by Ann Patchett — Tom Lake is a nice book, very pleasant to read, not particularly challenging but beautifully written. Lockdown without the pandemic.
Tag: literary fiction
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.
Lioness
by Emily Perkins — Therese questions herself and her life, and feels the urge to break out, smash everything and live more authentically. Who doesn’t, right?
The Benevolent Society of Ill-Mannered Ladies
by Alison Goodman — When the days are dull and lifeless, you need The Society of Ill-Mannered Ladies. Thrilling, moving, clever.
Cuckoo in the Nest
by Fran Hill — A quiet domestic drama set in 1970s Britain. Moving and well written. A wealth of domestic detail plunges the reader into the era.
Fyneshade
by Kate Griffin — A taut and dark gothic tale. Marta is sent to be a governess at Fyneshade, where she expects to find a rich man to marry.
Breakwater
by Marijke Schermer — A moving, painful exploration of traumatic memories of sexual violence. Beautifully written (and translated) in stark, precise prose.
Weyward
by Emilia Hart — Three women, three time periods, and always the same old shit of male coercion and violence. An absorbing, immersive story.
The Silence Project
by Carole Hailey — A gripping feminist novel of ideas about cults, power politics, female empowerment and utilitarianism: does the end really justify the means?
Darling
by India Knight — A clever and up-to-date retelling of the classic The Pursuit of Love. It’s an absolute joy. Vivid, hilarious dialogue, wonderful characters.
The Darlings of the Asylum
by Noel O’Reilly — Gripping and exciting gothic novel. A wayward young woman is locked up in a Victorian asylum. Why? What happened? And how can she get out?
The Whalebone Theatre
by Joanna Quinn — One of the best novels of 2022. An engrossing, moving saga following the lives of an eccentric British family from 1919 to 1945.
Free Love
by Tessa Hadley — An incisive novel about a 1960s housewife who throws up her life to become a hippy, and the family she leaves behind.
The Language of Food
by Annabel Abbs — Vivid, beautifully written novel about a wonderful 19th century cook, Eliza Acton, with characters and scenes that leap off the page.
The Wrecking Storm
by Michael Ward — Politics religion, murder and mayhem are back in this pacey historical mystery set in London in 1641. Book 2 in the series.
Scenes of a Graphic Nature
by Caroline O’Donoghue — A clever, perceptive, well written and very readable novel about Ireland, history, lies and stories.
The Answer to Everything
by Luke Kennard — A harsh look at modern, middle class people doing what people have been doing forever: cheating. In more ways than one. Great book club read.
White City
by Kevin Power — Moving and well written story of family dysfunction, the corruption of wealth and a life shattered by a series of poor decisions.