Page 4 of our reviews
The Man in the Red Coat by Julian Barnes
With this ‘narrative nonfiction’, Julian Barnes leads us through the literary and arty world of Paris of the 1880s and 1890s, the Belle Époque of glittering salons and vicious gossip and social snipi…
True West by David Whish-Wilson
If you want to get truly knocked about by a book, True West is what you want in front of you. Set in Western Australia in 1988, this is the visceral tale of Lee Southern, a young man driving south, a…
Mozart: Piano Trios
There is something so assured in this recording of Mozart’s Piano Trios. A deft touch at the piano, a sense of style to the violin melodies and a warm rich tone for the cello. This is everything Moza…
The Secret Commonwealth by Philip Pullman
When Philip Pullman first announced that he was releasing three new books set in the world of His Dark Materials, he shared a few tantalising details about what to expect. Most provocatively, he expl…
Rules for Vanishing by Kate Alice Marshall
Hold hands, close your eyes and take thirteen steps: that is how Becca Donoghue and her boyfriend disappeared, searching for the legend of Lucy Gallows. One year on and Becca’s sister Sara is intent …
The Water Dancer by Ta-Nehisi Coates
Ta-Nehisi Coates has been a correspondent for the Atlantic and among his bestselling works of nonfiction is Between the World and Me, which won the National Book Award. Coates is also the current aut…
Year of the Monkey by Patti Smith
In the final song of possibly her most famous album, Patti Smith proclaims ‘I don’t know what to do tonight / there must be something I can dream tonight’. Horses was released in 1975, but with the a…
Attack of the 50 Foot Wallflower by Christian McKay Heidicker
Phoebe’s mum is the world-famous Loretta Lane – the woman with whom King Kong (who was actually a ‘giant sweetheart’) was infatuated. Her dad is an invisible giant man in the sky who warns Phoebe and…
Angel Mage by Garth Nix
If I was offered the chance to leave the stresses of our world behind and step into Sarrance, the stunningly well-realised world of musketeers and magic in Garth Nix’s Angel Mage, where mages summon …
SLAY by Brittney Morris
Welcome to the universe of SLAY, a virtual-reality card game designed exclusively for black players. In SLAY, kids across the world log-in to duel as powerful heroes in a vast, online Wakanda designe…