‘Dominion’ by C. J. Sansom is an alternate history of what could have happened if Winston Churchill had failed to become Prime Minister in 1940 and Britain had signed a treaty with Germany ending the Second World War. In 1952, David Fitzgerald is a civil servant hiding his Jewish identity and secretly working for the British Resistance movement as a spy. His mission is to rescue his friend, Frank Muncaster, from a mental hospital before the Gestapo discover his terrible secret which could potentially change the balance of world power. Continue reading
Tag Archives: Novels
Dominion by C. J. Sansom
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Strange Weather in Tokyo by Hiromi Kawakami
‘Strange Weather in Tokyo’ by Hiromi Kawakami (also known as ‘The Briefcase’ in the United States and Canada) tells the story of Tsukiko, an office worker in her late thirties who meets one of her old high school teachers by chance in a sake bar. His name is Harutsuna Matsumoto but she calls him Sensei. They strike up an unusual relationship and continue to meet from time to time without prior arrangements as the seasons pass. Continue reading
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Fallout by Sadie Jones
Set in the 1970s, ‘Fallout’ by Sadie Jones tells the story of Luke Kanowski, a young playwright whose mother is mentally ill and father is an alcoholic. Trying to make his break in London, he shares a flat with his friend, Paul Driscoll, and Paul’s girlfriend, Leigh Radley, who both share Luke’s passion for theatre. Although initially drawn to Leigh, Luke meets and falls in love with Nina Jacobs, an aspiring actress married to a manipulative West End producer. Continue reading
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The Baileys Women’s Prize for Fiction Shortlist Readings
Yesterday, I went to the Baileys Women’s Prize for Fiction Shortlist Readings event at the Southbank Centre in London where the authors gave short readings from their nominated novels and then answered a few questions from this year’s chair of the judges, Helen Fraser, and the audience.
The shortlisted books this year are:
Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
The Undertaking by Audrey Magee
A Girl is a Half-Formed Thing by Eimear McBride
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The Insult by Rupert Thomson
‘The Insult’ by Rupert Thomson tells the story of Martin Blom who is shot in the head in a random attack in a supermarket car park after buying groceries on a Thursday evening. When he wakes up in hospital, he is told that his occipital cortex has been irreparably damaged and he will be completely blind for the rest of his life. However, while his doctors tell him that he is likely to experience hallucinations, Martin believes he has regained his vision but only at night time and he later uses this to search for Nina, his lover who has suddenly gone missing. Continue reading
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Instructions for a Heatwave by Maggie O’Farrell
Set in North London at the height of the heatwave of 1976, ‘Instructions for a Heatwave’ by Maggie O’Farrell tells the story of Gretta Riordan, a devout Irish Catholic whose husband Robert goes out as usual to buy a newspaper one morning except this time he never comes back. Their three grown-up children, Robert, Monica and Aoife return to help their mother but soon discover that Gretta may know more about his whereabouts than she first admits. Continue reading
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#ThisBook
The Baileys Women’s Prize for Fiction has launched a project to highlight the books written by women which have impacted our lives.
You can nominate your choice using the #ThisBook hashtag on Twitter. The top 20 will be revealed in July. Continue reading
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The Luminaries by Eleanor Catton
Whilst wondering last month when I was ever going to read ‘The Luminaries’, a thought suddenly occurred to me: what better time to start reading an 800+ page book than the beginning of up to five days of London Underground strikes? I have an eBook copy of Eleanor Catton’s Man Booker Prize-winning epic novel and I tend to use my Kindle when bad weather, industrial action or some other disruption is likely to severely delay my commute to work. An e-reader is easier to hold on a crowded train than a large hardback book and if I get stranded somewhere for a long time and I finish a novel, I have several more to choose from right there and then. Continue reading
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eBooks in Libraries: Worth the Investment?
For the printed book purist, the mere suggestion of libraries lending eBooks conjures up images of empty shelves, redundant librarians and tumbleweeds drifting across abandoned buildings. However, leaving aside sentimental arguments about the superiority or inferiority of the different formats, the reality is that many libraries now offer a selection of eBooks available for download. Although eBook lending is growing, several questions need to be asked about the future development of this new technology. Most importantly, with so many libraries under significant financial pressure, are eBooks actually worth the investment?
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Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
Shortlisted for this year’s Baileys Women’s Prize for Fiction, ‘Americanah’ by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie tells the story of Ifemelu and her boyfriend Obinze who fall in love as teenagers in Lagos. During university strikes, Ifemelu leaves Nigeria to pursue her postgraduate studies in the United States. Meanwhile, Obinze has moved to England after graduating and is working in Essex using a false identity while attempting to secure a visa through an arranged marriage. The story follows the separate paths they take on different continents before they are reunited back in Lagos many years later. Continue reading
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Little Egypt by Lesley Glaister
‘Little Egypt’ by Lesley Glaister tells the story of twin siblings, Isis and Osiris, and their childhood in the 1920s. Living in a large family home called Little Egypt, their eccentric parents, Evelyn and Arthur, set off to search for the fabled tomb of Herihor, leaving the twins in the care of their housekeeper Mary and their uncle Victor. Many decades later, Isis and Osiris are now in their nineties and still living in their derelict house which Isis cannot sell for fear of someone discovering what happened there all those years ago.
