This week’s all about the new publishing year which kicks off with lots of potential treats for those of us in need of diversion from the winter gloom, beginning with two I’ve already read. The blurb for Catherine Airey’s Confessions promised an involving tale of two Irish sisters, one of whom emigrates to New York to take up an art school scholarship ticking two of my literary boxes. Máire and Rósín’s stories span several decades beginning in the 1970s when they’re growing up in an Irish village not far from the house which one will paint and the other will eventually live in, making it the setting for a choose-your-own-adventure computer video game. A long, intricately plotted, luxurious read, perfect for long January evenings. Review soon…
Clare Sestanovich’s Ask Me Again begins with 16-year-old Eva meeting James in a Brooklyn hospital waiting room. Theirs is an unlikely friendship, each from very different backgrounds, and yet it lasts for many years. While Eva pursues her journalistic ambition, James drops out of college, joining the Occupy encampment on Wall Street moving in with Eva’s parents when it’s disbanded, then turning to a ramshackle church in his continuing search for meaning which will eventually lead to disaster. A few chapters in, I wondered if I might give up this introspective novel but the more I thought about it the more impressed I became. I’m loath to make comparisons but if you’re a Sally Rooney fan, this one should suit you nicely. Review shortly…
Rósín O’Donnell’s debut, Nesting, follows a woman who flees her home with her two young daughters, convinced that’s it’s no longer safe for them to live there. Her hoped for escape proves to be tougher than she’d thought with little money, no option but to live in a hotel room and her husband’s determination to get her back to the family home. ‘Tense, beautiful, and underpinned by an unassailable love, hope and resilience, this is the story of one woman’s bid to start over’ say the publishers of a novel much praised by Sheila Armstrong and Roddy Doyle.
The blurb tells me Lisa Sandlin’s Sweet Vidalia is for readers of Elizabeth Strout and Anne Tyler which immediately makes me wary but I like the sound of its premise. Set in ‘60s Texas, it follows Eliza after the death of her husband which has provoked a revelation that her apparently happy life has been based on a lie. She sets about building a future for herself, enrolling in business classes and moving into the eponymous hotel but ‘as she gathers new friends and new possibilities open up before her, Eliza finds it isn’t so simple to leave the past behind’ says the blurb. We’ll see.
I’m not entirely sure about Sanam Mahloudji’s The Persians which spans the 1940s to the 2000s, following three generations of women through their tumultuous lives. While their mother stayed put in Tehran, her two daughters made lives for themselves in the US. When one of them lands herself in jail after a disastrous vacation, she sets about restoring the family’s perceived reputation. According to the blurb ‘The Persians is a darkly funny, deeply moving and profoundly searching portrait of a unique family in crisis. Here is their past, their present and a possible new future for them all’. It’s the mention of an ’Islamic lawbreaking’ partying Iranian granddaughter that interests me in this one.
Andrew Ridker’s Hope follows the Greenspan family who live in Brookline, Massachusetts. Scott is an esteemed cardiologist; his wife works in a distinguished New York publishing house while his son is in medical school. An unimpeachable family, or so it seems until Scott is caught up in a scandal involving the faking of blood tests. Hope ‘is a painfully funny account of the tumultuous year that follows, written by one of the most brilliant young American novelists at work today’ say the publishers rather ambitiously. I remember enjoying Ridker’s previous novel, The Altruists.
That’s it for January’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 soon…
Well, I’ve just reserved Confessions at the library, and am cogitating about The Persians. The others aren’t in the catalogue yet, so I’ll have to see. Nesting is perhaps the one that most appeals so far.
Confessions is a tuck yourelf up on a chilly night read! I hope you enjoy it. I suspect I will read The Persians and I’ll definitely read Nesting.
Opinions noted!
Of these, I think The Persians is the one I’d be most likely to read, though I resisted requesting it from NetGalley!
Me, too, although I did come very close.
Confessions attracts me most – although I’d happily read all of these, and am adding to my wishlist!
Fingers crossed for a book token Christmas!
Interesting list, with some writers new to me. I have heard of Roisin O’Donnell as she has come to prominence in recent years, winning awards for her short stories in particular. Her book appeals to me the most, a very prominent topic unfortunately.
I’m keen to read the O’Donnell too. It seems to be a universal topic, unfortunately.
The Persians is already on my list. I’m now interested in Sweet Vidalia, Confessions, and Hope. Great list!
Thank you. Here’s to a brilliant reading year in 2025!
Looking forward to Nesting for sure.
Me too!
I’m tempted by The Persians but I’ll wait to see your review before jumping – I feel it has the potential to be great… or not!
Exactly! I may not get around to it. We’ll aee.
Oh dear, here we go, wrecking the TBR before next year has even begun, haha! I’m most intrigued by the first and last novels on your list, though all have the potential to be really good. Looks like the start of 2025 will be interesting!
Sorry! I can certainly vouch for Confessions. Quite a bit of hype surrounding it but, for once, the book lives up to it.
Confessions sounds great – I’ll look forward to your review!
One to lose yourself in!
Nesting could tempt me… I’m intrigued by the Lisa Sandlin you mention. If she’s as good as Strout then it will be a yes but if she’s more of an Anne Tyler then I’m less enthused
Always hard to tell with those comparisons. Publishers tend to reach for the bestselling names rather than accuracy. Nesting certainly appeals to me.