by NRB | 29 Aug 2024 | Fiction |
Jodi Picoult’s latest novel reimagines Shakespeare and shows little has changed since the sixteenth century for women playwrights. ‘I believe we can help each other,’ Emilia said. ‘You wish for everyone to know your name; I wish for no one to know mine.’ So begins...
by NRB | 27 Aug 2024 | Fiction, SFF |
Sarah Beth Durst calls her new novel ‘cozy fantasy’ and delivers a tale of magic, persecution – and jam-making. Librarian Kiela flees the burning Great Library of Alyssium with Caz, her chatty, sentient spider-plant assistant, and as many priceless (and highly...
by NRB | 22 Aug 2024 | Fiction |
The lyrical second novel from the author of The Burial criss-crosses through time following one girl’s parallel lives. Bird is the pensive, defiant 14-year-old protagonist of Courtney Collins’ new novel. In the opening chapter, she’s living with her family in a...
by NRB | 20 Aug 2024 | Non-fiction |
Maggie Walters’ memoir goes beyond the clichés of Hollywood to describe what it’s like living with mental illness. Maggie Walters was diagnosed with multiple personality disorder (now known as dissociative identity disorder) 30 years ago. On the outside, she is like...
by NRB | 15 Aug 2024 | Fiction, SFF |
The team that is James SA Corey – author of The Expanse – delivers the first instalment of an epic new science fiction series. Lovers of good science fiction will be aware of the name James SA Corey. It is the pen name of Ty Frank and Daniel Abraham who, as a pair,...
by NRB | 14 Aug 2024 | Non-fiction |
Fintan O’Toole takes a fresh look at the world’s most famous playwright and the resonances his plays hold for our own time. Fintan O’Toole takes issue with the way Shakespeare has commonly been taught and discussed since the nineteenth century. In particular, he...
by NRB | 13 Aug 2024 | Non-fiction |
Ariane Beeston’s memoir chronicles her experience of postpartum psychosis, a devastating but little-understood condition. Because I’m Not Myself, You See casts a spotlight on an issue I knew nothing about. Postpartum psychosis is the most severe form of postpartum...
by NRB | 8 Aug 2024 | Non-fiction |
A mysterious man named the Pirate and the beautiful island of Corfu feature in this memoir from the author of The Sorrow Stone. It is September 1990. Kári Gíslason and his friend Paul have been hitchhiking across Belgium, Germany, Austria, and Italy. They are now on a...
by NRB | 6 Aug 2024 | Fiction |
The new novel from the author of The Magician and A Guest at the Feast continues the story of one of his most popular characters. In Long Island, his sequel to the award-winning 2009 Brooklyn, Tóibín returns to familiar territory. Brooklyn begins with Eilis Lacey...
by NRB | 1 Aug 2024 | Fiction |
When Gail Parent published Sheila Levine in 1972 it wasn’t called a ‘sad girl novel’; in 2024 Sarah Rose Etter’s Ripe shows the trope’s enduring popularity. Content warning: suicidal ideation Over 50 years ago, Gail Parent wrote a dark satire about a young...
by NRB | 30 Jul 2024 | Fiction |
Winner of the 2023 Dorothy Hewett Award, photographer Kirsty Iltners’ first novel explores both darkness and light. If you want to freeze something fast, you increase the shutter speed – but it makes the image darker. Tom’s memories of his first encounter with Adeline...
by NRB | 25 Jul 2024 | Non-fiction |
In the aftermath of the attempted assassination of Donald Trump, our need to understand the US feels more immediate than ever. What sort of society is America? Can it, in fact, even be regarded as a society? The country has an exalted view of itself as a land of...
ANNA DOWNES Red River Road and LISA KENWAY All You Took From Me. Reviewed by Justine Ettler3 October 2024These two new crime thrillers from Australian writers Anna Downes and Lisa [ … ]
KATHERINE WILES No Autographs Please. Reviewed by Sally Nimon2 October 2024Katherine Wiles’ life as a professional opera singer seems glossed with [ … ]
ANTONIA PONT The Memory Library. Reviewed by Ann Skea1 October 2024Memories are not merely recounted in Antonia Pont’s novella. How would you like [ … ]
ALINA BELLCHAMBERS The Order of Masks. Reviewed by Amelia Dudley26 September 2024Spies, magic, intrigue, and the human cost of an expanding empire all feature [ … ]
