This aesthetic Penguin Archives edition was a really lovely read thanks to the beautiful prose of McCullers. This narrative was first published in 1941: it’s a classical tragedy set in…
Reflections in a Golden Eye by Carson McCullers
A Highland Christmas by M.C. Beaton
M.C. Beaton, aka Marion Chesney, is originally from Glasgow, so it was quite interesting to read her perspective on the Highlands, especially as I’m currently staying here myself. It added…
Lady L by Romain Gary
Lady L was a really great little novella in the great Penguin Archive editions I love, and I’m surprised I hadn’t picked it up sooner. It begins as a seemingly…
Muumilaakson marraskuu (Moominvalley in November) by Tove Jansson
A very apt final book from November, I loved reading in Finnish again. I started the year reading Tove’s childhood autobiography in Finland, so it felt apt to be ending…
Misunderstanding in Moscow by Simone de Beauvoir
This short novella by the brilliant Simone de Beauvoir was a bit of a strange one for me. On the one hand, I really enjoyed the depth of the story…
Seascraper by Benjamin Wood
Such a beautiful short book: I am glad I listened to the hype on this one. A book about youthful hopes and dreams, it’s also an elegiac tale about changing…
Liza of Lambeth by W. Somerset Maugham
Continuing the grand tradition of a Victorian doctor writing books: this book was written by Maugham right after finishing his medical studies. It’s his first book published in 1897. This…
Lois the Witch by Elizabeth Gaskell
This book is a document of mass hysteria and trauma. First published in a collection in 1861, I love this Penguin Archive edition. Set in 17th century Salem, you know…
Love Child by Jean Bedford
I picked this book up secondhand when I was in Hay-on-Wye, not realising it was actually quite an obscure little gem. It’s hard to describe because it’s so short, yet…
Lolly Willowes by Sylvia Townsend Warner
This was the quintessential autumnal #spinsterseptember read with a supernatural feminist twist: a woman escapes family obligations and relocates to a small village in the Chiltern Hills and becomes a witch! 🧙♀️…
Happening (L’Événement) by Annie Ernaux
Published in 2000, this novella feels like a powerful piece of psychological writing, a confession of sorts, as Ernaux takes us back to her student days in Rouen when she…
Small Boat by Vincent Delecroix
When people die in a dinghy drowning in the Channel, half-way between France and the UK, scrutiny falls on the people taking the calls of distress that night. Specifically, a…
The Party by Tessa Hadley
I hadn’t realised this novella was set in Bristol, so it was a real pleasure to recognise streets and places I know! Despite being set in the past, the energy…
In Evil Hour by Gabriel García Márquez
As I’m slowly making my way through One Hundred Years of Solitude, it’s fun to encounter another work where García Márquez references the village of Macondo and its several overlapping…
The Private Lives of Trees by Alejandro Zambra
Formally, this novella is quietly experimental. It’s about a man reading a story to his stepdaughter while he waits for her mother to come home, but that frame begins to…
Black Water by Joyce Carol Oates
I picked this up at random from a secondhand bookshop, and I’m so glad I did. This is a fictionalised retelling of the real-life “Chappaquiddick incident” from 1969 involving Senator…
Twenty Fragments of a Ravenous Youth by Xiaolu Guo
I wasn’t immediately aware that this was actually my second book by Xiaolu Guo until I began reading it, but from the moment I started, I was captivated by its…
La Femme de Gilles by Madeleine Bourdhouxe
This Belgian modern classic from 1937 was referenced by famous French feminist, Simone de Beauvoir, and has been more recently rediscovered and made into a film. It’s a book about…
A Lost Lady by Willa Cather
This is my third Cather novel, and it stands out from the others in that it follows a more traditionally structured narrative. However, the praise of the American West/pioneering spirit…
Four Japanese Novella Recommendations – Easy Reads
Japanese literature is known for its ability to capture deep emotions, unique perspectives, and delicate storytelling within short, impactful novellas. If you’re looking for a few brief but immersive reads,…
The Professor’s House by Willa Cather
Cather is a great writer. I recently started her Plains trilogy and was pleased to find another “city” novel by her. I liked the idea of a closely followed narrative…
The Rise by Ian Rankin
Another audiobook. Can you believe I only did my first audiobook read a few months ago? It’s definitely a nice way to mix things up. This is a short novella…
The Guest Cat by Takashi Hiraide
Last review of the year! This was a really sweet & short book. Constructed as a series of vignettes, this story maps out how a visiting cat transforms a young…
So Late in the Day by Claire Keegan
A novella that follows a lonely Friday summer evening during which Cathal leaves his Dublin office, takes the bus home, and wanders around his place, thinking about Sabine. Sabine, the…
First Love by Ivan Turgenev
A really satisfying read, this novella tracks the infatuation and disillusionment, yet also the endurance, of youthful first love. In a comic yet sincere way, Turgenev explores how a young…
Leaf Storm (La Hojarasca) by Gabriel García Márquez
Oh how I enjoy a Márquez! La próxima vez yo lo leeré en español (quizás). It’s a typical short novella by Márquez, with some echoes of Love in the Time…
A Jealous Ghost by A.N Wilson
This was a fun seasonal horror remake! Massive fan of books inspired by literary classics, just can’t help myself. Retelling/ engaging with The Turn of the Screw by Henry James,…
The Bridge of San Luis Rey by Thornton Wilder
Written in 1927, this felt like it could be written significantly later as well. Somehow it was reminiscent of other books in the “life philosophy“/spiritual genre! The premise is simple:…
Hardboiled, Hard Luck by Banana Yoshimoto
Two beautiful stories in one! What a great double bill. These tender stories are about grief, love, and connection. The first one is about a woman’s meditative and supernatural night…
My Evil Mother by Margaret Atwood
This was actually a bit of fun! A novella/short story by Atwood about the funny yet sinister suburban mum who is documented through her daughter’s eyes. It’s great to see…
Rizzio by Denise Mina
A short novel about David Rizzio’s murder? Yes please! Rizzio was a confidante of Mary Queen of Scots and he was assassinated by Darnley (her husband) and a group of…
Hex by Jenni Fagan
This is an interesting read. I’d recommend it to anyone interested in witches, witch-hunt history, and feminism! This is an intimate look at the Jacobean witch paranoia whipped up by…
Foster by Claire Keegan
Happy to have finally read this, it’s always a pleasure to sit down with a book like this. For such a short book I feel like it’s a slow burn?!…
Queen Macbeth by Val McDermid
This little book reimagines what happens to the Macbeths after the end of the play, how Lady (Queen) Macbeth is coping in hiding. (Obviously I’m in some sort of Shakespeare…
Small Things Like These by Claire Keegan
Another read that I had been anticipating: Keegan’s novella did not disappoint. It’s a really satisfying well-paced narrative that totally transports you to its pre-Christmas atmosphere: tired, fraught, social, yet…
The Shooting Party by Isabel Colegate
Edwardian country house. An October shooting party. Lovers and spouses. Upstairs/downstairs drama. Eccentric children. A wandering philosopher. Village gossip. Poaching. A duck. Put all of these together and you get…
A Moth to the Flame by Stig Dagerman
This was a tough read, in the sense that it’s dark, it took me awhile to read, and the prose is dense, despite it being a relatively short book. Could…
The Driver’s Seat by Muriel Spark
I’ve obviously heard a lot about Muriel Spark before, and weirdly, this is actually my first read! Still got The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie on my tbr pile. This…