Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver
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…
The Book of Goose by Yiyun Li
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…
The Mess We’re In by Annie Macmanus
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…
Lessons by Ian McEwan
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…
Best of Friends by Kamila Shamsie
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…
Fight Night by Miriam Toews
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…
A Death in the Parish by The Reverend Richard Coles
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…
Twice Round the Clock by Billie Houston
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…
River Spirit by Leila Aboulela
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…
The Kingdoms of Savannah by George Dawes Green
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…
The Memory of Animals by Claire Fuller
Reviewed by Rebecca Foster With five absorbing novels published in eight years, Claire Fuller has rapidly become one of the essential voices in contemporary literary fiction. Her accolades include a…
The Neverending Story by Michael Ende
Translated by Ralph Manheim, illustrated by Marie-Alice Harel Review by Lory Widmer Hess He picked up the book and examined it from all sides. It was bound in copper-colored silk,…
Roadside Picnic by Arkady & Boris Strugatsky
Translated by Elena Bormaschenko Illustrated and Introduced by Dave McKean Reviewed by Annabel I have long meant to read this SF classic by the Strugatsky brothers, published in 1972, and…
The House of Doors by Tan Twan Eng
Reviewed by Rob Spence A new novel from Tan Twan Eng is a major literary event. His many admirers have been waiting over ten years since the publication of his…
The Home by Penelope Mortimer
Reviewed by Harriet I’ve just finished reading this very good and very upsetting novel. It’s good because Mortimer was an excellent writer, vivid, perceptive, witty. But it’s upsetting because it’s…
Shy by Max Porter
Reviewed by Annabel Now that he’s four novels into his career with Shy, it would be fair to say that Max Porter is one of the UK’s most inventive novelists….
Greek Lessons by Han Kang
Translated by Deborah Smith and Emily Yae Won Reviewed by David Hebblethwaite It has been eight years now since Deborah Smith’s translation of The Vegetarian was published (reviewed here), and…
Your Driver is Waiting by Priya Guns
Review by Max Dunbar If you value your life, don’t fuck with Damani, gig economy driver extraordinaire. In her cab she has ‘a switchblade in the glove compartment (which I…
The Precinct with the Golden Arm by Dennis Broe
Reviewed by Michael Eaude This noir novel is the third of a trilogy set in Los Angeles in the late 1940s and featuring private eye Harry Palmer. The golden age…
My Turn to Make the Tea by Monica Dickens
Reviewed by Julie Barham Monica Dickens wrote many novels, but her first three books were actually fictionalised memoirs of her first three “Jobs”, a varied collection. This book is the…
Old God’s Time by Sebastian Barry
Reviewed by Harriet As I was reading this book, with great enjoyment and amazement, I was saying to myself – how am I ever going to review this? The story…
Constance Maud’s No Surrender: A Graphic Novel by Scarlett & Sophie Rickard
Review by Julie Barham Colourful, powerful and amazingly enjoyable – this new version of Constance Maud’s suffragette classic as a graphic novel is a revelation. I have not read many…
Bird of Paradise by Ada Leverson
Reviewed by Harriet Bertha – Mrs Percy Kellynch – was known as a beauty. She was indeed improbably pretty, small, plump and very fair, with soft golden hair that was…
Half of a Yellow Sun by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
Review by Lory Widmer Hess “The people who offer us the best insights into reality are often novelists,” Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie has said, [The Guardian, 14 Jan 2020] and reading…