International fiction
Utopia by Heidi Sopinka
Heidi Sopinka has created a piece of art and it is glorious. Utopia takes the Gothic genre and births something completely unique – forget abandoned castles, the harsh desert can be equally terrifying, where the sun peels away your flesh…
The Pachinko Parlour by Elisa Shua Dusapin & Aneesa Abbas Higgins (trans.)
Claire’s lacking direction. In fact, she’s suffering from almost total inertia. Trying to achieve anything during a stifling Tokyo summer is difficult, but Claire’s apathy seemslike more than just a reaction to the humidity. She’s visiting her Korean grandparents in…
Haven by Emma Donoghue
In a small seventh-century monastery on the coast of Ireland, the monks are celebrating the first fast day after Easter. We are introduced to Trian, a 19-year-old monk who is ‘still growing, and always hungry’. Also at the meal is…
The Rabbit Hutch by Tess Gunty
This will be a one-word review. Wow. That’s it. Thank you and goodnight. There are no other words that will adequately express my awe and wonder at the sheer mastery, originality, wit, humour, humanity and heartbreak of The Rabbit Hutch…
Carrie Soto Is Back by Taylor Jenkins Reid
Carrie Soto is the best tennis player in the world. Until Nicki Chan ties her for most grand slam titles won. Although she’s now 38 years old and considered ‘too old’ to play, Carrie can’t just let someone take her…
The Furrows by Namwali Serpell
Memory is fallible. Cassandra (Cee) knows this. She also knows that her brother, Wayne, died in an accident when he was seven. She was 12 and looking after him at the time. She knows that a stranger tried to help…
The Marriage Portrait by Maggie O’Farrell
It is 1560 and Alfonso II d’Este, Duke of Ferrara, is unsatisfied with previous portraits of Lucrezia di Cosimo de’Medici. There ought to be a painting that matches her exquisite beauty. So, shortly after Lucrezia and Alfonso are married in…
Stone Blind: Medusa’s Story by Natalie Haynes
Natalie Haynes possesses a marvellous gift for breathing vibrant new life into the oldest of stories. Her novel A Thousand Ships (which was shortlisted for the Women’s Prize in 2020) holds a firm place in my top 10 favourite books…
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…
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