This second instalment of October’s new titles starts with a treat for Elizabeth Strout fans. Just as Olive, Again revisited a much-loved character so Oh William! renews our acquaintance with the narrator of My Name is Lucy Barton, now widowed, who has unexpectedly bumped into her first husband. William has a few troubles to share and is about to accumulate more when his wife leaves him and he discovers he has a sister in Maine he knew nothing about. Unsurprisingly, I read this one almost as soon I got my hands on it and can report that it’s another triumph, thoughtful and perceptive as ever, although it has to be said that while I’m very fond of Lucy my heart belongs to Olive. Review soon…
I loved Lars Saabye Christensen’s Echoes of the City, the story of his beloved Oslo and the Red Cross who helped put it back together after the Second World War, told through the Kristoffersen family. Friendship picks up their story in 1956 with the widowed Maj deciding to leave her demanding job and, in the process, finding hope for the future. ‘Friendship is a beautifully orchestrated story about people and their dreams, about social conventions, personal constraints and what it takes to have the courage to realise oneself. In this book brimming with human insight, as in Echoes of the City, in each of these characters we recognise something of ourselves’ say the publishers. Very much looking forward to this one.
I swore I wouldn’t read a pandemic novel then ended up reading two before the summer was out one of which was Sarah Hall’s Burntcoat which neatly 
steers clear of our own pandemic, telling the story of Edith, a sculptor who survives the novavirus but knows that her time is limited. As all the symptoms of the inevitable relapse emerge, Edith contemplates her life and the loss of her lover just as they were beginning to explore a future together. This was the first book I’d read by Hall (yes, I know) and I found it powerful, moving and oddly comforting. If you’re wondering about that second pandemic novel, it’s Sarah Moss’ The Fell, due out in November. Reviews shortly…
Toni Cade Bambara’s Those Are Not the Bones of My Children is the latest in a series of Vintage Classics featuring black authors, this one based on an appalling true crime committed in Atlanta. In 1980, Zala Spencer’s teenage son went missing. Ignored by the white authorities, she and her estranged husband set about their own investigation uncovering a string of child murders. ‘Written over a span of twelve years, and edited by Toni Morrison, who called Those Bones Are Not My Child the author’s magnum opus, Toni Cade Bambara’s last novel leaves us with an enduring and revelatory chronicle of an American nightmare’ say the publishers of what sounds like a sobering read.
In Fit, Sammy Wright draws on his experience as a secondary school teacher witnessing the inequalities which riddle UK society where children go hungry while some indulge in flashy extravagance. Wright contrasts these two extremes, following a young girl brought up in a foster home, plunged into the world of modelling. ‘Fit is a moving, tragic, but ultimately hopeful look at the ways in which poverty and neglect can echo through a life . . . even after you think you’ve gotten your fairy-tale ending’ say the publishers. Sounds like essential reading.
I’m rounding off October’s new titles with what I hope will be a short story treat from Penelope Lively. Metamorphosis includes two previously unpublished stories plus a selection of pieces ranging across her long career. ‘Wry, compassionate, and glittering with wit, Penelope Lively’s stories get beneath the everyday to the beating heart of human experience’ says the blurb. A description I’d happily use for her novels.
That’s it for October’s new fiction. As ever a click on a title will take to a more detailed synopsis should you wish to know more, and if you’d like to catch up with part one it’s here.
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Thank you. I’ve loved the Elizabeth Strout books and so pleased to hear this is another good one. Can’t wait to read it.
You’re in for a treat! She never fails to deliver.
I have a copy of Oh William from NetGalley and having read your comments there will now be some reshuffling of my TBR pile!
Hurrah! I’d be amazed if you didn’t love it, Cathy.
An interesting selection, thanks for sharing them
Always welcome!
Looking forward to reading both Sarah Hall and Sarah Moss… always a treat!
Both are excellent. I’m looking forward to exploring Hall’s backlist.
