The February shortlist....
‘My key works but you won't let me in’
Tayari Jones, 'American Marriage' 5/5
Last month's stack featured award winning fiction from the USA's Tayari Jones, a debut novel from Chinese writer An Yu and a state of the nation tome from Jonathan Coe but first the follow up to The Atocha Station (4 star review here) by Ben Lerner.
The 10:04 by Ben Lerner
‘Like a poem... neither fiction nor nonfiction, but a flickering between them’. Lerner’s autofiction is addictive but annoyingly slow in places. Mini essays on Whitman and Reagan’s address after the Challenger disaster standout 3/5
Middle England by Jonathan Coe
A well-read romp through life from the 2012 Olympics to the referendum and beyond. Rich observation and wit make for a cosy suburban tonic to McEwan's 'The Cockroach'. Coe fans will meet old characters from 'The Rotters Club' but new fans will find faces they certainly recognise 4/5
American Marriage by Tayari Jones
‘My key works, but you won’t let me in’ A brilliantly crafted story about being the ‘wrong race in the wrong place’. Nuanced, contemporary and relevant 5/5
Braised Pork by An Yu
An Yu’s new novel portrays a young women alienated in Beijing following the unexplained death of her husband. With a debt to Murakami the journey from the city to Tibet is packed with magical realism and late night drinks. Succinct but never curt 5/5
‘My key works, but you won’t let me in’ A brilliantly crafted story about being the ‘wrong race in the wrong place’. Nuanced, contemporary and relevant 5/5
An Yu’s new novel portrays a young women alienated in Beijing following the unexplained death of her husband. With a debt to Murakami the journey from the city to Tibet is packed with magical realism and late night drinks. Succinct but never curt 5/5
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