More new titles caught my eye than usual for this August, enough for a two-part preview beginning with one I put up my hand for as soon as I read the blurb.
The premise for Hernan Diaz’s Trust is intriguing. Benjamin and Helen Rask are immensely wealthy. She’s the daughter of old money, he’s a Wall Street tycoon. Together they’re the most powerful couple in 1920s New York. In 1938, a wildly popular novel digs into what lies behind their vast fortune but there may well be other versions of the Rask story to tell. ‘Trust elegantly puts these competing narratives into conversation with each other and in tension with the perspective of one woman bent on disentangling fact from fiction. The result is a novel that spans an entire century and becomes more exhilarating with each new revelation’ say the publishers. Review shortly…
I still haven’t got around to Jean Hanff Korelitz’s The Plot which looks right up my alley with its premise of a stolen storyline and the resultant bestseller. However, that hasn’t stopped me casting my eye at her new one, The Latecomer, which sees the cat set among the pigeons in the Oppenheimer family. Born into privilege and wealth, the Oppenheimer triplets are determined to escape each other as soon as they’ve left college but the arrival of a fourth sibling throws all the cards up in the air, posing a threat to their comfortable future. Much praised by Meg Wolitzer, this looks like one to sit back and enjoy
At the other end of the social scale, Tess Gunty’s debut, The Rabbit Hutch, takes place in an apartment block, a setting which always appeals to me. The bright, beautiful, Blandine holds herself apart from the rest of the inhabitants of the dilapidated complex, reading Dante and harbouring dreams of becoming a mystic. A shocking act of violence jolts her out of her reveries but might offer the chance of escape she’s desperate for. ‘Savage and hilarious, The Rabbit Hutch is a piercing look at the power structures that shape us, and the tale of a young woman with irrepressible strength’ say the publishers. Lots of pre-publicity for this one. Both Jonathan Safran Foer and Raven Leilani are fans.
Joanna Campbell’s Instructions for the Working Day takes us to a rundown village in former East Germany, unexpectedly inherited by Neil Fischer from his father whose hometown it was. Neil is determined to restore the village but is met with resistance and hostility. Silke, his only friend and a Cold War survivor, uncovers a shocking truth which ratchets up the tensions further. Neil finds himself forced to face his own difficult past while contending with an increasingly dangerous present. It’s the setting that attracted me to this one and it didn’t disappoint. Review to come…
Colleen Hubbard’s Housebreaking sees a young woman keen to get her own back on the family that ostracised her after her parents’ divorce following a local scandal. Now they’re dead, she’s inherited the house her uncle had long had his eye on and is proceeding to dismantle it bit by bit. ‘This spare, strange, magical book is a story not only about the powerlessness and hurt that run through a family but also about the moments when brokenness can offer us the rare chance to start again’ according to the blurb. I like the sound of ‘spare’ but I’m a little worried about ‘magical’.
That’s it for the first batch of August’s new fiction. As ever, a click on a title will take you to a more detailed synopsis should you want to know more. Part two soon…
Instructions for the Working Day sounds particularly interesting. I look forward to your more detailed review.
I enjoyed it very much, Jennifer. Review up next month.
Goodness! There’s not one of these I’d turn my nose up at. But the Campbell goes to the top of the list, with an East German story line… but I’ll have to wait …
Highly recommend it, Margaret. An interesting way to look at the fall of the Wall and its aftermath.
I’ve just seem they have second hand copies on Abe books. You’re on!
These all sound great! Instructions for the working day has caught my attention
Pleased to hear that! Instructions… seems to be the most popular choice so far.
Like others I’m also quite intrigued by Instructions for the Working Day! I spent some time in Leipzig and am also fascinated by a former East Germany setting
Oh, that’s interesting. I’ve spent a few holidays in that part of the world including a few days in Leipzig. Some fabulous Art Nouveau to admire plus the Grassimuseum. Wish we’d had more time to spend in the latter. Were you ther for long?
Two years off and on. Oh the Grassimuseum is great. I also loved the museum um runde ecke – in the former Stasi headquarters – which gives insight into that era plus the role Leipzig played just before the wall came down
Ah, you must have got to know it well. We were both amazed at how unvisited the Grassimuseum was given its excellence and never made it to the Runde Ecke. We’ll have to go back. Also loved Dresden, visited on a previous holiday.
I have to agree with everyone else who’s commented so far and say that Instructions for the Working Day is the title that stands out here for me and it’s largely because of its East German setting. I’m off to check it out further and will look out for your upcoming review, Susan.
Very pleased to hear that, Kath. Definitely the top choice on here so far!
I’d not seen any of these, but after loving The Plot, would put Korelitz top of my list, followed by the Diaz and the Gunty.
Trust is such a clever piece of fiction. I think it was you who alerted me to The Plot which sounds right up my alley.
Such tempting offerings again. Trust and Instructions for a Working Day sound particularly interesting!
Having read both, I can tell you they’re both excellent choices!
Instructions for the Working Day sounds particularly appealing, looking forward to your review of it.
It’ll be up next month, Ali. Pleased to see so many people interested in this. Fairlight are a tiny publisher.
I’ve heard a lot about Trust, and I’m most keen on that one, but all your picks sound appealing this month! And the rest were new to me. However do you do it?!
It’s the old bookseller in me, always on the lookout for the next shiny new treat! I enjoyed Trust. A complicated structure that could easily have backfired but, on the whole, it works.
1920s New York is a hard to resist setting so Trust goes onto my wish list. I’m also tempted by Instructions for the Working Day
Happy to recommend both, Karen, particularly Instructions…
These all sound so tempting! Trust especially appeals, I love a 1920s setting.
Me, too. I had high expectations for this one which turned out to be justified.
Trust sounds particularly promising with its 1920s New York setting. Looking forward to hearing more about that as and when…
I’ve a review all ready to go. It’s an ambitious novel but Diaz manages to bring it off.
I loved Trust (it’s been out here in the States since May). I’ll be interested to hear your take on it. And like everyone here, I’m intrigued with the East Berlin book, but I’m also very interested in The Latecomer. Both sound good to me!
I enjoyed Trust very much and admired it, too. Instructions for the Working Life is also excellent. Particularly keen for it to do well as it’s published by a small press.