(after Psalm 19) I miss the symmetry – the call, response – implied in ‘day to day’ and ‘night to night’; I miss that the days gleam, gossipy with news, that their gushing is also the springing of light, the gloss of the blossom that drips into honey. I wish our word for ‘gleam’ was Read More
In this entry for the Man Booker International, acclaimed Norwegian writer Roy Jacobsen offers an intimate novel which showcases the moving and evocative powers of literature. The Unseen is a book which on the surface, through its accessible and uncomplicated language, seems simple and plain: the lives of a single family living and sustaining themselves Read More
“They’re like worms. What kind of worms? Like worms, all over.” Two voices present themselves: one in question, one in answer; a child and a mother, yet sharing no relation. The subject of conversation is unclear, the situation likewise. We know only a sense of unease. As the dialogue unfolds, the child, David, guides the Read More
Shortlisted for The Man Booker International Prize of 2017, A Horse Walks Into A Bar is about the power of words—their purpose in a world that prioritizes only pretences. David Grossman’s combination of daring, controversial dialogue and compelling, desperate characters carries reader curiosity from introduction to denouement. It is a novel that demands attentiveness and Read More
With vivid illustrations, poignant metaphors, and poetic nuances, Heather O’ Neill’s The Lonely Hearts Hotel entices its readers with a narrative about outcast characters seeking to entertain New York City with “The Snowflake Icicle Extravaganza” on their search for stardom. The Lonely Hearts Hotel focuses on the interconnecting themes of fate and tragedy, hope and Read More
(Ed- Prior to publishing excerpts from the 2017 Notting Hill Editions Essay prize shortlist, we asked the marvellous essayist Chris Arthur to write a piece on the essay within the academy… Read & let us know what you think by leaving your comments below.) Students don’t believe me when I say they’ve never written an Read More
If one reads Linda Grant’s The Dark Circle, one may be left feeling unfulfilled; being presented with a remote plot about a remote disease that fails to tug on the heart strings or incite anger, as one would probably expect. So, this is the reason that I request you don’t merely read this novel: engage Read More
“Ruth Malone is enthralling, challenging and secretive – is she really capable of murder?” – Little Deaths synopsis. The characters of a promiscuous mother and a struggling journalist are the protagonists entangled in the story of the horrifying murders of two children: Little Deaths is the debut novel from Emma Flint. From an early age, Flint Read More
Those familiar with Turgenev’s famous novella First Love may immediately expect a love affair of ill-fated, cataclysmic proportions. For those unfamiliar with the reference, the title of Gwendoline Riley’s First Love is cruelly, cleverly deceiving. A love story? Perhaps. But the bitterness and heart-breaking loneliness that plague the pages of this novel breed an unexpectedly Read More
Jane Draycott’s words have always encapsulated a timeless beauty with a charm which is somehow both otherworldly yet unmistakably rooted in our earth. In this her fourth collection of poems, following 2009’s Over, she continues in this vein. “It seems like forever”, she writes in the collection’s titular poem, “We are going to tame the Read More