December 2, 2021 Lily: A Tale of Revenge by Rose Tremain Reviewed by Harriet From the first moment that we meet Lily Mortimer, we know her secret. We know it because she dreams of her…
November 25, 2021 These Precious Days by Ann Patchett Reviewed by Harriet I’m a great admirer of Ann Patchett’s novels. I read Bel Canto when it first came out and have loved her…
November 16, 2021 Adam O’Riordan answers questions on The Falling Thread Interview by Harriet As an already successful poet and short-story writer, what made you turn to the novel? Was it a sudden decision or…
November 16, 2021 The Falling Thread by Adam O’Riordan Reviewed by Harriet Unlike some of my fellow reviewers, I tend not to seize upon debut novels. Call me a fuddy-duddy, but I usually…
November 11, 2021 Which Way by Theodora Benson (Blog Tour) Reviewed by Harriet Published in 1931 and newly reissued in the British Library Women Writers Series, this is a fascinating book in a number…
November 2, 2021 Oh William! by Elizabeth Strout Reviewed by Harriet I first encountered Elizabeth Strout back in February 2017 – according to my review at the time [here] I’d spotted My…
October 19, 2021 April in Spain by John Banville Reviewed by Harriet Almost exactly a year ago, I reviewed John Banville’s Snow [here], an immensely enjoyable country house murder mystery. I particularly liked…
October 14, 2021 Harlem Shuffle by Colson Whitehead Reviewed by Harriet ‘Carney was only slightly bent when it came to being crooked’. So we are introduced to the leading character in Colson…
October 5, 2021 The Story of the Country House by Clive Aslet Reviewed by Harriet My definition of the country house is this: a work of domestic architecture in a rural location, surrounded by its own…
September 23, 2021 Mary Magdalene by Adriana Valerio Translated by Wendy Wheatley Reviewed by Harriet Adriana Valerio is an Italian historian and theologian. One of the first women in Italy to be…
September 16, 2021 The Country of Others by Leïla Slimani Translated by Sam Taylor Reviewed by Harriet Back in 2018 I read and reviewed Leïla Slimani’s best-selling, Goncourt-Prize-winning novel Lullaby [here]. Soon afterwards I…
August 19, 2021 The Oxford Illustrated History of Witchcraft and Magic, edited by Owen Davies Reviewed by Harriet If there’s one thing that this impressively learned and wide-ranging volume amply demonstrates, it’s that an interest in magic and witchcraft…
August 5, 2021 The Plot by Jean Hanff Korelitz Reviewed by Harriet Jean Hanff Korelitz has appeared twice on Shiny before, both times reviewed by me. The first novel was You Should Have…
July 27, 2021 The Snow Line by Tessa McWatt Reviewed by Harriet A disparate group of four total strangers meet at a wedding in the Punjab, India. Three of them are young and…
July 20, 2021 Dream Girl by Laura Lippman Reviewed by Harriet Here on Shiny we’ve reviewed three of Laura Lippman’s novels, here, here and here. Two were standalones, and the third was…
July 16, 2021 The House of Fragile Things by James McAuley Reviewed by Harriet ‘Jewish Art Collectors and the Fall of France’: it was this subtitle that pulled me in, and I requested the book…
July 6, 2021 Hamilton and Me: An Actor’s Journal by Giles Terera Reviewed by Harriet How does a bastard, orphan, son of a whore And a Scotsman, dropped in the middle of a forgotten spotIn the Caribbean…
July 2, 2021 Eustace and Hilda by L P Hartley Reviewed by Harriet Leslie Poles Hartley was forty-nine when he published his first novel, The Shrimp and the Anemone (1944). It was followed by…
June 29, 2021 A Stinging Delight by David Storey Reviewed by Harriet Back in 2004 I had the great pleasure of meeting David Storey – rugby player, painter, novelist, poet, playwright and filmmaker…
June 24, 2021 Burning Man: The Ascent of D.H. Lawrence by Frances Wilson Reviewed by Harriet I always feel as if I stood naked for the fire of Almighty God to go through me….I often think of…
June 22, 2021 The Feast by Margaret Kennedy Reviewed by Harriet Margaret Kennedy has appeared a few times before on Shiny: two of her novels in 2014 [here] and [here] and more…
June 17, 2021 Miss Browne’s Friend by F M Mayor Reviewed by Harriet Born in 1872, Flora Macdonald Mayor was the daughter of an Anglican clergyman and classics professor. Perhaps surprisingly, given her background,…
May 28, 2021 Double Lives by Helen McCarthy Reviewed by Harriet In this impressively detailed book, shortlisted for this year’s Wolfson History Prize, Helen McCarthy surveys the lives of women who worked…
May 27, 2021 Mamma by Diana Tutton Reviewed by Harriet Published in 1956, Mamma was the first novel Tutton wrote, though her second and now better known Guard Your Daughters was…
May 21, 2021 Mr Fortune’s Maggot by Sylvia Townsend Warner Reviewed by Harriet It can only be good news that Penguin have been reissuing Sylvia Townsend Warner’s admirable novels. I only discovered her writing…
