Book news, reviews and recommendations
Lauren Oyler’s Fake Accounts is the first of two novels taking a swipe at social media’s pervasive influence that caught my eye in February’s publishing schedules. I’ll be reviewing the other next week. Set in 2016 with Trump freshly elected, Oyler’s debut follows her unnamed narrator who is shocked to find that her apparently liberal …
Fake Accounts by Lauren Oyler: Scrolling, scrolling, scrolling… Read More »
Five years ago I reviewed The Sunlit Night by Rebecca Dinerstein, as she was known then, describing it as ‘a quirky bit of escapism’. You can see why, given our current predicament, I was keen to read Hex hoping for something similar. Garlanded with praise from the likes of Jonathan Safran Foer and Emma Straub, …
Hex by Rebecca Dinerstein Knight: A six-cornered love story with a botanical twist Read More »
Several times recently I’ve enjoyed novels I might have otherwise dismissed thanks to a puff from authors whose own work I particularly enjoy. In the case of Jessica Anthony’s Enter the Aardvark it was the ‘fresh, witty and smart’ comment from one of my all time favourites, Kate Atkinson, that sealed the deal. Without it, …
Enter the Aardvark by Jessica Anthony: A winning combination of taxidermy and politics 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. …
The Gunners is built around a structure that rarely fails to attract me: a group of people, once friends as children or young adults, are brought together by an event which affects them all. Weddings and funerals are a favourite trigger for this kind of reunion and in the case of Rebecca Kauffman’s novel it’s …
The Gunners by Rebecca Kauffman: The Big Chill reprised Read More »