The one thing I’m sure about with my first October title is that it will be all over what used to be called the broadsheet review pages. I was not nearly as fond of 
Alan Hollinghurst’s Man Booker Prize-winning The Line of Beauty as many hence my doubts about Our Evenings which follows two men, once schoolmates from very different backgrounds, one of whom becomes a powerful politician the other an actor from whose perspective the story is told. ‘Both dark and luminous, poignant and wickedly funny, Alan Hollinghurst’s new novel gives us a portrait of modern England through the lens of one man’s acutely observed and often unnerving experience. It is a story of race and class, theatre and sexuality, love and the cruel shock of violence, from the finest writer of our age’ according to the blurb. Very much like the sound of that structure so I suspect I’ll swallow my doubts and read it.
I’m in two minds about this one, too, not being much of a comic novel fan but Richard Ayoade is so funny I can’t resist it. The Unfinished Harauld Hughes sees Ayoade stumble upon a copy of Hughes’ The Two-Hander Trilogy in a second-hand bookshop, startled to find the author’s photograph looks just like him and transfixed by the writing of this poet, playwright and scriptwriter. ‘Ayoade embarked on a documentary, The Unfinished Harauld Hughes, to understand the unfathomable collapse of Hughes’s final film O Bedlam! O Bedlam!, taking us deep inside the most furious British writer since the Boer War’ says the blurb of a book which might be hilarious or too clever by half.
S. J. Naudé’s Fathers and Fugitives follows a London-based journalist who returns to South Africa to care for his elderly father until his death despite their lack of emotional attachment. His inheritance is dependent on spending time with his cousin, not seen since they were children, who lives on the old family farm with his partner and her son who is dangerously ill. ‘A literary page page-turner full of vivid, unexpected characters and surprising twists; a loving and at times shockingly raw portrayal of its protagonist’s complex psyche; and a devastatingly subtle look into South Africa’s fraught recent history’ says the blurb of a novel which sounds well worth investigating.
I’ve enjoyed both novellas I’ve read by Domenico Starnone, Ties more than Trust, and am keen to read The Mortal and Immortal Life of the Girl from Milan about a young boy who watches a girl dance with abandon in the building opposite his grandmother’s home and falls in love with her. His grandmother may not be educated but she loves this boy, telling him stories that he will never forget. ‘An irresistible book, as sharp as the swords of fantasy hidden under the bed, as precious as a family jewel, in which the discovery of love and the discovery of death follow each other, marking the end of childhood’ says the blurb suggesting both sadness and joy.
Billed as a love story, Federico Falco’s The Plains sees a man hoping to recover from a lost love by isolating himself for a year, planning to absorb himself in the day-to-day life of looking after a house and garden, beginning in winter. As the year unfolds so does his story set against the changing seasons as he tends the garden, leading up to the break-up and the heartbreak that took him to where he is now. ‘After a loss, a year in the country: four seasons to transform a garden and a self’ says the blurb. I rather like the sound of that.
Not much to say about Ali Smith’s new novel Gliff whose title is a dialect word for ‘a shock, a fright, a transient moment, 
a glance or sudden glimpse’. It will be followed next year by Glyph which ‘will tell a story which is hidden in the first so the two books will belong together but can be read independently’ according to the rather thin blurb. It continues ‘Ali always keeps her novels under wraps until they are finished, and the surprise of reading a book only when it is complete, knowing almost nothing of its content, is part of the magic’ suggesting the publishers are a little in the dark but hopeful.
That’s it for October’s first batch of new fiction. As ever, a click on a title will take you to a more detailed synopsis for any that take you fancy. Part two next week when H and I are back from the latest instalment of our travels which I hope will go better than our June holiday.
Nice books
Thank you
Welcome
Anything to do with a garden attracts me so I really like the sound of The Plains
I like the premise of that one, using nature and the everyday to heal a broken heart.
