All but the first of the six books in January’s second batch of paperbacks are new to me although most are by authors whose previous books I’ve enjoyed which can also be said of Timur Vermes whose sharp, very funny satire, Look Who’s Back nailed the internet’s potential for political manipulation with admirable, if unsettling, prescience. His new novel, The Hungry and the Fat, takes on Europe’s failure to deal with the refugee crisis in similar blistering style, following hundreds of thousands of refugees as they march towards Germany, all broadcast on prime time TV, led by a ditzy reality TV star and watched by horrified politicians. It’s a little too long but Vermes’ novel makes its sober point loud and clear while having a great deal of fun doing so.
Tim Murphy’s Correspondents takes us from the twentieth-century and on into the twenty-first, through the story of Rita Khoury, an Irish-Lebanese woman whose parents immigrated to the US. Rita studies Arabic, becoming a journalist, and is posted to Iraq to cover the 2003 American invasion. It’s described by the publishers as ‘a powerful story about the legacy of immigration, the present-day world of refugeehood, the violence that America causes both abroad and at home, and the power of the individual and the family to bring good into a world that is often brutal’ which sounds excellent. I loved Christodora, Murphy’s previous novel.
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.
I was a big fan of Jacqueline Woodson’s Another Brooklyn which I reviewed back in 2017, hoping that it might be the start of a career writing adult fiction for this author better known for her YA novels. Her second adult novel, Red at the Bone, is set in 2001 when sixteen-year-old Melody wears the same dress her mother did at her age for her coming-of-age ceremony in her grandparents’ Brooklyn home. Woodson’s novel tells the story of the sixteen years leading up to Melody’s birthday. ‘As it explores sexual desire and identity, ambition, gentrification, education, class and status, and the life-altering facts of parenthood, Red at the Bone most strikingly looks at the ways in which young people must so often make long-lasting decisions about their lives – even before they have begun to figure out who they are and what they want to be’ says the blurb promisingly
Kristen Arnott’s Mostly Dead Things follows a family thrown into disarray by a suicide. Jessa has taken on her father’s failing taxidermy business while her brother withdraws into himself and his wife, the object of Jessa’s affections, walks out. Meanwhile, her mother is expressing herself in odd pieces of animal art. Several unexpected events open up a way back for all of them, apparently, in this ‘darkly funny family portrait; a peculiar, bighearted look at love and loss and the ways with live through them together’ according to the publishers. I like the sound of that.
I’m finishing part two of January’s paperback preview in the same way as the first  with a collection of short stories this time written by Billy O’Callaghan whose My Coney Island Baby I enjoyed so much last year. The Boatman and Other Stories comprises twelve pieces which span a century and two continents, apparently. ‘Ranging from the elegiac to the brutally confrontational, these densely layered tales reveal the quiet heroism and gentle dignity of ordinary life. O’Callaghan is a master celebrant of the smallness of the human flame against the dark: its strength, and its steady brightness’ say the publishers. I’m hoping for more of the beautifully restrained writing which characterised his novel.
That’s it for the first month of 2021 which promises a good deal in the way of books to look forward to if nothing else. As ever, a click on a title will take you either to my review or to a more detailed synopsis, and if you missed part one it’s here. New fiction is here and here.
I lost my Christmas mojo a long time ago but I know for many it’s a high point, no doubt surrounded by a great deal of disappointment this year. How ever you spend it, I hope the day passes easily for you and remember, spring isn’t so very far away. Liberation in the form of a vaccine is on our horizons.
Yes, Spring will come and with every season more stories and books, the simplest of expectations can yield the greatest highs.
I’m intrigued by the Jacqueline Wilson novel, and looking forward to all else that you’ll be revealing and reading for us. A welcomed quiet Christmas here.
Spring is always a lovely prospect, isn’t it, and never more so than in 2021. Enjoy your Christmas, Claire.
What a fascinating collection of new titles, I really like the sound of House of Endless Waters and Red at the Bone. Mostly Dead Things sounds rather beautiful too.
I hope you have a good Christmas, I will be having a very quiet Christmas, just me and my mum at her house.
Very keen to read all those.
A very happy Christmas to you, too, Ali! Quiet is definitely the best policy this year although it works for me most years.
I love these kind of lists, so thank you very much! The only one I’d heard of was Mostly Dead Things (I believe it was reviewed by the NYT). Although it sounds promising, I have to admit I’ve avoided it as I’m pretty squeemish about animal art and taxidermy in general. House of Endless Water & Red at the Bone sound more up my alley, so to speak. I, too, am pretty short of Christmas mojo (I plan on spending it walking a nature preserve) but still: Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!
You’re welcome. I’m hoping Ms Arnett spares us the graphic detail!
That sounds like a lovely way to spend Christmas to me. The weather forecast looks promising for walking here which is what we plan to do, too. Merry Christmas and a happy New Year to you!
All the best over the festive season Susan and thanks for sharing your love of books again this year.
And to you, Helen. Always a pleasure!
I’ve not read any of these authors before but am interested in the Timur Vermes mainly because I happened to be in Berlin when those marches in support of refugees got underway. didn’t spot any celebrities though
You might also be interested in Jenny Erpenbeck’s Go Went Gone, Karen, set in Berlin around the same time.
Wishing you all the very best for the festive season, Susan. Many thanks for all your reviews and round-ups this year – they’re always useful to read. The House of Endless of Waters sounds particularly interesting here!
And to you, Jacqui! Pleased to hear the previews are helpful.
Thanks as always for keeping us in touch with new releases! Yes, the vaccine is a bright spot on the horizon – hopefully 2021 will be a better year for us all. And Christmas is a great time to catch up with some reading… 😉
Indeed, it is, and you’re welcome! Always enjoyable trawling through publishers’ catalogues for me.
Do you enjoy browsing through the catalogues online, or do you request the paper copies to study with a cup of something warm and a taste of something yummy at hand?
It tends to be the former, these days, but occasionally a paper edition turns up to peruse on the sofa which does feel like much more of a treat.
I forgot Vermes has published his new book! I definitely want to read it, so loved his previous one
Look Who’s Back as both hilarious and pescient, wasn’t it. I hope you enjoy this one when you get to it.