Book news, reviews and recommendations
I can’t resist an art theme as regular readers of this blog will know and Lucy Steeds’s debut The Artist sounded particularly intriguing. Set in Provence over the summer of 1920, it begins and ends in 1957 with a woman gazing at a painting she knows intimately in London’s National Gallery. No. Ettie knows better […]
The Artist by Lucy Steeds: ‘I want you to see me’ Read More »
Despite its door-stopping proportions I couldn’t resist Catherine Airey’s much trumpeted debut with its promise of an involving tale of two Irish sisters, one of whom emigrates to New York to take up an art school scholarship ticking two of my literary boxes. Máire and Rósín’s stories span decades beginning in the 1970s when they’re
Confessions by Catherine Airey: Choose your own adventure Read More »
I remember Clare Sestanovich’s short story collection, Objects of Desire, being much praised when it was published which is what made me want to read her first novel, Ask Me Again. It begins with sixteen-year-old Eva meeting James in a Brooklyn hospital waiting room where her parents are anxiously sitting at her comatose grandmother’s bedside,
Ask Me Again by Clare Sestanovich: More questions than answers Read More »
The premise of Elizabeth Harris’s How to Sleep at Night was catnip for me. Happily married and bringing up their daughter, Ethan and Gabe find themselves at opposite ends of the political spectrum. When Ethan announces he wants to run for Congress on a Republican ticket, he tells Gabe that he will only do it
How to Sleep at Night by Elizabeth Harris: A step too far? 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 in as many hands as I could. Regular readers of this blog will have noticed that I tend to shy away from fluffy novels, often heading
Blasts from the Past: The Republic of Love by Carol Shields (1992) Read More »
The eighteenth century was a fascinating time in European history, a period which saw the development of the Enlightenment ideas that formed the modern Western world. Close to its end, the bloody convulsion of the French Revolution, sent shockwaves through the continent and beyond. Several of the five novels below are set around the time
Five Novels Set in the Eighteenth Century I’ve Read 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 in as many hands as I could. Eating is one of life’s joys for me which is perhaps why I’m drawn to novels about cooking,
Blasts from the Past: The Book of Salt by Monique Truong (2003) Read More »
I’ve read so little Korean fiction that when Gu Byeong-Mo’s Your Neighbour’s Table popped up on NetGalley I decided to give it a try. It’s set in an apartment building for which there is a long waiting list and strict rules to obey: tenants must have at least one child and produce two more. You’d
Waiting for a Party is the second novel I’ve read by Vesna Main. I was so impressed by Good Day? I included it on my 2020 Women’s Prize for Fiction wishlist, knowing it didn’t stand much chance, and so was pleased to see it on the Goldsmith’s Prize shortlist later that year. Her new one
Waiting for a Party by Vesna Main: ‘Memory is all. Memory is her life now.’ Read More »
I’ve had mixed experiences with Tessa Hadley’s novels. I enjoyed Late in the Day but others I’ve read have left little impression on me. I’ve often thought her short fiction would suit me better so put up my hand for The Party. Hadley’s written many short stories, but this is her first novella which sees
The Party by Tessa Hadley: Coming of age in post-war Britain Read More »
I’m surprised it’s taken me so long to do a second Five Books I’ve Read post on Irish novels given how many excellent ones I’ve read since I started this feature. The five below are a mix of Irish and Northen Irish all with links to reviews on this blog, beginning with a writer who’s
Five More Irish Novels I’ve Read Read More »