Reviews

Slow Down When Someone Dies, is a very practical guide to a subject that people still find hard to talk about, yet we all know we will have to deal with at some time. So do think about looking at this book which is held in the library.

The Bookseller’s Tale was both a Spectator and Evening Standard book of the year in 2020. What could be more appropriate for our newsletter than a title about books, bookshops and libraries? It sounds an ideal Christmas present for any booklover and will give readers ideas for other books to add to their ‘must read’ list…

Charles Cumming is one of our best contemporary writers of spy fiction. Born in Scotland he was apparently approached by the intelligence service to work for them while at university but declined their offer. Some critics describe him as similar to John Le Carré, but our reviewer finds his work easier to read and more enjoyable. So if you are looking for a page turner then this is it.

This review is of a memoir set against the backdrop of Argentina after the fall of Peron’s regime – with a penguin as the protagonist!

Both reviews are of novels, one Irish and one American. John McGahern is often described as one of the greatest Irish writers of the 20th century. His stark descriptions of rural Ireland made him one of the country’s most acclaimed fiction writers and we feature his final novel, published in 2003 three years before his death. Amor Towles lives in Manhattan and his novels Rules of Civility, A Gentleman in Moscow and The Lincoln Highway have all featured on the New York Times bestseller list.

Our most recent reviews are fascinating reads about the pursuit of regicides in New England and a re-imagined David Copperfield set in the Appalachian Mountains.

Two books that can transport you from the comfort of your own home to Tuscany and the city of Florence – and how lovely to have two books that are set in that beautiful city at different times in its history. Most of us may already know A Room with a View and the work of E M Forster but this is a book that is definitely worth reading again. Sarah Winman is a British actress and author – you may know her debut book When God was a Rabbit, which won several awards when it was first published.

The Night Watchman is by Louise Erdrich, an American author who is herself a member of the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa, and the subject is based on her family’s experiences as Native Americans in the 1950s. It won the Pulitzer Prize for fiction in 2021.

For Thy Great Pain Have Mercy on My Little Pain is by Victoria Mackenzie, a writer who lives in Crail and has tutored at the Creative Writing Summer School at University of St Andrews and the Open College of the Arts. She has had a number of short stories and poems published. Her first novel about two remarkable women has had excellent reviews.

A Rising Man is the debut novel from Abir Mukherjee, a Scottish author who has had recent success with his series of crime novels set in India during the time of the British Raj. His books have won numerous awards and been translated into 15 languages. Click on the title to read our review.