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Raw, unflinching and razor-sharp are just some of the descriptions that come to mind when I think of Penelope Mortimer’s fiction. Mortimer has an innate ability to portray how easy it is for an int…

I love Barbara Pym, an author whose gentle explorations of unrequited love amongst the genteel middle-classes are both charming and quietly poignant. She creates an idiosyncratic yet oddly recognis…

What a beautiful, bittersweet novella this is, the heartbreaking story of a man whose moment appeared to have passed, only for providence to intervene to grant him another chance. First published i…

First published in 1959 and recently reissued as part of Penguin’s Mermaid Collection, which focuses on unjustly neglected novels from the mid-to-late 20th century, Answer in the Negative is an enj…

Ten years ago, back in the early days of this blog, I read and loved The House of Ulloa, a feisty tale of contrasting values in which a virtuous chaplain finds himself embroiled in the exploits of …

William Trevor is one of my all-time favourite authors. He writes beautifully about small-town Irish life, often focusing on the quiet moments other writers might overlook. His short stories are sp…

In August 2021, Faber and Faber introduced a new publishing list called Faber Editions, dedicated to showcasing radical literary voices from around the world. The first book in the series is Rachel…

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A couple of years ago I read Desperate Characters – a 1970 novel by the American writer Paula Fox – in which a cat bite sparks a crisis in the lives of a privileged middle-class couple, setting in …

Born in Fukuoka in 1909, Seichō Matsumoto was one of Japan’s most acclaimed crime writers, publishing over thirty novels and several short stories during the course of his prolific career. His book…

As I have mentioned before, there is a long tradition of women writers depicting crushing mental health conditions in fiction, from Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s unforgettable short story The Yellow W…

Like many other bloggers and readers, I first discovered Mary Hocking through Ali’s sterling efforts in championing her work over the past couple of years. While she seems very much her own writer,…

While looking through my shelves for suitable books for Women in Translation month, I found Louise de Vilmorin’s novella Madame de___. It’s a perfect one-sitting read, short enough to squeeze into …

The English novelist and playwright Margaret Kennedy is probably best known for her second novel, The Constant Nymph, which swiftly became a bestseller on its publication in 1924. Nevertheless, I t…

The American writer Helen McCloy is completely new to me, but on the strength of this intriguing mystery, I’d be open to reading her again. First published in 1950 and recently reissued by Penguin …

While the British novelist and campaigner Lettice Cooper is probably best known for her literary novels, such as National Provincial (1938) and The New House (1936), both in print with Persephone B…

Over the past few years, the British Library has been doing sterling work with its excellent Women Writers series, reissuing lesser-known 20th-century novels by female authors for modern-day reader…

A couple of years ago, I read and thoroughly enjoyed A Silence Shared, a beautiful, enigmatic novel by the Italian writer, translator and artist Lalla Romano. First published in Italy in 1957, Tett…