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Blog postThis latest batch of micro reviews – the first of this year – features a Nigerian classic novel; a non-fiction book about Britain’s black communities during the First World War; a novella about the bond between a woman and her granddaughter; a psychological thriller set in a care home; a memoir about psychiatric abuse; a novel about love against the odds; a classic novel about a young woman’s breakdown; a whimsical fantasy and an Indian retelling of King Lear.
Things Fall Apart by Chinua A -
Blog postAllow me to introduce two novels about the marginalisation of women’s experience: the first set in sixteenth century Strasbourg where the church rules hearts and minds; the second in contemporary a South Africa grappling with its colonial past. Both include a scene of arson, but that is not the worst of the violence.
The Dance Tree by Kiran Millwood Hargrave
In the sweltering summer of 1518, the -
Blog postThere's nothing about TikTok in my 2022 reading and writing plans. Why would there be? I'm far too serious for that kind of stuff. Yet a couple of weeks after I posted those plans I'd signed up for an account. Now I'm addicted.
Why? Because I've sold a few books, although not as many as I'd like to. But mostly because it's a fun place to be.
I’ve begun a series of spoof therapy sessions with fictional c -
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Blog postA reader does need to be patient with this novel initially but the rewards are great take it from one who generally finds textual quirks an irritant you quickly accommodate to unpunctuated paragraphs that perfectly encapsulate the narrator’s voice not voice as in audible speech he Elliott barely able to move due to cerebral palsy is using some kind of device to relate the great adventure of his childhood when in the late seventies without communication aids he made a
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Blog postAlthough many of us read for relaxation, our brains are far from passive as we do so. We actively process the words on page or screen through the filter of our own experience. Because everyone is different, we won’t find identical meanings in the same text.
As an author, I’m delighted when a reader makes a personal connection with my fiction that shows they understand what I set out to say. However, it’s -
Blog postThese two novels depict a character’s reflections on their life following the sudden death of their spouse. Both the male writer in the first novel and the female teacher in the second are mourning not only the loss of a partner but of the promise of their original romance.
The Chosen by Elizabeth Lowry
When his wife dies suddenly in her bedroom, Tom is perplexed. Should he have seen this coming? -
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Blog postA page-turning debut about power, patriarchy and politics; separation and secrets; set in late 1960s Pakistan.
Police inspector Faraz Ali is posted to Lahore’s red light district to investigate – or rather to deflect attention away from the powerful figures who might be implicated – the murder of a girl barely out of her teens. It’s a lucrative position, with the bribes and backhanders his role can comma -
Blog postTwo novels about women whose identities stem from the supernatural: the first, a vampire who moves to London to work in a gallery; the second, a traditional healer in rural Mexico and the journalist who wants to write her story.
Woman, Eating by Claire Kohda
After settling her mother into a care home in Margate, Lydia moves to London for an internship in a gallery. It’s a big step for a young wom -
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Blog postTwo fabulous fiction books about ordinary people in historically significant times. The first is a family saga set in China, Taiwan and America across six decades of the twentieth century. The second is a snapshot of Swiss history on a single day in 1959 when the male half of the populace denied their mothers, sisters and wives the right to vote.
Peach Blossom Spring by Melissa Fu
When the Japane -
Blog postAlthough fire has a significant role in both of these novels, I intended this post’s title metaphorically: along with the pandemic, the climate crisis and the (sometimes related) refugee emergency are the defining themes of the 2020s. If you like to explore our times through fiction, as I do, see if you think you’d enjoy The Forests, a translated cli-fi novel and/or The Bones of Barry Knight, a poignant portrayal of people literally or figuratively estranged from their homes.
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Blog postHere are two books featuring different kinds of caring: the first a translated memoir about a healthcare professional who looks after people’s minds along with their feet; the second a novel about an actor who opens his home to his struggling father and to his childhood friend.
Marzahn, Mon Amour by Katja Oskamp translated
by Jo Heinrich
As someone who walks a lot and often stands at my desk, I d -
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Blog postThese two recent reads feature characters who find themselves in morally compromised situations, partly of their own making. The first, set in the contemporary US art world, is about a young man’s relationship with a middle-aged man he saves from drowning. The second, set during a turbulent time in American history, focuses on a family of thespians, drinkers and dreamers.
Mouth to Mouth by Antoine -
Blog postThese novels – the first contemporary YA; the second historical fiction – address radically different responses to mental health issues wrapped up in page-turning stories. I enjoyed them both in different ways.
