Picador

Sea of Tranquility

Book Review: The past, present and future are more alike than you think in Emily St. John Mandel’s Sea of Tranquility

The new novel from award-winning author Emily St. John Mandel traverses time and space to tell a multifaceted story of love, endurance, human nature and reality. Sea of Tranquility is set within the same universe as her previous novels Station Eleven and The Glass Hotel offering fans of her earlier works plenty of ‘a-ha’ moments….

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The Lamplighters

Book Review: A real world disappearance and fictional secrets combine in Emma Stonex’s The Lamplighters

Cornwall, December 1972. Three lighthouse keepers vanish from a remote offshore lighthouse. The entrance door is locked from the inside. The clocks have stopped. And, the Principal Keeper’s weather log describes a mighty storm that never happened. This is the set-up for Emma Stonex’s The Lamplighters. The Lamplighters is inspired by real events, despite its…

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Akin

Book Review: Emma Donoghue’s Akin is a historical story told from the present day

Akin is Emma Donoghue’s tenth novel for adults, but only her second set in the modern day. Known by most readers for her 2010 novel, Room, Donoghue has published countless novels which examine little known pockets of history, such as 2014’s Frog Music and 2016’s The Wonder. At first glance, Akin is something entirely different to Donoghue’s back catalogue, including…

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Book Review: #MeToo: Stories from the Australian Movement is a strong anthology from a diverse choir of voices

In October 2017 when the hashtag #MeToo went viral, a lot of the popularity was chalked up to some rich, white celebrities speaking out. What these media reports failed to acknowledge however was that the movement’s true founder was Tarana Burke. This new anthology, #MeToo: Stories from the Australian Movement, is broadens #MeToo’s scope, whilst…

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Book Review: Debra Adelaide’s Zebra and other stories showcases the author’s astonishing range

Eccentric, heartbreaking and hilarious- this is how Debra Adelaide‘s latest book of short stories is described on the cover by her Picador stable-mate, Jennifer Mills. The book is Zebra and Other Stories, a collection comprised of fourteen stories, divided into three sections: First, Second and Third. These sections refer to the point of view taken in the stories. Adelaide covers a…

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Book Review: Nell Stevens’ Mrs Gaskell and Me is a meditation on longing and a balm for the soul

I don’t normally read non-fiction or memoir, but something about the premise of Nell Stevens’ second book, Mrs Gaskell and Me (also known as The Victorian and the Romantic) appealed to me when I first started hearing about it on social media a few months back. On the surface, it has a simple premise; it is a literary memoir…

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Five Books You Need To Read This Month: September

Somehow it’s September already, and the quick descent into the holiday season has begun. September also sees the announcement of the 2018 Man Booker Prize, which is pretty exciting for us literary types. Indeed, this month two of our five titles were included on the longlist back announced back in July, so we’ll be eagerly…

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Book Review: David Adam’s The Genius Within is smarter than your average book

A lot of us are now aware that the brain is plastic and has the ability to change and adapt. A new area of neuroscience that looks to take advantage of this phenomena is  cognitive enhancement. This is a field that sees individuals alter the way their brain and mind works in order to make…

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Book Review: Daniel Shand’s Fallow is a wild ride through the Scottish highlands, helmed by an increasingly unstable narrator

Paul and Michael Buchanan are in hiding. Moving from highland village to highland village, the brothers are trying to avoid the press and police surrounding their home after Michael’s release from prison. Convicted of the murder of a little girl when he was a teenager, Michael relies heavily on Paul to source them food and…

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