Book news, reviews and recommendations
As Elizabeth Strout fans will already know, The Things We Never Say is a standalone novel set in a small Massachusetts town rather than Crosby, Maine with which we’ve become so familiar. Spanning several years either side of the 2024 presidential election, it follows Artie Dam, a popular high school history teacher whose life is […]
Elizabeth Arnott’s The Secret Lives of Murderers’ Wives caught my eye on NetGalley with its arresting cover, but it was its 1960s California setting that swung it for me together with a mention of Mad Men in the blurb. It has an interesting premise, too: three women, all once married to convicted serial killers, are
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 in as many hands as I could. Ghostwritten was published in my last year as a bookseller when I’d become a little jaded with sales
Blasts from the Past: Ghostwritten by David Mitchell (1999) Read More »
An international bestseller, Ia Genberg’s The Details was one of 2023’s standout reads for me. Published for the first time in English, this year’s International Booker Prize longlisted Small Comfort is an earlier novel, also translated by Kira Joseffson. It has a similar structure, following five characters although this time the link is money rather
Small Comfort by Ia Genberg (Tr. Kira Josefsson): Money, money, money Read More »
I reviewed Ben Lerner’s novella 10:04 here over a decade ago, commenting on its many-layered interconnections, impossible to encapsulate in a short post. Since then, I’ve read Leaving the Atocha Station which brought him a great deal of acclaim although, for me, it didn’t match 10.04. Divided into three parts, Transcription is another brief novel
Transcription by Ben Lerner: A characteristically discursive novella Read More »
Neil Tully’s The Visit is the first book I’ve read published by Bonnier Books’s Dublin-based imprint, Eriu. Given that it was launched in 2022, I’ve no idea how I’ve managed to overlook it but I’m looking forward to exploring more of its output if Tully’s debut is a typical sample. Set in in June 1963,
The Visit by Neil Tully: ‘Brilliant and intriguing’ Read More »
I was doubtful about the premise of Kenan Orhan’s The Renovation but sufficiently intrigued to give it a try. Dilara has commissioned some work on her ensuite bathroom now that her father has moved in with her and her husband. Her builders have been fiercely protective of their work, not allowing her to view it
The Renovation by Kenan Orhan: Exile and memory Read More »
I’m a great fan of Irish writing but it seems to me that Irish women, in particular, have been excelling themselves over the past few years. Here are five favourites each with a link to a review on this blog. I’m sure there’ll be more to follow. Sheila Armstrong’s first novel, Falling Animals, lived up
Five Novels by Irish Women I’ve Read Read More »
Unsurprisingly, I jumped at the chance to review Colm Tóibín’s The News from Dublin when it was offered particularly as it’s published in Cathy’s Reading Ireland Month over at 746 Books. The nine stories comprising the collection range from Ireland to Argentina, Spain to Texas, spanning the early twentieth century to the present day. As
The News from Dublin by Colm Toibin: No duds here Read More »
Eliana Ramage’s debut, To the Moon and Back, is quite a doorstopper but I was looking for some thing to take my mind off the state of the world so quit my dithering and jumped in. It follows Steph who becomes fixated on becoming an astronaut as a young child, determined to become the first
To the Moon and Back by Eliana Ramage: Knowing who you are Read More »
I snapped up Brandon Taylor’s new novel as soon as it appeared on NetGalley having very much enjoyed The Late Americans. Minor Black Figures spans a Manhattan summer following Wyeth, a black artist, and his relationship with Keating who he meets one night in a bar after visiting the opening of the latest glitzy identity
Minor Black Figures by Brandon Taylor: Art for art’s sake Read More »