Ali Smith’s starting to frustrate me a little: the Seasonal Quartet was interesting but didn’t feel essential as fiction (it might have done better as creative nonfic or linked essays or something), and Gliff/Glyph also feels like someone asking for quite a lot of leeway/sympathy from readers while keeping them in the dark… I suppose we’ll have to wait and see.
Agreed! That blurb’s an exercise in opacity suggesting her publishers don’t have much of a clue about what will turn up.
Oh God, same, and I used to be a huge Smith fan as a teen/young adult. I just skip her stuff now because the last thing she did that felt solid to me was How To Be Both.
Totally agreed. I love her as a live speaker, and I like the ideas behind her work a lot, but her current style feels a little reader-unfriendly…
A wonderful selection as always; Fathers and Fugitives piques my interest (both the personal and historical elements) as does Mortal and Immortal Life and The Plains–the garden background in particular since I wouldn’t usually pick up just a love story if that makes sense.
Thanks, Mallika, and it does make sense. It was the garden element that attracted me to The Plains.
I really like Richard Ayoade too, but like you I’m not sure about the description of this book. The Plains sounds wonderful though.
Sounds a bit tricksy, doesn’t it. He’s such a funny guy, though.
I struggled with The Line of Beauty as well but did like The Stranger’s Child and The Sparsholt Affair so will consider the new Hollinghurst.
Pleased to hear I’m not entirely out of step with The Line of Beauty. I’m sure I’ll get around to this one eventually but it’s far from the head of the queue.
I can’t resist the Ayoade. Looking at the faber website, they’re bringing out 3 ‘signed and hand-numbered limited print runs’ of Harauld Hughes’ collected works! I might have to indulge. The ‘bio’ of the author says he died in 2006 – so signing from beyond the grave – ho ho ho!!!
I’d love to hear what you think if you do go for it.
Nothing will induce me to read anything else by Hollinghurst after the nightmare of On Beauty!
Oh, dear… Obviously a scarring experience!
It was a tedious read
The Federico Falco is the one that most immediately appeals here, with the Naudé and the Starnone running closely behind. You must stop recommending so many tasty looking books!
Just can’t help myself!
Fathers and Fugitives sounds very interesting Susan and I love the cover!
It’s very unusual isn’t it. Quite keen to read it myself.
This is a completely irrelevant comment , but I once saw three novels in one NYTimes Book Review called “luminous”. Even if the new Hollinghurst is “luminous”, I look forward to reading it. Thanks for the heads-up.
You’re welcome. I hope it shines brightly for you!
Always so interesting to read your posts. I’ve had a long break from Ali Smith’s novels but I might try this one. And I was talking to Jacquiwine about the subgenre of novels that feature gardeners in key, often narrating, roles. Once you start thinking about it, you realise there are loads of them! Hope this will prove a good addition to the category.
Thank you, Victoria. That sounds like a very attractive subgenre. Any titles you’d recommend?
Each of these seems to appeal to a distinct reading mood; I think I’m most intrigued by the Hollinghurst in this moment, but Ali Smith’s always make me think, so I’m curious about this new experiment.
I’ve a feeling I’ll read The Evenings despite being rather underwhelmed by previous novels I’ve read by Hollinghurst. Not so sure about the Smith, though.
I’ve got Our Evenings from NetGalley. I’ve not read The Line of Beauty but did read and enjoy The Sparsholt Affair and he has written about being influenced by Iris Murdoch, which always gets me, of course!
Indeed! Perhaps I’ll wait for your review before I take the plunge.
I’ve had The Line of Beauty in my reading stack for so many years… each I time I pick it up, it doesn’t do enough that I keep reading…
I’ll be on the lookout for The Plains. In my therapy practice, I often discuss with clients the importance of ‘chopping the wood and fetching the water’ – in other words, the solace that can be found in the ordinary, routine physical tasks. This book sounds like it somehow incorporates that idea.
I thought The Line of Beauty was massively overrated.
Your advice makes such sense. It’s the gardening element which attracts me to The Plains. Very good therapy even if it’s only a window box!