I received a review copy of this from Viking Press via Edelweiss for which my thanks. A sensitive and beautiful story of four generations of women from an Irish family sharing a deep bond and fierce love which sees them through the worst of times and challenges life throws, in any or all of their…
Book Review: The Enlightenment of Katzuo Nakamatsu by Augusto Higo Oshiro and translated by Jennifer Shyue
My thanks to Archipelago Books (Steerforth Press) for a review copy of this book via Edelweiss. The Enlightenment of Katzuo Nakamatsu is a story of identity and loss, roots and community, of a man dealing with past, present, and much else in the face of impending death. Our story opens in the Parque de la…
Book Review: An Unusual Grief by Yewande Omotoso
My thanks to Cassava Republic Press and NetGalley for a review copy of this book. An Unusual Grief is a story of grief but it is also the story of a woman’s journey to understand herself, and her relationships—one might even say her life so far. Mojisola Owolabi has travelled to Johannesburg to pack up…
Book Review: Cat Flap by Alan S. Cowell
My thanks to Agora Books and NetGalley for a review copy of this book. Cat Flap is a slightly fantastical, quirky, humorous but also slightly over the top novel. Successful corporate executive, Dolores Tremayne, finds part of herself in her family’s cat, X (named so by her daughter, since it sounds ‘mysterious’) while her human…
Book Review: Still Life by Sarah Winman
My thanks to NetGalley and Fourth Estate for a review copy of this one. Still Life is a heart-warming novel about art, Italy, and really, about life and its many colours. The book opens towards the end of the Second World War, when art historian (and perhaps, spy?) Evelyn Skinner, in her sixties, meets young…
Book Review: The Great Passage by Shion Miura #JapaneseLitChallenge13
The Great Passage is a Japanese book first published in 2011 and translated in English in 2017 by Juliet Winters Carpenter. The dictionary department of Gembu Books is undertaking a new mammoth dictionary project, The Great Passage—but the one capable full-time employee, Kohei Araki (whose interest in words was piqued at a young age) is…
Book Review: 82년생 김지영/Kim Ji-Young, Born 1982 by Cho Nam-Joo #NetGalley #KimJiyoungBorn1982
My thanks to Simon and Schuster UK and NetGalley for a review copy of this one. Kim Ji-Young, Born 1982 is a 2016 Korean novel, now translated into English (besides other languages). This hard-hitting novel has sold over a million copies, and was also adapted into a film that released in October this year. The…
Book Review: The Forest of Wool and Steel by Natsu Miyashita
My thanks to NetGalley and RandomHouse UK for a review copy of the book. This is a Japanese novel translated into English by Philip Gabriel (who has also translated Murakami). The Forest of Wool and Steel tells us the story of a young man Tomura. As a high school student, Tomura was deputed one day…
Literary Potpourri 