Book Reviews

The Trouble of Blurred Worlds in Raul Garrigsait’s 'The Others'
The Trouble of Blurred Worlds in Raul Garrigsait’s 'The Others'
Historical fiction requires finesse to master. It is the equivalent of walking a tight rope with several weights in each hand. Alongside the usual difficulties of world building and character... Read more...
To Speak the Name of the Dead is to Make Them Live Again: Toni Morrison's 'Song of Solomon'
To Speak the Name of the Dead is to Make Them Live Again: Toni Morrison's 'Song of Solomon'
words by Jocelyn Howarth   What’s in a name?¹ Shakespeare’s words are timeless, marked by constant relevancy, and can be referred to in almost any situation. This question has been... Read more...
Family, Class, Trauma and the eternal question: Are there really second chances?
Family, Class, Trauma and the eternal question: Are there really second chances?
Lorna Elcock's The Windhover is not only about its characters. It is equally a novel about class, culture, language, and trauma, and once again Elcock demonstrates extraordinary precision. Two things immediately stand... Read more...
The Dichotomy Between Childhood and Adulthood in Hjalmar Söderberg’s 'Martin Birck's Youth'
The Dichotomy Between Childhood and Adulthood in Hjalmar Söderberg’s 'Martin Birck's Youth'
Translated fiction has always had a place in the hearts of English readers. Victor Hugo and Fyodor Dostoyevsky spring to mind, titans of literature who wrote novels that also serve... Read more...
The Importance of Tracing the Past and Its Horrors to Understand the Present and Its Shadows
The Importance of Tracing the Past and Its Horrors to Understand the Present and Its Shadows
“A Kick in the Belly: Women, Slavery and Resistance” by Stella Dadzie is a fantastic work that combines rigorous research with a beautiful pen. There is nothing in this book... Read more...
Does Chaos Control the Human, or Does the Human Being Control Chaos?
Does Chaos Control the Human, or Does the Human Being Control Chaos?
A review of Ashley Hickson-Lovence's novel, About to Fall Apart Read more...
The selfishness of love in Ai Yazawa’s ‘Nana’
The selfishness of love in Ai Yazawa’s ‘Nana’
Trigger warning: sexual violence & domestic abuse   Most relationships fizzle out with time. Beyond the first greetings shared between you and a stranger, their place in your future is... Read more...
Is Dr Jekyll the Original Performative Male?
Is Dr Jekyll the Original Performative Male?
The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll & Mr Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson (first published in 1886) is a Gothic classic that I guarantee most would have at least heard... Read more...
An Unforgettable Debut: Cosmos by Lucia Odoom
An Unforgettable Debut: Cosmos by Lucia Odoom
It is remarkable how much Lucia Odoom is able to accomplish in such few pages. Cosmos is this author’s moving and memorable debut, originally written in Danish, and translated to... Read more...
Is it better to Speak or to Die? Sara Collins on Legacy, Love, and Lies
Is it better to Speak or to Die? Sara Collins on Legacy, Love, and Lies
The Confessions of Frannie Langton by Sara Collins is as thematically complex as its titular main character. Part mystery-thriller, historical pseudo-memoir and literary fiction, Confessions is a gothic-soaked exploration of... Read more...
The places that make us in Halldór Laxness' 'A Parish Chronicle'
The places that make us in Halldór Laxness' 'A Parish Chronicle'
words by Inés Paris Arranz A Parish Chronicle by Halldór Laxness is not an easy read, for such a short novel; its circular structure and thematic fixation challenge the modern... Read more...
The Cost of Inheritance: Taffy Brodesser-Akner’s Long Island Compromise
The Cost of Inheritance: Taffy Brodesser-Akner’s Long Island Compromise
WORDS BY ANNIE CARTY   There is a dybbuk in Long Island Compromise. In Jewish folklore, a dybbuk is a restless spirit condemned to linger among the living and cause... Read more...