Almost Love by Louise O’Neill
O’Neill’s first adult novel - after the searing
Only Ever Yours and the shattering
Asking for It - is as pointed and insightful as her YA work. In the present, Sarah is with Oisin, a warm, kind man. But she can’t get over Matthew, an older man she was in a relationship with when in her early 20s. Matthew kept Sarah a secret, and never gave her quite what she wanted, but love isn’t supposed to be easy, is it? Featuring a selfish, complicated, damaged protagonist, this is a depiction of obsessive love that will hit a nerve with all readers.
(March 8)
The Wicked Cometh by Laura Carlin
In 1831 Hester White is struggling to get by, when by chance she encounters the Brock family and is taken to their country seat. There, under the pretence of being uneducated, she forms a close bond with Rebecca Brock. The two find themselves drawn into the mystery of London’s rapidly disappearing poor, uncovering something truly wicked.
The Wicked Cometh is Carlin’s debut, and she’s great at conjuring up an image of darkest 1800s London, while her female characters are both of their time while also being witty and modern.
(February 8)
Brit(ish) by Afua Hirsch“Where are you from? No, where are you really from?” Those are familiar questions for people of colour living in Britain, Hirsch among them. In this highly personal look at race, Hirsch recounts her search for her identity - the daughter of a Jewish dad and a Ghanaian mum, Hirsch never felt like she quite belonged in England, yet moving to Ghana didn’t make her feel Ghanaian. Hirsch looks at what identity is, and how perhaps what it means to be British needs to be rethought.
(February 1)
Circe by Madeline Miller
Miller, the author of the award-winning
The Song of Achilles, returns with the story of Circe, arguably best known as the witch who turned Odysseus’ men into pigs in Homer’s
The Odyssey. In
Circe, Miller gives depth and history to the title character, how it was she came to be on her island, and her struggles as an independent woman. The “heroes” of Greek myths - the gods, Odysseus and so on - get shoved to the side, as Miller brings to the forefront a fascinating, captivating female character. This is wonderfully detailed and well worth the more than five year wait since
The Song of Achilles.
(April 19)
Kintu by Jennifer Nansubuga MakumbiKintu begins in 2004, with the death of Kusi Kamu, before taking us back to 1750 and Kamu’s ancestor, Kintu Kidda. On his way to pledge allegiance to the new leader of Buganda Kingdom, tragedy strikes, and Kintu unleashes a curse that will plague his family for generations. This is an epic in the vein of Yaa Gyasi’s
Homegoing (one of 2017's best books), blending both the history of a country - Uganda in this case - and the story of a family through the generations.
(January 25)
Sources
1 |
2book post? what're you reading? what're you most looking forward to reading in 2018?