More from Books
Character is king in the latest crime fiction
Thriller writers are hard pressed to stand out in what’s become a very crowded field. As a result, from Cardiff…
Sex and politics in the precincts of St Paul’s Cathedral
In the tight dark maze of alleys that wind between the Thames and St Paul’s the pleasures of the living…
The Greek myths are always with us
Once upon a time there was a collection of stories that everybody loved. They involved brave heroes such as Perseus…
The ghostly ruins of vanished Britain
Take a walk in the English countryside and you get the impression that little has changed. The churches and farmhouses,…
Enjoy your beloved car while you can
Remember ashtrays in cars? Soon cars will themselves become objects of wet-eyed nostalgic reverie. A thrilling era of propelling ourselves,…
The Belfast Blitz: These Days, by Lucy Caldwell, reviewed
Caught outside at the start of a raid in the Belfast Blitz as the incendiary bombs rain down, Audrey looks…
Portrait of a domestic tyrant: The Exhibitionist, by Charlotte Mendelson, reviewed
If vivid, drily hilarious tales about messy families stuffed with passive aggression and seething resentment are your thing, you will…
Knotty problems: French Braid, by Anne Tyler, reviewed
Anne Tyler’s 24th novel French Braid opens in 2010 in Philadelphia train station. We find the teenage Serena, who has…
Jesus’s female disciples remain women of mystery
Is there a patron saint of conjecture? Perhaps it is a name known only to Bible scholars, who have rich…
Abandoned for a bogus guru – Lily Dunn’s harrowing family memoir
Sins of My Father begins with an ending. Describing her 61-year-old parent’s final desperate flight from a life of vibrant…
The heartbreak left in the wake of the Terra Nova
The story of the five women waiting at home for Captain Scott and his doomed polar party is naturally occluded…
The party’s finally over for Nigel Farage
Nigel Farage was never even an MP, but Michael Crick argues convincingly that he is one of the top five…
Lasting infamy: Booth, by Karen Joy Fowler, reviewed
Were it not for an event on the night of 14 April 1865, John Wilkes Booth would be remembered, if…
New light on the building of Stonehenge
When it comes to Stonehenge, we are like children continually asking why and never getting a conclusive answer. There are…
An ill wind in Buenos Aires: Portrait of Unknown Lady, by María Gainza, reviewed
How to review a book that pokes fun at critics? When the protagonist of María Gainza’s Portrait of an Unknown…
A magical epic: Moon Witch, Spider King, by Marlon James, reviewed
When the first volume of Marlon James’s Dark Star trilogy appeared in 2019, it was quickly recognised as a masterly…
What the Anglo-Saxons made of 1066 and all that followed
By any yardstick, the Norman Conquest was a ghastly business. Within two decades, the English aristocracy had been more than…
Sister, where are you? – Clover Stroud mourns her beloved sibling
‘CERTIFICATE IS NOT EVIDENCE OF IDENTITY,’ the freshly issued death certificate read. In the craziness and shock of grief for…
The making of a poet: Mother’s Boy, by Patrick Gale, reviewed
Charles Causley was a poet’s poet. Both Ted Hughes and Philip Larkin considered him the finest candidate for the laureateship,…
Troubles of the past: The Slowworm’s Song, by Andrew Miller, reviewed
Andrew Miller specialises in characters who are lost, often struggling to deal with the burden of failure. They don’t come…
TB is back with a vengeance
If you were a teenager before 2005, one reminder of tuberculosis in British life is that small circular scar on…
The torment of mentoring spoilt rich kids
For 20 years of my adult life, I moonlighted as a private tutor. After a full day in the office…
Howard Jacobson superbly captures the terrible cost of becoming a writer
Howard Jacobson, who turns 80 this year, published his first novel aged 40. Since then he has produced roughly a…
Margaret Atwood seems embarrassed by the sheer volume of her output
Margaret Atwood is among the major writers of English fiction of our time. This is a very boring way to…
Julie Burchill has found a new way to provoke: she’s turned sincere
Stephen Daisley 5 March 2022 9:00 am
The greatest ever social media spat took place before the first tweet was sent, and was conducted via fax, which…