Book Reviews: November
November 1st, 2022
Christmas on the horizone...CHILDREN’S BOOKS
Tyger by S.F Said.
Hardback, £12.99, David Fickling books
Already being hailed as a classic, this children’s novel is a shimmering, Blakeian dystopian fantasy. Adam Alhambra is a Muslim boy living in a dystopian London. He finds something incredible in a rubbish dump… Tyger. Tigers are long extinct and this fantastical beast, too, is in mortal danger, being hunted by the evil Sir Mortimer Maldehyde and his four huntsman on horseback.
Adam and his friend Zadie are determined to help, but there is more at stake than just Tyger’s life – their whole world is on the brink of destruction. The Tyger awakens the children to a hidden power within them…. Can they learn to harness it before it’s too late?
ADULT BOOKS
Bill Furlong, a coal/fuel delivery man with a wife and 5 daughters, is just scraping by at a time of great hardship for many in poverty-stricken rural Ireland. One dark night, while delivering coal to a convent, he stumbles upon a terrified, freezing young woman, locked in the coalhouse. For this convent is one of the infamous ‘Magdalene Laundries’ – responsible for incarcerating over 10,000 girls and women. Bill continues his rounds, but his own past – he is the illegitimate child of a teenage mother – rises up to haunt him, and he is torn by a crisis of conscience. His own family’s welfare depends on the goodwill of the community, and they cannot risk the wrath of the Catholic Church… but he yearns to make a stand…
A deep, tender and lyrical novella.
The Coming Darkness by Greg Mosse
Hardback, £16.99, Moonflower Books
This big, meaty espionage thriller set in a dystopian near-future is the debut novel by Greg Mosse: playwright, creative writing tutor, and husband of best-selling historical novelist Kate Mosse.
Wild Light by Angela Harding
Hardback £25, Sphere Books.
Tyger by S.F Said.
Hardback, £12.99, David Fickling books
Already being hailed as a classic, this children’s novel is a shimmering, Blakeian dystopian fantasy. Adam Alhambra is a Muslim boy living in a dystopian London. He finds something incredible in a rubbish dump… Tyger. Tigers are long extinct and this fantastical beast, too, is in mortal danger, being hunted by the evil Sir Mortimer Maldehyde and his four huntsman on horseback.
Adam and his friend Zadie are determined to help, but there is more at stake than just Tyger’s life – their whole world is on the brink of destruction. The Tyger awakens the children to a hidden power within them…. Can they learn to harness it before it’s too late?
A visionary, immersive story, rich in mythology and folklore, and dotted with eye-catching illustrations by Dave McKean, which has short, gripping chapters that are not too daunting for children.
A super read for children aged 8+ and anyone who loves a Narnia-like yarn!.
ADULT BOOKS
Small Things Like These by Claire Keegan
Paperback £8.99, Faber & Faber
Irish novelist Claire Keegan is a pet favourite of our staff for her tender, gem-like novels, which pack huge emotional heft into delicate, sparse prose. Small Things Like These is a slender novella, set in rural Ireland during a bitterly cold December in 1985, and is a story of compassion and humanity, perfect for warming one’s cockles on a cold winter’s night. Bill Furlong, a coal/fuel delivery man with a wife and 5 daughters, is just scraping by at a time of great hardship for many in poverty-stricken rural Ireland. One dark night, while delivering coal to a convent, he stumbles upon a terrified, freezing young woman, locked in the coalhouse. For this convent is one of the infamous ‘Magdalene Laundries’ – responsible for incarcerating over 10,000 girls and women. Bill continues his rounds, but his own past – he is the illegitimate child of a teenage mother – rises up to haunt him, and he is torn by a crisis of conscience. His own family’s welfare depends on the goodwill of the community, and they cannot risk the wrath of the Catholic Church… but he yearns to make a stand…
A deep, tender and lyrical novella.
The Coming Darkness by Greg Mosse
Hardback, £16.99, Moonflower Books
This big, meaty espionage thriller set in a dystopian near-future is the debut novel by Greg Mosse: playwright, creative writing tutor, and husband of best-selling historical novelist Kate Mosse.
Paris, 2037: Global warming and pandemics have torn through the fabric of society, and Alexandre Lamarque of the French external security service is hunting for eco-terrorists. He wonders just how far populations must be controlled ‘for their own good’ – and who should do the controlling – finally losing faith in a job he once loved. He is ready to give up – but is drawn back in by an ominous sequence of events: a theft from a Norwegian genetics lab; a string of gory child murders; his mother’s desperate illness, and a chaotic coup in a breakaway North African republic. Alex finds himself in a heart-thumping race against chaos and destruction, the one man with the ability to see through to the deranged intelligence that controls. A gripping white-knuckle ride through a scarily plausible future, will appeal to fans of le Carre and ‘I Am Pilgrim’ by Terry Hayes.
Greg will be in conversation with Kate Mosse, discussing The Coming Darkness at an event with us on November 16th.
Wild Light by Angela Harding
Hardback £25, Sphere Books.
A stunning art book which collects over 70 images by printmaker Angela Harding, which she describes as ‘a journey through 24 hours of my collected memories of the nature that surrounds me’. Working from her studio at the bottom of her garden in the small village of Wing, in Rutland, Angela Harding’s work, in linocut and woodblock print, vividly captures the natural world she observes; from garden birds to moonlit hares. This collection sees Angela focussing on light, and how it changes landscape – from the low light of an English February afternoon or the sharp, bright mid-morning light of the Cornish seaside, these stunning prints vividly evoke emotion and memory.
An absolute TREASURE of a book, a perfect gift.
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