Reading Catch-up, December 2023
Some short reviews which first appeared in the Fortnightly since the summer.
Read MoreOn Eclectic Reading
A reflection on reading eclectically, and on how books connect to each other in surprising and fruitful ways.
Read MoreChetna Maroo's 'Western Lane'
Chetna Maroo’s short tight début novel tells the story of an 11 year-old girl who has lost her mother, and the ways she, her sisters and father try to cope, especially through the unlikely medium of the game of squash.
Read MoreWilliam Wall's 'Empty Bed Blues'
William Wall’s latest novel, Empty Bed Blues, is the story of an Irishwoman whose life has been torn apart by her husband’s betrayals . A small town in Liguria in Northern Italy helps her see how she might live again.
Read MoreDeborah Levy's 'August Blue'
Deborah Levy’s new novel August Blue will give pleasure to all who enjoyed her superb three-book ‘living autobiography.’
Read MoreAlice Winn's 'In Memoriam'
Alice Winn’s début novel In Memoriam is a fast-paced revisiting of the First World War in fiction, this time concentrating on a highly-charged erotic relationship between two schoolfriends, Ellwood and Gaunt.
Read MoreWilliam Trevor: 'The Piano Tuner's Wives'
An analysis of William Trevor’s short story, ‘The Piano Tuner’s Wives’, a masterpiece of fiction.
Read MoreClaire Keegan's 'So Late in the Day'
Claire Keegan’s 2022 short story ‘So Late in the Day’ is further evidence of her excellence, and George Saunders talks about it brilliantly.
Read MoreReview round-up, June 2023
A round-up of short reviews from the Fortnightly newsletter, from January to June 2023.
Read More'Youth' by Kevin Curran
Kevin Curran’s new novel Youth captures four teenagers in contemporary Balbriggan, on the cusp of adulthood.
Read MoreBilly O'Callaghan's 'The Paper Man'
Billy O’Callaghan’s new novel The Paper Man is a beautifully-crafted story of the now-forgotten Austrian footballing genius Matthias Sindelar and his young lover Rebekah, connecting Vienna in the 1930s and Cork City in the 30s and 80s.
Read MoreThe Portrait of a Lady
A discussion about Henry James’s masterpiece The Portrait of a Lady.
Read MoreShort review round-up, 2022
An annual round-up of short recommendations of books which I didn’t review fully.
Read MoreBernardine Evaristo's 'Manifesto'
Bernardine Evaristo’s autobiographical account traces her personal, sexual and creative journeys on the way to her recent artistic success and her ‘established and unswayable’ character.
Read More'Your Show' by Ashley Hickson-Lovence
Ashley Hickson-Lovence’s novel Your Show, an imagining of the career of the only black Premier League referee, Uriah Rennie, is a zippy and enjoyable read.
Read MoreBernard MacLaverty's 'Blank Pages'
In his late 70s, Bernard MacLaverty has given us a marvellous collection of short stories of the highest quality, in the ironically-titled Blank Pages.
Read MoreToni Morrison's 'Recitatif'
Toni Morrison only published one short story, ‘Recitatif’. It is now published for the first time in book form, with a brilliant introductory essay by Zadie Smith.
Read More'Afterlives' by Abdulrazak Gurnah
The most recent novel by the 2021 Nobel Laureate, Abdulrazak Gurnah, Afterlives (2020), entirely justifies the Nobel Committee’s choice.
Read MoreClaire Keegan's 'Small Things Like These'
Claire Keegan’s marvellous Small Things Like Us is a deeply moving portrait of a man’s life in mid-1980s Ireland, a superb follow-up to her masterpiece of a long short story, Foster.
Read More'Zikora' by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s short story ‘Zikora’, published by Amazon Kindle in October 2020, is a pleasure.
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