Kirsty Gunn’s latest collection of short stories, Infidelities, is a beautiful, subtle work, invested in exploring different forms of narrative and working them to form a tapestry of all the ways humans can stray from one another: physically, mentally, literally, and even in their inability to recall events in the same way. “Memorial” explores the Read More
This is an edited transcript of an interview with Michel Faber with headings inserted for ease of reading and navigation. The video of the complete interview can be accessed by clicking the above image. A review of The Book of Strange New Things is available HERE. Alex Henry’s review of Michel Faber’s reading at the 2014 Dundee Literary Read More
“Suddenly he could think things through, he could put things together, where in the past years he’d been unable to… Tears dripped down his face in relief. Was he finally free? Was he really himself again?” Willy Vlautin’s The Free is a compelling novel of compassion and sacrifice. Its setting is that of post-war America Read More
Adam Foulds’ third novel, In the Wolf’s Mouth, is a fairly conventional war story that is elevated by understated writing but which is nevertheless insightful enough to provide some traction to a story and set of characters which might at times seem overly familiar. Essentially a war novel which follows the Allies’ advance through North Read More
What exactly is a fairy-tale? Does it have to take place in a different world, or can it relate to the place from which you come? With Gone are the Leaves readers are able to envision an innocently romantic fairy-tale set in the lush landscape of Scotland and France. The simple plot of boy and Read More
Sir Kenneth Calman possesses a wealth of academic degrees, and has occupied several high-ranking positions in medical councils. Included amongst an enviable list of healthcare publications is 2001’s British Medical Journal article “Storytelling, humour and learning in medicine”, and it is with this overlying theme that he has produced A Doctor’s Line. Calman’s prognosis for Read More
“I think about this a lot – the way people who are missing can fill your life. They stand at your window and watch you through the glass, whether you know it or not.” Snake Road, recently short-listed for the prestigious Encore Prize, is a story that will be heard far beyond the borders of Read More
Readers familiar with Bernard MacLaverty’s novels know that he is a deft and sensitive chronicler of his native Ireland – particularly of “The Troubles”, but also of more personal troubles. Collected Stories draws from five published collections, arranged chronologically from Secrets (1977) to the most recent, Matters of Life and Death (2006).In what is arguably Read More
Falling Fast is a genuinely engaging and compelling debut novel from Neil Broadfoot, mingling violent crime and investigative journalism in a tightly controlled plot which exudes the best features of Tartan Noir. Its plot follows Doug McGregor, the Capital Tribune‘s lead crime reporter, an intelligent if somewhat cynical writer for whom the bottom of a Read More