This second instalment of August paperbacks begins with Lissa Evans’s Small Bomb at Dimperley, one of last year’s favourites for me. There’s no money for the patching up Dimperely so desperately needs when Valentine returns from the war in 1945, finding himself elevated to the baronetcy when his missing eldest brother is declared dead, but while Dowager Lady Iris’s solution is a wealthy match for Valentine, Zena Baxter, secretary to Valentine’s dullard uncle, hits on another plan. Evans takes some entertaining swipes at the aristocracy while the rest of the country happily throws deference to the winds, voting in a Labour government. I loved this one: an uncomplicated, funny, very British delight.
Edward Carey’s Little was one of my books of 2018 and I enjoyed The Swallowed Man which makes me keen to read Edith Holler, the story of a young woman trapped in a rundown Norwich theatre convinced by her father that her departure would cause it to fall down. Edith is horrified when he marries a stranger who she’s sure presents a threat to everything she knows. ‘Teeming with unforgettable characters and illuminated by Carey’s trademark illustrations, Edith Holler is a surprisingly modern fable of one young woman’s struggle to escape her family’s control and craft her own creative destiny’ says the blurb suggesting another enjoyably idiosyncratic novel from Carey complete with his characteristic illustrations.
It’s a very long time since I read The Reader, the novel which propelled Bernhard Schlink up the UK’s bestseller charts. Translated by Charlotte Collins, The Granddaughter follows Kaspar who discovers after her death the price Brigit paid when she fled East Berlin to be with him in the West as he becomes determined to understand her past. His pursuit leads him to a neo-Nazi community where he forms a bond with a young woman he begins to think of as his granddaughter. Sounds like an intriguing premise.
Danzy Senna’s Colored Television follows a writer struggling to finish her second novel, and her artist husband who’ve landed a housesitting gig in the hills above Los Angeles. When her plans founder, Jane turns to screenwriting, managing to get a meeting with an up-and-coming producer keen to work with a ‘real writer’ but things go terribly wrong. ‘Funny, piercing, and page turning, Colored Television is Senna’s most on-the-pulse, ambitious, and rewarding novel yet’ says the blurb, promisingly.
Described by the publisher as a novella, Claire Keegan’s So Late in the Day weighs in at just over sixty pages, more of a short story, I’d say. It follows Cathal who’s taking the bus home after a hard week and thinking about Sabine with whom he could have built a life had he not behaved the way he did. After a lonely evening at home in front of the TV, the significance of this date in Cathal’s calendar becomes clear. ‘From one of the finest writers working today, Keegan’s So Late in the Day asks if a lack of generosity might ruin what could be between men and women’ says the blurb. I read this one last year and remember finding it moving although it’s not stayed with me in the way Keegan’s other work has.
That’s it for August. 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.
Lissa Evans turns out reliably enjoyable reads, so I’ll enjoy this. The same applies to Edward Carey. I loved the Schlink: the last sentence of my review says ‘ A moving and illuminating account of the feelings informing modern German politics.’ Your last two choices look promising too. A great clutch of reads here, apparently.
I’m interested to see what her voice is like. She’s married to Percival Everett and—I just realised—her mother is the poet Fanny Howe, so lots of cross-cutting influences!
I have read The Granddaughter. It’s very good but I did wonder about the plausibility of some of the plot in later stages of the book. I much preferred The Reader, read many years ago. Haven’t read this book by Keegan yet, which I am sure is superb, as usual. Just finished Clear by Carys Davies. So impressive.
The Evans and Carey sound so appealing! I’m a big Keegan fan but I wasn’t so keen on SLITD. I didn’t dislike it, but definitely not my favourite of hers.
I was just eyeing Lissa Evans to see what was available via ILL for me and there are a few options. Not this one, though, obviously. Do you have other favourites? Of the rest, Colored Television is the only one already on my TBR, but I think I’d like the others too, and will watch out for the Carey.
I started with Old Baggage then read V for Victory, which picks up a few characters from OB, and loved them both. Keen to read Colored Television. She had such a interesting background.
Lissa Evans turns out reliably enjoyable reads, so I’ll enjoy this. The same applies to Edward Carey. I loved the Schlink: the last sentence of my review says ‘ A moving and illuminating account of the feelings informing modern German politics.’ Your last two choices look promising too. A great clutch of reads here, apparently.
Good to know. I thought a combination of Collins and Schlink would work well.
I wasn’t as enamoured with Small Bomb at Dimperley as you but I spotted Edith Holler on NetGalley the other day & you’ve reminded me to request it
I’d have snapped that up if it had been listed earlier. I’ll look out for your review.
Definitely interested in the Evans, Carey, and Senna—the last has been on my wishlist for birthday/Christmas presents for a while!
The Senna has a very appealing premise and I enjoyed From Caucasia with Love years ago. I should catch up with her other novels.
I’m interested to see what her voice is like. She’s married to Percival Everett and—I just realised—her mother is the poet Fanny Howe, so lots of cross-cutting influences!
She certainly has an interesting background. Her parents married shortly after interracial marriage became legal, apparently.
I have read The Granddaughter. It’s very good but I did wonder about the plausibility of some of the plot in later stages of the book. I much preferred The Reader, read many years ago. Haven’t read this book by Keegan yet, which I am sure is superb, as usual. Just finished Clear by Carys Davies. So impressive.
Clear is superb, isn’t it. Such beautiful descriptive writing.
I tried Lissa Evans a while back but concluded she’s not for me. Now Carey is a different matter all together!
That’s a shame. I thought she might suit you but I’m glad Carey hits the spot. He’s a one-off, isn’t he.
I wish the Lissa Evans book would be released in the USA.
I’m sorry to hear there’s no sign of that.
Keen to read Colored Television and the Edward Carey, which sounds fantastic!
Those are definites for me.
The Evans and Carey sound so appealing! I’m a big Keegan fan but I wasn’t so keen on SLITD. I didn’t dislike it, but definitely not my favourite of hers.
It felt a little slight to me. Everything else I’ve read by her has stayed with me but this one has largely slipped away.
I was just eyeing Lissa Evans to see what was available via ILL for me and there are a few options. Not this one, though, obviously. Do you have other favourites? Of the rest, Colored Television is the only one already on my TBR, but I think I’d like the others too, and will watch out for the Carey.
I started with Old Baggage then read V for Victory, which picks up a few characters from OB, and loved them both. Keen to read Colored Television. She had such a interesting background.
Thank you kindly, I will aim for those and see what happens.
I hope they amuse you as much as they did me.