City of Fiction by Yu Hua
Translated from the Chinese by Todd Foley Review by Frances Spurrier Lin Xiangfu was on edge that evening. Moonlight streamed down through the hole in the roof like a sparkling column…
Nothing Grows by Moonlight by Torborg Nedreaas
Translated by Bibbi Lee Review by Karen Langley Recent years have seen a spate of newly translated fictions being made available by Penguin Classics in their ‘Demy’ series; these works…
The Dancer from the Dance by Janet Burroway
Reviewed by Harriet I had never heard of Janet Burroway until Mike Walmer recently republished her 1965 novel, The Dancer from the Dance. It was the second of her eight…
Goodnight Tokyo by Atsuhiro Yoshida
Translated by Hayden Trowell Review by Rob Spence Quirky Japanese literature seems to be all the rage these days. Every British bookshop seems well-stocked with Tokyo-based stories about cats or…
Three Days in June by Anne Tyler
Reviewed by Harriet ‘You know I’m not a huge cat fan. I’ve always thought they were cold-hearted’. ‘Cats are not cold-hearted’, I said. ‘They’re only protecting their dignity in case…
Black Woods Blue Sky by Eowyn Ivey
Review by Annabel Alaskan author Eowyn Ivey isn’t the most prolific; in thirteen years, she’s just published her third novel, but for me it was worth the wait. Being a…
Confessions by Catherine Airey
Review by Max Dunbar The Whole Wild World The problem with talking about books you enjoy is that you don’t want to go too far into a story for fear…
The Last of the Aldinis by George Sand
Translated by George Burnham Ives Review by Rob Spence Opposite the title page of this new edition of George Sand’s novel is a list of her works of fiction. It…
Shiny Prize Season 2025: Dylan Thomas Award longlist – Pity by Andrew McMillan & The Coin by Yasmin Zaher
The Swansea University Dylan Thomas Award has now been running since 2006. It honours young writers, so entering writers must be 39 or under (the age Dylan Thomas died). This…
Shiny Prize Season 2025: Nero debut fiction winner – Wild Houses by Colin Barrett
Review by Annabel When originally published early last year, this debut novel, from another up-and-coming Irish author, garnered rave reviews. It was longlisted for the 2024 Booker Prize, although I…
The Proof of My Innocence by Jonathan Coe
Review by David Harris, 29 January 2025 Reading a review this weekend of a new TV series set in the 80s, I found myself agreeing with the writer’s point that…
Abandonment by Erminia Dell’Oro
Translated by Oonagh Stransky Review by Annabel Such is my woeful lack of knowledge of African history, I had no idea that Eritrea had been colonized by Italy in the…
The Drowned by John Banville
Reviewed by Harriet, 14 Jan 2025 When John Banville announced that he was going to give up writing the multi-award-winning literary fiction for which he had been celebrated for decades,…
Pictures on the Wall by Hugo Charteris
Review by Rob Spence, 9 Jan 2025 This book, by the strangely neglected author of a number of novels in the fifties and sixties, is another welcome publication from the…
The Sequel by Jean Hanff Korelitz
Reviewed by Harriet Sequels can be very enticing when the initial book has done well. Readers want to know what happens to a character they’ve connected with. So says a…
Lady Living Alone by Norah Lofts
Reviewed by Harriet In the year 1932, Miss Penelope Shadow published a book which instantly became a best seller. It was her fourth book and not, in her opinion, markedly…
Karla’s Choice by Nick Harkaway
Review by Annabel When it was announced that Nick Harkaway, one of the lateJohn Le Carré’s sons, was going to write another Smiley novel, I rubbed my hands with glee….
Mammoth by Eva Baltasar
Translated by Julia Sanches Review by Michael Eaude Ice and Fire Mammoth is the third novel in Eva Baltasar’s big-selling trilogy, each featuring young women in search of love with…
Midnight in Vienna – Jane Thynne
Reviewed by Elaine Simpson-Long Several years ago I was sent a copy of Black Roses by this author, the first in her Clara Vine series. Clara is an Anglo-German actress…
The Unfinished Harauld Hughes by Richard Ayoade
Review by Annabel Underneath the comic, often socially awkward, character exterior of Richard Ayoade lives a real intellectual and talented writer, who puts on a clever act to fool us…
Dickens: The Funny Bits, compiled by R.J. Cruikshank
Review by Karen Langley Victorian novelist Charles Dickens is an iconic figure; known for his chunky novels, filled with vivid characters, social commentary and campaigning, he’s also occasionally dismissed because…
Death at the Sign of the Rook by Kate Atkinson
Reviewed by Harriet He had spent a good two weeks being sensible and mature, and then he bought a Land Rover Defender instead. It was a rugged, blokey kind of…
Dear Dickhead by Virginie Despentes
Translated by Frank Wynne Review by Annabel I would never have predicted that Virginie Despentes, creator/director of the 2000 rape-revenge novel and film Baise-moi, author of the superb ‘State of…
Tell Me Everything by Elizabeth Strout
Reviewed by Harriet I discovered the wonderful Elizabeth Strout back in 2017, when I reviewed My Name is Lucy Barton for Shiny. Since then I’ve reviewed another four of her…