Allan Radcliffe’s Blurred Faces sees two men meet via a dating app: Jordan back in Edinburgh to visiting his complicated family; Davie still sore from a breakup. When they meet, Davie recognises Jordan as a boy he bullied at school but Jordan seems blissfully unaware that he’s hooking up with his persecutor. ‘Against the backdrop of a city steeped in memories, Davie and Jordan find themselves drawn together again and again. A fragile intimacy blossoms between them, but can anyone ever be free of their past?’ asks the blurb. I like the sound of that set up and it’s from Fairlight Press, the small indie who published several books by Douglas Bruton, author of With or Without Angels, Hope Never Knew Horizon and Woman in Blue.
I would once have been thrilled at the prospect of a new John Irving but Queen Esther is included here more for old times’ sake than anything else. It takes his readers back to the setting of The Cider House Rules where Dr Wilbur Larch has taken in Esther, born in Vienna in 1905, whose father died on their transatlantic voyage and whose mother was murdered by anti-Semites. Larch struggles to find a Jewish family to adopt Esther in Maine, resorting to the Winslows when she’s fourteen, to whom she remains grateful for life. The novel ends in 1981 with Esther in Jerusalem having retraced her birth family’s steps. Not at all sure about that.
I’m ending with Ingvild Rishøi’s Winter Stories whose characters struggle to cope with disadvantage, from a young single mother trying to support her daughter to an ex-con’s attempts to build a relationship with his son. ‘With empathy and sensitivity, Ingvild Rishøi beautifully illuminates the vulnerability of the human condition. In a time when levels of scepticism and distrust are rising, these stories remind us of the humanity that unites as all’ says the blurb which sounds right up my street.
That’s it for November’s new fiction. As ever, a click on a title will take you 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. Paperbacks soon…
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Blurred Faces does have an interesting hook.
It does, doesn’t it. Fairlight are a reliably interesting publisher, too.
I like the sound of Service most of this batch.
Me, too. Looking forward to getting my hands on a copy of that.
I can’t resist a bookselling novel either – and the premise of this one reminds me of the excellent sections in Adrian Mole and the Weapons of Mass Destruction in which Adrian works in his local bookshop, discovering unexpected camaraderie and a gentler way to be an “intellectual”.
Ha! Given the bookseller’s first name I wonder if there’s a autofictional element to it.
That would be fun!
All tempting! Winter Stories is my top choice, the blurb is really enticing.
It is, isn’t it. I’ve been promised a copy so hope to review it.
I was also once a big fan on Irving, but I do think the quality of his books has dropped off in recent years. I hadn’t heard of Service before and really like the sound of it.
I agree. Revisiting The Cider House Rules feels like a mistake, too. I have high hopes for Service.
I’ll be interested to read your thoughts on Service as I was tempted by the blurb but then read mixed reviews.
That’s interesting. I think it has a particular appeal to ex-booksellers like me.
‘Service’ makes me think of Sarah Gilmartin’s book; she has a new novel coming out in 2026. (Funnily enough, I once had a housemate named John Tottenham, but it’s not him!) Speaking of whom … I have The Dinner Party — similar to another of her titles — on my Kindle from NetGalley. I reserved Queen Esther from the library but I won’t waste much time on it if it’s not up to par. I read Rishøi’s previous book, also wintry, and found it a bit twee.
Happy birthday for tomorrow!
Great news about the Gilmartin. I hadn’t spotted that. I’m looking forward to Service having seen several bookseller’s gleefully posting about it on social media. I suspect I won’t read the Irving. Perhaps, I’ll reread The Cider House Rules instead.
And to you! I hope you’re planning to do something nice.
I loved John Irving years ago. I had forgotten about him. I am wondering if Service is a fiction or non-fiction book?
It’s marketed as a novel but may be a piece of autofiction given the main protagonist’s name is also John.
Who CAN resist a bookselling novel??
I have the idea (maybe from interviews, maybe made up LOL) that Irving has always kept a writer’s notebook, so I can imagine that he imagined futures for many of his characters that didn’t make it into the book. Is your hesitation that you didn’t imagine this kind of a future for this character or simply that it’s been some time since his previous novel and it could be a disappointment more generally?
Absolutely! I think the latter with Irving although what you say about his notebook is interesting. I’ve tried a couple of his more recent novels and been disappointed.