I love Sarah Hall’s short stories. The Beautiful Indifference and Sudden Traveller are both excellent, full of memorable (often viscerally / earthy) imagery. Her style really suits the short form, so I’m interested to read Burntcoat as a comparison!
Thanks for the tip, Jacqui. I’d be interested to see what you think of Burntcoat.
What an exciting array of bookish treats (just clicked over to checkout Part I, which looks equally tempting)! I was aware of the upcoming new novel by Elizabeth Stroud, which I’ve been eagerly anticipating (I can’t believe I was reluctant a few years back to sample her work; I read Olive Kitteridge long after everyone else). As you say, she never fails to deliver. Equally exciting is the novel by Toni Cade Bambara. I’ve read a few of the short stories from her collection Gorilla, My Love and thought they were incredible; I may now finally get around to some of her longer work. Christensen’s Oslo saga also sounds very, very tempting and — oh, my heavens! something new by Penelope Lively! Treats galore (and more additions to the TBR pile). Thanks as ever for the update.
Always welcome! You’ve picked out a few I’m most looking forward to, and I can highly recommend Oh William! Hoping to get a copy of Friendship shortly.
I rarely preorder any new titles but with Elizabeth Strout I make an exception and can’t wait to read Oh William.
She’s always worth making an exception for, isn’t she.
I almost started Burntcoat last night – started The Promise by Damon Galgut instead – but it sounds brilliant and I’m very keen to read it.
I was very taken with it, Cathy. Can’t imagine why I’ve not read anything by Hall until now.
I’m halfway through Burntcoat (my fourth from Hall) and wouldn’t say I’m enjoying it, but I’ll reserve judgement until the end. I’m planning to read the Moss and Strout for sure. I’ve read Lucy Barton, but would you say one needs to have read Anything Is Possible first, as well? I’ve not tried Lively’s short stories but am fond of her novels, so this might be a good place to start.
Would you say Burntcoat is untypical of Hall’s work?
I think Oh William! could be read as a standalone.. Strout does that thing of sketching in background detail which either jogs the memory or simply clarifies.
I’m reminded more of Rachel Cusk or Siri Hustvedt with this one.
Ha! I’m a fan of one but not the other. Keen to explore her backlist having enjoyed this one. Do you have a favourite?
The Wolf Border. Also much beloved of Eleanor and Naomi F.
That’s where I start, then. Thank you!
Oooh, I love Penelope Lively – will keep an eye out for the story collection!
Me, too. Two new stories in this collection, too.
Nothing really grabbing me here, on another day I might have a different view. If it was a full novel from Lively I’d be jumping up and down but you know me and short stories…..
I do, indeed. So not even a collection from a favourite writer will tempt you.
I’d be afraid it would colour my enjoyment of the author’s other work
So many treats here! I always get Sarah Hall and Sarah Moss confused, now they’ve both written pandemic novels I stand no chance at all 🙂
It’s a great month, isn’t it. Both the Sarahs’ books are very different from each other but they’re both novellas which may interest you.
Well having just read and reviewed Olive, Again I am most interested in William by Elizabeth Strout. It’s quite a while since I read Lucy Barton though. I really need to read more by her.
She’s such a quietly accomplished writer. I don’t think you can go wrong with any of her fiction.
YES!! *sigh*
I’ve got the Strout ARC on my TBR list!
It’s a treat! I hope you get to it soon.
I loved the other two Lucy Barton books (didn’t care for Olive, I’m afraid), so I’m looking forward to it very much!
I think I need to pick a weekend and cozy up with all three Lucy Barton books. What a treat that would be!
It’s hard to avoid those pandemic books when our favourite authors start writing them!
Oh, yes, and think of those winter weekends hoving into view on the horizon.
I’m hoping there won’t be too many of them.
I think Olive needs your friendship more than Lucy, so that’s nice. 🙂
Very keen on the Lively stories too.
Ah, Olive! Such a grouch but soft-hearted with it. I have high hopes for the Lively collection.