International fiction
Shrines of Gaiety by Kate Atkinson
Kate Atkinson’s new novel, Shrines of Gaiety, is a delightful, if slightly sprawling book that continues the themes of her previous work, Transcription. While not specifically related, both books are historical – Shrines is set in 1926 in…
The Daughter of Doctor Moreau by Silvia Moreno-Garcia
With a stack of bestsellers such as Mexican Gothic and Gods of Jade and Shadow, Silvia Moreno-Garcia is a powerhouse in modern science fiction and fantasy. Her books are often love letters to the complex beauty of Mexico, and…
Life Ceremony by Sayaka Murata
The genius behind Convenience Store Woman and Earthlings, Sayaka Murata, is back with Life Ceremony, a collection of short stories that can only be described as bizarre yet captivating. Murata fans and newcomers alike are in for a…
Fight Night by Miriam Toews
Suspended from school for fighting, nine-year- old Swiv is kicking around with her exuberant grandma Elvira, an anarchic rebel with a wild anecdote for every occasion. Swiv’s mother Mooshie is busy rehearsing for a play and raging through a pregnancy…
The Last White Man by Mohsin Hamid
Mohsin Hamid is known for writing short novels with a big impact. The Reluctant Fundamentalist provided readers with a sympathetic Islamic fundamentalist in the wake of September 11. Exit West used magic realism and a love story to explore the…
Cult Classic by Sloane Crosley
If you want to know why I love my job, I have two words for you: Sloane Crosley. Working at Readings means I got the inside word on Sloane Crosley. And the inside word is this woman can write –…
After Sappho by Selby Wynn Schwartz
With After Sappho, Selby Wynn Schwartz takes an entrancing look at art, sapphism, feminism and the emancipation of women in 19th- and 20th-century Europe. Not just a feminist manifesto, After Sappho is also a testimony to the beauty of…
This Is Gonna End in Tears by Liza Klaussmann
This Is Gonna End in Tears is a captivating story about the strength of friendship, trying to forget the past and what happens when the past comes rushing back to you. Reading this was like a psychedelic dream; it burst…
Lilly and Her Slave by Hans Fallada & Alexandra Roesch (trans.)
‘Hans Fallada’ is the nom de plume of Rudolf Ditzen (1893–1947), a German writer who chronicled desperate lives between the wars. His best-known novel, Alone in Berlin, published weeks after his death, fictionalises the real-life story of an older…
Lapvona by Ottessa Moshfegh
It is always a thrill opening a new book by Ottessa Moshfegh. You never know what you’re going to get. The only certainty is that it’ll be unlike anything else you’ve ever read before. Her previous novels, Eileen, My Year…
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