International fiction
Hide by Matthew Griffin
Matthew Griffin’s debut novel is a beautiful character study. Wendell and Frank fall in love in an era before gay liberation and they remain stuck in that time for over fifty years, unable to trust a world that has moved…
Commonwealth by Ann Patchett
If you enjoy stories that explore the nuances of big, messy, irresistible families, then this new novel from Orange Prize-winning author Ann Patchett is for you. Commonwealth is an immersive read that drops you right into the thick of one…
Harmony by Carolyn Parkhurst
Harmony is an empathic and topical novel about a family in crisis. The Hammond family has an eleven-year-old daughter, Iris, and thirteen-year-old daughter, Tilly, who is on the autism spectrum. Mother, Alexandra, is exhausted from advocating for Tilly’s needs, and…
Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi
Early reviews have compared this much-hyped debut from 26-year-old Yaa Gyasi to Toni Morrison’s Beloved, and it’s easy to see why. Like Morrison, Gyasi sets out to reveal the truth through fiction, instead of fact, and she’s deeply inventive…
You Will Know Me by Megan Abbott
The interesting thing about Megan Abbott’s novels is that you’re never quite certain about who you should be looking at. There’s the story’s main character, usually a teenage girl who possesses undeniable charisma and influence over those around her. But…
The Girls by Emma Cline
There’s no other way for me to say it: I love this book. It’s a debut from a young writer called Emma Cline who I feel is a literary star of the future – actually, scrap that – of the…
The Queen of the Night by Alexander Chee
This opulent operatic opus is an over-the-top-of-the-top rags-to-riches postmodern picaresque adventure stuffed full of plot, more plot, plot twists, melodrama, and lots of costume changes. It’s a historical novel set in Belle Époque Paris. At its centre is the story’s…
Sergio Y. by Alexandre Vidal Porto
Published in Brazil as Sergio Y. Vai à America (Sergio Y. Goes to America), Alexandre Vidal Porto’s second novel is a story in which the journey of migration represents another, more critical journey – the journey to one’s authentic self…
Miss Jane by Brad Watson
Miss Jane Chisolm is born on a farm in Mississippi in the early part of the last century. Before too long it becomes apparent that she has a genital birth defect that she will need to live with, one that…
Three-Martini Lunch by Suzanne Rindell
I must admit that I was very excited to read a story about publishing in New York City in the late 1950s, and especially one voiced by three very different characters. Eden Katz is a young Jewish girl from Indiana…
Browse our reviews by category
