The Herald - The Herald Magazine
A literary companion for our anxious times
Pick of the best new fiction and non-fiction releases
FICTION COMPANION PIECE Ali Smith
Hamish Hamilton, £16.99 (ebook £9.99). After her ambitious Seasonal Quartet, Ali Smith returns with Companion Piece, centred on Covid19 and the seemingly endless lockdown. Smith’s characteristic wordplay dominates as Sandy (aka Shifting Sand) confronts the anxieties of the times. As she cares from afar for a father in hospital, Sandy is contacted by former classmate Martina – it is clear they were never friends – who shares a strange experience, but won’t leave her alone until her entire family have taken over the house. Writing with a sharp wit and equally sharp tongue, Smith shifts between reality and vision, with the bookworm Sandy taking comfort in literary companions to guide her through, and responding to Martina’s question with a story drawing many of the strands together without tying them into a knot. In Companion Piece, Smith continues to ask important questions of our time.
9/10
PARADAIS
Fernanda Melchor, translated by Sophie Hughes
Fitzcarraldo, £10.99 (ebook £4.99).
Set in the author’s native Mexico, Paradais is a short but relentless read about a pair of dispossessed youths, whose all-consuming fury at their place within the social system leads them down a sinister path. Polo, a 16-year-old dropout is forced to work as a cleaner on the upper-class estate, Paradais. Here, he meets Franco, a rich but deplorable outcast, who Polo
uses for free booze and cigarettes, while being forced to listen to Franco’s benign sexual fantasies about his middleaged neighbour. As the weeks pass, Franco becomes increasingly obsessed with the idea that he can conquer his neighbour, and Polo cannot resist tagging along for the ride. Written in an all-consuming, modernist style, Paradais immerses the reader in Polo’s thoughts, taking you with him down a spiral of loneliness that can only be filled with alcohol, rebellion, and a bitter nostalgia for his dead grandfather.
7/10
YINKA, WHERE IS YOUR HUZBAND?
Lizzie Damilola Blackburn Viking, £14.99 (ebook £5.99).
A young woman navigates a demanding family desperate to find her a husband, particularly as her younger sister was married before her. Yinka struggles to balance her family’s more traditional Nigerian culture, with her work in an investment bank. Although centred around finding a husband – or ‘huzband’ – it is quickly made evident there is more to Yinka than just her dating life. Her story is told cleverly, with occasional cringeworthy moments, but the main character remains loveable, if slightly unbelievably naive. The book is firmly rooted in London, specifically Peckham. Readers unfamiliar with the city may find it harder to relate to, but it’s still a funny novel overall.
7/10