PositiveThe Times (UK)Bitey ... Lets us into the secret yet ubiquitous world of nail salons, skilfully opening up the experience of those who work there, who are often Asian immigrants ... Thammavongsa captures the role of beauty salons as modern confessionals ... Richly observational, this us-versus-them tale illuminates a rarely seen slice of life. It probably won’t make you laugh or cry, but it will certainly make you think twice before getting a new set of acrylics.
MixedThe Times (UK)Where the self-effacing Gilbert of her former work shines through, this memoir dazzles, but the clumsy inclusion of photos, wobbly drawings and navel-gazing poems means that on the whole it over-revs ... All the Way to the River will satisfy Gilbert’s existing fans’ thirst for life updates, I’m sure, but read alone it’s unlikely to gain her many new ones.
PositiveThe Times (UK)Striking ... While short, this memoir is far reaching, and although sewn together in a way more similar to a series of essays than a standard A to Z life story, it speaks volumes about how difference can be an advantage ... Packed with revealing facts … But its main strength is Antrobus’s portraits of his family, which are sparklingly original ... I’ll admit I found myself wishing [Antrobus\'s family] thad been fleshed out a bit more.
MixedThe Times (UK)Long Distance didn\'t dissapoint ... Notions of the Sacred is another banger ... As I carried on through the 13 stories...my enthusiasm was dampened by a lack of diversity among the characters and their backdrops ... In places Savas struggles to make one story’s protagonist distinct from another ... I wondered whether Savas might be something of a one-trick pony ... Still, for young readers with foreign sweethearts and a taste for travel...this will do the job. If only all the stories were as fab as the first few.
RaveThe Times (UK)Intelligent and playful ... This tight little novel...with its resentment-tinged wit (reminiscent of Heartburn by Nora Ephron) has truth woven into every paragraph. I’d go as far as to say it’s the best divorce novel I’ve read for years.
RaveThe Times (UK)The miracle of the story — which, other than the luxuriant pictures of the English countryside Dalton paints, is what makes the book worth reading — is that the leveret returned ... Dalton’s book seems less a memoir than a call to action, encouraging city-dwellers and countryfolk alike to help to protect the species ... A tale of hope, channelled through the enduring and improbable bond between a human and a wild animal. It’s a love letter to the natural world.
Lili Anolik
MixedThe Times (UK)Absorbing albeit frustrating ... The book is meticulously referenced, but occasionally sags with the weight of its contents. Anolik’s rationale for this book is new archival material...but truthfully it seems she would take any excuse to write at length (again) about her idol ... Anolik delivers a much-needed antidote to Didion delirium. If you can wade through the endless Babitz bits, that is.
