Only a few paperbacks caught my eye for October, probably because it’s prime time horror season which I rarely read. There are a few gems appearing on 
I was so impressed by singer-songwriter Malachy Tallack’s That Beautiful Atlantic Waltz, I included it on my Booker wish list, knowing it didn’t stand a chance. Set on Tallack’s beloved Shetland, it follows Jack whose father worked on a whaling ship in the 1950s, marrying Kathleen in ’58. Jack was born two years later, growing into a quiet boy who knew to avoid his father’s temper. An ardent country music fan, now in his sixties, he’s a man of simple routine with many acquaintances who’ve never quite become friends. One day a cardboard box containing a kitten is left on his doorstep to Jack’s consternation. Loretta’s a tiny thing but she’s the spark for a surprising change in his life. I loved this touching novel which steers well clear of sentimentality.
In Tessa Hadley’s The Party, Moira’s an art student, more worldly than her clever but naive younger sister Evelyn. When they’re invited to a house in a wealthy area of Bristol by a man they meet at a party, Moira sees an opportunity overcoming Evelyn’s reluctance. Hadley packs a lot into this brief novella, choosing her words carefully and conveying a great deal in a few sentences. Moira and Evelyn are eager for life, capable of writing off their experience with the depraved Sinden as a drunken mistake from which they emerge wiser, more the women they aspire to be. I much preferred this to Hadley’s lengthier novels which I’ve often found claustrophobic.
Jonathan Coe’s The Proof of My Innocence opens in early September 2022 as Phyl Maidstone contemplates what to do 
with her future, slightly resentful at the prospect of an old family friend dropping in on his way to the TrueCon conference. News of his sudden, violent death shakes the Maidstones. It’s through writing that Phyl tries to make sense of it, first by adopting Britain’s favourite cosy crime genre, then exploring dark academia before turning her hand to autofiction. The drama of Liz Truss’s premiership plays out in the background, survived by the lettuce livestreamed by a tabloid alongside her picture. It’s a complicated structure which didn’t entirely work for me, but the plotting is pleasingly intricate with some enjoyable lightbulb moments. No prizes for subtlety but then I wouldn’t expect that from Coe’s brand of slapstick political satire. Not my favourite novel by him but enjoyably entertaining in a very British way.
Christian Kracht’s Eurotrash takes its readers on a road trip through Switzerland with a middle-aged man and his eighty-year-old mother, recently discharged from a mental institution and in possession of a large fortune inherited from her Nazi-sympathising father which she’s intent on spending. ‘Eurotrash is an unsparingly funny, vertiginous mirror-cabinet of familial and historical reckoning, a tragicomic quest punctuated by the tenderness and spite meted out between two people who cannot escape one another’ according to the blurb. I already have a copy of this one thanks to a Waterstones loyalty points splurge.
Ariel Lawhon’s The Frozen River is set in Maine, in 1789 when the Kennebec River freezes over entombing a body. The local 
That’s it for October. 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.
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I loved the Malachy Tallack, and enjoyed the Hadley too. Eurotrash has been on my TBR for some time, and the other two look worth adding too. Though a ‘Yes’ to Coe and a ‘Hmm. Not sure’ to its being Cosy Crime.
I think if you’re a diehard Coe fan like me, you’ll find something to enjoy but it’s far from my favourite. Very pleased you loved the Tallack. I bought his first novel on the strength of it although I haven’t got round to it yet.
You’ll report later, no doubt.
The Coe worked so much better than I expected it to (I read a proof copy last year). The genre switches were fun and effective (though I wasn’t entirely sold on his approach to autofiction) and although it isn’t subtle, it felt like he was trying to continue in the vein of the excellent Bournville by tying political developments to interpersonal relationships over decades.
He is very good at making the personal political and vice versa. My two favourites are Bournville and the Rotters’ Club in which that’s to the fore. I’ve been a fan since What a Carve-up so I know not to expect subtlety in his more satirical novels!
Those are my two faves as well!
I have the Kracht lined up for Novellas in November/German Lit Month. I enjoyed the Hadley but I think, controversially, I like her short stories best of all.
I may take Eurotrash on holiday although it’ll be a rail rather than a road trip. I enjoyed The Party so much better than her longer novels I bought After the Funeral which you’ve probably read.
I’ve read all of her story collections, I think. A favourite was Bad Dreams. There are still several of the novels I haven’t gotten to.
They’re painted on a very small canvas which often works for me but I’ve found hers rather claustrophobic, much better in novella form. I’ll add Bad Dreams to my list. Thanks!
Dear Susan
We also enjoyed ‘Eurotrash’. We are not fans of Coe, but haven’t read this book as the other books either.
Thanks for your reviews
The Fab Four of Cley
🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂
You’re welcome! I’m looking forward to Eurotrash.
We read an uncorrected version only.
Of them all, Eurotrash appeals the most.
It’s close to the top of my tbr.
Nice reviews. I may try the first one.
A favourite for me. I hope you enjoy it if you do
I think I can resist temptation this month
I’ve already read or have the ones that tempt me most so a cheap month for me, too.
Most of these sound interesting and I have seen them in past reviews. I enjoyed The Party.
I’ve ordered some of Hadley’s short stories on the strength of The Party. I think they’ll suit me better than her longer novels.
I loved the Tallack too, I hope it gains even more readers in paperback!
I’m so pleased to hear that. Such a sense of place!