Books, Reviews
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James Robertson - The Professor of Truth
16 May 2013
A contemporary story dealing with the aftermath of a Lockerbie-like attack
Twenty-one years after the death of his wife and child in a plane bombing, Dr Alan Tealing remains unconvinced by the official account of this atrocity. Tealing’s obsession with what he calls The Case defines the novel: this is Lockerbie in everything…
Kate Manning - My Notorious Life by Madame X
16 May 2013
A timely historical drama about abortion and the female body in the Victorian era
After a year of American politicians sounding off about women’s bodies like it was the 19th century, Kate Manning’s novel, inspired by an infamous midwife/abortion provider from that era, comes as a reminder of how grim things used to be. Axie…
Helen Ivory - Waiting for Bluebeard
16 May 2013
The poet's latest collection dissolves the barriers between reality and fantasy
In what is undoubtedly her most bewitching poetry collection to date, Helen Ivory peels away the layers of reality and leaves her reader a tantalising world to explore. Each poem is beautifully woven together to create a dream-like narrative. Through…
Curtis Sittenfeld - Sisterland
15 May 2013
A tense, gripping narrative let down by hard-to-swallow racist and homophobic tendencies
When Kate’s identical twin sister, professional psychic Vi Shramm, has a premonition that a giant earthquake is about to strike their hometown of St Louis, Kate begins to set in motion a plan to protect her family. As Vi gets carried away by the media…
Jenny Mayhew - A Wolf in Hindelheim
15 May 2013
Former screenwriter Mayhew's debut novel is a strong, atmospheric story set in pre-WWII Germany
War hangs heavy over the small German mountain community of Hindelheim in Jenny Mayhew’s unusual crime novel, set in 1926. WWI has left local constable Hildebrandt crippled and estranged from his adult son, while the war which we know is still to come…
David Gaffney - More Sawn Off Tales
10 May 2013
Small tales of great depth
When reading this collection of very short stories you will forget where you are, what you’re supposed to be doing and where you’re supposed to be going. It is utterly, and wonderfully addictive. Each 150-word story in this follow up to Sawn Off Tales…
Here and Now: Letters 2009-2011 - Paul Auster and J M Coetzee
10 May 2013
Epistolary correspondence between two stalwarts of contemporary English literature
Paul Auster and J. M. Coetzee, two stalwarts of contemporary English literature, first met in 2008. Shortly after, Coetzee wrote suggesting they “could strike sparks off each other”. Here and Now is the result: epistolary correspondence from 2008 to…
I Am An Executioner
10 May 2013
Nine wildly inventive tales on love, life and death from Indian-born US writer Rajesh Param
I Am an Executioner is the debut collection of short stories by Indian-born US writer Rajesh Parameswaran. The tagline is 'Love Stories', an indication of the inextricability of love, life and death which Parameswaran explores in these nine wildly…
Clandestino: In search of Manu Chao
10 May 2013
A carnival of photojournalism and trans-continental reportage which brings you closer to the World M
It is no marketing accident that Peter Culshaw’s book has all the look and feel of a Lonely Planet volume. A carnival of photojournalism and trans-continental reportage, Clandestino, in search of Manu Chao is an ambitious biography of an artist who both…
The Flamethrowers
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10 May 2013
Fast-paced novel which reflects Kushner's need for speed
Rachel Kushner's The Flamethrowers is remarkable for its expansiveness and for its exhilarating succession of ideas. At its heart is Reno – named after her hometown – who becomes involved in the New York art world of the 1970s. From there the novel…
The Yonahlossee Riding Camp for Girls
10 May 2013
DiSclafani's debut novel fails to provoke passion in its readers
Like many debuts, Anton DiSclafani’s novel draws on her childhood. Initially set in her summer home of North Carolina, the author’s love of horseback riding backdrops part of this story of a high society teen at brink of the Depression. Sent away to The…
Harley Loco: A Memoir of Hard-Living, Hair and Post-Punk from the Middle East to the Lower East Side
10 May 2013
Vivid recollections of a punk's fascinating life
From the moment Rayya Elias describes breaking her leg on the marble floor of the Syrian apartment she lived in until the age of seven, Harley Loco is a beautifully ugly memoir. Elias’ gravelly voice hustles her story onto the page; her Detroit…
Matt Hill - The Folded Man
10 May 2013
