Back from my London break (more of which later in the week) with the second instalment of February’s new fiction which kicks off with a couple I’ve already 
read. The first, Madeline Cash’s Lost Lambs, follows the supremely dysfunctional Flynn family shortly after Catherine, frustrated with her life as a stay-at-home mother, unilaterally declares her marriage open. She and Bud have three daughters, running amok now that she’s turned her back on domesticity. With Bud sleeping in his minivan, Father Andrew suggests he attends the Lost Lambs self-help group little knowing he’s sowing the seeds for another extramarital relationship. There’s a lot of wise-cracking, sardonic humour in Cash’s entertaining romp. It takes a dark turn about two-thirds of the way through which was not entirely successful, but I’d enjoyed the first part enough to go along with it. Review soon…
Like many debut novelists, Stephanie Sy-Quia draws on her family history and, as the granddaughter of a Catholic priest, hers is a fascinating one. A Private Man tells the story of David and Margaret who meet in the early 1960s when she takes up a post as the first female theology teacher in his Midlands parish. They work together in his well-appointed home, sharing suppers and a drink leading to debates in which Margaret’s fierce intelligence unsettles David’s complacent faith. As their attraction grows and David’s radicalism becomes more open, they’re faced with a dilemma. Decades later, Adrian cares for his grandmother as her mind unravels, putting together the jigsaw of his grandparents’ story. An impressive first novel, not one I’d likely have read had it not been sent to me. Review shortly…
I’m sure I’ve read something by Ann Packer before but for the life of me I can’t remember what. Her new one, Some Bright Nowhere, is set in small-town Connecticut where Claire is coming to the end of her life after four decades of happy marriage. Her husband has lovingly cared for her through her illness but is shaken by an unexpected request. ‘Ann Packer makes a triumphant return with this beautifully powerful and life-affirming novel. Some Bright Nowhere explores the profound gifts and costs of truly loving someone, and the unexpected feelings we experience as the end of life draws near’ says the blurb promisingly. A host of starry names including Meg Wolitzer, Andrew Geer and Ayşegül Savaş are cheering this one on.
Heather Aimee O’Neill’s debut The Irish Goodbye sees three sisters reunited for Thanksgiving in their childhood home on Long Island two decades after the tragic accident that drove their brother to take his own life. Each of the three has been hiding something: Cait has never revealed her part in the accident; Alice’s career and marriage are both under threat and Maggie is planning to come out to their devoutly Catholic mother. ‘Far more than a family holiday will be ruined unless the sisters can find a way to forgive themselves – and each other’ says the blurb. I’m drawn to this one by the Irish American/Long Island strands, hoping it will steer clear of cliché.
Sophie Ward’s Our Better Natures follows three women through the political and social upheavals of the American 1970s.
Phyllis Patterson is a small-town Illinois housewife whose son comes back from Vietnam with a Korean wife and two kids. Andrea Dworkin’s encounter with Noam Chomsky and Michel Foucault in Amsterdam galvanises her activism back in the States. Poet Muriel Rukeyser uses her work as an act of resistance. These three disparate women are united by a postcard from an imprisoned writer. ‘Full of compassion, imagination and rich storytelling, Our Better Natures is a powerful novel about language, connection, and the courage of women who change the world’ according to the blurb making me want to read it.
That’s it for February’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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Ditto re James Meek – although he is always good, The Peoples’ Act of Love was just superb. I love the sound of Lost Lambs – even if they lose their way!
I think you’ll enjoy Lost Lambs if you like a bit of snark! The People’s Act of Love was one of those much hyped titles that actually lived up to all the superlatives heaped on it for me.
I have a copy of A Private Man via NetGalley. It sounds good. I’ve only read one book by James Meek, his historical novel To Calais, In Ordinary Times and I didn’t get on with it. In fact it was a rare DNF.
A DNF for me, too. I made the mistake of starting it after reading Bring Up the Bodies. I think you’ll like A Private Man.
I’ve had good experiences with Meek and Ward in the past. Like you, I have definitely read a Packer novel but it was so long ago that I’ve retained nothing (but the blurb for this one sounds promising!)
I’m happy with those kind of reads now and again if they’re well turned out.
I assume it was – I think I picked up a copy of an ARC in the bookshop job I had as a teenager, so this was easily 18 years ago now… The whole thing (except for the cover, weirdly, I remember it had a lamp on it) is gone!
I’m older than you; this is not an unaccustomed feeling for me!
I think I have something by Meek in the 746, lost in the wilds of my Kindle. I must have a look if you rate him highly.
My experience with his writing is a bit patchy, Cathy, but if it’s The People’s Act of Love you’re in for a treat.
I’m not sure any of these are for me, but I’ll be interested to hear how you got on with A Private Man.
I’ll be reviewing it next month.
Over in Soain, I’ve managed to put in reservations for the Meek and the Ward. All your choices look worth investigation, so I’ll get On the Case once I’m home again.
Well done your library, again. Have a lovely time!
It’s not too difficult! Thanks!
The Packer is well worth your time. I’ll read the Ward and will probably take a punt on the Cash and O’Neill (I’ve already read a nonfiction 2026 release entitled The Irish Goodbye! — a memoir-in-essays by Beth Ann Fennelly).
That’ll be confusing for booksellers! Good to hear about the Packer, and I can recommend the Cash. Enjoyably snarky narrator.
Alas for Fennelly, I don’t think she has a UK publisher or will be nearly as widely read.
Ah, that’s a shame.
I think the Ward book is the most appealing for me. Is it fiction? I loved Bad Bad Girl. Now starting the tome Flashlight, another Asian-American book.
Yes, it’s a novel. Definitely one I’ll be reading. I’m glad you enjoyed the Jen. Very poignant ending. I’ll be interested to hear how you get on with Flashlight.
I have an ARC of Our Better Natures, looking forward to getting to it! I haven’t read Ward before – have you?
oh and just remembered she plays Mombi in Return to Oz which makes me even keener to read her fiction even though it has nothing to do with it!
I had no idea! I’ve just looked her up. She had quite a long and successful acting career before changing direction.
I haven’t but this sounds so interesting. Hoping you plan to review it.
An interesting list! I’ve already downloaded Lost Lambs (available Jan 13 in the U.S.) for my travel reading this week (afraid I love e-books when I’m on the move!). My one encounter with James Meek was Calais, In Ordinary Times, which, alas, I DNF! As for Anne Packard, I’ve read and loved her debut novel, A Dive from Clausen’s Pier. Alas, I’m not tempted by her latest (if I read another of her novels it would probably be The Children’s Crusade)
A Dive from Clausen’s Pier is the one I read! Thank you for solving that memory itch for me. I also gave up Calais… whose style irritated me. I hope you enjoy Lost Lambs, a good choice for travel.
What is it about that lamb? I can’t stop staring!
It put me off reading the novel for a while but it’s certainly eye-catching!