Lean pickings for November’s paperback preview although it begins with a novel heading for my books of 2024 list. Set in early 2020, Sigrid Nunez’s witty, erudite, wonderfully discursive The Vulnerables follows an unnamed writer as she takes up residence in a palatial apartment to care for a parrot whose owner has been stranded during lockdown. Entertained by this gorgeous playful creature, our narrator is resentful when the bird’s original carer turns up, chucked out by his parents. They form an uneasy alliance eventually deepening into a friendship. Nunez’s book maybe a pandemic novel but don’t let that put you off: it’s an absolute joy.
Set against the backdrop of the Korean War, Ron Rash’s The Caretaker has at its heart a cruel deception. Jacob asks his childhood friend to care for his pregnant wife when his wealthy parents disown him after they elope. Blackburn makes sure that the couple’s farmhouse is in order, taking Naomi home to Tennessee as her due date draws near. When a telegram arrives at the town’s post office, addressed to Naomi telling her of Jacob’s return, a misguided act of kindness leads to terrible heartache. As ever, Rash’s use of language is strikingly evocative. The ending wasn’t quite what I expected but that’s no bad thing.
Lucy Ayrton’s Things We Lose in the Waves sees a daughter reluctantly returning to her small hometown to take over the family pub after her father’s sudden death. Eager to go back to what she regards as her real life with her boyfriend in London, Jenny faces negotiating her difficult past, not least her ex’s relationship with her former best friend and her difficulties with her mother. ‘A timely story of a home pushed to the breaking point; Things We Lose in Waves explores how you keep afloat when your world is falling away from underneath your feet’ according to the blurb. Not entirely sure about this one but I’m a sucker for smalltown novels.
It’s a long time since I read anything by Louise Doughty but I quite like the sound of A Bird in Winter which sees the titular Bird walking out of her job in a Birmingham office, having discovered that past enemies are pursuing her. ‘As Bird tries to work out who exactly is on her trail, she must also decide who – if anyone – she can trust. Is her greatest fear that she will be hunted down, or that she will never be found?’ asks the blurb setting readers up for a protagonist with secrets and a mysterious past.
You won’t be surprised to read that I’d never heard of Blindboy Boatclub, one half of Ireland’s comedy hip-hop duo, The Rubberbandits, but Topographia Hibernica turns out to be his third short story collection. Best let the blurb speak for itself: ‘These are stories of the strange unsettlings in the souls of men caught in between the past and the possible; stories of heart-blinding rage and disquieting compassion. Blindboy Boatclub is the essential voice for the Irish condition in the twenty-first century, and in Topographia Hibernica he unravels the knotted threads of humanity, nature and colonisation from a contemporary perspective’. Not sure what to make of that but it sounds worth a look.
That’s it for November. A click on a title will take you either to my review or to a more detailed synopsis should you want to know more, and if you’d like to catch up with new fiction it’s here.
Absolutely loved A Bird in Winter—one of the best things Doughty’s written—and I have a strong memory of reading The Vulnerables in a chilly Airbnb in Farnham, with my mum. We were both there to spend time with my grandmother, who’s now in a care home and has middling dementia, and the emphasis in Nunez’s novel on vulnerability of various kinds (medical, social, emotional, etc.) felt so tenderly spot-on.
That’s very encouraging! Ah, that’s very hard. I hope the Nunez was a comforting read.
It was, actually. I’d like to read more of her work.
Glad to hear that.
Interesting options. I loved The Caretaker, Rash is a writer new to me and want to read more of his work. The Blindboys have been a bit of a phenomenon in Ireland. Not my cup of tea, I find the whole set up they present as quite juvenile. And the book has had mixed reviews here.
Useful to know that! I’ll strike it from my list. I’ve enjoyed all the novels I’ve read by Rash. He’s got a great backlist to explore.
The Caretaker will be appearing on my best of ’24 list. I quite like the sound of the Louise Doughty – I’ve not read any of her books before.
Delighted to hear that! I’ve only read Apple Tree Yard. I liked the premise but it didn’t entirely work for me. This one sounds as if it might be better.
I see a bit of a water theme going on wit the book covers near the end of your list.
You’re right! I hadn’t spotted that.
I’m encouraged to see The Vulnerables on your list as I own a copy of that. I’m also very interested in the Ron Rash but keep hesitating. There’s something about that cover that makes it seem like an old-fashioned book (and I’m not even sure in my own mind what I mean by that!). Anyway, I find the cover off-putting, so thank you for casting a vote for the other side. I enjoyed the Doughty – she’s a very good writer.
I hope you enjoy the Nunez as much as I did, Victoria. I know what you mean about that Rash cover. Perhaps it was chosen to suggest a period setting. Thanks for the encouragement re the Doughty. Yours is the second resounding endorsement on here.
I loved A Bird in Winter, which has a fascinating protagonist – highly recommended. I just heard Doughty talk at Waterstones Newcastle, she was great.
(And yes, she’s only got better since ATY.)
You’ve convinced me!
The Vulnerables is really appealing. I’ve enjoyed Nunez previously.
I loved it! And the parrot is a joy.
I’d made note of the Vulnerables when you first reviewed it and am glad of this reminder since I still need to track down a copy!
I hope you do, Mallika. Such an enjoyable and uplifting novel, not a word I often use.
I don’t know why I’ve not kept up with Doughty (except I guess she’s not quite so well-known here, so it does take more effort) because I’ve enjoyed the two I’ve read quite a bit. Wholly engaging without cutting corners on characterisation.
Lots of very positive coments on here about Doughty. I’ve been firmly nudged in her direction.