Book news, reviews and recommendations
This is the second novel I’ve reviewed this year with a backdrop of The Troubles. Set in the 1979 on a tiny remote Irish island rather than in a 1993 Ulster village, Audrey Magee’s The Colony is very different from Jan Carson’s The Raptures. Two men make their way to the island, planning to spend
The Colony by Audrey Magee: Two sides of the story Read More »
I’m a sucker for novels about long term relationships, the complicated kind rather than the reasonably straightforward happy ones although they, too, have their turbulent moments. Marijke Schermer’s Love, If That’s What It Is looked right up that particular alley with its story of the breakdown of Terri and David’s 25-year marriage, told from the
I’m a big fan of debuts, always hoping to read something by an author whose career I can settle into and enjoy. It doesn’t always pay off but sometimes I come across one that I have to keep reminding myself is a first novel such is the assurance and accomplishment of the writing. Daphne Palasi
Brown Girls by Daphne Palasi Andreades: Growing up brown in Queens Read More »
It’s seems an age since I reviewed Hannah Kent’s debut, Burial Rites. For a long time, it was one of my most visited posts and I’ve never been able to work out why. Despite enjoying it, I didn’t get around to The Good People but enthusiastically accepted when I was offered Devotion. Both her previous
Devotion by Hannah Kent: ‘My life was only ever a hand’s breadth’ Read More »
I was the reviews editor at Waterstone’s Books Quarterly when Louise Welsh’s The Cutting Room was published 20 years ago. I wasn’t particularly inclined to read it, not being a crime fiction fan, but of course needed to for work and what a treat I’d have missed if I hadn’t. The star of the show
The Second Cut by Louise Welsh: Rilke’s return Read More »
I put up my hand for Neel Patel’s Tell Me How to Be in response to the heartfelt, very personal enthusiasm of its editor. There’s such a difference between that and the hype that so often puts me off. Patel’s debut brings together a mother and her two sons one year after the sudden death
Tell Me How to Be by Neel Patel: ‘The things we most desire are not always what we need’ Read More »
If you know more about French poetry than I do which, frankly, would not be difficult, you may well recognise the title of Nathacha Appanah’s The Sky Above the Roof as a reference to Paul Verlaine’s Le Ciel, written when he was in prison. Fortunately, Geoffrey Strachan’s translator’s note helped me out, setting the tone
I was delighted to spot Lily King’s Five Tuesdays in Winter on Twitter having enjoyed both Writers & Lovers and Father of the Rain. It’s her first short story collection, comprising ten pieces many of which explore themes of love, relationships and parenthood, some with a darker edge than I remember from her novels. He
Five Tuesdays in Winter by Lily King: Astute observation plus a few dark surprises Read More »
It was its premise that attracted me to Sara Freeman’s Tides when it was pitched to me: a debut about a woman who flees after suffering a devastating bereavement drawn into a relationship with a man suffering his own loss, and there was mention of a spare writing style, always my favourite. I’d expected a
Tides by Sara Freeman: ‘Not feeling is a feeling too’ Read More »
Despite the many protestations on this blog that I’m not an historical novel fan, I usually read at least one a year that hits the spot for me, often in autumn or winter. Last year’s was Lucy Jago’s A Net for Small Fishes. This year’s looked set to be Susan Stokes-Chapman’s Pandora. Set in Georgian
Pandora by Susan Stokes-Chapman: Opening the box Read More »
I spotted Laird Hunt’s Zorrie on Twitter, its quietly lovely jacket catching my eye, and made a note to buy a copy. Then Cassie at The Longest Chapter listed it as one of her top ten books of 2021 which decided me to put in a NetGalley request and I’m so glad I did. It’s
Zorrie by Laird Hunt: Echoes of Elizabeth Strout and Robert Seethaler Read More »