Book news, reviews and recommendations
Back in 2015 I read a debut so striking it more than lived up to the superlatives liberally scattered in its press release. That was Sarah Leipciger’s The Mountain Can Wait, anchored in its Canadian backwoods setting by its gorgeous descriptive language. As you can imagine, then, my hopes for her second novel were sky-high, […]
Coming Up for Air by Sarah Leipciger: Everything I’d hoped for… Read More »
Originally published in the US back in 2011, Tayari Jones’ Silver Sparrow has been released here in the UK on the heels of Jones’ 2019 Women’s Prize for Fiction triumph. I wasn’t entirely sure I’d read it, not having been quite as impressed with An American Marriage as the judges, but its premise is an
Silver Sparrow by Tayari Jones: A tale of two sisters, secrets and lies Read More »
I’d not come across Hilary Fannin until The Weight of Love started popping up on my Twitter timeline. Her name will no doubt be more familiar to Irish readers thanks to her prize-winning column in the Irish Times. She’s also known as a playwright and memoirist but this is her first novel, a delicately nuanced
The Weight of Love by Hilary Fannin: ‘There were three of us in this marriage’ Read More »
I was delighted when I spotted Good Riddance in my Twitter timeline. I have such fond memories of reading Elinor Lipman’s novels. She writes the kind of sharply observed, absorbing and entertaining fiction that‘s just the ticket when you’re after an intelligent bit of escapism. With its story of a young woman, her widowed father
Good Riddance by Elinor Lipman: Feel-good fiction Read More »
It was its structure that attracted me to Miranda Popkey’s Topics of Conversation. That and its cover image of two women alongside each other rather than face to face intrigued me. Popkey’s debut tells the story of an unnamed woman through the conversations she has with other women at various points in her life beginning
Topics of Conversation by Miranda Popkey: ‘Conversation is flirtation’ Read More »
I have fond memories of reading Carol Anshaw’s Carry the One way back in 2012 when it was published here in the UK so was keen to get my hands on her new novel, Right After the Weather. Set in Anshaw’s home town of Chicago in the months before and after the 2016 election, it
Right After the Weather by Carol Anshaw: If you like Elizabeth Strout… Read More »
This year marks the twenty-fifth anniversary of my favourite UK literary award, The Women’s Prize for Fiction. I still remember being excited at the prospect of this prize when it was first announced and my delight when Helen Dunmore’s A Spell in Winter was the inaugural winner of what was then called the Orange Prize.
My Wishlist for the Women’s Prize for Fiction 2020 Read More »
Australian writer Favel Parrett’s beautifully expressed When the Night Come made quite an impression on me when it was published in the UK back in 2014. It was its Antarctica setting that first attracted me but it was Parrett’s gorgeous writing that left me wanting more. It’s clear from its dedication that There Was Still
There Was Still Love by Favel Parrett: A poignant tribute Read More »
Maybe it’s just coincidence or maybe it’s a trend but this is the third novel set in a boarding school I’ve read in as many months: both Scarlett Thomas’ Oligarchy and Magda Szabó’s Abigail share the backdrop of a girls’ school although the latter was originally published over fifty years ago. Rachel Donohue’s debut explores
The Temple House Vanishing by Rachel Donohue: Hothouse love Read More »
If you’re a reader who prefers a neat plot within a linear, well-defined narrative best steer clear of Jenny Offill’s new novel. If, like me, you’re a fan of Dept. of Speculation and have been hoping for a little while to see Offill’s name pop up in the publishing schedules, you’re in for a treat.
Weather by Jenny Offill: A novel for our times Read More »
I’ve read all of Daniel Kehlmann’s translated novels, each very different from the others but all witty and smart. His last book, You Should Have Left, was a short, gothic number, both chilling and riveting. In comparison Tyll is a lengthy, historical novel set against the backdrop of the Thirty Years War which raged across
Tyll by Daniel Kehlmann (transl. Ross Benjamin): Telling truth to power Read More »