December 3, 2020 That Old Country Music by Kevin Barry Reviewed by David Hebblethwaite Kevin Barry is known for his short stories, and with good reason. It has been eight years since his last…
March 12, 2020 Winter in Sokcho by Elisa Shua Dusapin Translated by Aneesa Abbas Higgins Review by David Hebblethwaite Winter in Sokcho is a first in several senses: the debut novel by French-Korean writer…
November 21, 2019 Lake Like a Mirror by Ho Sok Fong Translated by Natascha Bruce Review by David Hebblethwaite Ho Sok Fong is a Malaysian writer whose short stories have won a number of awards. Lake…
September 7, 2017 Elmet by Fiona Mozley Reviewed by David Hebblethwaite When the 2017 Man Booker Prize longlist was announced last month, it included a number of familiar names (including Jon…
June 20, 2017 Reservoir 13 by Jon McGregor Review by David Hebblethwaite Jon McGregor is a writer whose work deserves the fullest attention, which it will repay with some extraordinary reading experiences….
May 25, 2017 Addlands by Tom Bullough Paperback review by David Hebblethwaite Tom Bullough grew up on a farm in Radnorshire on the Welsh borders. As an administrative county, Radnorshire is…
December 12, 2016 Human Acts by Han Kang Translated by Deborah Smith Paperback review by David Hebblethwaite When you shake off the hundred-plus books of a year’s reading and find that the…
October 4, 2016 Beast by Paul Kingsnorth Reviewed by David Hebblethwaite Paul Kingsnorth made waves with his first novel, The Wake (2014), which was set around the Norman Conquest and written in a…
August 4, 2016 The Queue by Basma Abdel Aziz Translated from Arabic by Elisabeth Jaquette Reviewed by David Hebblethwaite Basma Abdel Aziz is a writer, artist and psychiatrist from Egypt, noted as a…
June 20, 2016 Sudden Death by Álvaro Enrigue Translated by Natasha Wimmer Reviewed by David Hebblethwaite There’s some remarkable literature from Mexico being published in English translation at the moment. Writers such as…
October 8, 2015 The Miner by Natsume Soseki In a new translation by Jay Rubin Reviewed by David Hebblethwaite Shiny new publisher: Aardvark Bureau, the new Gallic Books imprint headed up by…
July 23, 2015 The IFFP Ceremony: A Report from the Shadow Jury Text by David Hebblethwaite The Florence Hall at the London headquarters of RIBA (the Royal Institute of British Architects) is a suitably grand space…
July 17, 2015 Jellyfish by Janice Galloway Reviewed by David Hebblethwaite Janice Galloway’s new short story collection takes as its starting point an observation by David Lodge: “Literature is mostly about…
April 2, 2015 The Shore by Sara Taylor Reviewed by David Hebblethwaite In Sara Taylor’s debut novel, ‘the Shore’ is the name given to a group of three islands off the coast…
January 27, 2015 Bilbao–NewYork–Bilbao by Kirmen Uribe Translated from the Basque by Elizabeth Macklin Reviewed by David Hebblethwaite Bilbao – New York – Bilbao is Kirmen Uribe’s first novel; it won the…
January 15, 2015 The Vegetarian by Han Kang Translated by Deborah Smith Reviewed by David Hebblethwaite The first of Korean writer Han Kang’s books to be widely available (in Deborah Smith’s superb…
October 16, 2014 Hotel Alpha by Mark Watson Reviewed by David Hebblethwaite A hotel is a confluence of stories: a mixture of public and private space; a places where chance encounters are…
October 9, 2014 A Moment for the Short Story By David Hebblethwaite Short stories are in our bones. They are often the first fiction we read or hear: fairy tales, bedtime stories –…
July 23, 2014 Decompression by Juli Zeh Translated by John Cullen Reviewed by David Hebblethwaite In diving, decompression is the gradual reduction of ambient pressure as a diver returns to the…
July 10, 2014 All the Birds, Singing by Evie Wyld Reviewed by David Hebblethwaite She may only be on her second novel, but Evie Wyld is already gathering considerable acclaim. Her debut, 2009’s After…
April 16, 2014 The Rental Heart and Other Fairytales by Kirsty Logan Reviewed by David Hebblethwaite Open Kirsty Logan’s debut collection, and you’ll be met first with the title story, which broadly sets the tone for…
April 14, 2014 Jawbone Lake by Ray Robinson Reviewed by David Hebblethwaite The North Yorkshire writer Ray Robinson is not one to stand still. His first novel, 2006’s Electricity (which has been adapted into a…
