Sarah Manguso

Cover image for Liars by Sarah Manguso

Liars by Sarah Manguso: ‘I was in charge of everything and in control of nothing.’

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 […]

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Booker Prize 2022 logo

My 2022 Booker Wish List

Not my favourite prize – sadly one of those bit the dust earlier this year when Costa withdrew their sponsorship – but I can’t resist posting some wishes for the Booker longlist, keen to give some more neglected titles an airing even though they’re unlikely to make the judges’ grade. To be eligible for the

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Cover image for Very Cold People by Sarah Manguso

Very Cold People by Sarah Manguso: ‘I felt indistinct, like someone else’s dream’  

Both its blurb and that empty chair on its cover warned me that Sarah Manguso’s Very Cold People was likely to be a bleak read but it was also what attracted me to this brief novella. Set in a small New England town, buttoned up and demarcated between rich and poor, Very Cold People sees

Very Cold People by Sarah Manguso: ‘I felt indistinct, like someone else’s dream’   Read More »