Book news, reviews and recommendations
I couldn’t have been more delighted when Louise Kennedy’s Stations dropped through my letter box. I was a huge fan of her short story collection The End of the World is a Cul de Sac and even more impressed by her debut novel, Trespasses, beautifully adapted by Channel 4 last year. Her second novel follows
Stations by Louise Kennedy: Love, friendship and redemption Read More »
Given its historical women’s fiction label, I took a punt on A. Rushby’s All Her Beautiful Deaths, not being at all keen on the idea of gendered descriptions, but I was attracted by the idea of Victorian memorial portraits. It follows Minnie, who becomes a companion to Edith in 1865, and Hadley, a young twenty-first
All Her Beautiful Deaths by A. Rushby: An art world historical page-turner Read More »
It’s a decade since I reviewed Emma Cline’s much heralded debut, The Girls, loosely based on the infamous Manson family and its horrific murders. Although I admired it, I’ve not read anything by her since. Switzy is very different following a man in his seventies as he travels to Zurich accompanied by his young assistant.
Switzy by Emma Cline: Leaving the party early Read More »
A new Kate Atkinson is always a cause for celebration for me. I’ve been a fan since Behind the Scenes at the Museum back in 1995. Set against the backdrop of 1951’s Festival of Britain, Our Noble Selves follows Harry Flynn who becomes involved in the organisation of the extravagant event aimed at reviving British
Our Noble Selves by Kate Atkinson: A very British treat Read More »
I reviewed Laurie Petrou’s debut, Stargazer, four years ago, pleased to have found a new Canadian writer published in the UK. I’d been attracted by its female friendship theme which also runs through her third novel, The Rayburn Affair, albeit with a twist. In the glow of the light, they appeared to Ruth’s eyes like
The Rayburn Affair by Laurie Petrou: Be careful what you wish for Read More »
This is the latest in a series of occasional posts featuring books I read years ago about which I was wildly enthusiastic at the time, wanting to press a copy into as many hands as I could. There are far fewer novels by Australian and New Zealand writers available in the UK than might be
Blasts from the Past: Mateship with Birds by Carrie Tiffany (2012) Read More »
Based on real life figures, Philippe Collin’s The Barman of the Ritz isn’t an obvious choice for me, but I’ve enjoyed several novels translated by Frank Wynne so decided to give it a try. Collin reimagines bartender Frank Meier’s four years at the Parisian hotel during the Occupation, from 1940 to Liberation in August of
Andrew Cunning’s debut, Clara and Christina, instantly appealed with its premise of a friendship which grows between a young academic and the author whose first novel entranced her, picked up by chance at her university bookshop when she was a first-year undergraduate. Clara is in her early thirties and Christina in her seventies, a reclusive
Clara and Christina by Andrew Cunning: A literary treat Read More »
I thoroughly enjoyed Laura Sims’s How Can I Help You with its increasingly unhinged librarian narrator prompting me to read The Man. Set in the 1960s, it follows Judith Stanley, an unassuming, middle-aged housewife whose formidable photographic talent is immediately apparent to her instructor when she shows her work to him after class ends. As
The Man by Laura Sims: Not one, but two unreliable narrators. Read More »
Donal Ryan is the author of seven bestselling novels, six of which I’ve reviewed on this blog, plus a short story collection, all within fourteen years: quite a feat. His latest novella follows twelve-year-old Jack over the two years after a terrible loss sees his grandmother and grandfather take him into their home. And they
Where Are the Kings by Donal Ryan: Grief will out Read More »
I’d not come across Louise Wallace before I spotted her first novel on NetGalley. She’s a poet from New Zealand whose work isn’t easily available in the UK. Ash is a brief novella which follows a country vet on maternity leave living with her young family in the shadow of a volcanic mountain. Work is
Ash by Louise Wallace: Risky but impressive Read More »