Category Archives: fiction

Those Who Leave and Those Who Stay by Elena Ferrante (Europa)

Posted on May 31, 2016 by drewsmith28

“I saw Lila for the last time five years ago, in the winter of 2005”. FERRANTE starts the third book of her Neapolitan quartet with a burst of energy, bubbling to get on with things. She leaps forward, gathering her … Continue reading →

Posted in 101greatreads, Biography, fiction | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Welcome to Night Vale by Joseph Fink and Jeffrey Cranon (Orbit)

Posted on April 15, 2016 by drewsmith28

“Pawnshops in Night Vale work like this. First you need an item to pawn.”   IT is the tone of the Night Vale podcast that mesmerizes, a kind of surreal X Files, a slow smirk drawn across a nonsense universe … Continue reading →

Posted in fiction | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

64 by Hideo Yokoyama (Riverrun)

Posted on April 5, 2016 by drewsmith28

“Snowflakes danced through the evening light.” THE publisher Riverrun is part of Quercus who famously unearthed the works of the late Stieg Larsson and thereby launched Scandi noire. So here we are again, only this time it is Japan and … Continue reading →

Posted in fiction | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

The story of a new name by Elena Ferrante (Europa)

Posted on March 24, 2016 by drewsmith28

“In the spring of 1966, Lila in a state of great agitation, entrusted to me a metal box that contained eight notebooks”. NEW readers do not start here. The second part of Elena Ferrante’s Neapolitan passionatas is not a sequel, … Continue reading →

Posted in 101greatreads, Biography, fiction | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

My brilliant friend by Elena Ferrante (Europa)

Posted on February 25, 2016 by drewsmith28

“This morning Rino telephoned. I thought he wanted money again and I was ready to say no.” WE start with a mystery, a disappearance. And also a set of family trees, in case you might need to flip back quickly … Continue reading →

Posted in 101greatreads, Biography, fiction | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

In the cafe of lost youth By Patrick Modiano (MacLehose Press)

Posted on February 18, 2016 by drewsmith28

“Of the two entrances to the cafe, she always used the narrower one, the one they called the shabby door.” CLEVER, this. Modiano drills down into a euro-psyche of paranoia, of living in a world of secret policemen, of secrets … Continue reading →

Posted in 101greatreads, Biography, fiction | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

The wallcreeper by Nell Zink (Fourth Estate)

Posted on January 27, 2016 by drewsmith28

“I was looking at the map when Stephen swerved, hit the rock, and occasioned the miscarriage.” A WALLCREEPER is a small, blue grey mountain bird, similar to a nuthatch except it has striking crimson wings which only show in flight. … Continue reading →

Posted in 101greatreads, Biography, fiction | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Intermission by Owen Martell (Windmill Books)

Posted on January 18, 2016 by drewsmith28

“It was late in the evening, after dinner and Debby, before Harry got a chance to open the paper.” OWEN Martel told me that Dylan was probably not the greatest Welsh writer called Thomas, but only the second, or perhaps … Continue reading →

Posted in Biography, fiction | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

The paying guests by Sarah Waters (Virago)

Posted on January 12, 2016 by drewsmith28

“The Barbers had said they would arrive by three. It was like waiting to begin a journey, Frances thought.” SARAH Water’s writing career follows the trusted big crimo formula. She does not have a central hero/ine but her themes are distinct. … Continue reading →

Posted in fiction | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

City of Bohane by Kevin Barry (Vintage)

Posted on December 9, 2015 by drewsmith28

“Whatever is wrong with us is coming in off that river. No argument: the taint of badness on the city’s air is a taint off that river.” A GANGLAND fantasy set in the tenements of some futuristic Irish city. The … Continue reading →

Posted in fiction | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment