Perfect autumn reading …
It’s been almost 20 years since Kiran Desai published her last novel, the bestselling Booker Prize-winning The Inheritance of Loss. Her latest novel, and her first since then, THE LONELINESS OF SONIA AND SUNNY (Hamish Hamilton, €19.65), went straight onto this year’s Booker long list. It’s a doorstop of a novel, and another epic saga about family, told through the characters of Sonia, an aspiring novelist who has just returned from America to her family in India, and Sunny, who is escaping his family in New York, and struggling to get by as a journalist. A sweeping novel that takes in love, family, country, class, race and history.
A new Claire-Louise Bennett novel is always something to get excited about. Since her 2015 debut Pond, Bennett has been considered one of the most exciting and formally inventive writers at work today, with her irresistible prose which falls like a spell on the reader. Her second novel Checkout 19 cemented that reputation and now she returns with an equally absorbing story in BIG KISS, BYE-BYE (Fitzcarraldo, €12.99). This book tells the story of a woman whose life is uprooted from the city to the countryside, where she reflects on her relationships, particularly one with a man called Xavier, whom she still loves but has no desire to be with. The book is a fascinating meditation on how relationships transform us, the moment things change, and the process of letting go.
After the phenomenal success of her trailblazing autofictional novel, I Love Dick, Chris Kraus is back with a gripping story, THE FOUR SPENT THE DAY TOGETHER (Scribe UK, €19.66). The Four Spent the Day Together is a book in three parts centered around the true story of a 2019 murder in Minnesota, where three teenagers killed an older acquaintance. Kraus uses this murder as a springboard to explore the disintegration of American life. Spanning nearly a century, from the aspirational working class life of the 1950s through the cancel culture of the 2000s to the post-pandemic alienation and disenfranchisement of a whole generation. A sobering look at modern US, and indeed modern life.
Patricia Lockwood is a poet, essayist and novelist whose books Priestdaddy and No One Is Talking About This became lockdown sensations. Her latest novel, WILL THERE EVER BE ANOTHER YOU (Bloomsbury, €21.75) portrays the lingering effects of Covid 19 on a successful author’s body and mind. The book charts Lockwood’s character’s struggle with Covid, and its impact on her life, work, marriage and her outlook on life. Many will relate to the subject matter, but the thing that made Lockwood a literary star is her poetic prose and offbeat humour, both of which are on display here.
London-based Canadian writer Emily LaBarge’s debut book DOG DAYS (Peninsula Press, €13.25) is a hybrid memoir that combines a harrowing personal experience with cultural criticism and philosophical enquiry. In 2009, on a Christmas family holiday, LaBarge and her family were held hostage by six men with guns and machetes. Dog Days examines the emotional, intellectual and psychological fallout from the ordeal.
In crime fiction, a new collaboration between Reese Witherspoon and Harlan Coben, two powerhouses of film, TV and literature, results in GONE BEFORE GOODBYE (Century, €12.73). As you might expect from these two, this is a high-octane thriller. The female protagonist, Maggie McCabe, is a former army combat surgeon who is dealing with her own traumas when a former colleague offers her a job with a wealthy anonymous client. When her new patient disappears, she is drawn into an elite conspiracy and has to go on the run herself.
Another global superstar, Jöel Dicker, author of the multi-million success The Truth About The Harry Quebert Affair, releases his new novel, WILD ANIMAL (MacLehose, €11.04), a domestic noir meets heist. The story begins on a luxury estate as a woman is about to celebrate her 40th birthday. She appears to have the perfect life – kids, husband, mansion, so far so fairytale – but her neighbour has become dangerously obsessed with her. Meanwhile, two criminals are preparing to rob a jewellery shop in Geneva. Cue mayhem, mystery and clever twists.
Two novels in translation have been generating a lot of buzz. The first is BEASTS OF THE SEA (Maclehose Press, €16.99) by Finnish author Iida Turpeinen. A bestselling phenomenon, it has become the most successful Finnish debut novel ever. Turpeinen was inspired to write the book after visiting Helsinki’s Museum of Natural History where the few remaining skeletons left in the world of the Steller’s sea cow – a marine mammal who was hunted into extinction in the 18th century – remain. This is an addictive story that spans three centuries. It also resonates strongly in our era of climate crisis.
The other book in translation is a debut by Galician author Brais Lamela. WHAT REMAINS (Bullaun, €14.95) is published this week by Ireland’s new literary translation press, Bullaun. What Remains was the first Galician-language book to win the prestigious Ojo Crítico Prize in 2023. Blending memoir and fiction, Lamela’s book is an exploration of identity, belonging and colonialism. It tells the story of a graduate student researching the Franco regime’s project of forced resettlement, where more than half the inhabitants of the villages in the Negueira de Muñiz principality in northwestern Spain were driven from their land in the 1950s, in a brutal experiment to transform “backward” country people into modern cattle farmers.
Paris lovers will be familiar with Marin Montagut’s beautiful boutique on rue Madame, an escapist fantasy world selling everything from hand-painted silk scarves to stationery and tarot cards, all in the magical setting of a former tapestry workshop. But you may not be aware of Montagut’s wonderful guides to the city. His latest book, FOREVER PARIS: A GUIDE TO THE TIMELESS SOUL OF THE CITY (Flammarion, €26.61) is an extremely beautiful object in itself, illustrated with Montagut’s joyful and vibrant watercolours.
