There are all sorts of elements in these three stories which appeal to me: e.g. absurdism, imagination, humour, deviousness. All three main characters have something that makes them an outcast, sometimes hit hard by their reality, but with unexpected twists that usually make you either smile or wonder which trick has been played on you.
This eerie and intriguing novel keeps you turning pages with its twists and revelations while deeply immersing you in its beautifully written and atmospheric world. It will especially appeal to fans of gothic horror, fantasy and science fiction, and anyone who enjoys dark but thoughtful explorations of humanity and survival.
Be drawn in by the dilapidated charm and nostalgia of The Paradise cinema, just like Holly who, desperate to fit in, becomes part of the chaotic group of misfits who work there. Drug use, lust and fear cloud the hallucinatory gory episodes that haunt her as both the cinema and relationships crumble. Strange, gothic and surreal yet with a sting of harsh reality, this book threaded with film references is a cinematic and visual read.
Sensory and fluid, this poetic read is brief but as deep as the waters that run through it. What begins as a group fishing trip soon expands into tributaries where the past and present flow alongside each other, one haunting the other. You'll be immersed in the evocation of rural Argentinian life - the smoke of barbecued chorizo will sting your eyes, the thick web of woodland spiders will cling to your skin, dreamlike in the haze of heat.
Aron and Nora travel on the number 13 bus across London during the rush hour. What emerges is a vivid and compassionate portrait of multi-cultural London. They talk to some passengers and observe others. An unexpected page turner and you will find yourself caring about everyone you meet on the journey.
Set in Sudan in the 1890s during the Mahdi uprising, this novel echoes with voices and stories through the ages – and all moved me. But the strongest voice for me is that of the orphan Akuany, telling her experiences. It left me feeling angry and sad that mankind never learns that war brings nothing but grief; that religion can never be an excuse to slaughter others; that skin colour does not matter and all human beings are hurt in the same way.
Forget your expectations of nice short stories to lull you off to sleep, this experience is about as comfortable as sitting on a wasp nest. Each story will only take you five to ten minutes to read, but you will need a good day to recover from the shock that they deliver.
Poland, 1907, three Jewish boys set off to walk to Lublin to sell brushes. Such a simple premise for a story that, in a way, matches the innocence of the boys as they begin. Along the way there are promises of food and girls, laughs, tales of mythic villages and jokes. The boys will endear themselves to you. But as the journey progresses the veneer of innocence fades as the future begins to cast a foreboding shadow - though the jokes remain.
This collection of stories is the stage for disturbing family relations, unsettling marriages and cruelty against animals. All are written with powerful feeling for and understanding of the unspoken and inner thoughts of the protagonists. At times, I had to take a break - but I was still intrigued enough to pick it up again and continue reading.
What a thrilling ride this book is - breakneck speed, breath-holding tension and characters you really care about. The pervading fear created by the Nazi occupation of Rome, the night-time missions in the backstreets, the bravery of everyday folk - all so authentic. I welcomed the polyphonic voices - they gave the narrative a special depth and meaning; each member of the 'choir' adding to the experiences and actions of their fellow choristers.
In this gripping reimagining of Orwell’s 1984 Julia, not Winston, is our protagonist. Through precisely told scenes, many of which will be known to readers of Orwell, we are given a female viewpoint on Big Brother’s cruel, claustrophobic world. This novel is packed with risk and thrill, chilling violence and visceral encounters. It will shock readers and stay with them: raising a magnifying lens to our own society and our agency or lack of it.
The blended family of Cheyenne grandmothers, Opal and Jacquie, search for their identity and place in modern society. The brutal history of their people takes its toll on their grandsons – especially Orvil, who was shot after attending a Powwow and is consequently addicted to pills. This is not an easy read – but it is powerful and affecting and all the people this story were of flesh and blood to me.
