Most writers say they learn from every book they read and I’d agree with that. Whilst it’s very valuable to observe how others handle a similar theme, style or genre, for me there’s a particular fascination, often mixed with admiration, to reading something I wouldn’t attempt myself, and that includes the fictional portrayal of a historical … Continue reading
The buzz and excitement surrounding debut author Stuart Nadler in the United States has gone global. To call it hype would suggest that it’s not justified and believe me, it is. Nadler is a graduate of the Iowa Writers’ Workshop (alma mater of no fewer than 17 Pulitzer Prize winners), has held teaching posts both … Continue reading
Kate Atkinson is one of Britain’s foremost literary novelists writing today – of this there is no doubt. Unlike many other writers of that rank, she doesn’t subject her fans to long waits between titles. Since her debut Behind the Scenes at the Museum won the Whitbread (now Costa) Book of the Year in 1995 … Continue reading
I’m struggling to think of more than one book I’ve read set in China and I suspect it’s the same one everyone else has read: Wild Swans (1991) by Jung Chang, a historical masterpiece and international bestseller published a good while ago. So much about China has changed since then including global perceptions – it’s opened up considerably and … Continue reading
When compiling my two main listings of the year I always like to include fiction from different parts of the world. The vivid sense of both urban and rural Australia in Chloe Hooper’s novel The Engagement is one of many qualities which earned it a place in my Fiction Hot Picks for 2013. Unlike most of … Continue reading
HALF of my Fiction Hot Picks for 2013 have a January UK publication date, and I didn’t anticipate what a scramble it would be to give them the attention they deserve. They are all excellent of course, but The Starboard Sea is one of the best books I’ve read in years, which is why it’s the … Continue reading
Last week in 2012 – My Year in Books I revealed my six personal favourites. Today, for my final review of the year I’ve chosen one of the most memorable books I’ve read, Helen DeWitt’s Lightning Rods, which took an entire decade to find a publisher before being released by New Directions in the USA … Continue reading
I need to tell you something right up front – I don’t think any review can really do this book justice. It’s the impossibility of the task that makes me even willing to attempt it, and if that makes no sense, welcome to the strange world of North London detectives Hawthorn & Child. Keith Ridgway … Continue reading
Zadie Smith’s fourth novel NW has taken seven years to appear. Only elite novelists can get away with a gap that long, which sounds like a creative luxury but comes with the added pressure caused by a build-up of expectation. I was looking forward to it having really enjoyed her previous novel On Beauty (2005). It turns … Continue reading
Literary tigermania shows no sign of abating. White Tiger, The Tiger’s Wife, Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother… Like all of these, the latest addition to the string of Tiger-titled books, Tigers in Red Weather, has caused great excitement in the world of publishing, with hotly contested auctions on both sides of the Atlantic netting … Continue reading
