Sorry for the Dead by Nicola Upson
Reviewed by Harriet Here at Shiny we are great admirers of Nicola Upson’s books – her most recent novel, Stanley and Elsie, was reviewed here, and we’ve also covered two…
The Pursuit of William Abbey by Claire North
Review by David Harris A new book by Claire North is always a very special event in my reading calendar, and William Abbey didn’t disappoint. In something of the same vein as…
Blackberry & Wild Rose by Sonia Velton
Review by Helen Skinner It’s 1768 and Sara Kemp has just arrived in Spitalfields, the London parish which has become home to a thriving community of Huguenot silk weavers. Sara…
Tea at Four O’Clock by Janet McNeill
Review by Harriet The gates of her prison were open, but she lacked the courage to go through them to whatever new country was waiting for her on the other…
The Measure of a Man by Marco Malvaldi
Review by Terence Jagger I was intrigued to see this novel on my doormat: Malvaldi is better known (to me at least) as a writer of crime stories, and I…
Lake Like a Mirror by Ho Sok Fong
Translated by Natascha Bruce Review by David Hebblethwaite Ho Sok Fong is a Malaysian writer whose short stories have won a number of awards. Lake Like a Mirror is her second collection,…
Your Duck is My Duck by Deborah Eisenberg
Review by Terence Jagger This, in spite of its slightly silly sounding title, is an interesting and slightly mysterious collection of six short stories. They are all very different, but…
Interview with Jane Badger about Pony Books
Interview by Liz Dexter Jane Badger started off as a dealer in horse and pony books, becoming known for her extremely extensive website on the subject: https://janebadgerbooks.co.uk/. She’s even written…
Wakenhyrst by Michelle Paver
Review by Annabel I read and really enjoyed Paver’s first two adult novels, both ghost stories. The first, Dark Matter was located in the Arctic, which was followed by Thin Air set in the Himalayas,…
Fashionopolis by Dana Thomas
Review by Anna Hollingsworth My immediate reaction was a desperately deep sigh when, pre-launch, Dana Thomas’s Fashionopolis was trumpeted as a must-read revelatory work on the fashion industry. Surely anyone…
Akin by Emma Donoghue
Reviewed by Harriet Back in 2010 I read Emma Donoghue’s best selling, prize winning Room. I admired it but I can’t say I enjoyed it. Not only because the story…
Galileo’s Error: A New Science of Consciousness by Philip Goff
Review by Peter Reason This is a book about the philosophical perspective of panpsychism, written by a leading academic advocate. Panpsychism is an awkward word, not part of everyday vocabulary….
The Memoir of an Anti-Hero by Kornel Filipowicz
Translated by Anna Zaranko Review by Harriet It could be argued that Anglophone readers are living in a golden age of translated literature; all manner of smaller publishers are bringing…
Girl, Woman, Other by Bernardine Evaristo
Review by Liz Dexter Amma is a playwright and director who’s moved from the fringes to the mainstream (or has it moved to her?). Yazz is a millennial student, sure…