Molly Keane A Life by Sally Phipps
Review by Hayley Anderton From the moment I discovered Molly Keane it was love, not just for the quality of her writing, the unflattering but compelling sharpness of her observations,…
My Name is Lucy Barton by Elizabeth Strout
Reviewed by Harriet You will have only one story… You’ll write your one story many ways. Don’t ever worry about story. You will have only one. This advice, given to…
The Secret Life of Walter Mitty by James Thurber
Review by Karen Langley The title story of this collection of short pieces by James Thurber is probably his best-known work, thanks to the popular film adaptation starring Danny Kaye….
The Fatal Tree by Jake Arnott
Review by Annabel Jeff Arnott’s novels are moving back in time – He started in the 1960s and 1970s with his Long Firm trilogy, then he moved back to WWII…
First Love, by Gwendoline Riley
Reviewed by Eleanor Franzén The New York Times Book Review runs a regular feature called ‘By the Book’, a kind of questionnaire for celebrated authors about their reading habits. Recently,…
Welcome to Lagos by Chibundu Onuzo
Reviewed by Terence Jagger Lagos is not the capital of Nigeria – that is planned, concrete, unexciting Abuja, in the middle of the country but without a past or much…
The Ladybird Expert Books, Vols 1-3, by various authors
Review by Annabel Ladybird, now owned by Penguin Random House, have been going from strength to strength recently with their series of satires on modern life for adults, tackling subjects…
‘This is Brasil.’ Guest post by Joe Thomas
São Paulo is the capital of South America. What a city: rich in culture, dripping with cash, undermined by political corruption, marked by a rich / poor disparity which fuels…
Paradise City by Joe Thomas
Review by Annabel Joe Thomas lived and taught in São Paulo, the most populous city in the Americas and Southern Hemisphere, for ten years. His observations and experience of living…
The Pledge, by Friedrich Dürrenmatt
Translated by Joel Agee Reviewed by Eleanor Franzén In a mountainous Swiss canton not far from Zurich, a little girl’s body is found. She is only seven or eight, with…
Heartthrobs by Carol Dyhouse
Reviewed by Harriet Subtitled ‘A History of Women and Desire’, this book explores the fields of literature, film and popular romance. Ranging from the early nineteenth century to the present…
Mortal Engines by Stanislaw Lem
Edited and translated by Michael Kandel Review by Karen Langley Polish author Stanislaw Lem is probably best known for his novel “Solaris”, a book that’s been filmed twice – once…
Apple Tree Yard by Louise Doughty
Reviewed by Victoria Apple Tree Yard, (now a series from the BBC), may be billed as a thriller, but like all of Louise Doughty’s novels, it’s a story with more…
The January Man by Christopher Somerville
Reviewed by Judith Wilson It was early January when I requested Christopher Somerville’s new walking book for review. I was simultaneously intrigued by its title, The January Man, and by…
Sirens by Joseph Knox
Review by Annabel Literary noir, in its general sense of typifying dark, cynical and unpleasant crime novels, (as opposed to the classic interpretation of hardboiled style novels where the protagonist…
The Gardens of Consolation by Parisa Reza
Translated by Adriana Hunter Reviewed by Terence Jagger “To the east, bare earth as far as the eye can see. To the west, hills … then on the horizon, mountains. …
The Olive Oil Diet by Dr Simon Poole and Judy Ridgway
Reviewed by Harriet When I was a small child my mother, who spent a lot of time in France and loved French cooking, used to have to go to the…
The Girl Before by J.P. Delaney
Reviewed by Harriet Who is JP Delaney? All that is known at the time of writing this review is that the pseudonym conceals the identity of ‘a writer who has…
4 3 2 1 by Paul Auster
Reviewed by Harriet All along, from the beginning of his conscious life, the persistent feeling that the forks and parallels of the roads taken and not taken were all being…
The Novel of the Century – The Extraordinary Adventure of Les Misérables by David Bellos
Review by Annabel Victor Hugo’s Les Misérables is 150 years old in 2017, and doubtless there will be much attention paid them including this book by David Bellos, renowned professor…
Death Going Down by María Angélica Bosco
Translated by Lucy Greaves Reviewed by Gill Davies Thanks to Shiny – and the publishers – I am discovering and enjoying new crime writers. The latest one is the Argentine…
Simple by Diana Henry and Gather by Gill Meller
Reviewed by Hayley Anderton A tale of two cookbooks: Simple and Gather The nights are now longer than the days, the quinces on the tree across the road have turned…
A Different Sea – Claudio Magris
Translated from the Italian by M. S. Spurr Reviewed by Hayley Anderton This is a book that really needs an introduction, or even an afterword, unfortunately it doesn’t have one….
Crimson Snow: Winter Mysteries, ed. Martin Edwards
Reviewed by Harriet The British Library Crime Classics editions started a successful trend in 2014 with their publication of J. Jefferson Farjeon’s Mystery in White, which became a runaway best-seller….