Book news, reviews and recommendations
That subtitle sums up the structure of Ben Shattuck’s beautifully constructed The History of Sound comprising twelve stories, each with a companion piece. That alone would have made me want to read it but the promise of a film adaptation starring Paul Mescal was an added spur; shallow as that might seem, he’s a such […]
There was talk of ‘clean, precise prose’ in the press release for The House Next to the Factory, a description that always snags my attention particularly when it comes from Carys Davies whose own style could be described that way. Sonal Kohli’s debut is a set of nine closely interlinked short stories that portray the
The House Next to the Factory by Sonal Kohli: Painting India on a small canvas Read More »
It was its cover that attracted me to Ellen Hawley’s Other People Manage. A bit Anne Tylerish, I thought, suggesting a novel about the ordinary everyday with a cast of characters you might recognise and a good dollop of insight. I wasn’t far wrong but there’s also a story behind Hawley’s book, sent unsolicited to
Other People Manage by Ellen Hawley: Finding a way to carry on Read More »
I can’t resist a novel with a college reunion theme. There’s something about the idea of catching up with a group of people who met when young, although in the case of Ceridwen Dovey’s Life After Truth, the five main protagonists have remained good friends since Harvard, two of them married to each other. Dovey’s
Life After Truth by Ceridwen Dovey: Harvard revisited Read More »