Book Reviews
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Book ReviewsSunday Daffodil and Other Happy Endings by Paul Robert Smith
The optimistic title of this book is not only deceptive as a title, but also masks the true depth of Smith’s literary genius. The title is symbolic of ... Read more »| 01 Mar 2010 -
Book ReviewsLoss by Tony Black
It must be annoying for Scottish crime writers to be constantly compared to Ian Rankin. Similarly, Ian Rankin must find it quite annoying to be compared to e... Read more »| 26 Feb 2010 -
Book Reviews
Taking the Medicine by Druin Birch
Taking the Medicine sets out to demonstrate how ‘doctors, for most of human history, have killed their patients far more often than they have saved the... Read more »| 25 Feb 2010 -
Book ReviewsAt The Water's Edge
Contemporary ‘wilderness literature’ lacks writers who have the ability to stand outside the shadows of the seminal heavy weights, Emerson, Thore... Read more »| 25 Feb 2010 -
Book Reviews
Both Ways is the Only Way I Want It by Maile Meloy
Never mind that Maile Meloy's last novel was on the Orange shortlist, or that Richard and Judy liked it, whichever way that nugget of information mig... Read more »| 24 Feb 2010 -
Book Reviews
Never After, by Dan Elconin
Since his first appearance back in 1902, many people (including Steven Spielberg) have attempted to produce a follow-up to J. M. Barrie’s iconi... Read more »| 24 Feb 2010
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Book Reviews
A Fair Maiden by Joyce Carol Oates
Katya Spivak is a young nanny working for the summer amongst the privileged splendour of Bay Harbor. Approached by the elderly Marcus Kidder, she allows hers... Read more »| 24 Feb 2010 -
Book ReviewsPride and Promiscuity
For all the modern fashion for humour and openness, some books ought still be kept from servants and ladies. Read more »| 23 Feb 2010 -
Book Reviews
Heliopolis by James Scudamore.
James Scudamore is no stranger to critical acclaim– his debut, The Amnesia Clinic, won him the Somerset Maugham Award in 2007. It won't be surp... Read more »| 27 Jan 2010 -
Book Reviews
The Last Dickens by Matthew Pearl
Many successful thrillers rely on placing an ordinary man way out of his depth in some globe-spanning conspiracy, and seeing if he sinks or swims. Matthew Pe... Read more »| 27 Jan 2010 -
Book ReviewsThe Rescue Man by Anthony Quinn
Anthony Quinn’s The Rescue Man is above all a tribute to Liverpool – the city’s history, architecture and people. The story unfolds... Read more »| 25 Jan 2010 -
Book Reviews
The House of the Mosque
With gentle beginnings, this novel resembles a folk tale. It gradually introduces the members of an extended family who have lived in the titular hou... Read more »| 25 Jan 2010 -
Book Reviews
The Children's Book by A.S. Byatt
The Children’s Book begins in 1895, when a young runaway is discovered in vaults below the South Kensington Museum. Author Olive Wellwood, adop... Read more »| 07 Jan 2010 -
Book Reviews
The Master and Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov
The Master and Margarita, once banned by the Soviets, is now regarded as a classic of Russian Literature. Its plot, concerning what happens when Sata... Read more »| 04 Jan 2010 -
Book Reviews
The Humbling by Philip Roth
This is an odd one. It’s a Philip Roth novella where the writing remains compelling though the plot fizzles out at an early stage. It’s n... Read more »| 18 Dec 2009