Engrossing and beautifully written, this story is multi-layered and asks more questions than it answers. Neve Ayres is struggling in the sleep deprived foreign territory of new parenthood, isolated in her big house on the beach. Meanwhile another mother, Leah, struggling with poverty, loses her four year old daughter on the beach and Neve finds […]
General fiction
Look at Me by Mareike Krugal
Don’t borrow this book from the library because if you’re anything like me you’ll find yourself compulsively underlining bits of it that speak to you. Look at Me covers a hectic day in the life of German music teacher Katharina, caught in a web of complex relationships with her often absent husband, two live children, sister, friends […]
The Accident On The A35 by Graeme Macrae Burnet
Not sure whether this one can really be classed as a thriller as the investigation, such as it is, into the whereabouts of a car accident victim’s movements in the hours before the fatal crash moves at a glacial pace and involves an awful lot of stopping off for sherry, beer and whiskey on the part […]
The Wolf Border by Sarah Hall
Oh, how I love this book. Beautiful, warm writing that slides under your skin and stays there. You’ll also develop a new respect for wolves. Just read it.
Eligible by Curtis Sittenfeld
This is one big glorious modern sister to Pride and Prejudice. Liz and Jane’s parents are rendered particularly well, the brainless Mrs Bennett with her hoarding tendencies and Mr Bennett showing his characteristic lacerating wit – there is so much more scope for it these days. Austen lovers may be slightly perturbed at the idea […]