The Literary Sofa
Book Review
Book Review – The Bellwether Revivals by Benjamin Wood
I love spreading the word about good fiction, especially by debut authors – you can take my reviews as recommendations because I don’t have time to spend on books I haven’t enjoyed. It’s fascinating taking a critical look at how and why a novel works but it can be surprisingly hard to pin down. Some … Continue reading
Book Review – The Art of Fielding by Chad Harbach
Rewind 20 years: Under a bright blue California sky, sun beating down, my (now) husband and I are hanging out with our friend Adam in San Diego. There is beer, popcorn, hotdogs and despite all of this I’m bored out of my mind. I’m at a baseball game. Fastforward to 2010, when my sons went … Continue reading
Book Review – Jubilee by Shelley Harris
My memories of childhood are surprisingly indistinct. When I say ‘childhood’, I mean up to the age of 11 or so (I recall the next 10 years with excruciating clarity). I guess I was happily growing up in the country, playing (OK, fighting) with my sister, having a generically uneventful time. Of course a few … Continue reading
Book Review – We Had It So Good by Linda Grant
Last week’s blogpost 2011 – My Year in Books was about the way certain novels become significant in our lives in a way which transcends the words on the page. A couple more of mine are The Line of Beauty (2004) by Alan Hollinghurst which awed me to the point of putting me off trying to write (ridiculous, … Continue reading
Book Review: Pigeon English by Stephen Kelman
For once, my book group didn’t take issue with the novel which won the Booker prize this year, but when we decided to read one from the shortlist, Pigeon English was the unamimous choice even though I don’t think any of us was actually looking forward to it. Debut author Stephen Kelman’s impetus to write … Continue reading
Book Review: Florence & Giles by John Harding
I came to this book with no preconceptions, having bought it on Kindle because someone on Twitter had recommended it as a Victorian ghost story. That’s all I knew. I may have been attracted by the title Florence & Giles – titles made up of two first names are rare and bold, and the novel itself … Continue reading
Book Review: The Marriage Plot by Jeffrey Eugenides
I don’t often await a novel with as much anticipation as the latest from Jeffrey Eugenides. Both The Virgin Suicides and Middlesex drew me into worlds which were bizarre but utterly captivating, so I fully expected to be writing a rave review of The Marriage Plot. Well, it’s not going to happen. It seems that … Continue reading
Book Review: Are We Nearly There Yet? by Ben Hatch
I feel as though I’ve robbed Ben Hatch. To have paid only 99p on Kindle for Are We Nearly There Yet? doesn’t seem right. But I’m going to make up for it by buying some hard copies because it would make a brilliant Christmas present for anyone who (sorry, this is quite a list): has kids … Continue reading
Book Review: The Devil’s Music by Jane Rusbridge
I recently spent some time on the coast in Dorset, but I’ve been thinking about the sea for weeks, since reading The Devil’s Music by Jane Rusbridge. When you read a lot (and I’m up to 46 novels so far this year), even good books fade and blur in the memory, but a month after … Continue reading
Book Review: The Slap by Christos Tsiolkas
Repellent characters, foul language, horrible sex… More than three years after it was published, The Slap continues to reverberate, not least in its native Australia where the TV series is currently being broadcast. This book has quite a reputation. When it came out in the UK in 2010 (and made the Booker longlist) a book group in … Continue reading
My new novel SCENT – out in paperback on 19 May 2022
The Literary Sofa 