BOOKS OF THE WEEK
Water by John Boyne
Doubleday, £12.99 (ebook £6.99) Review by Hannah Colby
By the time Vanessa Carvin sets foot on the island, she is no longer Vanessa Carvin. She is Willow Hale, or as the villagers know her, the stranger from Dublin, the woman who won’t discuss her past, the woman who is living on her own in a tiny cottage, in a village where no one reads the newspapers. She has left every part of her old life behind her – her daughter, her house, her ex-husband, her reputation – but she discovers that she can’t escape her thoughts. Vanessa may have been seeking solitude, but with no other voices for company, she is forced to listen to the questions in her head. In the first of a quartet of interlinked stories, John Boyne draws a haunting portrait of a woman on the run from herself..
Playing Games by Huma Qureshi
Sceptre, £16.99 (ebook £9.99) Review by Jacqueline Ling
Hana and Mira, two very different sisters take centre stage in Huma Qureshi’s debut novel. Hana seems to have it all – an amazing job, great husband, the perfect house, but without the baby she yearns for. On the other hand, Mira is a struggling playwright, with a nightmare flatmate and disastrous love life. The sisters’ relationship is hard, having lost their mother over a decade ago, they struggle to understand each other. One evening a fight between Hana and her husband gives Mira the inspiration for her next play. But is it OK for Mira to use her sister’s life as material? Qureshi skilfully explores the dynamic of sisterhood and family bonds. Beautifully written, it keeps you engaged to the end.
Bird Life by Anna Smaill Scribe, £16.99 (ebook £7.99) Review by Eleanor Barlow
Bird Life tells the story of Dinah and Yasuko, who come together to form an unlikely friendship as both deal with their own internal struggles. Dinah, who has come to Japan from New Zealand, is mourning the death of her brother Michael, while Yasuko is trying to maintain a relationship with adult son Jun. The second novel from Booker Prize-longlisted Anna Smaill explores themes such as grief and mental health in a beautifully written way, with a unique insight into the minds of people who experience the world differently. However, once the author has built up the friendship between the two women, the story doesn’t seem to find a clear path and ultimately, the book’s conclusion feels disappointing.
Went To London, Took The Dog: A Diary by Nina Stibbe
Picador, £16.99 (ebook £8.99)
Imagine a dinner party with all of Britain’s literary greats, and this is a bit like what Nina Stibbe has presented in her latest non-fiction offering. It follows the trials and tribulations of Stibbe as she takes a sabbatical from her life in Cornwall to live in London, after she left 20 years previously. Expect revealing tales of some of the UK’s best-loved contemporary authors, London’s massive dog poo problem and the importance of ensuring your garden hose doesn’t become too engorged. Initially it comes across as a little self-centred, due to the name-dropping, but it soon begins to provoke some reflection and introspection in the reader.