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The Independent Foreign Fiction Prize 2014
The Independent Foreign Fiction Prize is one of the most interesting literary prizes but is also, unfortunately, one of the more overlooked. It probably hasn’t helped that the announcement of both the longlist and shortlist has coincided with the announcement of the longlist and shortlist of the higher profile Women’s Prize for Fiction. The jury had a record number of entries to read before choosing this year’s shortlist which was revealed yesterday:
The Iraqi Christ by Hassan Blasim (translated from the Arabic by Jonathan Wright)
A Man in Love by Karl Ove Knausgaard (translated from the Norwegian by Don Bartlett)
A Meal in Winter by Hubert Mingarelli (translated from the French by Sam Taylor)
The Mussel Feast by Birgit Vanderbeke (translated from the German by Jamie Bulloch)
Revenge by Yoko Ogawa (translated from the Japanese by Stephen Snyder)
Strange Weather in Tokyo by Hiromi Kawakami (translated from the Japanese by Allison Markin Powell)
Continue reading
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The Woman Upstairs by Claire Messud
Last summer, I read ‘The Last Life‘ by Claire Messud but gave it a mixed review. I had expected a character-driven novel about French-Americans to be something I would really enjoy. However, I didn’t really get on with it and I wanted to try Messud’s latest novel, ‘The Woman Upstairs’, so I could find out whether it was just that particular book which wasn’t for me or her work in general. Continue reading
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The Lowland by Jhumpa Lahiri
Jhumpa Lahiri was one of my favourite new discoveries in 2013 so I have really been looking forward to reading her latest novel, ‘The Lowland’ which was shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize last year and has recently been longlisted for the Baileys Women’s Prize for Fiction. It tells the story of two brothers, Subhash and Udayan, who grow up in Calcutta in the 1950s and 1960s. While Udayan’s involvement in an underground Communist movement ultimately results in his death, Subhash starts a new life in the United States, later marrying his widowed and pregnant sister-in-law, Gauri, and taking her with him back to New England. Continue reading
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Books in Prisons
The Ministry of Justice has recently banned prisoners in the UK from receiving books sent by friends and relatives. According to the Justice Secretary, Chris Grayling, the new restrictions on parcels received by inmates are part of an “incentives and earned privileges” scheme and aims to prevent drugs and other illegal items being smuggled into prisons.
Shelfie
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New Books Coming Soon in 2014
One of of my reading resolutions this year has been to get through more of the books I already have on my shelves and Kindle. I have been making some slow and steady progress recently but, as always, I still have my eye on the latest books. Here are a few I am particularly looking forward to which have not yet been published:
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Apple Tree Yard by Louise Doughty
‘Apple Tree Yard’ by Louise Doughty tells the story of Yvonne Carmichael, a middle-aged geneticist who begins an affair with a man she meets while she is giving evidence to a Select Committee at the Houses of Parliament. It is revealed at the beginning of the book that the affair has been exposed in dramatic circumstances while Yvonne is on trial at the Old Bailey. However, even though it is clear that she is doomed from the beginning, the story behind how she became embroiled in the most serious of crimes and who her lover really is still offers many twists and turns.
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Big Brother by Lionel Shriver
‘Big Brother’ by Lionel Shriver tells the story of Pandora Halfdanarson and her relationship with her brother, Edison, a jazz musician who is coming to visit her in Iowa where she lives with her husband and two teenage stepchildren. On arrival, Pandora is horrified to discover that Edison has become morbidly obese in the time since she last saw him four years ago and has to decide whether or not she will take matters into her own hands.
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The Baileys Women’s Prize for Fiction Longlist 2014
The longlist for this year’s Baileys Women’s Prize for Fiction was announced today. The twenty titles are:
Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie – Americanah Margaret Atwood – MaddAddam Suzanne Berne – The Dogs of Littlefield Fatima Bhutto – The Shadow of the Crescent Moon Claire Cameron – The Bear Lea Carpenter – Eleven Days M.J. Carter – The Strangler Vine Eleanor Catton – The Luminaries Deborah Kay Davies – Reasons She Goes to the Woods Elizabeth Gilbert – The Signature of All Things Hannah Kent – Burial Rites Rachel Kushner – The Flamethrowers Jhumpa Lahiri – The Lowland Audrey Magee – The Undertaking Eimear McBride – A Girl Is A Half-Formed Thing Charlotte Mendelson – Almost English Anna Quindlen – Still Life with Bread Crumbs Elizabeth Strout – The Burgess Boys Donna Tartt – The Goldfinch Evie Wyld – All The Birds, SingingFiled under Books
Sisterland by Curtis Sittenfeld
‘Sisterland’ by Curtis Sittenfeld tells the story of identical twin sisters, Violet and Kate, who have both had psychic powers of intuition, or “senses” as they call them, since childhood. While Violet continues to embrace this power as an adult and becomes a medium, Kate is a suburban housewife who has tried her best to suppress these senses. However, when Violet goes on television to share her premonition of a catastrophic earthquake which she says will strike the St. Louis area where they both live, their relationship is seriously tested in the days leading towards the predicted event. Continue reading
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