Book news, reviews and recommendations
I’d not come across Jen Silverman’s name before We Play Ourselves arrived. She’s a playwright which left me wondering how much of herself was in this novel about a woman in her thirties, suddenly in the glare of publicity after a decade of putting on plays in obscure New York venues, whose star plummets as […]
We Play Ourselves by Jen Silverman: ‘There are so many lives ahead of us all’ 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’d registered the big splash Patricia Lockwood’s memoir Priestdaddy had made back in 2017 but hadn’t got around to reading it. She’s known for her presence on Twitter, something that had passed me by but it was the social media theme that made me put up my hand when her first novel, No One Is
No One Is Talking About This by Patricia Lockwood: Living life on your phone Read More »
Bryan Washington’s first book, Lot, made quite an impression on me. Billed as a collection of linked short stories it read more like a fragmentary novella, remarkable for its sense of place and its beautifully crafted prose. It was a contender for my books of 2019 list, only omitted because there were so many other
Memorial by Bryan Washington: Saying the words out loud Read More »
Nicole Krauss’ The History of Love was one of those novels you couldn’t get away from when it was published here in the UK back in 2006. I loved it. Since then I’ve read several novels by Krauss but none have quite matched it for me, including the smartly clever Forest Dark. That didn’t deter
To Be a Man by Nicole Krauss: Men, women and the tensions in between Read More »
I was a big fan of Bill Clegg’s debut, Did You Ever Have a Family, back in 2015 although I know many others weren’t so impressed. He’s an American literary agent with quite a reputation resulting in publishers queuing round the block to get their hands on his first novel. I was keen to read
The End of the Day by Bill Clegg: That old second novel syndrome… Read More »
I’ve long been a fan of Sue Miller’s intelligent, perceptive fiction and was delighted to see a new title from her in the publishing schedules. It seems ages since I reviewed The Arsonist, her last novel. Like all her books, Monogamy inhabits that territory sometimes dubbed ‘women’s fiction’ which seems a shame to me as
Monogamy by Sue Miller: Taking the long view Read More »
Kate Reed Petty’s debut was the subject of a great deal of pre-publication brouhaha in my neck of the Twitter woods, including four different covers for advance reviewer copies, all of which appear on the published edition. I landed the dark one featuring a cabin in the woods setting me up for something rather sinister.
True Story by Kate Reed Petty: Truth is in the eye of the beholder Read More »
I know very few women scientists. Well to be honest, just two and one of those is a virtual friend met through blogging. Being pigeonholed as an arts person early on no doubt contributed to that but the fact is there are still far more male scientists than women. Arlene Heyman’s debut novel, Artifact, follows
Artifact by Arlene Heyman: ‘Too smart for a girl’ Read More »
This is the second collection I’ve read recently which explores the theme of immigration although my reading experience for each of them was very different. I read a print edition of How to Pronounce Knife whereas Dima Alzayat’s Alligator and Other Stories was my first toe in the Netgalley water, although far from my first
Alligator and Other Stories by Dima Alzayat: Immigration reprised Read More »
I remember enjoying Lily King’s Father of the Rain very much but the bestselling Euphoria, based on a brief episode in the life of Margaret Mead, didn’t appeal. King’s name stayed with me as one to look out for and when I saw Writers & Lovers described as ‘gorgeous’ by the splendid Elizabeth Strout I
Writers & Lovers by Lilly King: A novel to slip into and forget the world Read More »