‘A silent commotion’

A review of Open City by Teju Cole In Teju Cole’s Open City, a young man walks the streets of New York. Julius is a psychiatrist, born and raised in Nigeria, and later educated in the USA; following the death of his father and the return of his German mother to the country of her

‘Not feeling is a feeling too’ [book review]

A review of Tides by Sara Freeman Slipping quietly into the new year comes Tides, the carefully crafted, deeply felt debut novel by Canadian-British author Sara Freeman. With its sparse mode of expression, striking imagery and experimental structure, it is a book that tries to be many things at once – but, when all that

‘Always happy to introduce another psychoactive plant’ [book review]

A review of This Is Your Mind On Plants by Michael Pollan Midway through the second chapter of Michael Pollan’s This Is Your Mind On Plants, I was struck by a sudden thought. ‘Perhaps,’ I mused, ‘I should be drinking more coffee.’ That this was startling is putting it mildly, but the thing was, he’d

‘Like a faucet that won’t stop dripping’ [book review]

A review of Hidden Valley Road by Robert Kolker I heard a lot about Robert Kolker last year – his latest publication, Hidden Valley Road, was championed by The New York Times as one of the best non-fiction titles of 2020 and also made it to Barack Obama’s end-of-year list – yet few reviews, interviews

‘The house was the story’ [book review]

A review of The Dutch House by Ann Patchett Every now and then we’re all in need of a good story. And when it comes to getting lost in a truly great book, Ann Patchett is an ever-reliable address. The award-winning author’s latest novel, The Dutch House, is one of those bestsellers that has been

‘Horror and awe are not incompatible’ [book review]

A review of The Unreality of Memory & Other Essays by Elisa Gabbert What is disaster and why are we so obsessed with it? This is the question at the heart of Elisa Gabbert’s The Unreality of Memory & Other Essays, a wide-ranging collection of essays exploring individual and collective tragedy, our reaction to events

‘Beautiful, shattered people everywhere’ [book review]

A review of Black Light by Kimberly King Parsons Every now and then you come across a book that makes your heart beat a little faster. Kimberly King Parsons’ Black Light was the latest such book for me, a short-story collection of such virtuosity that I devoured it in almost a single sitting. For any

‘The twilight at the end of every godforsaken intersection’ [book review]

A review of Lot by Bryan Washington It is a tough book, Lot. Tough in setting, tough in subject matter, tough in language. Tough, very often, on its readers. Whatever else this book is, it is not one to be picked up lightly. And yet beneath all the rawness and rough edges of Bryan Washington’s