Absinthe and the casual fling: Ex-Wife, by Ursula Parrott, reviewed
A sensational bestseller, first published anonymously in 1929, centres around the adventures of a bright young American divorcée, seizing love wherever she can
My brilliant friend and betrayer, Inigo Philbrick
Orlando Whitfield remains tortured by his association with the charming art dealer convicted of wire fraud worth $86 million in 2022. But whose story is it to tell?
Doctor in despair
A surgeon from Kashmir is tormented by the penal operations he once performed under Sharia law, such as amputations for robbery
An authentic portrait of gay love in small-town Britain: The Whale Tattoo reviewed
In Jon Ransom’s debut novel, water seeps into the crevices between waking and dreaming, flooding the narrator Joe’s consciousness. Set…
A tale of forbidden love: Trespasses, by Louise Kennedy, reviewed
Kenneth Branagh’s Oscar-winning recent film Belfast chronicles the travails of a Protestant family amid sectarian conflict in 1969. Louise Kennedy’s…
Dystopian horror: They, by Kay Dick, reviewed
Her name has faded, but the British author and editor Kay Dick once cut a striking figure. She lived in…
The view from the Paris bus — an appreciation of everyday life
Many would say the commute was one thing they didn’t miss in lockdown. But when Lauren Elkin was ‘yanked out…
The young bride’s tale: China Room, by Sunjeev Sahota, reviewed
Sunjeev Sahota’s novels present an unvarnished image of British Asian lives. Ours Are the Streets chronicles a suicide bomber’s radicalisation,…
And then there were five: The High House, by Jessie Greengrass, reviewed
In 2009 Margaret Atwood published The Year of the Flood, set in the aftermath of a waterless flood, a flu-like…
Problem parents: My Phantoms, by Gwendoline Riley, reviewed
Gwendoline Riley’s unsentimental fiction hovers on the edge of comedy and bleakness, and has drawn comparisons from Jean Rhys to…
Scenes from an open marriage: Luster, by Raven Leilani, reviewed
One of Barack Obama’s favourite books of 2020, Raven Leilani’s debut comes acclaimed by a literary Who’s Who that includes…
Opposites attract: Just Like You, by Nick Hornby, reviewed
Babysitters are having a literary moment. Following Kiley Reid’s debut Such a Fun Age, Nick Hornby is the latest author…
