International Fiction reviews
The Dreamers by Karen Thompson Walker
Reading The Dreamers leading up to Christmas, I’ll admit that a book about people drifting into a seemingly peaceful and prolonged sleep had its appeal. This is, however, no fairytale but a contempor…
The Glass Woman by Caroline Lea
Caroline Lea sets her novel of intrigue and deception against the cold backdrop of an isolated rural community in 1686 Iceland. The novel follows Rosa after she agrees to marry a wealthy stranger. Mo…
Loyalties by Delphine de Vigan
Delphine de Vigan has been flavour of the month in Paris these past couple of years, especially after her book Based on a True Story topped the bestseller lists. And with the release of her new book …
In/Half by Jasmin B. Frelih
Twenty-five years into the future, the earth has been ripped apart by a glitch in the global communications system. What remains is a world at once completely outside human possibility and alarmingly…
You Know You Want This by Kristen Roupenian
As with many explosions on the internet, I was a little slow to smell the fire caused by Kristen Roupenian’s short story, ‘Cat Person,’ when it appeared in the New Yorker in December 2017. Thankfully…
An Orchestra of Minorities by Chigozie Obioma
Chigozie Obioma received international acclaim for his first novel The Fishermen, which was shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize in 2015, won several international prizes for emerging writers, and le…
Louis and Louise by Julie Cohen
Lou Alder is one person, but exists in two separate realities: one in which he is Louis, and one in which she is Louise. The prolific Julie Cohen’s latest book is a Sliding Doors-esque tale, explorin…
China Dream by Ma Jian
It’s no coincidence that Ma Jian dedicates this book to George Orwell. Named after Xi Jinping’s vision for Chinese prosperity, China Dream is a tale of the self, broken over the rack of the state. As…
Friday Black by Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah
We live in an era where we get told to accept who we are and show it – but is that really true for people of colour? We ask them to whitewash themselves to appear successful and to fit in. They have …
Evening in Paradise by Lucia Berlin
I read Evening in Paradise in a single sitting, mesmerised by the places and characters, and what they revealed about the cultures of the times. Names recur but are intermingled. A character from one…
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