Book news, reviews and recommendations
May’s first paperback preview was a bit of a mishmash but this one has a marriage/relationship theme running through it, albeit mostly unhappy, beginning with Sarah Manguso’s Liars, one of my books of last year. It’s the story of a broken marriage told from the perspective of Jane whose relationship with John grows out of […]
Paperbacks to Look Out For in May 2025: Part Two Read More »
It’s almost longlist time for the Women’s Prize for Fiction which will be celebrating its thirtieth year this time around. Tuesday March 4th is the date to add your diary. Only novels written by women in English published between April 1st 2024 and March 31st 2025 qualify. I’ve followed the same format as previous years,
My Women’s Prize for Fiction 2025 Wish List Read More »
Summer still hadn’t got off the ground by August. Very little time was spent on our new deck, reading or otherwise, and only one book stood out that month, too. Written in spare, crisp prose, Sarah Manguso’s Very Cold People was one of my books of 2022. Liars is the equally bleak story of a
Books of the Year 2024: Part Three Read More »
I jumped at the chance to read Sarah Manguso’s new novel when it was pitched to me. Very Cold People was one of my books of 2022. Written in spare, crisp prose, it’s a bleak novella about an abusive childhood, extraordinarily powerful. Liars is the equally bleak story of a dysfunctional marriage told from the
Liars by Sarah Manguso: ‘I was in charge of everything and in control of nothing.’ Read More »
There’s a marriage theme running through the first part of August’s preview, not happy ones but those don’t tend to make for interesting fiction. I enjoyed Charlotte Mendelson’s The Exhibitionist so was delighted when Wife popped through my letterbox. Zoe and her supremely egotistical wife, Penny, have two daughters and a complicated set of co-parents,
Books to Look Out For in August 2024: Part One Read More »