Book news, reviews and recommendations
Andrew Miller occasionally sets his books in the present but excels at historical fiction whether that be the eighteenth century of my favourite Ingenious Pain or 1962/3, when Britain was in the grips of a brutal cold snap, in his new novel. The Land in Winter follows two very different couples, incomers to the Somerset […]
The Land in Winter by Andrew Miller: A distinctly chilly tale Read More »
I was in two minds about reading Tom Lamont’s debut, Going Home. The synopsis made me think it might wander off into mawkishly sentimental territory but Lamont appeared on the Observer’s ’10 Best New Novelists of 2024’ list alongside Leo Vardiashvili whose Hard By a Great Forest I’d very much enjoyed so I decided to
Going Home by Tom Lamont: We are family Read More »
A little under a year ago I read Huma Qureshi’s short story collection Things We Do Not Tell the People We Love, enjoying it so much I jumped at the chance to review her first novel. Many of Qureshi’s stories explore family and relationship dynamics, a perennially interesting theme for me, as does Playing Games
Playing Games by Huma Qureshi: ‘I thought I must have lost you’ Read More »
I was looking for something undemanding when I spotted Jenny Mustard’s debut, praised to the skies by Rowan Hisayo Buchannan whose fiction I’ve very much enjoyed. That lowkey but attractive cover also swayed me a little. Okay Days follows Sam and Lucas, both in their late twenties, over a year beginning at the party at
Okay Days by Jenny Mustard: ‘Would you like to dance?’ Read More »
I’d enjoyed both Harmless Like You and Starling Days so much that I needed no persuasion to pick up Rowan Hisayo Buchanan’s The Sleep Watcher which follows a young woman looking back to the summer in which she discovered that her beloved father was not the man she thought he was. The thing about parents
The Sleep Watcher by Rowan Hisayo Buchanan: Seeing things as they are Read More »
I wasn’t at all sure about reading Fiona McFarlane’s The Sun Walks Down – it’s an historical novel weighing in at just over 400 pages, two things which usually put me off but I’d enjoyed both The Night Guest and The High Places very much so decided to take the plunge. Set in September 1883,
The Sun Walks Down by Fiona McFarlane: Third time not so lucky Read More »
Jill Dawson incorporates historical figures and events into much of her fiction, often giving them a slightly subversive spin. Her last novel, The Language of Birds, explored the Lord Lucan case from the perspective of the nanny he murdered, neatly redressing the balance of the aristocracy-obsessed media’s coverage which seemed to have forgotten there was
The Bewitching by Jill Dawson: ‘Is there any reason you should not be hanged?’ Read More »
I still haven’t got around to reading Jessica Andrews’ debut, Saltwater, leapfrogging over the copy on my TBR to read her new novel. Milk Teeth follows an unnamed young woman, restless and unable to define quite what she wants from life, who falls in love with a man who seems to want her as much
Milk Teeth by Jessica Andrews: ‘I want everything’ Read More »
I knew about James Cahill’s Tiepolo Blue back in October, alerted to it by a copy editor friend who’d loved it. A knows her literary onions so I was primed and ready to go when Cahill’s debut started popping up on my Twitter timeline although even without her recommendation, I would’ve been keen. Set in
Tiepolo Blue by James Cahill: Dr Faustus, I presume? Read More »
I take occasional digs on here at the hype which pervades Twitter where every book is super fabulous but it has to be said I’m often grateful when a book is flagged I might have otherwise missed. Huma Qureshi’s Things We Do Not Tell the People We Love is a case in point. Comprising nine
Australian writer Favel Parrett’s beautifully expressed When the Night Come made quite an impression on me when it was published in the UK back in 2014. It was its Antarctica setting that first attracted me but it was Parrett’s gorgeous writing that left me wanting more. It’s clear from its dedication that There Was Still
There Was Still Love by Favel Parrett: A poignant tribute Read More »