The Definition of Us by Sarah Harris
It’s less than a week until the anniversary of her teenage trauma, and Florence desperately needs her session with her therapist. Unfortunately, Howard has been called away to attend to some private business and it doesn’t look as if -
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Blog postDo you remember that song about the sisters, devoted to each other … unless a man should come between them? Here are two versions of the novelisation of that story. In the first, set primarily in the Philippines, the two daughters of a former dissident compete for the affections of a powerful man. In the second, a YA dystopian novel, thirty teenagers who’ve been raised together, and think of each other as sisters, also hope to be chosen a high-status man. In both cases, their position is bleak,
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Blog postTwo translated novels – the first from Hebrew, the second from French – about young people invited to apply for grants to support their ambitions, which lead them into damaging situations. The first is about a tour guide to the Nazi death camps; the second about a teenage dancer groomed for abuse (with a section from the point of view of her school boyfriend, who feels burdened by his Jewish heritage). They question whether the legacy of such cruelty is to forgive, forget or become monsters ours
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Blog postFebruary is LGBT+ History Month, which aims to promote equality and diversity for the benefit of all. Five years ago, I was honoured to be invited to speak at the launch of a project to create an archive of LGBT+ history in Derbyshire, near where I live.
That year – 2017 – marked the fiftieth anniversary of Britain’s Sexual Offences Act. I’d naïvely assumed this Act spelt liberation but no! I learnt, from another speaker, that dec -
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Blog postLet me present two chunky novels, both published in the UK on 3rd February, about which I had some reservations but came to love. Despite a decade’s difference in age between the novels’ protagonists, both are coming-of-age stories in which an unexpected kind of love – or unconventional for their particular communities – teaches these young women about family, ambition, identity and themselves.
De -
Blog postAs with embarking on a novel project, so with setting goals for the year ahead: there’s a sweet spot between restraining oneself within an inflexible structure and leaving it all to chance. Now I’m clearer about how novels work, I’ve become a carefree planner – or is that an organised pantser? Now I know – in fact, I’ve always known – I’ll get some stuff done to progress my authorial career, I’m happy to set myself a mix of concrete goals and airy-fairy aspirations each January and review where
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Blog postI’ve paired these two novels because they both address human failings in unconventional ways. The first, translated from the Danish, illustrates the barriers to connection via a large cast of characters. The second is a zany take on our collective complicity in environmental collapse. Oh, and because the title of the first reminds me of Dali’s telephone, while I can only assume the enigmatic title of the second is intentionally surreal.
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Blog postHere I introduce two translated novellas – the first from Italian, the second from French – about the bond between siblings, survivors of damaging childhoods. They illustrate the difficulties of closing the door on the past.
A Sister’s Story by Donatella di Pietrantonio translated by Ann Goldstein
The narrator is a teacher of Italian origin, now living in France. She is also a sister, daughter an -
Blog postWe can choose our friends but not our neighbours, unless we happen to own a plot of land with cottages to rent or offer free to selected guests. In which case we should choose carefully: in a crisis, out in the countryside, we might have to rely on our neighbours more than we’d expect. But as renters and guests we might not have a say in the matter, as these two novels highlight. The first is about a woman unsettled by the folk beliefs of her neighbours in rural Scotland; the second about a temp
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Blog postWhen I selected these books for my first reviews of 2022, I thought all they shared was their UK publication date of January 6th. I was wrong. Both are unconventionally structured novels by and about migrants, from the Indian subcontinent, to rich countries founded on the genocide of their indigenous populations, where truth is sometimes sacrificed on the altar of populist politics and the realities of racism and the climate crisis denied. Read on for the different ways these authors handled the
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Blog postWe’ll remember 2021 as the year the rich countries rolled out their vaccination programmes, which should have zero overlap with my reading and writing, except that when I got my flu jab at my local pharmacy, I also managed to sell a book. So far, so serendipitous, but this post is about how I measured up against the goals I set at the beginning of this year.
Reading
As usual, I achieved my goal of readin -
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Blog postThis latest batch of micro reviews – the fifth and final one for this year – relates to novels about a Nigerian victim of child marriage and domestic slavery; white people’s funerals in post-apartheid South Africa; adolescence by the sea in North Yorkshire and Greece; pimps and drug pushers in the City of London; uses and abuses of mental health services in England; the residents and staff of a Canadian assisted living scheme for older adults; life and love in ancient Greece; a suspicious death
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Blog postLast January, I decided that this was the year I’d reread some of my all-time favourite books. I thought one per month would be reasonable; I actually read ten, although I’m awarding myself double points for the single non-fiction book. By sheer chance, they divided equally into five I found well worth revisiting and five that didn’t thrill me so much second time around. Read on to see which was which.
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Titles By Anne Goodwin
Underneath: A psychological suspense novel inside the mind of an ordinary man who keeps a woman captive in a cellar
May 25, 2017
by
Anne Goodwin
$3.99
Other Formats:
Paperback
Sugar and Snails: An unusual midlife coming-of-age novel shortlisted for the Polari First Book Prize
Jul 23, 2015
by
Anne Goodwin
$3.99
Other Formats:
Paperback
Becoming Someone: Short stories, light and dark, about identity and what makes us who we are
Nov 27, 2018
by
Anne Goodwin
$3.99
Other Formats:
Paperback
