...something long and epic

Our Evenings by Alan Hollinghurst

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Our Evenings

Tame Hollinghurst

Growing up mixed-race, gay, with a single mum in 1960s rural England leaves a lot to be desired. Yet, that’s the reality of English-Burmese actor David Win, the protagonist of In Our Evenings by Alan Hollinghurst. David looks back and reflects on life at his scholarship funded boarding school, his gay love affairs and budding acting career, all seeped in homophobia, snobbery and racism. Despite these explosive subject matters, I’m sorry to report that I found the novel lacking. I never expected to use the word ‘tame’ and ‘Hollinghurst’ in the same sentence, but that, Hollinghurst fans, is, unfortunately, what we have here.

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The Romantic by William Boyd

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The Romantic

The Accidental Adventurer

Who doesn’t love a sweeping novel? A story that captures an entire life and spans countries and continents. The Romantic by William Boyd, which charts the life of Cashel Greville Ross, is such a book. An out-of-wedlock love child, Cashel becomes a peripheral participant in some significant historical events, accidentally meets some important people and stumbles upon various adventures. I loved Boyd’s enthralling, amusing storytelling, his effortless writing and our charming anti-hero Cashel.

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Long Island Compromise by Taffy Brodesser-Akner

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Long Island Compromise

Screamingly funny satire on wealth and privilege

When Carl Fletcher, styrofoam factory owner and one of Long Island’s richer residents, is kidnapped from his driveway one morning, life changes forever for the Fletcher family. Carl is returned unhurt, at least physically, in exchange for a large pile of cash placed on a baggage carousel at La Guardia airport, but the kidnapping still reverberates decades later. His three children have turned out deeply dysfunctional, each in their own way. Long Island Compromise by Taffy Brodesser-Akner is an extremely funny satire and deep dive into privilege, Jewish identity and a spot-on comment on how we live now.

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The Bee Sting by Paul Murray

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The Bee Sting

What a shame

I rarely write about books I don’t enjoy but in the case of The Bee Sting by Paul Murray I feel I should as I spent the better part of my Christmas break reading the 656 pages book and I’m not sure you would want to do the same. The Bee Sting was Booker Prize short-listed and recommended by loads of people and does indeed start off in a very promising way.

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Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver

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Demon Copperhead

Down and out in Opioidland

Updating one of Charles Dickens’ iconic novels is a brave thing to do. In Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver we get squalor, poverty and destitution worthy of the master himself, set in modern day America during the opioid crisis. Damon Field aka Demon Copperhead’s story is one of resilience in a society where everything is stacked against someone like him; his mixed race, poverty, his mother’s addiction, the education system, the list goes on. The shocking realisation is how little things have changed since 1850, which is precisely Kingsolver’s point.

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Cuddy by Benjamin Myers

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Cuddy

A novel about a saint and a historical cathedral might not make you race to the bookshop, but Cuddy by Benjamin Myers turned out to be a lot more riveting that you’d imagine. Meyers novel is a playful medley of forms – poetry, play, diary and prose. In five different parts, he tells the story of Saint Cuthbert, Durham Cathedral and people whose lives were in one way or another touched by it. A moving love letter to Durham and superb storytelling from an author to watch.

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A Little Life

A profoundly moving novel about friendship in the twenty-first century

The hottest play in London at the moment! If you can’t get hold of a ticket. The book will do just fine! Here’s our review. Enjoy.

When I was given a copy of this much-lauded, lengthy book at the beginning of the summer my heart sank slightly. I’d read so much hype about this challenging blockbuster novel that I wasn’t sure if I even wanted to read it. A close friend put me off further by declaring that she had given up half way through as she found it too gruelling and unrelenting. However, relaxing on holiday in sleepy Somerset, I braced myself and began what turned out to be an exhausting and harrowing yet profoundly moving novel.

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Crossroads by Jonathan Franzen

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Crossroads

Reassuringly familiar

In Crossroads by Jonathan Franzen we’re back in familiar Franzen-territory: the dissection of an all American family. After his more expansive (geographically and thematically) and, in my opinion, less successful Purity, Crossroads feels reassuringly familiar. This is both a blessing, he does it extremely well, but also begs the question: is Franzen a one-trick pony?

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Cloud Cuckoo Land by Anthony Doerr

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Cloud Cuckoo Land

When everything is lost, it is our stories that survive

Like many others, I absolutely the bestselling All The Light We Cannot See, so I was excited to read a new novel by the same author was out. Cloud Cuckoo Land by Anthony Doerr, is a complex and ambitious novel of epic proportions. It contains multiple storylines and timelines that span many centuries. At first, I found this constant jumping between stories and worlds distracted me from the beauty of Doerr’s prose. I found myself preferring one storyline to another and felt irritated when I was forced out of one world and into another. I started racing through the sections I didn’t like so much in order to join my favourites again.

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Great Circle by Maggie Shipstead

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Great Circle

A bumpy ride

Having just finished Great Circle by Maggie Shipstead, there’s no doubt in my mind that she’s a talented writer. Her metaphors are spot on, her ambitions high and she’s an accomplished storyteller – at times. This Booker Prize long-listed novel about Marian Graves, a female pilot in the early 20th century, takes off with a roar, but seems to stall before it picks up again at the very end. Whether or not you’re willing to go on that 600 page journey I’ll leave up to you. I certainly haven’t given up on Shipstead as an author although this book was a bit of a schlep.

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