The Lie of the Land by Amanda Craig
Reviewed by Annabel Quentin and Lottie want to divorce – but they can’t afford to. Well, can’t afford to sell their big London house and buy two smaller ones that…
Running Blind by Desmond Bagley
Review by Annabel I’m delighted that the vogue for republishing the best thrillers from the 1960s onwards as exemplified by the books of Lionel Davidson (see here and here!) has…
Q&A with Nicholas Royle, author of An English Guide to Birdwatching
Interview by Annabel Annabel: Firstly, I apologise, but I must admit, when offered this book for review, I initially mixed you up with the other Nicholas Royle, something you must (both)…
An English Guide to Birdwatching by Nicholas Royle
Review by Annabel When first offered this book to review – I thought it was finally time to get around to reading one of Nicholas Royle’s novels, I’ve several on…
Abigail’s Party by Mike Leigh
Review by Annabel ‘Little top-up?’ Ever since Alison Steadman playing Beverly uttered those words when Abigail’s Party aired on TV in 1977, they entered into the vernacular of my family….
The Bear and the Nightingale by Katherine Arden
Review by Annabel There is something about stories based upon Russian fairy tales that so appeals. Some authors, as Eowyn Ivey did with her divine debut, The Snow Child, translated…
Q&A with Emma Henderson about ‘The Valentine House’
Questions by Annabel Annabel: Taking the cog railway up the mountain and then a hike from the station brings back happy memories for me of summer holidays at Caux on the…
The Valentine House by Emma Henderson
Reviewed by Annabel Here they come. Here they are. Les anglais, the English, les rosbifs. After a rather attention-grabbling opening, in which the ageing Sir Anthony Valentine writes some extremely…
Swimming Lessons by Claire Fuller
Review by Annabel I reviewed Claire Fuller’s debut novel, Our Endless Numbered Days, for Shiny upon its publication – I loved it and was delighted when she won the 2015…
Auntie Poldi and the Sicilian Lions by Mario Giordano
Translated by John Brownjohn Reviewed by Annabel I’m very glad to have met the irrepressible Auntie Poldi! Our narrator, her beloved nephew, tells us what she is like: a glamorous…
Hit Makers by Derek Thompson
Review by Annabel I came to read this book immediately after devouring UK journalist and presenter Tim Harford’s recent Messy: How to Be Creative and Resilient in a Tidy-Minded World,…
Questions for Martine McDonagh
Interview by Annabel Narcissim for Beginners is Martine McDonagh’s third novel, reviewed by Annabel here. Annabel: How did you find the whole Unbound experience? (see our Spotlight on Publishers chat with Unbound…
Narcissism for Beginners by Marine McDonagh
Reviewed by Annabel In the interest of full disclosure, Martine and I have never met, but we are Facebook friends after I reviewed her first two novels. Narcissism for Beginners…
Mother of Darkness by Venetia Welby
Reviewed by Annabel Old Soho ain’t what it used to be. The former centre of London’s seedier side has been largely poshed up, gentrified and made chic for new money…
In the Name of the Family by Sarah Dunant
Review by Annabel There are two types of historical fiction. Those which are set during a particular period with imagined protagonists which may feature real people of the time in…
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…
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…
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 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…
Q&A with Stef Penney
Questions by Annabel Annabel: This has been a vintage year for me reading books about the frozen white stuff – I’ve read so many, both fiction and non-fiction, but your…
Under a Pole Star by Stef Penney
Review by Annabel This year is becoming a vintage one for historical novels set in Arctic or icy northern climes: To the Bright Edge of the World by Eowyn Ivey,…
Real Tigers by Mick Herron
Review by Annabel Herron is one of my favourite author discoveries of recent years. Real Tigers is the third of Mick Herron’s ‘Jackson Lamb’ series of spy novels, following Slow Horses and Dead…
33 Revolutions by Canek Sánchez Guevara
Translated by Howard Curtis Reviewed by Annabel Canek Sánchez Guevara was Che Guevara’s grandson. Was, because he died in early 2015 from complications after a heart operation – he was…
The Atomic Weight of Love by Elizabeth J. Church
Reviewed by Annabel In 1941 Meridian ‘Meri’ Wallace wins a place at university in Chicago to study ornithology. There she dates Jerry – and they have fun – but Meri…