With its forthright exploration of female sexual desire, depression and female emancipation, The Awakening, first published in 1899, was such a shock to readers of the time that it was shunned and then forgotten for decades. This short, but penetrating novel was rediscovered in the 1960s, and is now thought of as a landmark of…
Read more No 519 The Awakening by Kate Chopin (book 9 of #20booksofsummer)
Blackeyes is probably better known as the four-part television adaptation (directed by Dennis Potter himself) than it is as a novel. And maybe that’s not a bad thing. Blackeyes is Potter’s exploration of how society values female beauty and examines the subjugation and appropriation of the female voice. It does so through Potter’s recognisable tropes…
Read more NO 521 Blackeyes by Dennis Potter (Book 7 of #20booksofsummer)
Truth or Fiction by Jennifer Johnston continues my Northern Exposure series which highlight literature from Northern Ireland and is also, helpfully, one of my 20 Books of Summer! Jennifer Johnston’s fiction regularly deals with themes of memory, loss and an inability to come to terms with the past and Truth or Fiction is no different.…
Read more No 522 Truth or Fiction by Jennifer Johnston (Book 6 of #20booksofsummer)
A few years ago, I read MJ Hyland’s masterful This Is How and was drawn to her controlled and confident style. Carry Me Down is another exceptional character study that draws the reader into a very particular and insular world – albeit a somewhat claustrophobic one. John Egan is 12 years old. Tall for his…
Read more No 523 Carry Me Down by MJ Hyland (Book 5 of #20booksofsummer)
Northern Exposure is my monthly series where I look at literature from Northern Ireland. I have three books by Northern Irish writers in my 20 Books of Summer stack and the first one up is Secrets and Other Stories by Bernard MacLaverty. Secrets and Other Stories is Bernard MacLaverty’s first short story collection, originally published…
Read more No 525 Secrets and Other Stories by Bernard MacLaverty (Book 3 of #20booksofsummer)
Tipping the Velvet, Sarah Waters debut novel is a rich and hugely entertaining picaresque romp through the lesbian world of Victorian London. Following the literal and metaphorical journey of Nan Astley from her sheltered family life in the seaside town of Whitstable to treading the boards in the music halls of London, Tipping the Velvet…
Read more No 526 Tipping the Velvet by Sarah Waters (Book 2 of #20booksofsummer)