What comes across more than anything in this story is how love and affection, in spite of everything, endures. In this case it's the bond between Julia and Eve, tested against the backdrop of Vienna pre and post First World War, then again in the late 1930s and life under the Nazis. Vienna is beautifully captured in this absorbing and evocative story that doesn't shy away from addressing antisemitism, homophobia and the violence of the period.
Piglet, a name that has stuck since childhood, has panic attacks in the days prior to marrying Kai. She tries to be the perfect bride, especially for Kai’s demanding mother. Then Kai drops a bombshell. What follows is a scene like one from a Fellini film: sharply humorous but poignant too. And, like the food descriptions - addictive.
This thrilling new take on the zombie genre combines social commentary on globalism, capitalism, immigration and belonging while ratcheting up tension as a group of survivors struggle in a post-apocalyptic planet ravaged by disease. The story flips between present and the near-past as we learn more about a world in the midst of collapse. You will be hooked by the main character's resilience as she seeks hope and freedom from the fever.
In a tale of jinns, middle-eastern mythology and the underworld, this vibrant story resonates with imagination, magic and compelling fairy-tale vibes. A moving portrait of a mother’s love and her desperation to outmanoeuvre death is presented with fascinating characters and an evocative writing style. Storytelling is at the heart of this ambitious Arabian tale in a unique exploration of the concepts of grief and the will to live.
This strangely beautiful, claustrophobic little book drops you deep into the tiny home and day-to-day life of Uncle and his nephew and niece. Uncle is quite a repellent concoction of excess and loud, smelly bodily functions. The 'yuk' factor is high. Yet his nephew (at first) and niece (later on her own) look after him, with care and even tenderness. It made me wonder why - and think hard about what binds any of us together as family.
Monstrous and beguiling, tender and humorous, this is the story of an unlikely friendship between an older man suffering a decline of memory and a young boy growing into adulthood. As Felice unravels, Michelino draws the threads of his life together and the old man’s madness begins to become a dark reality.
Autistic mother Sunday lives with her teenage daughter, Dolly, in a small cottage in the Lake District. When outwardly polished and seemingly charming couple, Vita and Rollo, come to live next door, Dolly and Sunday soon come under their spell. I loved the brooding atmosphere in the book, as much as the voice of Sunday who is brutally honest telling the story.
This surreal satire will have you laughing at the relationships of a band of harlequins and cringing at the decadence of the City of O, where citizens routinely buy extreme body modifications or even order mountain ranges to be placed in view of their penthouse suites! Anyone seeking a witty, fantastical read with razor-sharp social commentary should grab a copy today.
Atmospheric from the outset, this mystery will grip you immediately. What begins in the tone of a police procedural becomes more gothic at the turn of every page. Tangled stories of three women living and suffering in eras spanning over a century gradually weave together and something much darker and supernatural in nature is revealed. Prepare for a tense and shocking read.
Wonderfully entertaining gothic horror. I enjoyed all the usual elements: Opal’s tragic family history, the creepy house with the beasts in the cellar and the attraction between two loners. Don’t expect fast paced action - the plot builds slowly which is perfect for the story.
The line between what’s real and what’s imagined blurs wildly in this short, impactful story where a writer, who is far from home, battles with the scars she carries from her fractured family relationships. Whilst it looks at motherhood, loss and belonging you never feel that it is a novel of themes. Instead I was caught up in the day to day life of this writer, and her spiralling descent from reality.
Delight in the shocking combination of a light-hearted tone and vicious humour in this serial killer romp. Told with deadpan humour, you'll find yourself siding with the damaged main character as she leads an increasingly twisty killing spree, uncovering other people's secrets and narrowly escaping discovery along the way. While told with a light touch this book does include themes of abuse of children and the elderly as well as grief and loss.
There's a meaty speculative sci-fi hook at the heart of this read: suddenly, everyone with a Y chromosome disappears. What follows is a rush of ideas - political, social, scientific - as society is reformed by women, in the absence of men. Fragments of weirdly otherworldly material are intercut throughout, while at its core are grounded and grim stories of sexual and racial abuse and ongoing trauma. The effect is disorientating and compelling.
