Published in 1923, and the fifth winner of the James Tait Black Memorial Prize, Riceyman Steps is Arnold Bennett’s thirtieth novel. Set in Clerkenwell in London, it tells the story of Henry Eralfor…

On Twitter I did a big thread of 75 unjustly forgotten or neglected books, so I thought I'd put the whole thing here to make it more eas...

As anyone who has come to love a writer who writes in a language you do not read knows, you are at the mercy of translators and publishers. If you are honest with yourself, you accept that certain …

A roundup of books I read in July and August 2026 including several titles for WIT Month.

A roundup of books I read in July and August 2026 including several titles for WIT Month.

I’m so glad to have discovered the magic of Alice Thomas Ellis and once again I have to thank Andrew Male for tweeting about The Clothes in the Wardrobe; in case you have missed it, Andrew also int…

Eileen Chang’s Young at the Time is a collection of three novellas exploring love, families, and relationships amid a changing political landscape in China.

Eileen Chang’s Young at the Time is a collection of three novellas exploring love, families, and relationships amid a changing political landscape in China.

Eileen Chang’s Young at the Time is a collection of three novellas exploring love, families, and relationships amid a changing political landscape in China.

Eileen Chang’s Young at the Time is a collection of three novellas exploring love, families, and relationships amid a changing political landscape in China.

Over ten years since This Should Be Written in the Present Tense was translated into English, we finally have a second novel by Danish author Helle Helle, they. Similarly translated by Martin Aitke…

Mathias Enard is one of my favourite contemporary authors after having read and loved two of his books – Compass and Tell Them of Battles, Kings & Elephants. I’ve yet to read his much celebrate…

Anita Brookner was a prolific writer and a master of both comedy and tragedy. Over the course of 28 years, she wrote 24 novels, winning the Booker Prize in 1984 with Hotel du Lac. But where should you...

Last year, I discovered, read, and loved A Tiler’s Afternoon by Lars Gustafsson, and it went on to become one of my favourite books of the year. Unsurprisingly, I wanted to read more of his work, b…

Agnes Lidbeck’s debut novel, Supporting Act, translated by Nichola Smalley in 2025, was a probing examination of motherhood and the gendered expectations placed on women. Now, thanks to the same tr…

Urszula Honek’s White Nights is a haunting, beautifully written collection of thirteen interlinked stories about death, isolation, poverty and despair.

Urszula Honek’s White Nights is a haunting, beautifully written collection of thirteen interlinked stories about death, isolation, poverty and despair.

Urszula Honek’s White Nights is a haunting, beautifully written collection of thirteen interlinked stories about death, isolation, poverty and despair.

I was in a small independent bookshop in Clapham when I came across Opening Night (2026) by Sara Baume. I have a self-imposed rule that I can’t leave an independent bookshop empty-handed &#82…

Eight excellent books to consider for Spinster September including authors such as Barbara Pym, Tove Jansson, Edith Wharton and more.

Brian Moore’s fifth novel, I Am Mary Dunne, first published in 1968, draws on James Joyce’s Ulysses and, perhaps more urgently given its female perspective, Virginia Woolf’s Mrs Dalloway, to presen…