Book news, reviews and recommendations
I ended my review of Vendela Vida’s The Diver’s Clothes Lie Entry back in 2015, pleased to find she had a backlist to explore. Needless to say, too many bright, shiny new books got in the way so I was delighted when We Run the Tides arrived through the letterbox. Set in a wealthy San […]
We Run the Tides by Vendela Vida: Beauty and truth, or the lack of it Read More »
I remember reading Hideous Kinky shortly after it was published, rewatching the film after getting back from Morocco, hoping to relive our trip, very different though it was from the one in Esther Freud’s novel which drew on her own childhood experiences. I’d also enjoyed her last novel, Mr Mac and Me, reviewed back in
I Couldn’t Love You More by Esther Freud: Love, loss and motherhood Read More »
I reviewed Maylis de Kerangal’s The Birth of a Bridge back in 2015. It left me admiring but not entirely sure what I felt about it so I passed on her next novel, Mend the Living, wondering if I’d missed out when I read other bloggers’ reviews. That and its art theme made me put
Painting Time by Maylis de Kerangal (transl Jessica Moore): Tricking the eye Read More »
Four years ago, I was sent a book by Jhumpa Lahiri which had intrigued me when I saw it listed as a translated work. In Other Words is her account of a passion for the Italian language so intense she uprooted her family from the US so that she could immerse herself in it. The
Whereabouts by Jhumpa Lahiri (transl. by the author): ’Solitude: it’s become my trade’ Read More »
I included Sunjeev Sahota’s The Year of the Runaways in my Five Books I’ve Read post about immigrants, having enjoyed it very much. About a group of economic migrants, it was notable for its empathetic portrayal of their precarious lives. His new novel, China Room, interweaves two stories, both set in the Punjab: the first
China Room by Sunjeev Sahota: The price of love Read More »
I first noticed Ailsa McFarlane’s Highway Blue in The Observer’s ’10 Best Debuts of 2021’ feature at the beginning of the year. Inevitably, given my weakness for first novels, several titles expanded my TBR list but McFarlane’s is the first I’ve read. Highway Blue follows Anne Marie and her estranged husband Cal who are on
Highway Blue by Ailsa McFarlane: A startlingly good debut Read More »
I was delighted to spot Daniela Krien’s gorgeously jacketed Love in Five Acts in my Twitter timeline towards the end of last year. I’d read the haunting Someday We’ll Tell Each Other Everything back in 2015 which feels like an age ago now – pre-Brexit, pre-Trump and pre-pandemic. Born in the GDR, Krien was a
Love in Five Acts by Daniela Krien (transl. Jamie Bulloch): Take five women Read More »
Four years ago, I started my review of Jon McGregor’s Reservoir 13 with a paean of praise for this writer who seems to excel himself with each new book. His superb new novel, Lean Fall Stand, continues that progression with its story of a man returning from his beloved Antarctica, irrevocably changed, and his wife
Lean Fall Stand by Jon McGregor: Surviving catastrophe Read More »
I was attracted to Marco Missiroli’s Fidelity by its title thinking it might make an interesting companion to Sue Miller’s Monogamy which I so enjoyed last year. That and its jacket with those eyes staring so directly at the camera. Set in Milan, it spans nine years in the lives of a husband and wife,
Fidelity by Marco Missiroli (transl. Alex Valente): ‘I am happy right here’ Read More »
Lots of pre-publication brouhaha in my neck of the Twitter woods around Katherine Heiny’s Early Morning Riser which so often leads to disappointment but something about its blurb made me think it might live up to that promise so I put up my hand for a copy. Set in a small American town, always a
Early Morning Riser by Katherine Heiny: If you like Anne Tyler… Read More »
Alexis Schaitkin’s Saint X suffered more than most from the upheavals which struck last year’s schedules, appearing in print nine months or so after it was first due to be published. Truth be told I wasn’t at all sure about it when it arrived. I wondered if it might be a step too far into
Saint X by Alexis Schaitkin: Paradise lost Read More »