Barbara Kingsolver, what a storyteller. Her
writing is sublime, and we root for her eponymous hero in every line she
writes, every fictitious breath he takes.
I defy any reader not to be moved by
this epic human drama of an ordinary boy’s battle to overcome the hand life has
played him.
What’s more, through reading this, I learned so much about
contemporary life in the rust-belt USA and the widespread prescription drug
addiction ravaging the community.
This novel has been described as Dickens’
David Copperfield, retold in the context of American ‘white trash’ in the 21st
century, but to my mind, it’s so much more than that. If you only read one book
this year, read this!
Demon's story begins with his traumatic birth to a single mother in a single-wide trailer, looking 'like a little blue prizefighter.' For the life ahead of him he would need all of that fighting spirit, along with buckets of charm, a quick wit, and some unexpected talents, legal and otherwise.
In the southern Appalachian Mountains of Virginia, poverty isn't an idea, it's as natural as the grass grows. For a generation growing up in this world, at the heart of the modern opioid crisis, addiction isn't an abstraction, it's neighbours, parents, and friends. 'Family' could mean love, or reluctant foster…
Pat Barker
is a fantastic author, but what I especially love about this book is that it’s
re-telling a well-known Greek myth through the eyes of a woman.
This subtle
shift in perspective changes the story from one of heroism to one of survival. It is a cleverly conceived and beautifully rendered adaptation from the epic to the
personal, from the grand narrative to the intimate.
'Magnificent. You are in the hands of a writer at the height of her powers' Evening Standard
There was a woman at the heart of the Trojan War whose voice has been silent - until now. Discover the greatest Greek myth of all - retold by the witness that history forgot . . .
Briseis was a queen until her city was destroyed. Now she is a slave to the man who butchered her husband and brothers. Trapped in a world defined by men, can she survive…
Margaret Atwood has got to be my favorite author,
so it’s always a joy to read anything by her.
However, I read this book primarily as
research (I’m currently working towards a PhD, which looks at biographical
novels and the ways authors blend fact and fiction). This novel re-imagines
the life of an 18th-century alleged murderess.
What’s fascinating
for me is seeing the interplay between historical evidence and the writer’s imagination.
Atwood is a wonderful storyteller, and this is a masterclass in how to write compelling
bio-fiction. Even if you don’t share my obsession with biographical novels,
you’ll love this one.
Sometimes I whisper it over to myself: Murderess. Murderess. It rustles, like a taffeta skirt along the floor.' Grace Marks. Female fiend? Femme fatale? Or weak and unwilling victim? Around the true story of one of the most enigmatic and notorious women of the 1840s, Margaret Atwood has created an extraordinarily potent tale of sexuality, cruelty and mystery.
'Brilliant... Atwood's prose is searching. So intimate it seems to be written on the skin' Hilary Mantel
'The outstanding novelist of our age' Sunday Times
Germany, 1945: One winter morning, Detta, a young
German woman, passes a group of exhausted British PoWs being force-marched
through her village. One of the prisoners catches her eye, and afterward, she
cannot forget him. Then, she receives an urgent message from the local priest:
an escaped prisoner needs her help.
Berlin, 1989: After witnessing the fall of the
Berlin Wall, photographer Miranda flees through the rubble to East Germany,
escaping a violent boyfriend and finding a hidden connection to a forgotten
past.
Two women share a history and a secret: can they
save each other now the time has come to reveal it?
