British contemporary fiction

Cover image for The Proof of My Innocence

The Proof of My Innocence by Jonathan Coe: More than one way of telling a story

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Despite a slightly patchy experience with Jonathan Coe’s novels over past few years, I couldn’t resist The Proof of My Innocence when it was pitched to me, particularly as I’d very much enjoyed Bournville, his last novel. There’s always a thread of state-of-the-nation running through his fiction, sometimes more overt than others. This one opens […]

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Cover image for This Is Why We Can't Have Nice Things

This is Why We Can’t Have Nice Things by Naomi Wood: A debut short story collection

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I so enjoyed both Naomi Wood’s Bauhaus themed thriller The Hiding Game and Mrs Hemingway, a wry take on what it might have been like to be married to Ernest, that I jumped at the chance to read her short story collection. This is Why We Can’t Have Nice Things comprises nine lengthy stories, all

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Cover image for Parasol Against the Axe by Helen Oyeyemi

Parasol Against the Axe by Helen Oyeyemi: ‘How come every time I look at this book it’s become another book?!’  

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I knew I wouldn’t be in for a straightforward piece of linear narrative when I was pitched Helen Oyeyemi’s Parasol Against the Axe but I hadn’t realised that her adopted home city is Prague, the narrator of her new novel which sees a hen party descend on the city. Hardly an unusual event except that

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Cover image for Becoming Liz Taylor by Elizabeth Delo

Becoming Liz Taylor by Elizabeth Delo: ‘It was probably safe to dress up now’

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That eye-catching jacket, redolent of movie star glamour, might suggest a setting more alluring than Weston-super-Mare for Elizabeth Delo’s debut, Becoming Liz Taylor. No disrespect to any readers from the seaside resort but I have childhood memories of mud rather than the glorious sandy beaches of my hopeful imagination. Delo’s novel begins in Weston where

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