Book news, reviews and recommendations
Despite the many protestations on this blog that I’m not an historical novel fan, I usually read at least one a year that hits the spot for me, often in autumn or winter. Last year’s was Lucy Jago’s A Net for Small Fishes. This year’s looked set to be Susan Stokes-Chapman’s Pandora. Set in Georgian […]
Pandora by Susan Stokes-Chapman: Opening the box Read More »
The seventeenth century isn’t my usual literary stomping ground but two things attracted me to Lucy Jago’s first novel: the theme of female friendship and a glowing puff from Andrew Miller whose own historical fiction I love. Beginning in 1609, A Net for Small Fishes explores the intimate bond between Frances Howard, the daughter of
A Net for Small Fishes by Lucy Jago: Love knows no bounds Read More »
I owe a debt of gratitude to Ali at Heavenali whose review of Lissa Evans’ Old Baggage persuaded me to read it after being put off by its blurb. I loved it so much it ended up on both my 2018 books of the year list and my 2019 Women’s Prize for Fiction wishlist. You
V for Victory by Lissa Evans: Pure joy Read More »
For some reason I hadn’t got around to reading Benjamin Myers despite recommendations by lots of people whose opinion I trust. The Gallows Pole has been on my TBR list for quite some time but it was the arrival of The Offing which finally kicked me into action. Myers’ new novel sees an old man
The Offing by Benjamin Myers: The summer that changed everything Read More »
Naomi Wood’s The Hiding Game has been on my radar since I discovered it was about the Bauhaus, the German art school whose designs I’ve long admired. It’s one of a multitude of books published to celebrate the movement’s centenary this year. I still have my eye on Theresia Enzensberger’s Blueprint which looks promising but
The Hiding Game by Naomi Wood: Love, jealousy and betrayal in the Bauhaus Read More »
I’m a fan of Jill Dawson’s writing. Her last novel, The Crime Writer, was a wonderful piece of literary fan fiction, a perverse love letter to Patricia Highsmith. However, when I read that The Language of Birds was based on the notorious Lord Lucan affair I dismissed it. I’m old enough to have seen far
The Language of Birds by Jill Dawson: Lord Lucan – the nanny’s story Read More »
I’d not come across Frances Liardet before. We Must Be Brave is her second novel but her first, The Game, published back in 1994, seems to have slipped out of print. Set in a small Hampshire village, her new book opens in 1940 with the discovery of a child fast asleep at the back of
We Must Be Brave by Frances Liardet: Ties that bind Read More »
Regular visitors to this blog will know that I tend not to review historical novels. There are exceptions, of course – Jake Arnott’s The Fatal Tree and Andrew Miller’s Now We Shall be Entirely Free spring to mind – but generally my feet are planted firmly in the twenty-first century. You might be surprised then
Regular readers will know that I’m an ardent Kate Atkinson fan, always keen to put her novels at the front of any queue for literary prizes although more often than not left discombobulated by the judges’ seeming determination not to hand them over. Perhaps Transcription will buck that trend although it was conspicuous by its
Transcription by Kate Atkinson: ‘Can I Tempt You?’ Read More »
Both Melissa Harrison’s previous novels are notable for their vividly evocative descriptions of the English countryside, the kind of thing readers are treated to in the very best nature writing. This combined with a dollop of sharp social observation made At Hawthorn Time stand out for me. All Among the Barley goes several steps further
All Among the Barley by Melissa Harrison: Dark clouds gather Read More »
I have a history with Andrew Miller’s writing: I loved Ingenious Pain so much that I included it in my One-Hundred-Book Library and Pure came a close second. It’s not that his other novels haven’t been enjoyable but Ingenious Pain was so inventive in its premise and so beautifully executed that I’ve been left mildly
Now We Shall Be Entirely Free by Andrew Miller: Love and war Read More »