Tarare, cursed by the circumstance of poverty lives a life blighted by violence and want. Naive and vulnerable, he is exploited by society, his insatiable hunger used as a side show, a scientific curiosity and tool of war until he comes to embody the monstrosity of what he has experienced. Though dark and gory, this book is also full of beauty, humour and tenderness. Bizarre at times, this unique read is one you’ll want to gorge on!
Rosa combats her loneliness with a frenzied cooking spree. The locals, following the exquisite fragrances, flock to her home to indulge in sumptuous feasts of food and love. A mouth watering and sensual celebration of gluttony and passion - what's not to love? The move away from traditional sentences and punctuation may seems strange at first - but I found it really helps the narrative to flow.
This is an engrossing and thought-provoking novel about identity and belonging. You are drawn into a world where cultures collide, secrets unravel while an undercurrent of dread creeps along, but also where the power of friendship shines through. This book is a must-read for anyone seeking a deeply satisfying and enlightening story.
An emotional rollercoaster that is heart-wrenching and inspiring, unflinching and visceral in its exploration of identity, mental health and self-worth. Its authenticity and rawness makes it a challenging but important read, and one that will resonate long after you finish the last page.
This story twists and turns through a magical and sometimes grotesque world of giants, tricksters, a girl who can communicate with elephants, a crone who controls honey bees with a whistle, the building of a cinema and the making of many bricks. Full of surprises, violence and humour, this is a page-turner on an epic scale.
This is a future US where violent criminals become idols and sex symbols and compete for freedom in Hard Action Sports. Physically and mentally tortured, they must kill or be killed in televised matches. Broad in scope and told from multiple perspectives, this violent novel packs a punch as it examines sin, redemption, prejudice and privilege. It’s a discomforting read interspersed with factual footnotes that show injustice is a reality.
The Jewish and black residents of a poor neighborhood in Pennsylvania come together to welcome a deaf-mute boy into their community. When he is placed in an inhumane institution, at the hands of a racist, they form a complex plan to free him. I enjoyed the storytelling, the dry wit and the way the author paints the people, but was shocked at the scenes in the psychiatric ward. But in the end, it's the good in ordinary people that delivers hope.
A car accident leaves Jarred unable to walk again. And to make matters worse, he will now have to live with his father. This sets the tone for a book that is as candid as anything you're likely to read on family relationships, disability and coming to terms with life pre and post accident . Punctuated with some bitingly funny humour, Jarred will be a character you will want to get to know and cheer for.
Slyly beautiful, and with a teasingly unnerving relationship to reality, this short story collection will seductively detour you into the uncanny. This is a place where boundaries blur and merge: between land and sea, skin and bone, human and animal, the mythic and the everyday. The horror-lore of vampires and werewolves lurks here, but only in shadow-glimpses; what gives this collection its greatest power is its profound emotionality.
Ada is born and reborn in a 15th century Ghanaian village, a world war 2 concentration camp and modern day London and Berlin. Her lives are linked by a bracelet and a narrator who embodies a door knocker, a hut and a passport - and who has a long running tussle with God to be born a human. Moving yet often funny, I loved the whole concept and originality of this debut novel and its progress through the centuries. God is brilliant!
A challenging read, in which the nameless main character reflects on youth, heritage, race, art and sexuality. Sometimes dreamlike, even hallucinating, sometimes harsh or brutal. Every detail seems to count, while the artist painter questions motivations and goals in life, and tries to come to terms with it. A haunting tale that keeps on lingering.
Deceptively simple, this short novel doesn’t need prior knowledge of the game of squash. The game highlights how this British Pakistani family is dealing with their collective grief, and we watch their emotions unfold through small gestures, overheard conversations and familial obligations, hiding their heartbreak. A great deal is revealed in the silence between them. I was thinking of Gopi and her sisters long after I finished reading.
