Surge by Jay Bernard is a haunting yet deeply life-affirming collection of poetry. It responds to the tragic events of the 1981 New Cross Fire in London: a birthday party…
Surge by Jay Bernard
The Blank Wall by Elisabeth Sanxay Holding
This is such an intriguing and quietly powerful mid-century murder novel. Despite having inspired hit film adaptations and earning praise from Raymond Chandler, it still seems to have flown under…
The Fishermen by Chigozie Obioma
This was an intense but good read, Shakespearean/ mythical in its portrayal of sibling conflict and prophecy in an Igbo family. We’re in Akure in the 1990s and Ikenna, the…
A Clergyman’s Daughter by George Orwell
This is a more obscure Orwell read, one that he himself and critics found lacking, but I really enjoyed this. Dorothy is daughter of a curmudgeonly Anglican rector, and the…
After Leaving Mr Mackenzie by Jean Rhys
This is a bleak novel about precarious survival in big cities, perfect for this time of year. Despite the bleakness, the beautiful prose of Rhys carries you through this narrative…
A Separation by Katie Kitamura
Taut and engaging, this reminds me of the sparse and emotionally direct prose of Rachel Cusk and Deborah Levy, with a thriller edge. Really glad I picked this up to…
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…
The Turn of the Screw and Other Stories by Henry James
This collection is a masterclass in psychological ghost stories: elegant, unbeatable in premise, and full of that Jamesian ambiguity. 🔩The Turn of the Screw (1898) A young governess takes a job…
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…
Daisy Miller And Other Stories by Henry James
These stories are the perfect examples of why James is known as the master of the short story. Touching on art, innocence, and creativity, they work well as a collection!…
Crooked Cross by Sally Carson
A forgotten 1934 novel that feels frighteningly relevant today and that I almost couldn’t believe was actually written in 1934 by an Englishwoman. Sally Carson died young in 1941, never…
Sorrow and Bliss by Meg Mason
This book had some uneven qualities for me, but it turned out to be a surprisingly apt seasonal read, blending humour with a creeping darkness. On one hand, parts of…
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…
The Last September by Elizabeth Bowen
Felt like an obvious September pick, but this wasn’t the effortless read I expected. I’ve enjoyed Bowen before, yet I found myself wading through a slightly disjointed narrative, with many…
Howards End by E.M. Forster
This work cements Forster’s ability to capture emotional truths within their wider social context. Love, jealousy, friendship, and suspicion are never free-floating, but shaped and refracted through history, class, and…
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! 🧙♀️…
A Mind To Murder by P.D James
This was a fun #spinsterseptember read where both the victim and some suspects fit the spinster description! Spinsters plus murder make for a fun read. What happens when an unpopular medical…
Heart Lamp by Banu Mushtaq
This International 2025 Booker Prize winner is an interesting milestone: the first ever Kannada-language work to win, it’s also actually the first short story collection to win too….which is amazing,…
A Passage North by Anuk Arudpragasam
This novel was not what I expected: I had imagined something closer to a memoir or a journalistic exploration of post-civil war Sri Lanka. Instead, A Passage North is a…
All That is Left of Life by Roberta Recchia (Review)
Translated superbly by Antonella Lettieri, this 2025 Italian novel by Roberta Recchia is a winner. Tutta la vita che resta came out in 2024, and it’s great to see this…
Beast in View by Margaret Millar
From 1955, this Hollywood psychological thriller won the 1956 Edgar Allan Poe award, and it’s easy to see why. It’s a horror thriller with a creepy and oppressive feel. Helen…
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…
Strong Poison by D.L. Sayers
Iconic, sarcastic, totally over the top as only a 1930s aristocratic sleuth can be, this is the novel where Lord Peter Wimsey meets his match, Harriet Vane (though Harriet will…
Meridian by Alice Walker
Beautiful prose, tough subjects, challenging perspectives. This Civil Rights movement and Bildungsroman collide in the figure of determined and independent Meridian. Meridian is drawn to the Civil Rights movement; we…
Eight Ghosts by eight different authors (English Heritage compilation)
