My Men by Victoria Kielland
Translated by Damion Searls Reviewed by Harriet This extraordinary, powerful novel begins in Norway, in 1876, and it begins as it means to go on: Brynhild’s head was wrapped in…
Translated by Damion Searls Reviewed by Harriet This extraordinary, powerful novel begins in Norway, in 1876, and it begins as it means to go on: Brynhild’s head was wrapped in…
Review by Helen Parry Mrs Hinds beamed at Ipsie through pince-nez and bubbled her joy through thin lips, but Ipsie made no reply. Americans see English people always reduced to…
Review by Hayley Anderton It seems as if there’s an almost bottomless appetite for retellings of Greek myths for every age group and across ever more genres; how far are…
Reviewed by Harriet Amber typed her next query into Google: Amber Glass, Joe Simpson, Prom Mom, Cad Dad. Ah, here they were, the headlines and images she had fought so…
Review by Julie Barham Many people have asked Alison Weir about writing the story of Henry to go alongside her excellent Six Tudor Queens series (Anna of Kleve – Queen…
Reviewed by Harriet Stef Penney is not a prolific author – there were five years between each of her first three novels, and it’s been seven years since the publication…
Review by Peter Reason The Last Whale is a fiction book for teens and young adults that covers serious themes in an engaging story. The narrative threads together tragedy and…
Review by Annabel In a publishing world that has been fairly swamped by feminist retellings of the heroines and heroes of the Ancient Greek myths, much as I enjoy reading…
Translated by Ho-Ling Wong Review by Terence Jagger This is another of Yukito Ayatsuji’s homages to the British Golden Age of mystery writing, like The Decagon House Murders I reviewed…
Review by Max Dunbar Welcome, Stranger I was born in the early eighties. My childhood was coloured by reflective screens of jumping pixels. I became fascinated by video games. There…
Reviewed by Harriet First published in 1927, nearly a hundred years ago, in the satirical British magazine Punch, the letters of fictional girl-about-town Topsy to her best friend Trix actually…
Translated by Jesse Kirkwood Review by Karen Langley Summer reading tastes vary, but for me there’s nothing better than settling down with a satisfying mystery novel, particularly of the Golden…
Review by Susan Osborne Opening with a beginning and an end, The Queen of Dirt Island follows four generations of women in one unconventional household, all devoted to each other…
Translated by Oonagh Stransky Review by Rob Spence The British are not receptive to literature in translation. Sure, any decent bookshop will have a smattering of foreign classics – Proust,…
Reviewed by Harriet There’s probably a name for a sub-genre of books that echo or allude to earlier works of literature, something that has to be well done to make…
Review by Susan Osborne Yiyun Li’s The Book of Goose is the story of an obsessive friendship between two young girls in 1950s rural France, one of whom will briefly…
Review by Annabel Having very much enjoyed Annie Macmanus’ debut novel Mother Mother last year, I was really keen to read her next. The Mess We’re In is as similar…
Review by Julie Barham Ian McEwan’s output is made up of a great variety of types of novels, going from the specific to the general, and sometimes back again. He…
Review by Susan Osborne I’ve read all Kamila Shamsie’s novels and, despite enjoying each of them, Burnt Shadows remained my favourite, but with its exploration of ‘80s Pakistan and contemporary…
Review by Susan Osborne Miriam Toews’ Fight Night takes the form of a letter written by nine-year-old Swiv to her father who her grandmother has told her is off fighting…
Review by Julie Barham I often seek out what can be called “cosy crime” or at least crime novels that are not too brutal or police procedural. Richard Coles is…
Reviewed by Harriet It’s been a while since we reviewed a British Library Crime Classic on here, so it’s a pleasure to write about this recent one, the only novel…
Review by Annabel I discovered Leila Aboulela with her previous novel Bird Summons, in which three Muslim women living in Edinburgh go on a road trip and spiritual quest to…
Review by Max Dunbar The Savannah of George Dawes Green‘s mystery novel is full of tourists. Not regular tourists. These tourists ride around in the back of a hearse. In…