International fiction
Lioness by Emily Perkins
New Zealand author Emily Perkins’ fierce novel, Lioness, is about what lies beneath the polished veneer of a woman whose charmed life is beginning to unravel.
Therese Thorne has a successful business, a rich older husband who adores her, and…
Loot by Tania James
Most years there will be a book where the industry buzz arrives long before the physical copies. A question that hovers in the liminal space between the first rumour of a new publishing sensation and the delivery of the book…
Cousins by Aurora Venturini & Kit Maude (trans.)
Anything you read about Cousins will begin with its startling catapult into public consciousness in 2007. Seemingly out of nowhere – at the age of 85 – Aurora Venturini stormed the Argentinean literary scene by winning a national newspaper’s prize…
The Librarianist by Patrick deWitt
With classic Patrick deWitt wit and wisdom, The Librarianist is a novel as lovable as the author himself. (If you ever get the chance to see deWitt speak, I highly recommend you go.) I have to admit I expected there…
After the Funeral: Stories by Tessa Hadley
I mentioned to a writer friend that I was reading this collection and she reminded me that I’d recommended Tessa Hadley’s novel Late in the Day to her some years ago; she was underwhelmed – ‘Why do you like her?’…
A Line in the Sand by Kevin Powers
Having read two of Kevin Powers’ previous novels, I have to admit I may have been a bit biased when I started reading his new one. I was prepared to be devastated, heartbroken and emotionally flattened, just as I have…
The Ghost Theatre by Mat Osman
Mat Osman’s The Ghost Theatre balances precariously between historical fiction and fantasy. Set in Elizabethan London, it features many of the historical hallmarks we know to expect, and inserts many of its own, lending the novel a unique flair. Our…
The Happy Couple by Naoise Dolan
A wedding should be one of the happiest days of a person’s life, signifying a life-long commitment of love and companionship, publicly declared with those closest to you. Now, you may have one person who doesn’t want the wedding to…
Big Swiss by Jen Beagin
It’s difficult to review a comedic novel that deals with trauma. So, among all the content warnings regarding reading Big Swiss, it’s best to let the characters speak for themselves on the topic. Greta, our madcap protagonist, is asked…
Mrs S by K Patrick
K Patrick’s debut novel Mrs S is a meticulously crafted triumph of queer romance shimmering with tension and sensuality. Reminiscent in some ways of a modern cross between The Getting of Wisdom and Lady Chatterley’s Lover, with a decidedly sapphic…
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