Blitz, Blake and Belacqua, this is the feel of Nonesuch by Francis Spufford. Set in the blitz, Iris Hawkins, a young and acutely ambitious woman in the male dominated City, is looking for upward mobility; both across gender and, with her Watford upbringing, across the class gap too. Iris’ desire for more drives the […]
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This is Hession’s second novel after the incredible, and now BBC adapted, Leonard and Hungry Paul. Here we follow the titular Panenka (real name Joseph) in his later life, based in the fictional town of Seneca. Even from the title and location alone you know football is involved somewhere and, given his style in his
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Winner of the 2017 Booker Prize, Lincoln in the Bardo is a story of loss and acceptance, or grief and understanding. Is there anything sadder than losing a child? It is against the natural order of things. In this work, Saunders explores the loss of Abraham Lincoln’s son, Willie, during the US Civil War.
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Seascraper was longlisted for the 2025 Booker Prize and, alongside Universality, was one of the shorter works on offer. Since then, this lovely svelte novel has won the Nero Book Award for fiction and been further nominated for the Walter Scott Prize (2026) for historical fiction, alongside the brilliant Helm. Seascraper is set in
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Sometimes books find you at the right place and time. It’s that time of year where the hustle and bustle has peaked and we are now in need of some peace and quiet. Leonard and Hungry Paul teaches everyone to break free from obligatory constraints and to operate in the peace of now; unshackle and
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The Abundance by Amit Majmudar, first published in 2013, is a lovingly bittersweet story of first generation immigrant parents living in the American mid-west, and their strong ties to Indian culture that their children and grandchildren are trying to leave behind. Very early in the book you hear of the mother’s terminal illness and
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Twenty years in preparation Hall brings us a story of Helm, the only named wind in the UK. Naturally, this prompts the question, ‘Know any other winds?’. I had thought about Scirocco, the Mediterranean southerly that is also synonymous with Volkswagen’s squashed Beetle. But of course, there are others less tied to consumerism. Many of
In publishing it has been a year for highlighting the importance of rivers and water, from Robert Macfarlane’s Is a River Alive? to the release of the paperback edition of Elif Shafak’s There Are Rivers in the Sky. Joining these works in a triumvirate is Saraswati, the debut novel from award-winning short story writer, Gurnaik
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‘The Beauty of the House is immeasurable; its Kindness infinite’ Piranesi is the second novel from Susanna Clarke following Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell (2004). Published in 2020, Piranesi is a swirling puzzle of a book. Written in diary form, the story is set in the mysterious House: there is only Piranesi and ‘The Other’
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We are well and truly into the 2025 Booker Prize season. What better way to recognise the literary quality that this prize highlights than to mention Small Things like These by the masterful short story writer, Claire Keegan. Published in 2021, Small Things like These won the 2022 Orwell Prize, as well as being shortlisted
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