I love reading ghost stories and gothic books in the summer, so this purchase at a castle in Cornwall was the perfect sunny day read. Each story is inspired by…
Murder at Mt. Fuji by Shizuko Natsuki
Another great read for Women in Translation Month! This book from 1982 hooked me and I finished it super quickly. I really enjoyed it. It’s a classic murder mystery thriller…
Acts of Infidelity by Lena Andersson (Review)
This was a book that I loved, but the main character is one that will try your patience! I actually didn’t realise it was the second book of a series…
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…
Mild Vertigo by Mieko Kanai
Formally experimental at times, this book is a beautiful stream of consciousness narrative of a Tokyo housewife. Her “ladies who lunch” group and their rivalries, her neighbours and their dramas,…
Perfection by Vincenzo Latronico
This book calls out our generation hard! Confronting in a good way, it peaks into the world of creatives who move from city to city, digital nomad style, and who…
Tilt by Emma Pattee
I love a debut novel that focuses on one intense day like this. Interspersed with some interesting flashbacks, we are basically in the head of Annie, who is heavily pregnant,…
The Book of Night Women by Marlon James
I feel a sense of inadequacy when it comes to reviewing this as it’s just such an intense, violent, visceral, but also hypnotic and compelling book. Lilith is a slave…
The Secret House of Death by Ruth Rendell
I loved reading this: I feel like well-paced thrillers are my summer jam. Imagine a boring London suburb with boring roadworks. Now, add some curtain twitching, infidelity, divorce, fear, and…
Glorious Exploits by Ferdia Lennon
This is a recent debut novel from Irish writer, Ferdia Lennon, and it deservedly caused a stir! It’s a punchy, humorous, but also, gruesome and devastating telling of what happened…
Voices in the Evening by Natalia Ginzburg
Natalia Ginzburg (1916-1991): Anti-fascist writer Natalia Ginzburg is everywhere at the minute: it’s great to see her work getting recognition as more of her work is being translated. This slim…
The Hidden Room by Stella Duffy
This one was an easy read, a thriller set in the Fens where a couple running busy lives and three children must confront a dark secret from one of their…
Trespasses by Louise Kennedy
This is a beautiful book with a powerful message about Northern Irish culture. This novel paints a haunting picture of a fractured community through the eye’s of a brave young…
The Details by Ia Genberg
This book blew me away: the premise is so striking and original! During a fever, the narrator revisits memories of four people who have marked her deeply. Each section is…
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…
My Favourite by Sarah Jollien-Fardel
This was a deeply reflective read: a blend of lush nature and landscape, and searing emotional pain and community ills. A great translation from Holly James, this slim book packs…
The Voyage Home by Pat Barker
I’ve read Barker’s Trojan war series over the years and I’ve enjoyed its analysis of the Battle of Troy and the aftermath of the war from the women‘s perspective. This…
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…
In the Time of the Butterflies by Julia Alvarez
In the Time of the Butterflies is a really magical & warm novel: intelligent, moving, and powerful. Julia Alvarez brings to life the story of the Mirabal sisters (known as…
Tell Me Everything by Elizabeth Strout
This is the latest installment in Elizabeth Strout’s beloved Lucy Barton series and we get the convergence of two of Strout’s iconic characters: Lucy Barton and Olive Kitteridge. Strout’s signature…
Someone from the Past: A London Mystery by Margot Bennett
I looked into this book’s background and its Scottish author, Margot Bennett. This 1958 novel won the annual Crime Writers’ Association’s award (Golden Dagger). After winning, Bennet never returned 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…
On the Greenwich Line by Shady Lewis
This is a brilliant, baroque, honest novel that doesn’t pull its punches. It offers a searing critique of the welfare state, exposing how bureaucratic systems can quietly and efficiently kill…
We Solve Murders by Richard Osman
As a fan of Osman’s work, I was curious to see what he’d come up with next with this new murder mystery series—and I have to say, We Solve Murders…
Local Fires by Joshua Jones
Local Fires by Jones is an entertaining, poignant, and memorable read. There’s something special about reading a collection from a local writer—one who references familiar places and explores overlooked issues….