A succession of selves: How Do People Stay the Same by Mark Bowles reviewed
A sad novel with funny moments that tells its story via a series of reverse-ordered journal entries. First, the happy ending, then a progression backwards through more troubling times, getting remarkably close to the messy truth of life along the way
An ill wind: Poppyland, by D.J. Taylor, reviewed
Norfolk life looks quietly bleak in these carefully worked short stories of broken homes, precarious employment, dwindling expectations and torpor
Sharp practice
Thackeray’s amoral schemer is recast as a ruthless tabloid journalist, splashing gossip, hacking phones and pursuing personal vendettas
The horrors of lynching
Percival Everett’s 22nd novel The Trees was that rare thing on this year’s Booker shortlist: a genre novel. Only which…
