by Maybelle Wallis — Gripping, atmospheric historical fiction in the sensationalist tradition. Forbidden love amidst evil and murder.
Tag: literary fiction
The Ravenswood Witch
by Jenni Keer — An atmospheric gothic tale oozing with mystery, madness, secrets, lust, murder and a touch of magic.
The Glassmaker
by Tracy Chevalier — A multiple-timeline novel about the history of Murano glassmaking, following Orsola Rosso from 1486 to now.
The Women Behind the Door
by Roddy Doyle — An ex-alcoholic mother and a traumatised daughter during lockdown. Superb, understated writing.
Versions of a Girl
by Catherine Gray — A superb novel. Beautifully written, highly insightful. Do we become who we are because of our past or in spite of it?
Sipsworth
by Simon Van Booy — Sipsworth is a gentle, beautifully written meditation on love, aging and connection. And a mouse. For anyone who has ever loved an animal.
Una, Unwanted
by Elin F. Styve — A moving story of family dysfunction, hypocrisy and a woman seeking the connection of family.
The Revenge of Rita Marsh
by Nilesha Chauvet — Rita Marsh is not in a good place. The last paedophile she exposed committed suicide soon after. Now her friend Leila needs help…
The Silence Factory
by Bridget Collins — Gothic, historical fantasy. The Silence Factory is an imaginative, immersive and spellbinding story. I was thoroughly captivated!
When We Were Silent
by Fiona McPhillips — When We Were Silent is a raging, screaming #MeToo. It’s also very well written: well constructed and vivid, with strong characters and plot.
Birding
by Rose Ruane — Birding is an immersive novel about women’s lives, consent and about how acknowledging and verbalising abuse can lead to greater clarity.
The Household
by Stacey Halls — A mystery and fictionalised account of the setup, by Charles Dickens and a wealthy heiress, of a house for fallen women.
The Book of Secrets
by Anna Mazzola — We are plunged into 17th century Rome, where women strive to survive in a patriarchal world perhaps not so very different from our own.
The Ministry of Time
by Kaliane Bradley — Secret government mission involving a myopic civil servant, time travellers and a plot to save our future. Gripping and beautifully written.
What Doesn’t Kill Us
by Ajay Close — A beautifully written, gripping and immersive, and still very relevant historical novel about misogyny and activism.
The List of Suspicious Things
by Jennie Godfrey — A child tries to track the Yorkshire Ripper. Immersive and multilayered.
Tom Lake
by Ann Patchett — Tom Lake is a nice book, very pleasant to read, not particularly challenging but beautifully written. Lockdown without the pandemic.
The Wren, The Wren
by Anne Enright — Not a narrative of grand events but an exploration of the intricate threads that bind couples and families.
A Bird in Winter
by Louise Doughty — A Bird in Winter is beautifully written, well paced, at times exciting, at times more reflective. Older, career women will appreciate it!
Black Thorn
by Sarah Hilary — A tense and claustrophobic mystery. An incisive look into family life and loyalties, ambition, criminal negligence, toxic greed and cover-up.