“I want to understand why people have subjected themselves to feats of endurance that are so challenging and often gruellingly painful. I want to explore how the values and practices…
Review by Rob Spence The early years of the twentieth century are fascinating for literary historians. The giants of the nineteenth century were gone, and their replacements were, to say…
Review by Victoria Best The telenovela is a uniquely Latin American creation. It began as the radionovela, a drama told in episodes of 15 minutes that was broadcast during the…
Reviewed by Harriet Anyone who’s ever read (or watched) Pride and Prejudice will know that Mrs Collins is Elizabeth’s ‘intimate’ friend Charlotte Lucas, ‘a sensible, intelligent young woman, about twenty-seven’….
Review by Helen Parry One of the great mysteries of recent literary history is the relative obscurity of Rosalind Brackenbury. Although her work is extremely good, although she is still…
Reviewed by Lory Widmer Hess When I close a book I’ve been living in, I often feel bereft. It’s as if I’ve been watching a master juggler, who abruptly vanishes….
Review by Karen Langley Russia is a county which has had innumerable books written about its history, whether from its earliest times, or more particularly from the period of its…
Reviewed by Harriet As an erstwhile recipient of review copies of the British Library Crime Classics series, I was aware that two novels were published in 1864 featuring female detectives:…
Lonely Planet, Epic Runs of the World Review by Liz Dexter Here we have an attractive and informative book which is an ideal gift for the runner in your life….
Review by Karen Langley Pushkin Press is one of the UK’s best-loved and most successful indies. Founded in 1997, over the years they’ve issued a wide array of books; as…
Review by Annabel A crime novel set in Moscow, 1934 – a year in which the Moscow subway is being built under the city – sounded irresistible. Merridale is the…
Review by Rob Spence When I started reading this quirkily entertaining novel, I was reminded of a remarkable Turkish film I saw some years ago. The film, 10 to 11,…
Review by David Harris When I was a young woman, there were still witches . . . In The Bewitching, Silvia Moreno-Garcia deftly blends three timelines to produce a clever and suspenseful…
Translated by Clarissa Botsford Review by Rob Spence The publisher’s blurb for Giaime Alonge’s first novel describes it as “a masterful blend of fact and fiction”, and that’s certainly accurate…
Review by Annabel If you follow the news from the publishing world, even a little, over the past three months, you’ll probably have encountered Tom Cox and his woes as…
Reviewed by Harriet If you should care to do so, you could do a search on Shiny for reviews of novels by Robert Galbraith (aka J K Rowling). You’ll find four,…
Reviewed by Harriet ‘A Rebellious, Subversive and Untamed Jane’ promises the subtitle of this new book by Austen scholar Looser. I wonder how many people still think of Austen as…
Review by Helen Parry Are you looking for a comprehensive introduction to British folklore by any chance? Then I have just the book for you. Folklore: A Journey through the…
Compiled by Annabel Top of my list are not one, but two films starring Jacob Elordi, who hit the big time with Saltburn. I didn’t realise he’s Australian, not that…
Review by Annabel I’ll admit it – I picked up the book because of the cover’s gorgeousness and the pink sprayed edges, then I discovered it was signed by the…
Review by Peter Reason Sir Jonathon Espie Porritt, 2nd Baronet, CBE, Eton and Oxford; one might imagine him as a pillar of the British Establishment. Then you remember he was…
Translated by Mia Spangenberg Review by Karen Langley Until recently, if asked to name a Scandinavian woman author, most readers might have plumped for Finland’s Tove Jansson. However, a spate…
Review by Rob Spence Decades ago, on holiday in the south of France, we came by chance across a beautiful baroque chateau in the countryside. We decided to get a…
Reviewed by Harriet It has always been my intention to practice the arts of pretence and counterfeit on the reader. So wrote Muriel Spark in an unpublished Author’s Note to…
