Back from Yorkshire (more of which later in the week) with the last of July’s previews. It’s a long time since I read Dinaw Mengestu’s All Our Names but it’s stayed with me as did Children of the Revolution. His new novel, Someone Like Us, follows Mamush who returns to his Ethiopian community in Washington DC from Paris when his marriage comes close to collapse after five years. The day of his arrival, his father is found dead in his garage sending Mamush off on a journey across the States seeking answers to questions he never felt able to ask. ‘Breath-taking, commanding, unforgettable work from one of America’s most prodigiously gifted novelists’ says the blurb which might sound like hyperbole but given Mengestu’s previous novels I’m prepared to believe it.
I’m not entirely sure about Rosie Price’s The Orange Room. I quite enjoyed her debut, What Red Was, but it’s the blurb’s mention of an art theme that’s swung it for me. Home from art school, Rhianne is working in a hotel kitchen hoping to restore her confidence which has taken a bashing in London. Her parents have their eye on her but haven’t bargained on Callum, to whom she’s dangerously attracted. ‘The Orange Room is about what happens when we are too afraid to see the people we love clearly, and too afraid to be seen. It’s the story of a tenacious young woman who – through her art, her courage, her determination – finds her way back to herself’ says the rather woolly blurb. Worth a try, I think.
Set in Venice in 1958, Rebecca Godfrey’s Peggy reimagines the life of celebrated art collector Peggy Guggenheim. Peggy’s father died on the Titanic when she was only fourteen leaving her a share of his vast fortune hedged about by restrictions. Having faced down sexism and anti-Semitism in Paris and New York, Peggy has established herself as a formidable presence in the post-war art world, content in her independence. ‘Rebecca Godfrey’s final book – completed by her friend, the acclaimed bestseller Leslie Jamison, following Godfrey’s death in 2022 – brings to life the singular woman who helped make the Guggenheim name synonymous with art and genius’ according to the blurb.
I like the sound of the premise for Ewan Gass’s Clinical Intimacy. Contributors to an inquiry into S – from close family and friends to relative strangers and professional contacts – all agree that he’s a charismatic character but an enigma. As they talk, they reveal far more about themselves than they do about S who no one seems able to pin down. ‘In a series of intimate snapshots charting the relations of one ordinary yet extraordinary man, Clinical Intimacy explores the emotional conditions and moral consequences of a life lived in service of satisfying others’ says the blurb, intriguingly.
In Fríða Ísberg’s The Mark, Iceland is about to hold a referendum to decide whether to accept the universal application of an empathy test which will identify those likely to behave antisocially. The country is bitterly divided (sounds uncomfortably familiar to me) between those who think it will make society safer and others who see it as a violation. Focussing on four people, Ísberg’s novel explores the implications of the potential results: ‘Each of them will have to reckon with uncomfortable questions: Where do the rights of society end and the rights of the individual begin? When does utopia become dystopia?’ asks the blurb.
That’s it for July. 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 part one it’s here. New fiction is here and here.
An intriguing bunch. I’m most immediately drawn to your first choice, but just having finished a re-imagined Matisse in Sophie Haydock’s Madame Matisse, I’m still in quite the mood to have a go at Peggy!
On paper, Peggy is everything I’d enjoy but I read a sample when it was first released and it was a no from me.
I like the premise of The Mark – sounds interesting – but dystopian not my favourite genre. Will be one to look out for as an audio I think.
None of these are jumping out at me but they do all sound interesting. I’ll keep an eye out for them and see if any grab me a bit more in the bookshop!
The first book is the one that interests me as it has gotten good reviews in the US too. And the story sounds really interesting. I just finished Theory and Practice. Have you read it Susan? I am wondering if it has been over-hyped. I enjoyed it but I can’t say it’s groundbreaking, as the blurb states. I did learn more about Virginia Woolf from it.
Pleased to hear the Mengestu is getting noticed, Lucy. I’ve not yet read the de Kretser and can’t quite decide about it. I’ve enjoyed earlier books by her very much but her last one, Scary Monsters, not so much.
Ooh, The Mark sounds great! I didn’t get on with Price’s What Red was – I found the territory much too familiar – but I am highly intrigued as to whether she’s going to write a yellow book next.
I don’t think I’ve come across any of these writers before but will keep them in mind for some of my book subscription customers. Someone Like Us might well suit…
Mengestu’s book about the shopkeeper has to remain my favourite because it was my first of his, but otherwise I would choose Someone Like Us so I think it would make a great introduction to his work. I’m so happy to hear it’s available in paper overseas now, and likely to find many more new readers!
An intriguing bunch. I’m most immediately drawn to your first choice, but just having finished a re-imagined Matisse in Sophie Haydock’s Madame Matisse, I’m still in quite the mood to have a go at Peggy!
The Haydock’s on my list, and it sounds as if you enjoyed it. I think Mengestu’s writing would suit you well.
I did enjoy it (my husband didn’t finish it…). Right, just off to polish the TBR list!
I’m also drawn to the Mengestu – sounds wonderful! Thanks as always for the reading inspiration.
You’re welcome, Andrew. Mengestu’s writing is beautiful, elegantly understated. I hope you enjoy it if you decide to read it.
On paper, Peggy is everything I’d enjoy but I read a sample when it was first released and it was a no from me.
I like the premise of The Mark – sounds interesting – but dystopian not my favourite genre. Will be one to look out for as an audio I think.
Thanks for the heads up re Peggy, Kate. I suspect we were both attracted by the same themes.
I quite enjoyed Peggy when I read it last year, although there is a sharp distinction in the writing style when Jamison takes over.
I think I may put this one on the back burner given your and Kate’s comments.
None of these are jumping out at me but they do all sound interesting. I’ll keep an eye out for them and see if any grab me a bit more in the bookshop!
Always a good plan!
The first book is the one that interests me as it has gotten good reviews in the US too. And the story sounds really interesting. I just finished Theory and Practice. Have you read it Susan? I am wondering if it has been over-hyped. I enjoyed it but I can’t say it’s groundbreaking, as the blurb states. I did learn more about Virginia Woolf from it.
Pleased to hear the Mengestu is getting noticed, Lucy. I’ve not yet read the de Kretser and can’t quite decide about it. I’ve enjoyed earlier books by her very much but her last one, Scary Monsters, not so much.
Ooh, The Mark sounds great! I didn’t get on with Price’s What Red was – I found the territory much too familiar – but I am highly intrigued as to whether she’s going to write a yellow book next.
I find The Mark is already on my Goodreads TBR, so either you flagged it before or somebody else has also recommended it to me haha.
First outing for me! Fingers crossed it’s as good as it sounds.
Ha! I’ve since been warned off Price so that’s saved me some time and money.
I don’t think I’ve come across any of these writers before but will keep them in mind for some of my book subscription customers. Someone Like Us might well suit…
Mengestu writes beautifully, Jacqui, and with such compassion.
Mengestu’s book about the shopkeeper has to remain my favourite because it was my first of his, but otherwise I would choose Someone Like Us so I think it would make a great introduction to his work. I’m so happy to hear it’s available in paper overseas now, and likely to find many more new readers!
I’m so impressed by his writing, and I agree, the more readers who hear about it the better.
Someone Like Us sounds good.
I have high hopes for that.
So glad Clinical Intimacy is on your radar. It was a highlight from my McKitterick Prize shortlist reading.
Excellent news! I’ll definitely be reading it now.