Shortlisted for the Man Booker International Prize 2017 Translated from the Danish by Misha Hoekstra   This slim novel from Dorthe Nors and published by Pushkin Press, is a witty and moving depiction of the disconnect between contemporary urban life and the human need for wild, natural places. A study in alienation and loneliness. You … More Review: Mirror, Shoulder, Signal

All the good things by Clare Sita Fisher published by: Viking (Penguin UK) on 1 June 2017 What is the truth hiding behind her crime? Does anyone – even a 100% bad person – deserve a chance to be good? My review: ‘Of all the good things that have ever been in me, the first … More Review: All the Good Things

  Ghachar Ghochar           *****   by Vivek Shanbhag   Pub Date 27 Apr 2017       Translated from the Kannada language, Vivek Shanbhag’s short novel is a fascinating but disquieting tale of family rivalry and marital upheaval set against the background of a successful business exporting spices. It is a darkly compelling read and … More Three book reviews

  A wonderfully funny novel about one of the darkest periods of history when the former USSR was under the ruthless control of the ‘man of iron’ Josef Stalin. This biting satire is narrated by Yuri, an engagingly innocent twelve year old, who lives in the staff apartment of the Kapital Zoo where his father … More The Zoo

This is a subtle but supple retelling of the most famous Greek tragedy. The ‘house of names’ is the palace where the drama unfolds: names are whispered, deaths are plotted and revenge exacted. This is no stagy drama. In spare but sinewy prose Colm Toibin gives us a beautifully balanced and gripping psychological portrait of … More House of Names

by Brian van Reet published by Vintage, 27 April, 2017  Spring 2003, coalition forces are advancing on Iraq. Images of a giant statue of Saddam Hussein crashing to the ground in Baghdad are being beamed to news channels around the world. Nineteen-year-old Specialist Cassandra Wigheard, on her first deployment since joining the US army two … More Spoils

by Polly Clark   published by: riverrun, an imprint of Quercus editions, March 2017     Polly Clark is a poet and this is evident in her lyrical and haunting first novel, Larchfield, a story of two lonely social outcasts who meet across time finding friendship and strength.   The novel alternates between Dora and Wystan’s … More Larchfield

by Ivan Vladislavich published by: Archipelago Books, March 2017 (first published by Random House, 2004) My review: Ivan Vladislavic is largely unknown outside his native South Africa, but if The Exploded View is representative of his work, it’s amazing that he isn’t an international name read as widely as Raymond Carver or Alice Munro. Originally … More The Exploded View