots of shares in a successful company whose owner adopts him. Everett’s novel follows Not Sydney as he navigates a world which can’t quite place him. It’s described by the publisher as ‘a hilarious and irresistible take on race, class and identity’ and if past performance is anything to go by it’ll be a treat, although possibly of the Marmite variety.
That’s it for March’s first instalment. A click on a title will take you to a more detailed synopsis should any have taken your fancy. More soon…
I had been feeling rather guilty about not reading any of Hilary Mantel’s trilogy (I’ve read other books by her and got along fine with them, but just never had the frame of mind to embark upon those chunky historical ones). So thank you for making me feel better about it!
You’re welcome. I feel exactly the same!
I gave up half way through Wolf Hall do you’ll get no grief from me! Very excited about a new Evie Wyld though 🙂
Thank you! I knew I wasn’t alone… The Wyld looks intriguing, doesn’t it, although I must get to All the Birds Singing
I’m so excited about the new Evie Wyld. All the Birds, Singing is one of my all time favourites if that does anything to convince you to read it soon…
I will be reading the new Mantel but might wait for the paperback so it goes with my other two instalments! I’m not a historical fiction fan but Mantel’s a genius IMO. Bring Up the Bodies is a masterpiece.
It does, indeed. I’m sure I’ll get to the Mantel eventually but in the meantime I feel a rewatch of the excellent BBC adaptation pulling at me.
English Monsters sounds really intriguing! I’d say the new Mantel is going to be quite the event – I enjoyed Wolf Hall a lot, but still have to read the second before I can even think about this one!
It does, doesn’t it. I’ve not read nearly so many novels about male friendship as the female variety. I’m sure it will be well nigh impossible to get away from the Mantel!
I have the new Mantel on order from the library, but I’m daunted by the heft — even bigger than the other two! I wasn’t a huge fan of Wolf Hall but thought Bring Up the Bodies was miles better. I’d say just rewatch the series and/or read BUtB and you’d probably be set for #3.
I’m keen on the Leipciger and Wyld. Not as sure about the Scudamore; I’ll wait and see what you think.
Ah, that’s interesting re Wolf Hall/Bring Up the Bodies, and I hadn’t realised the new one was so much longer. I may wait until my in-house critic has waded his way through its. I can vouch for the Leipciger – it’s excellent.
Add me to the not bothered about Thomas Cromwell crowd – still there are so many other good books to read!
Delighted to find there are so many of us!
The new Evie Wyld is the one I’m most interested in here, particularly as it seems quite a long time since her last novel came out. Fingers crossed it will be worth the wait…
I’ll be interested to hear what you think of it, Jacqui.
I loved All the Birds Singing so I’ll definitely read Bass Rock, and the Scottish setting is an added bonus. I’m also intriigued by English Monsters.
I must get my hands on All the Birds Singing!
The Discomfort of Evening sounds interesting too.
I’m interested by the ‘world of language unlike any other’ in the blurb for this one.
I loved Wolf Hall and Bring up the Bodies, so I will certainly read The Mirror and the Light. I need the right moment for such a tome however, and with my hands affected by RA these days, a kindle edition might be the way to go.
Rebecca says that it’s even longer than the other two so that sounds the best way to go.
so looking forward to this 3rd book of the trilogy!!
I think I’m in the minority with thsi one! I hope you enjoy it.
Ooh, I had no idea that Wyld has a third novel coming, so I that’s the one I am eagerly anticipating. I just finished reading All the Birds Singing which was excellent (I still have to write about it)!
I’ll look out for your review, Radz. Lots of love for Ms Wyld on here!
I’m in the pro camp for The Mirror and the Light, so much so that I did something I have never done before – ordered a book before publication date (I refuse to use that nonsensical term pre-order. How can I order before I’ve ordered???)
Ah, you’re a woman after my own heart on the ‘pre-order’ front if not the Wolf Hall trilogy!
I used to drive my team crazy by ‘banning’ certain expressions from their reports and presentations…..
Everett is just so smart. And he is prolific – although they’re short books overall. It’s too bad you can’t get them easily overseas…he should get more attention for his work everywhere, I’d say!
I was so pleased when I spotted I Am Not Sidney Poitier in my Twitter timeline, published by a small, indie publisher, too.
What a delicious lot of books! I’ll pass on Cromwell for now, too, to read some of the other ones. I also loved All the Birds, Sing…. So, looking forward to that one!
This is the first I’ve heard of Everett- I better check him out.
Everett’s very much an acquired taste, pretty wacky, but if you enjoy one it leaves you wanting more.
I do like wacky…