Northanger Abbey by Val McDermid
Reviewed by Annabel Gaskell When I read that Val McDermid, writer of many a gory crime novel, was penning the second book in ‘The Austen Project’, publisher Harper Collins’s series…
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Picture Me Gone by Meg Rosoff
Reviewed by Annabel Gaskell I have always fiercely maintained that good writing transcends genre; it also transcends age. Meg Rosoff’s latest novel for young adults, recently out in paperback, is…
Combining Fact and Fiction in the Writing of ‘The Dance of Love’ by Angela Young
The Dance of Love is my second novel, so I’m a novice. I’ve written since I was a child but it’s one thing to write in a notebook you keep under…
Autobiography of a Corpse by Sigizmund Krzhizhanovsky
Translated by Joanne Turnbull Reviewed by Karen Langley Soviet Russia’s Best-Kept Literary Secret Sigizmund Krzhizhanovsky could accurately be described as the lost writer of Russia’s Soviet era. Born in the…
Bedsit Disco Queen by Tracey Thorn
Reviewed by Annabel Gaskell I wish Tracey Thorn was my cousin, sister even. I can say that – for we share not only a maiden name, but a love of…
The Road to Reckoning by Robert Lautner
Reviewed by Annabel Gaskell Having grown up loving all those cowboy TV series from the 1960s and ‘70s like The Virginian and Alias Smith and Jones, maybe it’s not surprising that I’ve turned…
Into the Trees by Robert Williams
Reviewed by Annabel Gaskell Imagine a house in the middle of the forest, somewhere you feel safe, at home; somewhere to hide away perhaps? What springs to mind? One such…
Q&A with Helen Oyeyemi, author of Boy, Snow, Bird
Questions by Simon 1) Firstly, congrats on Boy, Snow, Bird, it’s fantastic! Could you say a bit about the genesis of the novel and how it developed? Thank you! This…
Boy, Snow, Bird by Helen Oyeyemi
Reviewed by Simon Thomas At some point, Helen Oyeyemi will stop being notable for her youth – but, at 29 and with five novels under her belt, that day has…
Still Life with Breadcrumbs by Anna Quindlen
Reviewed by Adèle Geras Every so often, you come across a novel whose qualities appeal to you in a way that you can’t quite explain. Still Life with Breadcrumbs came to me as…
The Lowland by Jhumpa Lahiri
Reviewed by Rachel Fenn The Lowland is the story of two brothers, Udayan and Subhash, and the woman they both marry, Gauri. The novel opens in the heat drenched suburbs of…
The Dig by Cynan Jones
Reviewed by Victoria Hoyle Cynan Jones’ third novel The Dig was high on my list of anticipated releases in early 2014, bought as soon as it came out in January. It was a…
Falling into the Fire by Christine Montross
Written by Victoria Best I begin to wonder whether there is an entry in the DSM (the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders) for readers like me, who find themselves…
The Luminaries by Eleanor Catton
Reviewed by Victoria Best You have to imagine a big chest in the corner of the attic, containing the inscription: Plot Fireworks: Handle With Care! Then picture Eleanor Catton, that…
Some Questions for Alice Hoffman
Shiny Editor, Annabel asks Alice Hoffman some questions about the themes in her writing career and her latest novel The Museum of Extraordinary Things, which is reviewed here. Annabel: Before I get…
Born in Siberia by Tamara Astafieva
Translated by Luba Loffe Reviewed by Karen Langley Speak, memory, that I may not forget the taste of roses, nor the sound of ashes in the wind; That I may…
The Love-Charm of Bombs by Lara Feigel
Reviewed by Harriet Devine For the past couple of years, I have been fascinated by the events of WW2, and have found myself drawn again and again to novels written…
A Tangled Web by L.M. Montgomery
Reviewed by Mahathi G A Tangled Web is one of L M Montgomery’s ‘adult’ novels. As such, it is rather different from Montgomery’s usual. There is nothing really ‘adult’ about it…
The Genesis of ‘After Me Comes The Flood’, by Sarah Perry
Sarah Perry has lived in Cambridge, Manila and London. A winner of the Shiva Naipaul Memorial prize and a Royal Holloway doctoral studentship, she was Writer-in-Residence at Gladstone’s Library in…
Stuff Matters by Mark Miodownik
Reviewed by Annabel Gaskell Good popular science books don’t come along that often, and when they do, they’re inevitably about four topics it seems: quantum physics, space, genetics or the…
Sebastian Barry on The Temporary Gentleman
Sebastian Barry fills in some of the background to his latest novel, which Harriet reviewed here. Questions by Shiny Editor, Harriet. 1. The Temporary Gentleman takes place mainly in Ireland and Africa. What…
The Temporary Gentleman by Sebastian Barry
Reviewed by Harriet Devine A lark, a single bird with her dowdy plumage, burst up from her cup of sand just in front of me and like a needle flashing…
Appointment with Yesterday and With No Crying by Celia Fremlin
Reviewed by Harriet Devine. Why on earth have we not heard of Celia Fremlin? Well, I certainly hadn’t until recently, and having discovered her brilliant ‘novels of domestic suspense’ through…
Books That Changed the World by Andrew Taylor
Reviewed by Hayley Anderton The 50 most influential books in human history? There is a definite place in my life for books about books and I’m fond of a good…