BOOK OF THE WEEK
We Are Attempting To Survive Our Time by AL Kennedy is published in hardback by Jonathan Cape, priced £16.99 (ebook £9.99)
WHAT is it exactly, that makes us feel whole? Formidably insightful, AL Kennedy's latest collection of short stories is a shrewd examination of life's defining moments. Not all these moments are loud – though the man having a panic attack at Kings Cross Station might argue otherwise. And yet, however small or seemingly unremarkable, each story invites the reader to enter a very particular struggle with characters who not only feel real, but whose aching vulnerability will resonate long after the moment has ended. Through a series of slice-of-life moments – from the man on the edge of fame to the woman who walks out on her honeymoon – Kennedy examines instances of failure and injustice, success and almost success, love and urgent faith, asking the reader, just how lonely can these struggles be if they also feel universal? As always, Kennedy's closely observed prose is bleakly affecting – a writer who's yet to disappoint.
8/10
Scarlett Sangster
Love After Love by Ingrid Persaud is published in hardback by Faber & Faber, priced £14.99 (ebook £8.99)
WHAT would happen if your heart broke? If the world you know was ripped away from you? Could you move on and find love again? Love After Love is the story of life after abuse. Betty and her young son Solo are caught, trapped in an abusive cycle with her drunken husband Sunil. Culturally, in Trinidad, a blind eye is turned, but Betty is strong, doting mother – and to keep a roof over their heads rents a room to Mr Chetan. Over time a new family forms. A new normal. Betty continues to look for love, Solo wants to spread his wings and Mr Chetan longs to be accepted for who he really is. Until a hushed conversation forces them apart. Ingrid Persaud has created a passionate, dark tale that glimmers with hope.
8/10
Rachel Howdle
The Discomfort Of Evening by Marieke Lucas Rijnevald is published in paperback by Faber & Faber, priced £12.99 (ebook £7.99)
MARIEKE Lucas Rijnevald's debut is at times so unnervingly vivid and supremely disturbing, you have to put it down and walk away for a little while. Translated from Dutch by Michele Hutchison, it concerns the extraordinary perspective of 10-year-old Jas who lives on her family's dairy farm, where the day-to-day is dictated by the cows, the word of God, and what Jas's mother is cooking for dinner.
Then an accident on the ice turns everything brutally sour, and Jas's off-kilter understanding of the world begins to turn in on itself, becoming increasingly dark and nauseating as she tries to make sense of her family's new reality, and the impact it's having on her and her siblings.
Rijnevald's writing is incredibly visceral, capturing pain, grief, the negligence parents can inflict and the truly disgusting (from murdered hamsters to a pin in a belly button), in a way that's both impressive and also deeply unsettling. Often it's difficult to keep reading. Bold, intriguing, and quietly disconcerting, it's hard to get out of your head.
7/10
Ella Walker
NON-FICTION
Greenery by Tim Dee is published in hardback by Jonathan Cape, priced £18.99 (ebook £9.99)
ALONGSIDE sights, sounds and species, the experience of nature – its role in our lives and history – has formed the heart of recent nature writing. A radio producer, student of literature and dedicated birdwatcher, Tim Dee has shown his aptitude for this blend of personal, cultural and natural histories in previous memoirs.
Greenery is an anatomy of spring, travelling northwards through the year, but its course meanders eclectically. Swooping in one chapter from Sicily's Persephone myth to a discarded toffee wrapper on Heligoland, by way of human and avian migrants and Brueghel's Icarus, Dee's writing sings.
Sometimes the lush prose overwhelms but many moments resonate, like the 'rhyme' between birds in the daylit Arctic summer and in the sun-drenched south.
When scattered personal anecdotes finally crystallise into the recent events in Dee's life, the heart breaks. A book best experienced like spring itself, blooming and fading at its own pace.
8/10
Josh Pugh Ginn
CHILDREN'S BOOK OF THE WEEK
Alex Rider: Nightshade by Anthony Horowitz is published in hardback by Walker Books, priced £12.99 (ebook £8.54)
THREE years after Horowitz penned his last Alex Rider book, the teen spy is back for his 12th instalment. At the end of the last book, Alex's biggest enemy – the evil organisation Scorpia – has been destroyed. The 15-year-old is hoping his life can return to normal, but when a deadly group called Nightshade threatens to destroy all of London, it seems he's the only one who can step in and stop them.
Fizzling with suspense, Nightshade is fast-paced and thrilling – a delight for newcomers and old fans alike. It's difficult to keep up the momentum in a series that began two decades ago, but once again, Horowitz proves he is a master of his craft.
Hopefully, this is not the last we see of Alex Rider.
9/10
Megan Baynes
