Books
The worst of friends
First the bad news: Nina Stibbe’s new novel does not feature Lizzie Vogel, the engaging narrator of the trilogy that…
Sound made visible
What particularly excites Silvia Ferrara, the author of The Greatest Invention, is not language per se but writing – that…
A festering wound
Just as one is inclined to believe Carlyle’s point that the history of the world is but the biography of…
Staring back at Suzon
In this arresting debut novel we follow 26-year-old Eve as she tries to come to terms with the loss of…
The man who disappeared
In September 1890 a Frenchman called Louis Le Prince left his brother in Dijon and boarded a train to Paris,…
A pure original
John Donne sounds like nobody else, and his poems invite us to feel that we might know him, says Daniel Swift
Blowing in the wind
He’s still smiling but Scott Morrison might not be after reading this revealing book. If he reads it that is.…
Dirty rotten tricks
In 2010, Mark Kennedy, a tattooed social justice warrior, was exposed as an undercover police officer. In this guise he…
Be your own bank
There was a time when you could read a book to keep up to date about a subject. Well, that’s…
Who’s story is it?
‘Whenever you see a character in a novel, let alone a biography or history book, reduced and neatened into three…
Dogged by disaster
Norman Scott’s long-anticipated memoir reveals the British Establishment at its worst, says Roger Lewis
A nation in limbo
When the Restoration of the Stuart monarchy, in the person of that ‘lovely black boy’ Charles II, was announced in…
Guiding light
If you have ever thought that there cannot be anything new to say or to learn about the Queen, you…
Not just a pretty face
‘Who is AOC?’ the back cover of this book asks. ‘A wack job!’ says Donald Trump. ‘She needs to run…
Deathly silencing
Is there a woke case to be made for freedom of expression? Jacob Mchangama certainly seems to think so. This…
The Old Horse and the braying donkey
NoViolet Bulawayo’s first novel We Need New Names,shortlisted for the Booker in 2013, was a charming, tender gem, suffused with…
Sins of the mothers
Frida Liu, the 39-year-old mother of a toddler named Harriet, has a very bad day which will haunt her for…
Radiant yesterdays
Richard Cohen was once one of our foremost book editors as well as being an Olympic sabre champion. Since moving…
A great talent-spotter
There’s no excuse for dullness, especially when writing about a life as eventful as Joseph Johnson’s, the publisher and bookseller…
Kindred spirits
‘Dearest Gwen,’ writes Celia Paul, born 1959, to Gwen John, died 1939, ‘I know this letter to you is an…
A nation of seafarers
An ocean of clichés surrounds Britain’s maritime history, from Chaucer’s Shipman to the ‘little ships’ at Dunkirk. Tom Nancollas, whose…
The first intercessor
The Catholic church has always venerated Mary (‘Mother of God’) above other saints. But in recent years there has been…
In love and war
As Europe descended into chaos, the middle-aged Picasso remained as bullish as ever, says Craig Raine
Pyramid schemes
Because I once made the mistake of dabbling in Egyptology, some ‘friend’ will schwack me every other week with a…
Will we ever recover?
Jay Elwes 2 April 2022 9:00 am
Modern British history can be divided into two parts: before Covid and after. That is the central pillar of this…