Mining, lies, and wealth

UNBANGING THE NAILS Richard Hillesley

Clochoderick, £7.99

This exciting collection from the Paisley-based publisher showcases the engaging short stories of Richard Hillesley, each in some way informed by his upbringing in Tyneside and North Wales, and mostly set in mining and farming communities on chilly, damp and ancient land. A thread common to many of these stories is a preoccupation with local characters, like the religious fanatic who fascinates the local kids, the Elvis obsessive with a collection of Marmite jars or the pub fiddler who “has a jaw like a JCB, but plays like an angel”: outsiders and eccentrics who aren’t rejected by their community but embraced because they symbolise the locals’ sense of defiance or embody their dreams. Hillesley has a firm sense of time and place, and is clearly no stranger to menial temporary work and the job insecurity common to ailing communities, making his distinctive vision and voice immediately relatable. It’s to be hoped that this new talent won’t remain overlooked for long.

LIAR

Ayelet Gundar-Goshen

Pushkin Press, £8.99

When 17-year-old Nofar Shalev, a server at an ice cream parlour and “a girl who had never before attracted a lingering gaze”, thoughtlessly corrects a customer on his grammar, she has no idea where it will lead. Enraged, the washed-up singersongwriter Avishai Milner stomps after and confronts her, provoking Nofar to accuse him of sexually assaulting her. Her accusation takes on a life of its own, and she becomes increasingly tangled in her own web when the media take an interest. Probing the grey area between truth and lies, Israeli novelist Gundar-Goshen examines the pressures exerted on a girl “made beautiful by falsity”, with gorgeous prose, wry humour and a supporting cast caught up in fictions. The extended characters includes Lavi, whose thoughts turn from suicide to blackmail.

MR FIVE PER CENT Jonathan Conlin

Profile, £12.99

It’s possible you’ve attended an art event sponsored by the Gulbenkian Foundation, or a performance by its orchestra, ballet or choir, without knowing anything about its founder. Jonathan Conlin’s biography of the oil magnate and philanthropist Calouste Gulbenkian aims to plug that gap. An ethnic Armenian born in Istanbul in 1869, Gulbenkian was the forerunner of today’s transnational tycoons. Loyal only to his interests, he ignored borders, bypassed laws and pioneered a way of structuring his business that has become the norm for billionaires today. His greatest negotiating coup was to secure himself a 5 per cent cut of all the oil found in the Ottoman Empire, and by the time of his death in 1955 he had become the world’s richest man. Gulbenkian was hard to know, cold and unsentimental towards his family, so this biography is low on human interest, but historian Conlin’s thorough study of his subject is admirably detailed.