Spotlight on Young Adult Fiction – Summer 2016
Selected by Jenny and Memory It’s summer, and the cups of your trusty YA correspondents runneth over. We know we led you to believe that we would curate a list…
Fell by Jenn Ashworth
Reviewed by Simon The title of Jenn Ashworth’s fourth novel could mean any number of things – or, indeed, all of them. The first two that come to mind, as…
A Hero in France by Alan Furst
Reviewed by Annabel It’s been some years since I read an Alan Furst novel, although I own up to having a shelf-full of them. He’s prolific – A Hero in France is…
The Adolescent by Fyodor Dostoevsky
Translated by Dora O’Brien Reviewed by Karen Langley Russian author Fyodor Dostoevsky is best known in the west for his novels Crime and Punishment, The Brothers Karamazov, Demons/Devils/The Possessed and…
The Gustav Sonata by Rose Tremain
Reviewed by Harriet ‘You have to be like Switzerland,’ Gustav’s mother tells him. ‘You have to hold yourself together and be courageous, stay separate and strong.’ The Gustav Sonata is Rose…
The Night of Wenceslas by Lionel Davidson
Reviewed by Harriet Is there no end to these amazing novelists who appeared to have sunk without trace and are now being revived for our pleasure and instruction? Lionel Davidson…
Slade House by David Mitchell
Paperback review by Anna Hollingsworth The door pulls my palm up against it. It’s warm…And as it swings inwards, the hinges shriek like brakes… … and we’re looking into a…
Paradise Lodge by Nina Stibbe
Reviewed by Annabel In Nina (of Love, Nina) Stibbe’s first semi-autobiographical novel Man at the Helm (reviewed here) we were introduced to the Vogel family. In it, the three Vogel children who were not…
In the Month of the Midnight Sun by Cecilia Ekbäck
Reviewed by Harriet Last year I read and loved Cecila Ekbäck’s debut novel, Wolf Winter – you can see my review here and my interview with Cecilia here. So I was thrilled to…
Sergeant Cluff Stands Firm by Gil North
Reviewed by Harriet Cluff did not stir. Nor did Wright. Wright gripped the curtain, his arm raised, frozen in the beginning of motion. The afternoon began to fade. The pilot…
The Tidal Zone by Sarah Moss
Reviewed by Alice Farrant A relationship with death, or the prospect of it, is like being a member of a horrible club because to know death is to know something…
The Sinking Admiral by Members of the Detection Club, ed. Simon Brett
Reviewed by Elaine Simpson-Long In 1932 Agatha Christie and Dorothy L Sayers collaborated with other writers, including G K Chesterton and Ronald Knox, Freeman Wills Crofts, Edgar Jepson, Clemence Dane…
Chains of Sand by Jemma Wayne
Reviewed by Isobel Blackthorn A work of contemporary fiction, Chains of Sand by Jemma Wayne is a timely and important portrayal of a realm of Middle Eastern conflict made familiar to most…
Before the Fall by Noah Hawley
Reviewed by Gill Davies This is a gripping read – one of those suspense novels that you don’t want to put aside to do other things. And it’s gripping not…
Penguin Modern Poets – The Relaunch
By Karen Langley If you’re a reader of a certain age who went through the British school system, you most likely encountered the Penguin Modern Poets series. They, along with…
Penguin Modern Poets – Books 1 and 2
Reviewed by Karen Langley As you might well have gathered from my piece in the Bookbuzz section, Penguin has relaunched their iconic Modern Poets series; the first collections is now available,…
Evelyn Waugh: A Life Revisited by Philip Eade
Reviewed by Liz Dexter When approaching a biography of Evelyn Waugh, one can’t help but assume it’s going to be a portrait of quite a nasty man who was mean…
Charmed Life: The Phenomenal World of Philip Sassoon by Damian Collins
Reviewed by Liz Dexter First of all, because this is the question everyone will ask: yes, Philip Sassoon was a distant cousin of the First World War poet, Siegfried –…
The Eds Discuss – European Culture
Post-referendum, the Shiny Eds (all Remainers) are still reeling at the Brexit vote! We thought it timely to explore our experience of European culture on the page and screen. Do…
The Middlepause; On Turning Fifty by Marina Benjamin
Reviewed by Victoria When you think of all the great defining events of an ordinary life and how often they feature as the focus of a novel – growing up,…
Brexit Reading
Written by Victoria In the aftermath of the historic referendum vote on 23rd June, and before we really learn what it means for all of us, what can we read…
How to Find Love in a Bookshop by Veronica Henry
Reviewed by Elaine Simpson-Long We have had a few weeks of scorching weather as I write this, though it is now raining, and, of course, as it is summer we…
Passage of Arms by Eric Ambler
Reviewed by Harriet This is the third of Eric Ambler’s newly reissued novels I have read in the past few months, the other two being The Light of Day and A Kind of…
Negroland by Margo Jefferson
Reviewed by Victoria ‘I think it’s too easy to recount unhappy memories when you write about race,’ writes Margot Jefferson, as a refrain repeated several times across the course of…