Reviewer’s Choice: Liar by Ayelet Gundar-Goshen
Translated by Sondra Silverston Reviewed by Harriet ‘One lie can have a thousand consequences in this page-turning psychological suspense’, says the blurb. This is a fair description of what happens,…
Clothes Pegs by Susan Scarlett
Reviewed by Harriet This has been my first book by Susan Scarlett, but not my first book by its author. Because, if you didn’t already know, Susan Scarlett was a…
The Marble Staircase by Elizabeth Fair
Reviewed by Harriet Born in 1908, Elizabeth Fair published six successful novels between 1953 and 1960. But when she submitted her seventh, The Marble Staircase, to her agent, she was…
Amy & Lan by Sadie Jones
Reviewed by Harriet Set in the early 2000s, this is the story of three middle-class couples who have decided to abandon city life in Bristol and make an attempt to…
Back to the Shops by Rachel Bowlby
Reviewed by Harriet I’m not sure what attracted me to Rachel Bowlby’s book when I spotted it in the OUP catalogue. But I’m very glad something did, as it’s proved…
Horse by Geraldine Brooks
Reviewed by Harriet Geraldine Brooks specialises in historical fiction. I read and hugely enjoyed her first two novels: the international bestseller Year of Wonders (2002), based on the true story…
I Used to Live Here Once by Miranda Seymour
Reviewed by Harriet I discovered Jean Rhys in my twenties, and raced through her three great 1930s novels, After Leaving Mr Mackenzie, Voyage in the Dark, and Good Morning Midnight…
Cold Heaven by Brian Moore
Reviewed by Harriet This is the first book I’ve read by the multi-award-winning Irish Canadian author, but on the strength of this remarkable novel I’ve really been missing out. Published…
Brave Hearted: The Dramatic Story of Women of the American West, by Katie Hickman
Reviewed by Harriet Back in 2020 I reviewed Katie Hickman’s previous book, She-Merchants, Buccaneers and Gentlewomen, a fascinating account of the earliest British women to visit India. Their stories were…
Three by Valérie Perrin
Translated by Hildegarde Serle Reviewed by Harriet My name is Virginie. I’m the same age as them. Today, out of the three, only Adrian still speaks to me.Nina despises me.As for…
Tell Me an Ending by Jo Harkin
Reviewed by Harriet ‘What if you didn’t have to live with your worst memories?’, asks the cover of this debut novel. Anyone who’s seen the film Eternal Sunshine of the…
Dear Little Corpses by Nicola Upson
Reviewed by Harriet It’s the first of September 1939. Hitler has invaded Poland, and though Britain is not yet at war with Germany, there is widespread fear of potential bombing…
These Days by Lucy Caldwell
Reviewed by Harriet ‘two sisters, four nights, one city’ is the subtitle of this riveting new novel by Lucy Caldwell. I don’t think I’ve ever used the term riveting in…
Strange Journey by Maud Cairnes
Reviewed by Harriet This is a body-swap novel – one of the first ever to be published. It’s very entertaining but also quite thought provoking. The swappers here are Polly…
The Lives of the Saints by Sebastian Barry
Reviewed by Harriet Anyone who knows me or reads my reviews will know that I’m a great admirer of Sebastian Barry. I’ve reviewed three of his novels on Shiny (here,…
Truly Madly by Stephen Galloway
Reviewed by Harriet ‘Vivien Leigh, Laurence Olivier and the Romance of the Century’ is the subtitle of this joint biography by Stephen Galloway. The author, previously executive editor of the…
French Braid by Anne Tyler
Reviewed by Harriet ‘That’s how families work. You think you’re free of them, but you’re never really free; the ripples are crimped in forever’. Here, not many pages before the…
Latchkey Ladies by Marjorie Grant
Reviewed by Harriet These girls, buffeting with the world as they did war-work, or any work that would support them, were apt to have moments when independence seemed the most…
Nine Lives by Peter Swanson
Reviewed by Harriet Peter Swanson is a prolific author, averaging one book a year since his debut, The Girl with a Clock for a Heart in 2014. I’ve reviewed two…
Great Literary Friendships by Janet Phillips
Reviewed by Harriet When you see the title of this book, you may think, as I did initially, that it was going to be about friendships between writers (Pope and…
Jane’s Country Year by Malcolm Saville
Reviewed by Harriet Jane woke slowly. For a long minute she lay drowsing with her eyes shut, wondering why the bed felt so different. She loved her own little bed…
The Village of Eight Graves by Seishi Yokomizo
Translated by Bryan Karetnyk Reviewed by Harriet Seishi Yozomizo (1902-1991), whose works are hugely celebrated in Japan, has been described as ‘the Japanese Agatha Christie’, or alternatively ‘the Japanese John…
Sally on the Rocks by Winifred Boggs
Reviewed by Harriet This delightful novel is part of the latest batch of the British Library Women Writers series. I’ve reviewed a few of these on here, most recently the…
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 own death – not a peaceful…