Books
Out of Reach
Think of a hand-slip, a spun summit bothered by mist, the whirr and thrum of dark metals, a stranded face…
Brother against brother
Thank goodness for Game of Thrones. I think. Apparently it is inspired by the Wars of the Roses, drawing inspiration…
Doubting Thomas
Esther Freud wrote dazzlingly in the first person through the eyes of a five-year-old child in her first novel, Hideous…
He’s not joking
At first sight, J — which has beenshortlisted for the Man Booker Prize — represents a significant departure for Howard…
Pass the sick bag
Charles Saatchi, the gallery owner, has created his own Chamber of Horrors in this thick, square book, ‘inspired by striking…
Sharp observation skills
Last year in Athens, rumours raced about Rachel Cusk’s creative writing classes at the British Council. Some of the (mostly…
Flouting convention
Should one say ‘vicious circle’ or ‘vicious cycle’? That’s a question that just goes round and round inside my head.…
Left
Who is there left that you can talk to? Days go by. ‘Friendless, deserted’ (The Beggar’s Opera?) — left in…
Books and arts
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Left
Who is there left that you can talk to? Days go by. ‘Friendless, deserted’ (The Beggar’s Opera?) — left in…
Out of Reach
Think of a hand-slip, a spun summit bothered by mist, the whirr and thrum of dark metals, a stranded face…
Left
Who is there left that you can talk to? Days go by. ‘Friendless, deserted’ (The Beggar’s Opera?) — left in…
Out of Reach
Think of a hand-slip, a spun summit bothered by mist, the whirr and thrum of dark metals, a stranded face…
After Albert
A new, revisionist biography argues that it was only after her husband’s death that Queen Victoria found her true self. Jane Ridley is impressed
The Forgotten Army remembered
The British who fought in Burma became known as the ‘Forgotten Army’ because this was a neglected theatre of the…
Pile-up on the reincarnation superhighway
Reincarnation has hovered over David Mitchell’s novels since the birth of his remarkable career. His haunting debut novel, Ghostwritten (1999),…
From dram shop to Queen Mother’s handbag
Gin Glorious Gin: How Mother’s Ruin Became the Spirit of London is a jaunty and diverting history of ‘a wonderful…
Off the beaten track
Vincent Deary is a therapist, and this book is the first part of a trilogy. How We Are is about…
All the usual suspects
Owen Jones’s first book, Chavs, was a political bestseller. This follow-up skips over the middle classes and goes to the…
Lost in transfusion
The Children Act could hardly be more attuned to the temper of the times, appearing just as our newspapers are…
























