It is human nature to be attracted to that which we feel we can relate to, things that resonate within us. And perhaps that is why as a debut novel, The Good Guy, is such a memorable first impression. Inspired by her own experience, Susan Beale offers a compelling insight into the classic tale: the Read More
Rose Tremain’s masterful, melancholic and ambitious novel is brimful of the sights and smells of post-war Switzerland, leaving little to the imagination. Dispelling myths of serene neutrality, her book leads us though a winding path of uncertainty and angst, where “neutrality” is replaced with thorny indifference and there is little grey area between friendship and servitude. In this tantalising tale of adolescence, we follow Gustav Perle on his struggle of discovery. There are few heart-warming moments Read More
“This book is gonna be a killer. It’s gonna suck me dry, / suck me white, suck my insides out and leave me hollow and high.” (“And All the Things That We Could Do I Face Today”) A standard literary trope is to create expectations and defy them. So, to a seasoned reader, a Read More
My Name is Leon is Kit de Waal’s first published novel. Her short fiction has achieved success in the Bridport, Costa and Bath short story awards. A long career working with children in care made the subject matter a natural choice. Carol has given birth to a baby brother for Leon. Baby Jake is white Read More
A sleepy Essex village is roused to a simmering hysteria as rumours that a monstrous 17th century winged sea serpent has returned, causing an oppressive pall of paranoia to descend on those who live by the banks of the Blackwater. The local vicar, educated and thoroughly modern, battles the rising superstitions of the villagers, a Read More
Stories have the power to entrance and captivate, giving them the ability to teach, comfort and even inspire the reader or listener. In The Words in My Hand, Guinevere Glasfurd explores the impact of words and writing in the life of Helena Jans, René Descartes’s maid and also mother to his illegitimate child. Helena was Read More
“[Claudette] doesn’t see a room, an alcove, a piece of flooring: she sees a work in progress, just waiting to be embarked upon.” This Must Be The Place. If there is one thing Maggie O’Farrell’s loyal readers expect, it’s a good disappearance. In this respect, her Costa short-listed This Must Be The Place follows in Read More
Strathearn Snow Perthshire spirals down, curls inside this bleach bowl. On that flat strath floor, Earn’s eel sparkles black. Cottages shoal to Dunning as single ones are lost. Some fin up Ruthven’s elver burn. Hunch birds of prey wire up, never where they seem. © Beth McDonough Ed: “Strathearn Snow” first appeared in Raum 1(3), Read More
The country that separates fathers and sons has disorientated many travellers. It is very easy to get lost there. […] And the fathers must have known, having once themselves been sons, that the ghostly presence of their land will remain […] Hisham Matar’s debut In the Country of Men, was shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize (2006) and more; his second, Anatomy of a Disappearance (2011), showed his was Read More