April 28, 2016 The Narrow Bed by Sophie Hannah Reviewed by Harriet Nobody who’s a fan of Sophie Hannah’s crime fiction will be surprised to learn that The Narrow Bed features an inexplicable set of…
April 28, 2016 The High Mountains of Portugal by Jann Martel Reviewed by Anna Hollingsworth There was going to be a novel about Portugal much earlier. In Life of Pi, the author within the story tells…
April 28, 2016 The Prose Factory by D.J. Taylor Reviewed by Liz Dexter This ambitious book aims to provide a history of what it calls ‘literary life’ in the 20th century, encompassing an examination…
April 26, 2016 Treats by Lara Williams Reviewed by Karen Langley Despite there being fewer outlets for the format nowadays, the short story just keeps on going as a valid art…
April 26, 2016 The Noise of Time by Julian Barnes Reviewed by Marina Sofia Julian Barnes is an avowed Francophile, as we have learnt from previous works such as Flaubert’s Parrot, Cross Channel and his book of…
April 26, 2016 Questions for Sharon Guskin 1. The Forgetting Time is your first novel, and we understand that previously your career has been in the film world. Have you always wanted to…
April 26, 2016 The Ex by Alafair Burke Reviewed by Ann How well does one human being ever really know another? This is the question that criminal defence lawyer Olivia Randall is…
April 26, 2016 The Light of Day by Eric Ambler Reviewed by Annabel Ambler was one of the great British thriller writers and his works are ripe for reappraisal. They had gradually become out…
April 25, 2016 The Story of Alice by Robert Douglas-Fairhurst Reviewed by Simon There are few children’s literary characters who are as well known as Alice et al. From Alice bands to Mad Hatters,…
April 21, 2016 When We Were Alive by C.J. Fisher Reviewed by Simon Anybody who keeps an eye on book news, or the stands in WH Smith at Christmastime, will probably have observed the…
April 21, 2016 The Forgetting Time by Sharon Guskin Reviewed by Harriet If I tell you that this book takes the concept of reincarnation as its central premise, will you stop reading straight…
April 21, 2016 The Ballroom by Anna Hope Reviewed by Judith Wilson There’s an intriguing tension between the title of Anna Jones’s second novel, The Ballroom, and its setting: a bleak mental asylum…
April 21, 2016 At the Edge of the Orchard by Tracy Chevalier Reviewed by Harriet This is the fifth of Tracy Chevalier’s eight absorbing historical novels I’ve read, and in my view it’s the best so…
April 21, 2016 Mend the Living by Maylis de Kerangal Translated by Jessica Moore Reviewed by Annabel It is easy to see why this novel (in this translation; Sam Taylor has translated it in…
April 20, 2016 Dark Matter and the Dinosaurs by Lisa Randall Reviewed by Peter Hobson This new book by world famous theoretical physicist Lisa Randall, subtitled “The astounding interconnectedness of the Universe”, gives the reader…
April 19, 2016 Shylock is My Name by Howard Jacobson Reviewed by Rob Spence 2016 is clearly going to be the year of Shakespeare, though it seems rather gruesome to ‘celebrate’ the anniversary of…
April 19, 2016 Behind Closed Doors by Elizabeth Haynes Reviewed by Gill Davies Behind Closed Doors is the second novel in Elizabeth Haynes’s new series featuring the Major Crime team in Briarstone. The first…
April 19, 2016 The Power of the Dog by Thomas Savage Reviewed by Annabel This novel was published in 1967, the fifth of twelve novels by the former ranch hand, and commonly thought to be…
April 19, 2016 Murder at the Manor ed. Martin Edwards Reviewed by Kirsty Gibson I’ve been reading my way through the British Library Crime Classics for some time now, so when Simon gave me…
April 14, 2016 Tram 83 by Fiston Mwanza Mujilla Translated by Roland Glasser Reviewed by Terence Jagger TRAM 83: BY DAY AS BY NIGHT, ETERNAL IN ITS SPLENDOUR OF A PARADISE GOING TO…
April 14, 2016 Earth by Émile Zola Translated by Brian Nelson and Julie Rose Reviewed by Hayley Anderton Regular readers of my blog might remember that I set myself the task…
April 14, 2016 Rush Oh! by Shirley Barrett Reviewed by Victoria Hoyle I was sold Shirley Barrett’s Rush Oh! entirely on the strength of a fellow blogger’s review. She made it sound…
April 14, 2016 Maresi by Mari Turtschaninoff Translated by Annie Prime Reviewed by Eleanor Franzen Maresi is thirteen or so. She lives in a fantastical realm on an island called Menos,…
April 14, 2016 Exposure by Helen Dunmore Reviewed by Harriet I’m sure I’ve read Helen Dunmore before, but it must have been a long time ago as a scan of her…
April 14, 2016 Jonathan Unleashed by Meg Rosoff Reviewed by Annabel Up until now, Meg Rosoff has primarily been known for her seven novels for teens, for which body of work she…
