Men We Reaped by Jesmyn Ward
Reviewed by Rebecca Hussey Jesmyn Ward’s memoir Men We Reaped is a difficult book, but a necessary and compelling one. As Ward says in the book’s prologue, “telling this story is the hardest…
Posts by
Shiny New Books
The Winter War by Philip Teir
Written by Victoria It feels like it’s been quite a while since I last read an engaging portrait of domestic drama from a male writer. Philip Teir’s debut novel has…
The Evolutionist: The Strange Tale of Alfred Russel Wallace by Avi Sirlin
Reviewed by Peter Hobson The Evolutionist is a novel which aims to bring an important scientist in the development of the early scientific theories of evolution to a wider audience. We…
Black Sheep by Susan Hill
Paperback review by Simon Susan Hill is the master (or perhaps that should be mistress) of many genres. She is famous for crime novels, children’s books, and a certain play/film/book/everything…
Privileged Children and The Bohemian Girl by Frances Vernon
Reviewed by Harriet Well, Faber Finds has done it again. In Issue 1 of SNB I reviewed some of their reprints of the brilliant psychological thrillers by Celia Fremlin, and they…
Tepper Isn’t Going Out by Calvin Trillin
Reviewed by Simon It is very apt that the publishing house that has just reprinted Tepper Isn’t Going Out, the quirky comic masterpiece by Calvin Trillin which was originally published in…
Miss Carter’s War by Sheila Hancock
Paperback review by Laura Marriott Miss Carter’s War opens in 1948, in smoky post war Britain, introducing us to the woman who is going to take on the world. Half French…
Pure Juliet by Stella Gibbons
Reviewed by Hayley Anderton I was aware that Vintage were publishing some newly discovered Stella Gibbons novels, but until Simon asked me to read Pure Juliet for Shiny New Books I hadn’t…
Biographical Notes: Frances Vernon
Written by Harriet The life of Frances Vernon, whose six novels have just been reprinted by Faber Finds, makes for sad reading. Born, as Georgina Frances Vernon, on 1 December…
The American Lover by Rose Tremain
Written by Victoria Rose Tremain is one of those talented writers in whose hands you instantly feel safe. Here, the reader understands, there will be acts of storytelling that take…
Spy Out the Land by Jeremy Duns
Reviewed by Rob Spence Don’t read this book. Don’t, that is, unless you have read Jeremy Duns’s previous three Paul Dark spy thrillers, because this continues the story from where…
In the Twilight by Anton Chekhov
Translated by Hugh Aplin Reviewed by Karen Langley Russian author Anton Chekhov, although possibly best known for his plays like The Cherry Orchard, is also the acknowledged master of the short…
The Poet’s Tale: Chaucer and the Year that Made the Canterbury Tales by Paul Strohm
Written by Victoria So what’s a medieval historian to do with a figure like Chaucer? A man who still exerts a fascination over his audience down through the centuries, and…
Five Fascinating Facts About… Virginia Woolf
Written by Simon Thomas We’re featuring a few Virginia Woolf titles in this issue, so it seemed a good time to turn attention to her in our Five Fascinating Facts…
A Room of One’s Own by Virginia Woolf
Reviewed by Simon There are plenty of copies of Virginia Woolf’s famous feminist essay A Room of One’s Own available, new and second hand, but I couldn’t resist reviewing it now that…
Taking Command by David Richards
Reviewed by Terence Jagger This was an unusual read for me, as I know the author pretty well, having worked alongside him for a very busy and intensive year in…
In These Times: Living in Britain Through Napoleon’s Wars by Jenny Uglow
Reviewed by Jenny Jenny Uglow has delved into the diaries and letters of an abundance of ordinary people — farmers, soldiers, artisans, and their families — to discover the ways…
Wake by Anna Hope
Paperback review by Ali Hope Anna Hope’s remarkable novel Wake is newly out in paperback, and I urge anyone who has not read it to get themselves a copy. I read this…
Bilbao–NewYork–Bilbao by Kirmen Uribe
Translated from the Basque by Elizabeth Macklin Reviewed by David Hebblethwaite Bilbao – New York – Bilbao is Kirmen Uribe’s first novel; it won the Spanish National Literature Prize in 2009,…
Heir to a Prophecy by Mercedes Rochelle
Written by Helen Skinner “Thou shalt get kings, though thou be none.” In Shakespeare’s Macbeth, these are the words spoken by the three witches to Macbeth’s friend, Banquo. Soon after this,…
The Small Widow by Janet McNeill
Reviewed by Simon Janet McNeill is a name probably known only to aficionados of Virago Modern Classics, where Tea at Four O’Clock once made an appearance. I have to confess to not having…
Foxglove Summer by Ben Aaronovitch
Reviewed by Harriet I almost missed the boat where Ben Aaronovitch was concerned. I might never have discovered him at all if my fellow editor Annabel hadn’t given me Rivers of…
Some Here Among Us by Peter Walker
Reviewed by Susan Osborne New Zealand writer Peter Walker’s third novel is surprisingly slim given the amount of ground it covers, taking its central characters from their heady student days…
Reading Diversity
By Marilyn Dell Brady For the past three years, I have been reading globally and diversely, reading books written by people of color. The result has been exciting. By definition, people of…