Reviewed by Laura Marriott Meet Stella Sweeney, a Dublin wife, mother and beautician in her early forties. Stella’s chaotic but seemingly content life is abruptly interrupted before spiralling in directions…
Written by Victoria Best Broadstairs, Kent in the early summer of 1951, and visitors are arriving to spend extended holidays on its beaches. Edmund Steele, a middle-aged medical man has…
Reviewed by Kim Forrester British writer Harriet Lane has followed up her debut novel Alys Always with another psychological thriller that may make you think twice about striking up a…
Translated by Deborah Smith Reviewed by David Hebblethwaite The first of Korean writer Han Kang’s books to be widely available (in Deborah Smith’s superb translation) to English-speaking audiences, The Vegetarian…
Paperback review by Annabel This debut novel was one of the big YA hits in the UK last year and is now out in paperback. An exploration of family, friendship…
Translated from the Catalan by Maruxa Relaño and Martha Tennent Reviewed by Jean Morris I wonder if my daughter will forget the image of the rainy street where for years…
Reviewed by Harriet Best known for her books for children and young adults (ninety-five of them to date), Adèle Geras has also written a handful of novels for adults, of…
Reviewed by Annabel Marcus Sedgwick is one of my favourite authors, one of the few whose new YA and adult novels I will buy automatically. He has won several prizes…
Translated from the French by Liedewy Hawke Reviewed by Ali Hope Swirling like wateragainst rugged rocks,time goes around and around The art of the Haiku is an ancient one, and…
Translated by Anna Summers Reviewed by Karen Langley Russian author Nikolai Gogol, best known for satirical works like The Nose and Dead Souls, is not a name you would automatically connect with a…
By Helen Skinner In Mr Mac and Me, Esther Freud paints a beautiful portrait of a small rural community and the ways in which it is affected by war. Our narrator…
Translated by Howard Curtis Reviewed by Terence Jagger I knew nothing of this author, but enjoyed this light, untroubling murder mystery set in the coastal town of Pineta in Italy. …
Reviewed by Lyn Baines Together and Apart is a novel about marriage and divorce and about how events can very quickly run out of control. Betsy Canning is bored with her…
Translated from the German by Jamie Bulloch Reviewed by Victoria Best Well this is a curious book, and one that’s been divisive in the online reviews, with a fair few…
Translated by Emily Boyce Reviewed by Annabel I am a recent convert to the dark noir novels of French author Pascal Garnier. There has been a lot of interest around…
Reviewed by Elaine Simpson-Long The Lost Prince is not one of Burnett’s well known titles. The Little Princess and The Secret Garden are those that spring to mind when this author’s name is mentioned and The…
Reviewed by Denise Kong The Emperor Waltz is a long (over 600 pages), complex and astonishing read. If you like David Mitchell, Alan Hollinghurst or Donna Tartt, you’ll probably like The Emperor…
Reviewed by Simon Thomas Edith Olivier’s The Love Child (1927) was her first novel, and easily her best. Although rediscovered as a ‘modern classic’ in 1981 by Virago, it has not been…
Reviewed by Jodie Robson Over the last few weeks I’ve been rediscovering an almost forgotten aspect of childhood in the company of two very exciting young men: Phillip D’Aubigny, Knight…
Reviewed by Max Dunbar Milan Kundera wrote that ‘The struggle of man against power is the struggle of memory against forgetting.’ Winston Smith, of course, worked as an editor in…
Reviewed by Elaine Simpson-Long Having enjoyed Daisy Goodwin’s first novel, The Last Duchess and enjoyed it greatly I was looking forward to her second, The Fortune Hunter, and even more so when I…
Review by Jane Carter I must confess that until quite recently I had never heard of Una L Silberrad, but now that this lovely book has fallen into my hands…
Reviewed by Harriet Devine I think I must have been about seven or eight when I was given this book for Christmas. I doubt if it can have been the…
Reviewed by Simon Nobody loves a good reprint better than I do, and so I was quite excited to see a series from Vintage called ‘Vintage Movie Classics’, wherein they…
