International fiction
Prophet Song by Paul Lynch
‘History is a silent record of people who did not know when to leave.’
As the clouds of political change enshroud a modern Ireland, the newly powerful Nationalist Alliance Party (NAP) is enacting tighter and tighter authoritarian measures, infringing upon…
North Woods by Daniel Mason
It has been said that there are only seven original plots in literature. If this is the case, then it is entirely possible that Daniel Mason’s latest book contains every single one of them, and it is one of the…
Watch Us Dance by Leïla Slimani & Sam Taylor (trans.)
This book deserves your full attention, so don’t even bother picking it up if you don’t have a few quiet hours ahead of you, perhaps curled up in a big snuggly armchair with a cuppa or a glass of pinot…
The Maniac by Benjamin Labatut
The Maniac is the story of the great inscrutable intelligences of our modern era. It traces a long and sordid path from the frenzied genius of our most revolutionary mathematicians and scientists to the cold, calculating procedures of artificial intelligence…
Normal Rules Don't Apply by Kate Atkinson
Kate Atkinson’s first full collection of short stories, Normal Rules Don’t Apply are absurdist in their content – and, to be honest, a little spooky. It does seem as if Atkinson has been reading the Bible and the result is…
The Fraud by Zadie Smith
Zadie Smith’s first historical fiction novel is for readers who are prepared to pause, reflect, and then continue. It is not an easy read, but stay with it because Smith has done something unusual here and the result is an…
Tom Lake by Ann Patchett
As cherry harvest season begins in the warm Michigan springtime, Lara cannot believe her good fortune in the midst of the pandemic: all three of her grown-up daughters are back at home. There is Emily, poised to take over the…
Penance by Eliza Clark
‘Did you know her? Did you see it on the internet?’… ’Did you listen to a podcast? Did the hosts make jokes? Do you have a dark sense of humour? Did that make it okay? … Did they give you…
The List by Yomi Adegoke
Ola Olajide is a Nigerian-British journalist with a reputation for breaking hard-hitting feminist stories. She’s working at the dubiously named but otherwise well-regarded Womxxxn, an online women’s sexual health and lifestyle platform. Ola is best known for two things: her…
What You Are Looking for is in the Library by Michiko Aoyama & Alison Watts (trans.)
Perfect for fans of Before the Coffee Gets Cold, this heartfelt, charming Japanese collection of stories focuses on a curious library and its even curiouser librarian, who, as well as having read every book on the shelves, has the…
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