Fiction Reviews

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Cover image for Saltwash by Andrew Michael Hurley

Saltwash by Andrew Michael Hurley: ‘Tide in, tide out. All’s forgotten’

I dithered about reading Andrew Michael Hurley’s Saltwash, put off by his reputation for writing folk horror, not a genre I’m attracted to, but I liked its premise so decided to take the plunge, helped along by a few NetGalley reviews by fans disappointed by its lack of menace. Tom and Oliver have been matched

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Cover image for The Two Roberts by Damian Barr

The Two Roberts by Damian Barr: ‘The Golden Boys of Bond Street’

As he mentions in his acknowledgements, Damian Barr’s The Two Roberts grew out of a fascination with Robert MacBryde and Robert Colquhoun after he spotted a social media post during lockdown. The two Roberts, as they came to be known, were working class Scottish artists who met on their first day at the Glasgow School

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Cover image for The Imagined Life by Andrew Porter

The Imagined Life by Andrew Porter: ‘In the imagined life, so much is different’

I’d taken on too many titles for review when Andrew Porter’s The Imagined Life popped up on NetGalley but I couldn’t resist both its premise and that cover so jumped in. Porter’s novel sees a middle-aged man who’s been carrying the burden of his father’s disappearance since he was twelve years old, determined to get

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Cover image for TonyInterruptor by Nicola Barker

TonyInterruptor by Nicola Barker: ‘Is this honest? Are we all being honest here?’  

It’s nine years since I reviewed Nicola Barker’s The Cauliflower® describing it as a Marmite novel – love it or hate it for those not acquainted with the expression. Her new one, TonyInterruptor, is more conventional although not a novel that lends itself to an easy synopsis, tossing around ideas between its small cast of

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Coer image for Bloody Awful in Different Ways by Andrev Walden

Bloody Awful in Different Ways by Andrev Walden (transl. Ian Giles): Seven dads in seven years

Andrev Walden’s Bloody Awful in Different Ways was a huge bestseller in Sweden, winning the country’s prestigious August Prize in 2023. It’s pitched at readers who loved Frederik Bachman’s A Man Called Ove which didn’t appeal to me but I liked the sound of this slice of autofiction which begins with young Andrev, aged seven

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