Writers and Lovers - Lily King

48%

29.03.26

I'm sure the author thought she was writing deep 'n' meaningful lit fic but really it was a plotless story of a weak, self-involved woman who inexplicably attracted two men before her life accidentally came together without much input from her. Writers on writers on writers is never going to be particularly insightful.

The Correspondent - Virginia Evans

51%

20.03.26

Epistolary stories might be the original novel format (see the amazing Clarissa, 1748) but that doesn't mean they successfully build emotional engagement or a gripping plot. This, to me, did neither. What was it actually about, other than an unrealistic woman writing letters? Yeah, I know it's all in what is not said but it was so introspective - and yet also so performative - that it ultimately didn't reach its destination.

Crying in H Mart - Michelle Zauner

56%

22.08.25

I was 15% of the way through and wondering when the plot was going to kick in before I realised this was non-fiction. Even having experienced my own version of what the author describes, it did nothing to change my mind about the point of memoirs beyond therapy for the writer. It was well written but, oh, the endless descriptions of bonding over food - yes, I get it.

Cat Lady - Dawn O'Porter

 46%

01.10.23

'An absolute joy'? 'Laugh out loud'? 'Hilarious'? Only if you think an irritating narrator with unresolved trauma and possible neurodiversity dealing badly with more trauma is funny. I'm all for dark humour but this wasn't funny - or well paced or feminist or based on any sort of reality (owning a cat is not in itself quirky and weird). After a slow and laboured three-quarters, the ending was rushed, with the emphasis on all the wrong elements.

Separation Anxiety - Laura Zigman

 50%

01.06.23

I don't really get on with tragicomedies. A couple of things in this raised a wry smile but, while marketed as being a funny story about a midlife crisis, it was more about ongoing mental health issues and grief, which aren't particularly funny, and there wasn't even much of a plot. It wasn't so much 'rich people drama' as 'middle-class angst' (and the negative attitude towards only children was irritating).

They Both Die at the End - Adam Silvera

 63%

23.09.21

I really didn't want to read this month's book club choice. Why would I, when <title>? Not that such an ending is unusual, but it is unusual for the whole book to be about that ending. And indeed it was brutal - but also intriguing to explore the idea of whether it's about the journey or the (final) destination.

Tin Man - Sarah Winman

 

60%

29.07.21

I'm all for relationship-based novels and beautifully written character studies - and this excelled at that - but I also expect something to actually happen in a story. There was no narrative tension to this at all, beyond 'bereaved man finds friend's diary, feels better' (spoiler!).

Spencer's List - Lissa Evans

 66%

02.01.21

She's now known for her wartime epics (see here and here) but Evans' first novel is really just a collection of set pieces about likeable, linked characters. But it is brimming with her characteristic panache, painful pinpoint humour and the sudden powerful pathos that comes out of nowhere. 

Bellman & Black - Diane Setterfield

59%
26.01.20

If I'd read this before Once Upon a River, I don't think I'd have read Once Upon a River. This was just very strange and detached, with a lot about rooks and a lot about mourning and not much insight about anything, really. Beautifully written, though.

The Shock of the Fall - Nathan Filer

75%
15.04.14

I think I've stopped crying now. I don't usually get on with sad novels, and this one is utterly tragic. But it's written with insight and precision, so that it's ultimately moving and, yes, oddly uplifting. As I was born a Bristolian, there's the added bonus of recognising the hospital that features in many scenes. I'm going to lend it to everyone I know.