August can be a dull month for new fiction given that the holiday season is in full swing but this first instalment starts off with a novel that’s 
far from boring although it may not suit everyone. Nicola Barker’s TonyInterruptor explores the fallout from a question shouted from the audience at a jazz gig which goes viral. The interruption is inadvertently filmed by sixteen-year-old India who posts it on her Instagram, thrilled by the number of likes and followers it attracts. Alerted to this in the backroom postmortem after the gig, Sasha Keyes lets forth a diatribe, covertly filmed and posted by a band member. The usual hysteria, hateful comments and brief social media fame ensues sending fault lines through the lives of those involved. Barker smartly skewers artistic and intellectual pretensions, turning her book into a novel of ideas while making her readers laugh and wince in recognition. Review to follow…
I like the premise of Dominc Amerena’s I Want Everything in which a young writer, eager for literary stardom, spots an elderly woman swimming in his neighbourhood pool bearing a resemblance to acclaimed novelist Brenda Shales who disappeared in the wake of scandal and accusations of plagiarism. Thrilled when his suspicions are confirmed, he approaches her, hoping for a tell-all biography, to find not only his hopes but his entire life derailed. ‘From brilliant debut novelist Dominic Amerena, I Want Everything is a wickedly sharp story of desire and deception, authorship and authenticity, and the devastating costs of creative ambition’ says the blurb promisingly.
Lots of pre-publication brouhaha around Miriam Robinson’s And Notre Dame is Burning which sees a woman, lost in grief after a miscarriage and her husband’s repeated betrayals, turning to books, friends and a therapist. Esther is unable to forgive Ravi until he says he’s sorry, recording her struggles in what will become a book, delivering her story in a series of letters – most addressed to the child she miscarried, some to the women she feels invaded her life and her body thanks to Ravi’s infidelity, a few to herself and one or two to Ravi – peppered with short observations. I was in two minds about reading this one and had mixed feelings when I finished but it’s stayed with me. Review shortly…
In Betsy Lerner’s Shred Sisters, quiet, studious Amy has grown up in her older sister’s shadow, her life destabilised when Ollie becomes erratic and unpredictable. As they enter adulthood, Amy becoming an academic then working in the New York publishing world, Ollie slips in and out of the family, her appearances disrupting Amy’s careful control, yet leaving her unable to walk away from her sister. ‘Spanning two decades, Shred Sisters is an intimate and bittersweet story exploring the fierce complexities of sisterhood, mental health, loss and love’ says the blurb reminding me of Rebecca Wait’s I’m Sorry You Feel That Way which I remember enjoying.
That’s it for August’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…
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Shred Sisters will be right up your street. I reviewed it for BookBrowse last year: https://www.bookbrowse.com/mag/reviews/index.cfm/book_number/4888/shred-sisters#reviews
That’s great news, Rebecca. Thanks for the link.
Nicola Barker!!!! Pre-ordered. It’ll be interesting to see if she’s channelling Bob Dylan and the ‘Judas’ heckle when he went electric.
Looking forward to seeing what you think of it, Annabel. Not giving anything away, though.
Maybe it’s your first downbeat sentence, but I think I read these six introductions in the wrong frame of mind, and none of them is -yet – leaping out at me. Which is quite a relief.
I enjoyed the Nicola Barker but she’s an acquired taste, I suspect.
We’ll see ….
All new authors to me. None really jumping out either. Just finished Barbara Pym’s Excellent Women and it was a joy.
Lots of love in the blogosphere for Barbara Pym. I’ve only read one, years ago, but might try another.
I Want Everything sounds tempting! Will you be reading/reviewing it?
It’s on my NetGalley shelf so there’s a pretty good chance I will.
I’ve really enjoyed Nicola Barker but I have fallen behind with her. I’ll look forward to your review!
She’s such a one-off, isn’t she. Her books don’t always work for me but I’ve never regretted reading one.
The Nicole Barker could be interesting, very topical in a sense.
What’s the point of the title of Miriam Robinson’s novel – is there any connection to Notre Dame or is that just to hook in the readers??
The narrator and her partner live in Paris for a time, and the Notre Dame burning happens during the period the novel spans. I’ve seen rhapsodic reviews about this one on NetGalley but it didn’t entirely work for me.
I was just thinking about Nicola Barker the other day. I saw a book jacket that reminded me of another one of hers and it got me musing. Does that ever happen to you? (And, I mean, the jacket brought it to mind, but if I had them side-by-side, they probably wouldn’t even be particularly similar. lol)
I do find my eye caught in bookshops now and again. This one certainly stood out.
I’m always attracted by books about sisterhood so Shred Sisters is intriguing.
Rebecca gives it a thumbs up too.