Transgressive fiction that keeps us shuddering for Britain's future
Part science-fiction, part horror, Matt Hill’s debut depicts a war-torn near-future Britain poisoned by nationalism and racism. Using current anxieties over riots, terrorism and the recession as a springboard for clever satire, Hill makes weighty topics…
Alice Thompson - Burnt Island
10 May 2013
Sixth novel takes the gothic genre to a whole new level
When emotionally fragile literary author Max Long wins a three-month writing fellowship on the mysterious Burnt Island (not to be confused with the Fife coastal town), he believes that this could be his opportunity to write the bestseller that has so…
Apple Tree Yard
10 May 2013
A novel reflecting upon how we all create our own stories in order to justify our actions
Yvonne Carmichael, a successful geneticist and suburban wife, embarks on a dangerous affair with a married man, which intensifies and leads to a shocking act of violence. At first glance, the plot of Apple Tree Yard may seem like a mixture of crime…
Stephen Collins – The Gigantic Beard that was Evil
26 Apr 2013
Collins’ graphic novel inspects the havoc wreaked on a neat community by unruly facial hair
On the bland, egg-shaped island of Here, Dave lives a comfortably dull life: by day he performs a data-processing job; by night he sketches the view from the windows of his suburban home. Like the other inhabitants of Here, Dave is wary of change and…
Rob A. Mackenzie – The Good News
18 Apr 2013
Edinburgh-based author's second full collection amuses and provokes
(Salt) The Good News is the much-anticipated second full collection from Glasgow-born, Edinburgh-based Rob A. Mackenzie. Never afraid to tackle big questions (the poet is also a minister in Leith), he gives no coffee table answers. First in the…
Sheila Rock - Punk +
17 Apr 2013
Superb and powerfully put-together photo-history of punk
Sheila Rock’s superb photo-history of the short-lived but aftershock-long punk scene ends with a series of John Lydon shots. It’s 1980 and punk is indeed dead, the ex-Pistols sneermonger now fully ensconced in his new PiL project. Mooching around in a…
Popshot: an illustrated magazine of new writing
17 Apr 2013
Issue #9 contains pieces by Michael Hitchins and Fabian Acker
With crisp presentation, simple text layouts, full-page illustrations and plenty of white space, PIssue #9 contains pieces by Michael Hitchins and Fabian Ackeropshot – an illustrated magazine of new writing - makes simplicity a virtue, letting the…
Audrey Niffenegger - Raven Girl
17 Apr 2013
Good narrative and stunning illustrations from author of The Time Traveller’s Wife
(Abrams ComicArts) Despite the dark themes in her bestseller The Time Traveller’s Wife, Audrey Niffenegger may not be readily associated with creepy fairytales and body horror. However, the off-kilter beauty (reminiscent of Beardsley and Schiele) of her…
Andrew Philip - The North End of the Possible
17 Apr 2013
Collection of poems of love, place and politics highlights Philip’s considerable formal talents
Salt cements its reputation for fresh contemporary poetry with this much-anticipated second full collection from acclaimed Scottish poet Andrew Philip. Humour and invention are mainstays of Philip’s work, and in both English and Scots, his wit leads us…
Matt Haig - The Humans
17 Apr 2013
Astute, drolly hilarious and beautiful insight into what it is to be human
As Matt Haig acknowledges at the end of this marvellously humane and very funny fifth novel, both The Humans and his writing career originated in a breakdown that became a breakthrough. Recovering from severe panic attacks by reading and crafting…
Mandy Haggith - Bear Witness
17 Apr 2013
Novel of many elements explores reintroduction of bears
(Saraband) In this all-too-human portrayal of the fight for the wild, we follow Callis MacArthur, a bear-loving ecologist, through the aftermath of the shooting of the last wild Norwegian cub. Angered by this violence, Callis endangers both her career…
Pippa Goldschmidt -The Falling Sky
10 Apr 2013
Cosmology-themed first novel shows potential
(Freight Books) Pippa Goldschmidt’s readable first novel is a character study of astronomer Jeanette who makes a discovery about the universe which could challenge the Big Bang theory. The discovery threatens to disrupt Jeanette’s life when bereavement…
Richard T Kelly - The Possessions of Doctor Forrest (review)
26 Mar 2013
Gothic thriller makes for a pleasant departure for the Crusaders author
(Faber) Take three respected Scottish doctors, a paediatric surgeon, psychiatrist and cosmetic surgeon, now all living comfortably in suburban London. Make the hedonist cosmetic surgeon suddenly disappear and you have the beginnings of a very…
