Longbourn by Jo Baker
Reviewed by Harriet Devine Jo Baker has had the brilliant idea of writing, not a sequel, but an account of what goes on below stairs in Pride and Prejudice. All the…
Five Fascinating Facts about Rumer Godden
Compiled by Victoria Best As an accompaniment to Harriet’s review of Rumer Godden novels An Episode of Sparrows and The Dark Horse, here are five things you might not know about the perennially popular…
An Episode of Sparrows and The Dark Horse by Rumer Godden
Reviewed by Harriet Devine Rumer Godden is a remarkable writer, and far less well known today than she deserves to be. So, Virago’s decision to reissue some of her novels…
Discovering Mary Hocking In The Back Of Another Book
Written by Ali Hope There is probably no greater joy for a book lover than to discover a new author. I found Mary Hocking nearly three years ago, in the…
The ‘Fairley Family Trilogy’ by Mary Hocking
Reviewed by Ali Hope The Fairley family trilogy by Mary Hocking has remained among her most popular novels. They were among a small number of Hockings published by Virago in…
An Interview with Jill Dawson
By Victoria Best Jill Dawson’s wonderful new novel, The Tell-Tale Heart, recounts the story of Patrick, a womanising lecturer who has recently received a heart transplant. By chance he discovers the identity…
The Tell-Tale Heart by Jill Dawson
Reviewed by Annabel Gaskell Jill Dawson’s eighth novel is certainly a tale with heart. At the centre of it is Professor and professional reprobate Patrick who, at fifty, is diagnosed…
The Smoke is Rising by Mahesh Rao
Reviewed by Sakura Gooneratne Mahesh Rao’s debut novel, The Smoke is Rising, chronicles the daily lives of Susheela, Mala and Uma in Mysore, India; three women from very different backgrounds caught…
On Writing by A.L. Kennedy
Reviewed by Simon Thomas When I first heard that A.L. Kennedy had written a book called On Writing – now out in paperback – I was intrigued and very keen to read…
The One Plus One by Jojo Moyes
Reviewed by Annabel Gaskell Commercial women’s fiction, you know – what we used to call ‘Chick-lit’, some still do, is alive and well, and the top titles are still selling…
Mrs. Hemingway by Naomi Wood
Written by Victoria Best Gertrude Stein said rather pithily of Hemingway, ‘Anyone who marries three girls from St Louis hasn’t learned much.’ In Naomi Wood’s brilliant account of all four of…
Q&A with Naomi Wood, author of Mrs. Hemingway
Questions by Shiny Editor, Victoria 1. What drew you towards Hemingway and his wives as a topic for fiction? I’ve always been interested in Hemingway as a writer, and a…
The Runaways by Elizabeth Goudge
Reviewed by Rachel Fenn Hesperus Press, known for their very attractive reprints of minor works by major authors, has recently launched a new arm of their business called Hesperus Minor,…
Mad Girl’s Love Song by Andrew Wilson
Reviewed by Victoria Best In Andrew Wilson’s fascinating account of Sylvia Plath before she met Ted Hughes, she comes across as the Britney Spears of the poetry world. There’s the…
Queen’s Gambit by Elizabeth Fremantle
Written by Victoria Best It’s a brave woman who steps into Hilary Mantel’s territory these days. Comparisons are bound to be rife, but Queen’s Gambit can stand up to them. The one…
The Cornish Coast Murder and The Lake District Murder by John Bude
Reviewed by Harriet Devine ‘That’s just where I must part company with you, Inspector’, said the Vicar with a gentle smile. ‘I’m rather a voracious reader of mystery stories, and…
The Quarry by Iain Banks
Reviewed by Annabel Gaskell When Iain Banks’ last novel The Quarry was published posthumously, a couple of weeks after his death from gall bladder cancer last year, as a fan of his…
Territorial Rights by Muriel Spark
Reviewed by Simon Thomas The vagaries of reputation are curious. If you ask a hundred people to name a novel by Muriel Spark, then most – well, most might cross…
Let’s Explore Diabetes With Owls by David Sedaris
Reviewed by Simon Thomas It’s a shame, in some respects, that our divisions on Shiny New Books don’t allow for subcategories within non-ficton, because you might be assuming (if the name…
In Search of Gielgud: A Biographer’s Tale by Jonathan Croall
Reviewed by Harriet Devine Writing a biography is easy, right? You just have to find out lots of facts about the person, and string them together to make them readable….
The Adjacent by Christopher Priest
Reviewed by Annabel Gaskell Though it was shortlisted for the Arthur C Clarke Award this year (but didn’t win the prize), it has taken me a while after reading The Adjacent by…
Pollyanna by Eleanor H. Porter
Reviewed by Jodie One of the children’s classics I didn’t read when I was a child was Pollyanna. It had been described to me as a story about a pious little girl who…
How to be a Heroine by Samantha Ellis
Reviewed by Jane Carter I was smitten as soon as I saw the title, but when I saw the cover—a pile of books is always a good thing and this…
An Officer and A Spy by Robert Harris
Reviewed by Falaise Robert Harris’ An Officer and A Spy is a tour de force of historical fiction, an account of what Harris himself has described as, “perhaps the greatest political scandal…