It starts with a dream, a missing painting and a fatal fishing accident - an incident around which multiple lives over numerous generations then revolve. Gambles are taken and decisions made on the flip of a coin for which the outcomes are far reaching and unexpected. This unusual read is as slippery as a fish. It’s playful, whimsical, even absurd but also asks big questions about chance, fortune and self determination.
The immense personality and legacy of St Cuthbert (Cuddy) shines through every page of this alternative history of Northeast England. It could have been like a novel by Tolstoy – a saga of the significance of common people - but although epic in dimension, it defies genre. Instead it delivers a forceful fusion of scholarly hagiography, psychic poetry, wonderment at architectural triumph and a profound empathy for the victims of history.
This is a novel about love and duty: about a woman's ambition to have a career and to excel in it, and how a woman is expected to put her husband first, especially when he becomes very ill and is dependent on her. This is what Anita has to deal with - and how she copes is the story that unfolds. Sufficient to say that coping is not easy and the demands of duty are very hard indeed.
A hazy and fluid coming of age story told from the perspective of 15 year old Julie, at the moment of her own queer sexual awakening. Evocatively set in the early 1990s, REM, skater culture and the haze of clove cigarettes run throughout. The read is gentle, dreamlike and detached, as Julie is haunted by the absence of her swimming superstar brother and seeks to re-discover him - and herself - in the depths and rhythms of the swimming pool.
If you still have bonds with childhood friends even though you've taken different directions, this book will resonate profoundly. Its easy and thoughtful evocation of two talented women making careers and relationships across decades and continents is quietly astonishing. Perceptive, vanity-puncturing and unexpectedly hopeful.
Camilo uses crutches, his parents are always fighting, the heat is oppressive. Everything changes when his father brings a mysterious boy, Cosme, to live with them. This is a moving novella of first love and loss, perfect to read in one sitting.
Tenderness and beauty turn to division and turmoil as environmental, world-wide crises wreak havoc for three diverse characters. This cautionary tale on climate has elements of the fantastical but its authenticity is undeniable. This is a unsettling reflection on humanity’s denial of the damage being caused to our planet
Forget over-hyped sports memoirs, this is a fast, pacy novel that conveys what football is really like. It focuses on the ref – the figure hated by pretty much everyone. Plus this ref is Black – the only one in the League. I didn’t know Rennie, I looked him him up when I finished and found out the whole story is true – even more respect for that.
This is a strange but mesmerising book. It tells of the detailed search into the life of Enayat al-Zayyat, a young Egyptian female author who committed suicide before the publication of her only novel. Also bound up with the posy-colonial politics of Egypt and, specifically, what happened to women under Nassar. It's by no means an easy read, but it is fascinating, and shows how the struggle continues across generations.
This isn’t a long novel but I came away feeling that I had been on a journey with the characters. Sometimes I loved them, sometimes I thought they were awful, but I was completely absorbed in their story. Transitioning is only a part - because the book is also about friendship, family and love, delivered through a story that exudes snark, exuberant youthfulness, and dances around everyone’s longing to be seen for who they really are.
After finding a fairytale written by an unknown American writer in the antiquarian bookshop where she works, Hazel embarks on a journey to find her long lost sibling. I found this a lovely tale of lost innocence, true friendship and the consolation of fantasy and nature.
A sparse and brutal read with an almost biblical sense of allegory. We are immersed, gut-deep, in the bloody reality of a slaughterhouse. We smell and sweat, kill and emote with the workers. The story that emerges is one of mystery - as cattle begin to behave strangely, the workers attempt to understand why. But this read is more one of sensory experience than plotting: it's as short and powerful as a stun-gun, but not without tenderness.
This highly poetic novel showed me a small mountain community where people live in symbiosis with animals, nature and the spirit world. I felt the cruelty of life, the resilience of the people and the beauty of seeing and accepting what is there. Told from different perspectives, be it human or non-human, the language has a beautiful echoing rhythm, ranging from astoundingly poetic to down-to-earth, all resonating in your head for a long time.
