Greek Lessons by Han Kang
Translated by Deborah Smith and Emily Yae Won Reviewed by David Hebblethwaite It has been eight years now since Deborah Smith’s translation of The Vegetarian was published (reviewed here), and…
Lean Fall Stand by Jon McGregor
Review by David Hebblethwaite If Jon McGregor’s name is on the front of a book, I want to read it – it’s as simple as that. There are certain things…
Homelands: The History of a Friendship by Chitra Ramaswamy
Review by David Hebblethwaite In 2011, journalist Chitra Ramaswamy was sent to interview Henry and Ingrid Wuga, a Jewish couple who had fled Nazi Germany and, by then in their…
Elena Knows by Claudia Piñeiro
Translated by Frances Riddle Reviewed by David Hebblethwaite Claudia Piñeiro is an author from Argentina who, so far, has mostly been published in English as a crime writer. As the…
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 collection, Dark Lies the Island, so…
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 Elisa Shua Dusapin, and the first…
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 Like a Mirror is her second collection,…
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 McGregor’s Reservoir 13, which I’ve reviewed for…
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. He has an unerring ability to…
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 no more, having been officially absorbed…
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 one that clings the longest is…
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 modified version of Old English. It…
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 critic of government oppression. The Queue is her…
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 Valeria Luiselli, Yuri Herrera, Paulette Jonguitud,…
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 Scott Pack, formerly publisher at The…
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 for awarding a literary prize, and…
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 having sex and not much about…
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 of Virginia. It’s a flat, largely…
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 Spanish National Literature Prize in 2009,…
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 translation) to English-speaking audiences, The Vegetarian…
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 routine; somewhere that plays host to…
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 – and at school (for example), they…
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 surface, which allows the inert gases…
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 the Fire, a Still Small Voice,…
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