RaveLibrary JournalWith its elegant plot, endearing characters and subtle humor, this is a lovely Christmas miracle of a book.
Jane Campbell
PositiveLibrary JournalAdmirers of Mary Wesley will appreciate this impressive debut by another late-blooming writer. From its lovely cover to its character-driven plot, this poignant novel is warmly recommended.
Valérie Perrin, trans. Hildegarde Serle
RaveLibrary JournalThe many admirers of Perrin’s previous novel, Fresh Water for Flowers, will be equally charmed by this beguiling tale. All other readers might be doubly rewarded.
Neel Mukherjee
PositiveLibrary JournalThese pages abound with misery: animal mistreatment, the harsh plight of refugees, and dire poverty. But the rewards—indelible images, admirable story-telling, and wicked good writing--are many.
Tessa Hadley
PositiveLibrary JournalGood short stories are complete and satisfying in themselves while leaving open the possibility of a continuing storyline; Hadley’s stories do both very well.
Sebastian Barry
RaveLibrary JournalAdmirers of Claire Keegan and Niall Williams will appreciate the Irish humor that masks deep sorrow. This novel’s words are well chosen, the sentences dazzle, and they all come together in a beautifully told, piercingly sad story.
Andrew Holleran
PositiveLibrary JournalThis moody meditation on loneliness and aging offers a picture of a life not lived to the fullest. Read it for the North Florida atmosphere and for the affecting portrait of a friendship.
Kasim Ali
PositiveLibrary JournalThere is something of a Sally Rooney vibe to this story about twentysomethings navigating adult waters (the snappy dialogue, the conflicted emotions, the relationship dramas), but Ali’s novel veers off on a darker course as questions of race and culture threaten to undermine a once solid love. This timely, savvy novel is recommended.
JJ Bola
PositiveLibrary JournalThe question of whether Michael will give in to his despair propels this moody novel from Bola ... Despite its melancholy tone, small and large surprises along the way provide insight, comfort, and reading pleasure.
Thomas Keneally
RaveLibrary JournalLike the best historical fiction, this adventure-filled novel (featuring colorful scoundrels, fetching young women, suicide, scandals, and no small amount of Dickens lore), rings entirely true. A delightful read, warmly recommended.
Jo Hamya
PositiveLibrary JournalIn Brexit-era Britain, a generation of privileged, well-educated young people find themselves underemployed and just scraping by. Hamya paints a cloudy picture of the future for this generation, in a thoughtful novel about the increasingly elusive dream of home ownership.
Bethan Roberts
RaveLibrary Journal... teems with sexual tension and the innocence and ignorance that caused so much heartache in the intolerant era just before the sexual revolution. This story is beautifully written and ineffably sad.
Lionel Shriver
PositiveLibrary JournalAs an exercise in possibility—how any of us may reach old age and face death—this novel is sometimes prophetic, sometimes preposterous, but never boring.
Marisa Silver
PositiveLibrary JournalSilver paints an evocative picture of the early ’70s. This compelling domestic drama, with heartbreak at its center, depicts the everyday mysteries that lead up to the big one.
Carys Davies
PositiveLibrary JournalPart mystery, part romance, this charming story is set in the present but has the feel of an earlier time. Fans of Helen Simonson\'s Major Pettigrew\'s Last Stand and Rachel Joyce\'s The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry will eat this spicy masala of a novel right up.
Megan Hunter
PositiveLibrary JournalThis is a taut horror story wrapped inside a domestic drama of two people at war with each other. A scarily satisfying read.
Nick Hornby
PositiveLibrary JournalAll of the characters in this wonderful novel are endearing. Most of them, including Joseph’s judgmental mother and Lucy’s guileless, sports-crazy sons, are also smart and funny. A few minor characters are racist and provide some timely #BlackLivesMatter moments ... Filled with laugh-out-loud charm, Hornby’s movie-ready follow-up to State of the Union is a hopeful balm for our unsettled postpandemic times.
Molly Aitken
PositiveLibrary JournalA dreamy fairy tale winds its way through this moody story of loss and redemption, which focuses on mothers and daughters and the ways in which they grow apart and sometimes find their way back. For most fiction readers.
Sebastian Barry
RaveLibrary JournalA poetic sensibility runs through this luminous novel of sorrow and uplift by the Booker-nominated, multi-award-winning Barry. Highly recommended.
Bridget Collins
RaveLibrary JournalWith astonishing unpredictability, YA novelist Collins enters the adult arena with a spellbinding blend of history, mystery and fantasy.
Emma Glass
RaveLibrary JournalGorgeously written, this debut novel is a haunting prose poem with surreal overtones. Highly recommended.
