Looking for a really great read among novels published in 2023? Here are my top 10 favourites. Covering a range of fiction genres — literary, speculative, historical, crime and fantasy — they are all guaranteed great reads!
Weyward (Emilia Hart)
– Three women, three time periods, and always the same old shit of male coercion and violence. An absorbing, immersive story.
Under Ground (E.S. Thomson) – Victorian filth is Under Ground. Feel it clinging to your shoes and smell it as it assails your nostrils. It is gross — and engrossing.
Bad Men (Julie Mae Cohen) – is sharp and fast and clever and very funny. You’ll love it. (Maybe less so if you’re a scumbag who hurts women.)
Fyneshade (Kate Griffin)
– Marta is sent to be a governess at Fyneshade, where she expects to find a rich man to marry. A taut and dark gothic tale.
The Silence Project (Carole Hailey) – A gripping feminist novel of ideas about cults, power politics, female empowerment and utilitarianism.
Breakwater (Marijke Schermer) – A moving, painful exploration of traumatic memories of sexual violence. Beautifully written (and translated) in stark, precise prose.
The Memory of Animals (Claire Fuller) – A group of young people are trapped in hospital during a pandemic that wipes through the population, leaving just them, alone and isolated.
Such Sharp Teeth (Rachel Harrison) – Rage, trauma, resilience and transformation. Women finding strength and learning to face the world without (or with less) fear.
The Wren, The Wren (Anne Enright) – Not a story of grand events but an exploration of the intricate threads that bind couples and families.
The List of Suspicious Things (Jennie Godfrey) – The search for the Yorkshire Ripper from a child’s perspective. A multilayered totally immersive story. (Published in 2024, but read in 2023.)
For more good reads, check out: Top 10 novels of 2024
And here’s an index of all my reviews.