The Inugami Curse by Seishi Yokomizo
Translated by Yumiko Yamazaki Review by Terence Jagger This Japanese detective thriller is set in the 1940s and so is relatively ‘modern’, but only in that calendar sense: in style…
James and Nora: A Portrait of a Marriage by Edna O’Brien
Review by Rob Spence Last year, Weidenfeld and Nicholson reissued Edna O’Brien’s 1999 biography of Joyce, an entertainingly idiosyncratic volume, which is reviewed here. Now, the same publishers have revived…
Victory For The Slain by Hugh Lofting
Review by Rob Spence When we think of First World War poets, it’s safe to say that Hugh Lofting will not be the first name that springs to mind. The creator…
Chatterton Square by E H Young
Reviewed by Harriet When the British Library announced the first three titles in their new Women Writers series, I was delighted see that one of them was Chatterton Square. I…
Diary Of A Foreigner In Paris, by Curzio Malaparte
Translated by Stephen Twilley Reviewed by Basil Ransome-Davies An adjective frequently applied to Curzio Malaparte is ‘colourful’. To the Cambridge dictionary it means ‘vivid, rich, or distinctive in character’, and…
My Husband Simon by Mollie Panter-Downes
Reviewed by Harriet I’m sure I’m not alone in having rejoiced when the British Library announced a new series of reprints of 20th century women writers: ‘a curated collection of…
A History of Pictures: From the Cave to the Computer Screen by Martin Gayford and David Hockney
Reviewed by Liz Dexter This is a new ‘compact’ edition of this book, with a revised final chapter bringing it all up to date, and reproductions of three new David…
James Joyce by Edna O’Brien
Review by Rob Spence Edna O’Brien’s position as one of the most significant modern Irish writers is undisputed, and here, in this reissue of her 1999 short biography, she tackles…
Business as Usual by Jane Oliver and Ann Stafford
Reviewed by Ali Business as Usual is an early work from the formidably productive writing partnership of Jane Oliver and Ann Stafford (both pseudonyms) – and it is utterly delightful. A…
Kallocain by Karin Boye
Translated by David McDuff Review by Karen Langley Our modern world often seems to be getting very close to a dystopian nightmare, and most of our visions of that kind…
My Caravaggio Style by Doris Langley Moore
Review by Simon It’s always exciting when Dean Street Press announce the next batch of novels in their Furrowed Middlebrow series, chosen by Scott at the excellent Furrowed Middlebrow blog….
Veronica by Veronica Lake
Reviewed by Harriet I wonder how many people today have even heard of Veronica Lake. There was a time, though a relatively brief one, in which she was widely celebrated,…
Abigail by Magda Szabo
Translated by Len Rix Reviewed by Harriet This novel, by the award-winning Hungarian novelist Magda Szabo, was first published in 1970. However, it is set in 1943-4, a crucial period…
Postscript to Poison & Shadows Before by Dorothy Bowers
Reviewed by Harriet I have a special liking for vintage crime novels and am always pleased when I discover an author previously unknown to me. This has happened a lot…
Of Cats and Elfins by Sylvia Townsend Warner
Reviewed by Harriet Just over a year ago I reviewed the newly published Handheld Press edition of Sylvia Townsend Warner’s Kingdoms of Elfin, a collection of strange, glittering, fascinating stories,…
Tales of Pirx the Pilot by Stanislaw Lem
Translated by Louis Iribarne Review by Karen Langley Polish writer Stanislaw Lem was a prolific author of science fiction works, the most well known of which is “Solaris” (which has…
Tea at Four O’Clock by Janet McNeill
Review by Harriet The gates of her prison were open, but she lacked the courage to go through them to whatever new country was waiting for her on the other…
The Caravaners by Elizabeth von Arnim
Introduced by Juliane Römhild, with notes by Kate Macdonald Review by Karen Langley Elizabeth von Arnim is probably best known nowadays for her novel The Enchanted April, a warm and delightful story…
Machines in the Head: Selected Short Writing by Anna Kavan
Review by Karen Langley There was quite a resurgence of interest in Anna Kavan’s writing last year with the release of not one, but three, different editions of her classic…
The House Opposite by Barbara Noble
Review by Elaine Simpson-Long It sounds odd to begin a book review with the statement that I do not like contemporary literature. I never have. And it is not because…
The Lady in the Car with Glasses and a Gun by Sébastien Japrisot
Translated by Helen Weaver Review by Annabel I had never heard of Sébastien Japrisot before reading this book, and afterwards, I wasn’t surprised to discover that he has been nicknamed…
A Stranger in my Grave by Margaret Millar
Reviewed by Harriet Margaret Millar, born in Canada in 1915, lived for most of her life in California with her husband Ken, who wrote crime novels under the name Ross…
Death in Captivity – Michael Gilbert
Reviewed by Hayley Anderton I’ve enjoyed more or less everything I’ve read in the British Library Crime Classics series (everything has had something to recommend it), but Michael Gilbert’s books…
Berg by Ann Quin
Review by Helen Parry Until a couple of months ago, I had never heard of Ann Quin. However, I then read that the independent publisher And Other Stories was re-issuing…