FRANCESCA DE TORES Cast Away. Reviewed by Ann Skea
The new novel from the author of Saltblood again traverses the high seas, this time inspired by a real-life Scottish adventurer. When they leave me on the island, I do not scruple to beg. I chase the last boat into the bay, wading and shouting, ‘Sir, sir, mercy, have...
BERNICE BARRY The Names of a Hare. Reviewed by Ann Skea
Set during England’s witch persecutions, Bernice Barry’s novel draws on the magical associations of the hare and tips its hat to Lorna Doone. There are things you’ll be wanting to know and I will tell you most of them, but there’s one thing I will not give and...
FRANCIS SPUFFORD Nonesuch. Reviewed by Robert Goodman
Award-winning author Francis Spufford’s new novel is a historical fantasy set during the Blitz in London. Francis Spufford’s fourth novel, Nonesuch, is a beguiling combination of historical and speculative fiction. Spufford effortlessly blends the experience of living...
2025 Readers’ Favourites
With the new year barely begun, take a look back at our top ten reviews of 2025. It’s always fascinating to see which reviews have attracted the most interest from readers. While this 2025 list leans slightly more towards fiction than non-fiction, it does...
LYN DICKENS Salt Upon the Water. Reviewed by Ann Skea
Lyn Dickens’s award-winning debut novel of an independent woman in colonial South Australia explores prejudice, power and identity. Salt Upon the Water is an historical fiction; also, according to the blurb on the back cover, ‘an epic love story’. Both are true, but...
JOHN BANVILLE Venetian Vespers. Reviewed by Naomi Manuell
Set in Venice in 1899, John Banville’s new novel blends crime and the gothic as it skewers literary pretension. From 2006 to around 2020, Irish novelist John Banville began publishing crime fiction under the pseudonym Benjamin Black. The Man Booker Prize winner (and...
HEATHER ROSE A Great Act of Love. Reviewed by Ann Skea
The bestselling author of The Museum of Modern Love turns to historical fiction in her new novel set in convict-era Van Dieman’s Land. Do not be fooled by the cover of this book. In spite of the pretty young woman gazing at you through a tangle of ribbons and the...
MATTHEW HOOTON Everything Lost, Everything Found. Reviewed by Ann Skea
Longlisted for the 2025 ARA Historical Novel Prize, Matthew Hooton’s novel traces memories of Henry Ford’s experimental settlement in Brazil. I know my grandson, Nicholas, thinks of my personal history as an exaggeration or tall tale. And why shouldn’t he? He cannot...
LAURA ELVERY Nightingale. Reviewed by Ann Skea
Award-winning short story writer Laura Elvery’s first novel delivers a vivid portrait of Florence Nightingale and the horrors of war. Bodies fall apart. Things come to an end. Everyone wants to make me comfortable, I know that. How many times have I murmured...
TAN TWAN ENG The House of Doors. Reviewed by Catherine Pardey
Longlisted for the 2023 Booker Prize, Tan Twan Eng’s novel reimagines the events in Penang that inspired a famous Somerset Maugham story. Those familiar with Tan Twan Eng’s writing, and that of Somerset Maugham, will know they are in for pleasant reading when in...
BELINDA LYONS-LEE The Haunting of Mr and Mrs Stevenson. Reviewed by Ann Skea
The new novel from the author of Tussaud imagines what might have inspired Robert Louis Stevenson to write Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde. Have you ever looked closely at your wardrobe in the dark? Have you ever lain in bed, perhaps with the candle flickering on your bedside...
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