International Fiction reviews
Luster by Raven Leilani
There’s been some hype for this book and rightly so. It’s great to enjoy a debut novel as much as I enjoyed Luster. It follows Edie, a Black woman in her early 20s, as she becomes involved with Eric,…
There’s No Such Thing as an Easy Job by Kikuko Tsumura
A truer sentiment than the title of this work of Japanese fiction could hardly be imagined at this time, but this pre-pandemic piece of writing follows its 36-year-old narrator’s search for a meaning…
Memorial by Bryan Washington
Houston writer Bryan Washington caused a literary stir with the publication of his terrific debut story collection, Lot, which counts the 2020 International Dylan Thomas Prize and an endorsement from…
The Silence by Don DeLillo
On an aeroplane a man recites flight data to his partner, half listening and writing in her notebook in the adjacent seat. Their conversation, spanning several pages, has somewhat of a stilted back a…
Unquiet by Linn Ullmann
I must admit that I was initially drawn to this book thanks to a number of glowing endorsements from writers I admire – Rachel Cusk, Ali Smith, Deborah Levy among them – and a striking photograph on …
Leave the World Behind by Rumaan Alam
Amanda, Clay and their two teenaged children are expecting a quiet vacation. They’ve rented an upmarket house on Long Island for a week – revelling in the chance to enjoy some rest from the bustle of…
The Cold Millions by Jess Walter
The free speech fight of 1909 in Spokane, Washington, was a civil disobedience action staged by the Industrial Workers of the World, also known as Wobblies, under the charge of the then nineteen-year…
The Death Of Vivek Oji by Akwaeke Emezi
The Death Of Vivek Oji is the third novel from Nigerian-born Igbo and Tamil author Akwaeke Emezi in as many years. It opens with the death of Vivek Oji and, with graceful deftness, weaves back and fo…
Earthlings by Sayaka Murata
Sayaka Murata has really ramped it up with Earthlings. Her newly translated novel shares themes with Convenience Store Woman; Murata again writes about people who can’t or won’t meet society’s expect…
Trio by William Boyd
As the title suggests, William Boyd’s new novel Trio follows the interconnected fates of three characters. Elfrida Wing is a novelist formerly celebrated as ‘the new Virginia Woolf’, but she’s mired …
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